borjú

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from Oghur before the times of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin (at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries), from Proto-Turkic *buŕagu. Compare Chuvash пӑру (păru, “calf”), Old Turkic 𐰉𐰆𐰕𐰍𐰆 (b¹uzǧu /⁠buzaɣu⁠/), Ottoman Turkish بوزاغو (buzağı, “calf”). The word can also be found in the Mongolic languages. The form that arrived in the Hungarian language was probably *buraɣu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈborjuː], [ˈborju]
• Hyphenation: bor‧jú
• Rhymes: -juː, -ju

Noun

borjú (plural borjúk or borjak)

1. calf (young cow or bull)
2. calf (the young of another large mammal, such as a deer, roe, bison, giraffe, elephant, whale, seal, hippopotamus, etc.)
3. Synonym of borjúhús (“veal”, the flesh of a calf [i.e. a young bovine] used for food)

Usage notes

There are two forms for the possessive third-person with different meanings. Singular:

a tehén borja ― the calf of the cow (the mother)

a gazda borjúja ― the calf of the farmer (the owner)

Plural:

a tehén borjai ― the calves of the cow

a gazda borjúi ― the calves of the farmer

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	borjú	borjúk
accusative	borjút	borjúkat
dative	borjúnak	borjúknak
instrumental	borjúval	borjúkkal
causal-final	borjúért	borjúkért
translative	borjúvá	borjúkká
terminative	borjúig	borjúkig
essive-formal	borjúként	borjúkként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	borjúban	borjúkban
superessive	borjún	borjúkon
adessive	borjúnál	borjúknál
illative	borjúba	borjúkba
sublative	borjúra	borjúkra
allative	borjúhoz	borjúkhoz
elative	borjúból	borjúkból
delative	borjúról	borjúkról
ablative	borjútól	borjúktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	borjúé	borjúké
non-attributive possessive - plural	borjúéi	borjúkéi

Inflection (stem in -a-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	borjú	borjak
accusative	borjat	borjakat
dative	borjúnak	borjaknak
instrumental	borjúval	borjakkal
causal-final	borjúért	borjakért
translative	borjúvá	borjakká
terminative	borjúig	borjakig
essive-formal	borjúként	borjakként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	borjúban	borjakban
superessive	borjún	borjakon
adessive	borjúnál	borjaknál
illative	borjúba	borjakba
sublative	borjúra	borjakra
allative	borjúhoz	borjakhoz
elative	borjúból	borjakból
delative	borjúról	borjakról
ablative	borjútól	borjaktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	borjúé	borjaké
non-attributive possessive - plural	borjúéi	borjakéi

Possessive forms of borjú
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	borjúm	borjúim
2nd person sing.	borjúd	borjúid
3rd person sing.	borjúja, borja	borjúi
1st person plural	borjúnk	borjúink
2nd person plural	borjútok	borjúitok
3rd person plural	borjújuk, borjuk	borjúik

In relation to its biological parents:

Possessive forms of borjú
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	—	borjaim
2nd person sing.	—	borjaid
3rd person sing.	—	borjai
1st person plural	—	borjaink
2nd person plural	—	borjaitok
3rd person plural	—	borjaik

Derived terms

• borjas
• borjazik / borjadzik

 

Compound words with this term at the beginning

• borjúaprólék
• borjúbelsőség
• borjúcsont
• borjúcsorda
• borjúcsülök
• borjúfark
• borjúfej
• borjúfilé
• borjúgerinc
• borjúistálló
• borjúkaraj
• borjúkötél
• borjúlapocka
• borjúnyelv
• borjúpacal
• borjúpaprikás
• borjúpásztor
• borjúpecsenye
• borjútüdő
• borjúvágó
• borjúvelő

 

Compound words with this term at the end

• aranyborjú
• bikaborjú
• bivalyborjú
• szarvasborjú
• üszőborjú
• víziborjú

 

Expressions

• ki fia-borja?
• néz, mint borjú az új kapura

 

Further reading

• borjú in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• borjú in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (‘A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2024)