Tracing the impact of folk etymology on Hungarian surnames
Tracing the impact of folk etymology on Hungarian surnames

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents the cases of folk etymology in the Hungarian family name stock.It deals with possibilities and difficulties in the interpretation of the term, as well as thedifferences in the use of the term between the traditional international and Hungarianlinguistics. It also examines the issue of learned folk etymologies or naive etymologiesas part of folk etymology with some examples from the 13th century.The paper argues that communal associations, analogies and approval play an essentialrole in folk etymological changes and this should be taken into consideration inthe study of the phenomena. It presents examples of changes within the Hungarianlanguage and of changes in interlingual connections throughout the latest centuriesin the Carpathian Basin. Also, it introduces the case of hidden folk etymology withexamples of name Magyarizations.

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