The definite article was created by means of conversion,[1][2] originally only in the formaz, later shortened toa’ before consonants until the early 20th century, when the spellinga was accepted.
1Semhogy andsemmint are conjunctions meaning “(rather) than”, “before” (as ininkább meghal,semhogy… ―he'llrather diethan…). 2Valamint is now only used in the sense of “as well as” in enumerations. 3Mindeddig/-addig mean “up until this/that point” (=egészeneddig/addig). Csak following relative pronouns expresses“-ever”, e.g.aki csak(“whoever”);is after “any” pronouns emphasizes “no matter”:akármit is(“no matter what”).
Becauseaz (in the first, common usage) takes a definite article(the) andvan (“is, to be”) is omitted in "who"/"what" statements, some terms are ambiguous. “Az a ház” can mean both “that house” as a phrase and “That is the house” as a whole sentence. The same ambiguity may arise withez.
In higher (formal) register,azon may be used instead of the current usage ofaz, especially to shorten phrases where the suffix or postposition would have to be repeated, e.g.azokról az anyagokról vs.azon anyagokról(“about those materials/substances”) orazokhelyett az anyagokhelyett vs.azon anyagokhelyett(“instead of those materials/substances”). To avoid repetition in a less formal style, though not exactly with the same sense, the determinerolyan(“such”) might be applied:az olyan anyagokról, az olyan anyagokhelyett.
↑1.01.1az in Károly Gerstner, editor,Új magyar etimológiai szótár [New Etymological Dictionary of Hungarian] (ÚESz.), Online edition (beta version), Budapest: MTA Research Institute for Linguistics /Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics, 2011–2025.
az in Nóra Ittzés, editor,A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031(work in progress; publisheda–ez as of 2024).
(pronoun or determiner):az in Géza Bárczi,László Országh,et al., editors,A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.Fifth ed., 1992:→ISBN.
(definite article, referring to its alternative form “a”):az in Géza Bárczi,László Országh,et al., editors,A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.Fifth ed., 1992:→ISBN.
(the referred entry on the definite article):(3):a in Géza Bárczi,László Országh,et al., editors,A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.Fifth ed., 1992:→ISBN.
Jan Karłowicz (1900), “aż, aże, auż, jaż, jaże”, inSłownik gwar polskich [Dictionary of Polish dialects] (in Polish), volume 1: Ado E, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page24
Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor,A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published1867,page114
Early Cyrillic alphabet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia