Hello all,
Does anybody have any sure information about the origins of the Hungarian greeting (and farewell) term szia?
I have read some (recent) references about it being connected to the English "see you (later)" but I have some doubts about it for the following reasons:
1) the orginal term was probably szervusz (latin origin) - however, how it became szia - is not obvious
2) szia is used for both greeting and saying farewell in Hungarian as opposed to see you, which is only a term of farewell
(OK, there is "hello" taken from the English, used in Hungarian both when meeting and parting but it is definitely a fairly recent acquistion, szia is older than that)
3) it is very fashionable nowadays to find connection between Hungarian and English words justified or not (and often not)
Thank you in advance.
Does anybody have any sure information about the origins of the Hungarian greeting (and farewell) term szia?
I have read some (recent) references about it being connected to the English "see you (later)" but I have some doubts about it for the following reasons:
1) the orginal term was probably szervusz (latin origin) - however, how it became szia - is not obvious
2) szia is used for both greeting and saying farewell in Hungarian as opposed to see you, which is only a term of farewell
(OK, there is "hello" taken from the English, used in Hungarian both when meeting and parting but it is definitely a fairly recent acquistion, szia is older than that)
3) it is very fashionable nowadays to find connection between Hungarian and English words justified or not (and often not)
Thank you in advance.