Origin or original meaning of szia

F

F456

New Member
Great Britain, English
I know that 'szia' and its plural form 'sziasztok' are used as a friendly informal 2nd person greeting: something similar to 'hi' in English. It would interest me to know the origin of the word: does it have any historical connection (I am thinking how the more old-fashioned alternative 'szervusz' has the notion of 'I am your servant' from the Latin for slave)? Or could it even be a Hungarian spelling of the very informal 'see you' / 'see ya' that you hear quite often in English — British English at any rate?

Many thanks.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
    • F456 said:
    does it have any historical connection (I am thinking how the more old-fashioned alternative 'szervusz' has the notion of 'I am your servant' from the Latin for slave)?
    Click to expand...
    Probably yes, but nobody seems to know for sure.
    The change "szervusz > szevasz > sziasz > szia" is the most accepted theory.

    F456 said:
    Or could it even be a Hungarian spelling of the very informal 'see you' / 'see ya' that you hear quite often in English — British English at any rate?
    Click to expand...
    Yes, I've heard and read about that a number of times but I think it's very unlikely. "Szia" has been around since the 1950s, and there was very little English influence on Hungarian in those times.
     
    Thank you for your answer, Andras: what you suggest in reply-1 sounds good and I agree that my second suggestion, as you say in reply-2 is unlikely.
     
    Last edited by a moderator:
    Agreeing with AndrasBP, I should exclude whatever English influence in this case.

    From the linguistic point of view, the plural sziasztok practically confirms the theory that szia comes from szervusz. Szervusz comes from the Latin servus, of course, so szervusztok de facto means "your servant" in plural, i.e. not "thy servant" but the servant of "you all, i.e. of more people". This -tok is not a verbal ending in this case.

    (It is incredible how difficult it is to explain these things in English ..... You should have to reintroduce words like thou, thee, thy, thine in modern English :D )
     
    Last edited:
    francisgranada said:
    Agreeing with AndrasBP, I should exclude whatever English influence in this case.

    From the linguistic point of view, the plural sziasztok practically confirms the theory that szia comes from szervusz. Szervusz comes from the Latin servus, of course, so szervusztok de facto means "your servant" in plural, i.e. not "thy servant" but the servant of "you all, i.e. of more people". This -tok is not a verbal ending this case.

    (It is incredible how difficult it is to explain these things in English ..... You should have to reintroduce words like thou, thee, thy, thine in modern English :D )
    Click to expand...
    Francisgranada, I understand your explanation: if it were all in Latin what you are suggesting is that szervusztok and sziasztok are equivalent to servus vester whereas szervus and szia are equivalent to servus tuus. (And I assume nobody says hallótok when greeting/leaving a gathering!)
     
    F456 said:
    Francisgranada, I understand your explanation: if it were all in Latin what you are suggesting is that szervusztok and sziasztok are equivalent to servus vester whereas szervus and szia are equivalent to servus tuus. (And I assume nobody says hallótok when greeting/leaving a gathering!)
    Click to expand...
    Exactly. Bravo! :)

    Szervusz is evidently indifferent from the point of view of the plurality (we don't say szervuszod in singular). So szervusztok is necessarilly a "later" or secondary form, i.e. for some reasons it has become important or useful to distinguish between greeting one person and more persons ....
     
    Zsanna said:
    Oh, don't underestimate our, say, capacity to create funny words! There is Hellóztok!... o_O:D(Maybe even without the "z"...)
    Click to expand...
    I've never heard it .... However, from the linguistic point of view, it must be an "unetymological modernism", created spontaneously by analogy with szevasztok, sziasztok, etc.
     
    Számomra a "hellóztok" spontán azt jelentené, hogy pl. "mentek az utcán és azt kiabáljátok, hogy helló, helló, helló ..." :)

    A "hellósztok" egyértelműen a sziasztok, szevasztok mintájára lett megalkotva.

    A "Hellótok!" változat szerintem - talán egy kis túlzással - valami olyasfélét sugallna, hogy "Íme, itt van a ti hellótok!" :D, aminek nem nagyon van értelme ....
     
    I had doubts about the sz/z, but never heard it really properly (let alone saw it written down) to be able to decide (or care). But your analogy seems totally correct to me. :thumbsup:
    I am fairly sure about having heard the other. It sounds almost just as weird but may be a local version.
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top