The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1983 (10. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1983-09-01 / 9. szám

I

Page 8

TIBOR E. BARÄTH:

THE EARLY HUNGARIANS

— conti ued from previous issue —

3. Their two most frequently used ethnic names: Magyar and Hungarian

Hungarians are identified with two ethnic names: Magyar and Hungarian. The first one is used in the country’s native language, the second in foreign languages. The different use of the names was already noticed by chronicler Anonymus, the unnamed notary of King Béla, at the end of the Xllth century. He said clearly that the Magyars per ydioma alienigenarum Hungarii, et in sua lingua propria Mogerii vocantur. Unfortunately, he did not disclose the reason for this twofold use; in his time, any difference between the two names no longer existed.

Scientists were always eager to find out the original meaning of the names in question. The Etymological Dictionary (P 084 bis) informs us that “Magyar’ is “an obscure compound”, with Magy + Ar, variously spelt Magar, Mogeri, Meger, Mogur and Miser and meaning, simply, ‘Man’. Géza Nagy, a keen linguist, brings us nearer to the answer by teaching that Magari is a compound with two vocables: Mat ‘Earth’ and Ar Man, People’ (P 117 p. 98). But he does not elaborate upon what the exact meaning of the resulting new word might be. Concerning the etymology of the second name, viz. Hungar, our linguists generally believe, that it is not a Hungarian, but an old Turkish word, the On-Ogur, meaning ‘Ten Tribes’, as the tribal federation was called, to which the Magari people belonged at one time in the first part of the Vth century A.D. Finally, with regard to the Ar element occurring in both names, our linguists are reluctant to be more definite. On this subject we read in a French publication that the term Aryan is not yet sufficiently clarified.14 Thus, we come to the conclusion that we are not on firm soil when looking for the etymology of the Hungarians’ ethnic names on the basis of the available literature.

In our judgement, both Magari and Hungari are truly compound words, as it was always supposed. Both of them consist of two vocables: Magy + Ar (<Mat-Ar), and Hung + Ar (<Hont-Ar) respectively, to which the adjectival suffix -i is appended. To our surprise, the lexical structure of Mag-Ar-i and Hung-Ar-i is identical with that of several ancient ethnic names, like Lig-Ur-i, Ill-Yr-i, Bav-September, 1983

Ar-i, Can-Ar-i in Europe; Col-Ar-i, Mund-Ar-i, Ma-Or-i in India and New Zealand; and Mak-Ar-i and Onk-Ar-i in ancient Egypt. Today Magari is no longer spelt with the -i suffix, but simply is Magyar, this new graphic form having come into practice towards the end of the XVIIIth century. The comparison of the lexical structure of Magari/Hungari with that of the other old ethnic* names suggests that their origin may reach far into remote historical times.

What is the meaning of the composing elements of the names in question? First, the suffix -i appearing at the end of both names, gives them the meaning of ‘Coming from, Native of, Follower of and the like. The second common element Ar (< Ur) has manifold meanings, but it always implies and important personage, who has power of command, such as God, a king, a high official or any free man. And the first element in Mag-Ari: Mag (<Mat) means ‘field, Land’. Thus the whole compound as a new word signifies 1. ‘Subject of the Ruler of the Land’, 2. ‘Fellow citizen’ or 3. simply ‘peasant’. The first element of Hung-Ari: Hunt, is nothing else but the ancient phonetic form of the present Hon, Hont ‘Country’. So the full compound name Hungari means ‘Countryman, Native’. According to its etymology, it is a perfect Hungarian word, as is Magari itself, and seems to have nothing to do with the Old Turkish ‘Onogur’. Finally, if we are looking for the difference which may have, in olden times, justified the separate use of the two ethnic names, we may suggest that Magari actually stood for peasant, tiller of the soil, whereas Hungari for keepers of animals. But whatever may have been the difference between the meaning of the two names in question at the beginning, it soon disappeared.

An allusion was already made to the antiquity of the Magyars’ two ethnic names, which reach back into pre-historic times. Now, we can confirm it by recalling that the Mat vocable is in general use among Finno-Ugrian languages and always means the same thing, namely, ‘Field, Land, Dwelling Place’ (P 110 pp. 85, 88, 89). Considering further that Finns and Estonians have separated from the Hungarian speaking body at around 2000 B.C., the common Finn-Magyar word in question must have been in existence before the said date, there having been no later contact between the two groups. Consequently, the Magari name may be as old as 4000 years. Let us add to the foregoing that Matu was also known in the Sumero- Babylonian language as a word for ‘Country’

THE EIGHTH HUNGARIAN TRIBE