Oct 30, 2020 15:35
3 yrs ago
23 viewers *
Hungarian term
foot or leg
Hungarian to English
Other
Linguistics
etymology
I have read that while Hungarian differentiates kéz, hand, from kar, arm, it may use láb for both leg and foot, the latter occasionally being lábfej.
Is this so, can anyone give me any confirmation or further information on the use of these words?
No specific context, simply its relatedness to Estonian which does not differentiate foot from leg (both jalg) or hand from arm (both käsi).
Much appreciated!
Simon
Is this so, can anyone give me any confirmation or further information on the use of these words?
No specific context, simply its relatedness to Estonian which does not differentiate foot from leg (both jalg) or hand from arm (both käsi).
Much appreciated!
Simon
Proposed translations
(English)
| 5 +2 | lábfej vagy láb |
Peter Szekretar
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| 5 | láb (in most cases) |
tfugedi
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Proposed translations
+2
1 hr
Peter Szekretar
France
France
Native in Hungarian
France
Quality oriented work
Native in: Hungarian 
Works in: English to Hungarian, French to Hungarian, Hungarian to English, and 6 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
lábfej vagy láb
What you wrote is true, Frogologue.
The occurrence of the word “láb” is much more frequent than the one of the word “lábfej.” The word “lábfej” is solely used in contexts where precision, or distinction from the idea of leg is necessary. The word “láb” is used to create compound words (e.g. “lábujj”—toe), and a lot of other words are derived from it (e.g. “lábazat”—plinth, “lábbeli”—footwear)—but these statements don’t apply to the word “lábfej.” There are many idioms that contain “láb” (for examples, see the reference). I have been thinking about idioms in which “lábfej” may appear. I can think about only one, a joke.
“– Hány fejed van?
– Egy.
– Nekem öt: fej, két kézfej és két lábfej.”
(This joke shows that there is another word to say hand: “kézfej.” The reason for the existence of the word “kézfej” is somewhat similar to the one of the word “lábfej”—for the rare cases where “kéz” could mean arm! E.g. “Eltörtem a kezemet.” could mean “I have broken my hand.” but it could also mean “I have broken my arm.”)
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Note added at 1 hr (2020-10-30 17:06:44 GMT)
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...can think about: can think of...
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Note added at 4 hrs (2020-10-30 20:14:40 GMT)
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A couple of examples where the word „kéz” means arm:
https://rangado.24.hu/nb1/2016/09/27/torott-kezzel-jatszott-...
https://pannonhirnok.com/vademeles-a-diakja-kezet-eltoro-tan...
The occurrence of the word “láb” is much more frequent than the one of the word “lábfej.” The word “lábfej” is solely used in contexts where precision, or distinction from the idea of leg is necessary. The word “láb” is used to create compound words (e.g. “lábujj”—toe), and a lot of other words are derived from it (e.g. “lábazat”—plinth, “lábbeli”—footwear)—but these statements don’t apply to the word “lábfej.” There are many idioms that contain “láb” (for examples, see the reference). I have been thinking about idioms in which “lábfej” may appear. I can think about only one, a joke.
“– Hány fejed van?
– Egy.
– Nekem öt: fej, két kézfej és két lábfej.”
(This joke shows that there is another word to say hand: “kézfej.” The reason for the existence of the word “kézfej” is somewhat similar to the one of the word “lábfej”—for the rare cases where “kéz” could mean arm! E.g. “Eltörtem a kezemet.” could mean “I have broken my hand.” but it could also mean “I have broken my arm.”)
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Note added at 1 hr (2020-10-30 17:06:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
...can think about: can think of...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2020-10-30 20:14:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
A couple of examples where the word „kéz” means arm:
https://rangado.24.hu/nb1/2016/09/27/torott-kezzel-jatszott-...
https://pannonhirnok.com/vademeles-a-diakja-kezet-eltoro-tan...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Peter Simon
: Helyes a leírás, kivéve, hogy Mo-on az “Eltörtem a kezemet.” csak a kezet jelenti, a kar eltörését nem. Ez honnan jön? Helytelen, soha nem használjuk így. Ehelyett kartörést szenved, vagy 'eltörte a karját'. De ez a kérdés/válasz lényegét nem érinti.
2 hrs
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Köszönöm! Az „eltörtem a kezemet” tényleg megtörtént, a proximális(!) felén az orsócsontnak. Így mondjuk. Sőt, még úgy is mondjuk a mindennapi társalgások során, hogy „kitörtem a kezemet”. De azért megadok pár hivatkozást is ezzel a kéztörés kifejezéssel.
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| neutral |
tfugedi
: írott, hivatalos nyelvre ez teljesen igaz. A beszélt nyelv és a köznyelv már más kérdés.
3 hrs
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| agree |
Erzsébet Czopyk
: Congrats, Peter, this is another meticulous solution. I will follow your answers in the future.
23 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks to everyone for contributing!"
1 hr
láb (in most cases)
I confirm that although we have separate words for leg (láb) and foot (lábfej), as well as for arm (kar) and hand (kéz), we very often use láb for both leg and foot, and kéz for both arm and hand. However, my Bulgarian husband says it is the same in Bulgarian, so I am not sure it is a language family thing, might have other reasons.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Peter Simon
: Correct about leg and foot, but arm is always kar, hand is always kéz and vice versa, the latter two are not washed together. Where does that come from? Kézenfog és karonfog vkit are two different notions, kézbe veszi az ügyet, karjába veszi a gyereket...
2 hrs
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sure. Still when I hurt my arm, I often say fáj a kezem. Eltört a kezem is often broken arm.
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| neutral |
Erzsébet Czopyk
: I hurt my arm - I would never say fáj a kezem, but Eltört a kezem is yes, often I have broken my arm
23 hrs
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