Sumerian, Proto-Uralic, Proto-Finno-Ugrian and Hungarian
Prof. Dr. Alfréd Tóth
1. Introduction
1.1. The etymologies
The present study is based on 731 Hungarian lemmata. This equals approximately the number of etymologies presented in MSzFE (ca. 650). Only
such Hungarians words are handled that have a Finno-Ugric or Uralic etymology and are therefore listed in MSzFE. This means that every Hungarian word,
which has been listed in this study, must at least have one relative in one other Finno-Ugric language. The etymologies have been given in the
simplified diacritic writing of EWU.
1.2. The method
In this study I will prove that the so-called Sumerian Hypotheses of Hungarian is true. This does neither mean that Hungarian is the same as Sumerian (an obvious nonsense that had been asserted by some non-linguists), nor does it mean that Hungarian alone has Sumerian as its ancestor language. What I will prove with the present study is that at least 731 Hungarian lemmata which are shared by at least 1 more lemma in at least one other member of the Finno-Ugric language family can be traced back to Sumerian. I will show this by comparing the reconstructed Proto-Finno-Ugrian and/or Proto-Uralic forms to actual Sumerian words. By using this method I presume first that the proto-forms reconstructed in the "Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen" (1992 ss.) are correct and second that the transliteration of the Sumerian words used is correct, too, but nothing more. By comparing the reconstructed proto-forms to the actual Sumerian words I will formulate the sound-changings that may have happened in the form of sound-laws. Since a sound-law must have at least two instances where it applies, all those cases in which the same soundlaws apply are marked by links.
1.3. The time frame
The proto-languages we are dealing with are going back to the following relative time periods:
- Proto-Altaic (Proto-Turkic, Proto-Mongolian, Proto-Tungusic): ca. 6000 B.C.
- Proto-Uralic (Proto-Finno-Ugric, Proto-Samoyed): ca. 6000/4000 B.C.
- Proto-Finno-Ugric (Proto-Finno-Permic, Proto-Ugric): ca. 2500 B.C.
- Proto-Ugric (Proto-Hungarian, Proto-Obugric): 1500 B.C.
Since our oldest readable Sumerian texts are from the so-called Fāra period, i.e. from the 27th century B.C., Sumerian is almost contemporaneous to Proto-Finno-Ugric. Since Akkadian, precisely Old Babylonian is testified from the 23rd century B.C. (Sargon of Akkad) and since the same is true for his close relative, Rhaetic (cf. Brunner and Tóth 1987), these languages are also contemporaneous with oth Sumerian and Proto-Finno-Ugric. Since our hypothesis is that Hungarian goes back to Sumerian, the objection that we do not have older Sumerian texts, is of no importance (no Indo-Europeanist is forced to go further back from Proto-Indo-European to Nostratic). It is of no importance either, that "we see Sumerian only through the glasses of Akkadian", i.e. possibly distorted by Akkadian phonetics, as Edzard (2003, p. 7) remarked, because no linguist would deal with Sumerian if it would be worthless because of this possible distortion. And what the further comparison of Hungarian via Proto-Ugric, Proto-Finno-Ugric and Proto-Uralic with Proto-Altaic concerns, there is no problem either, because in these cases we compare proto-forms with proto-forms, i.e. reconstructions that have already been approved by linguists.