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I have a question about the etymology (within the Uralic family) of three Hungarian morphemes

  1. Accusative -t- suffix: Hungarian has an accusative in -t- (eg. fíu, fíut), which has no cognates in any of the Uralic languages that I am aware of, which have accusatives in -n- or -m-. Wiktionary states that this suffix is

"Of debated origin. According to the most accepted theory, it is from a possessive suffix that originated either from a *t-initial demonstrative pronoun or from the Proto-Uralic *tȣ̈ (“you”) personal pronoun".

The cited source is in Hungarian, which I cannot read. How could a possessive suffix evolve into an accusative marker? Has this happened in any other languages?

  1. First person verbal -k- suffix: Regular verbs in the present tense indefinite conjugation take a suffix -Vk to mark 1st person singular. I can't find cognates for this in any other Uralic language, while Wiktionary offers no explanation either. What is the origin of this 1p marker?

  2. Plural -k-: Hungarian also has a plural marker in -k-. (eg. kéz, kézek). This contrasts with -j- or -t- plural markers in most Uralic languages (although there do seem to be traces of a -k- plural in Samic languages, although only in the Nominative).

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    Finnish (and I guess probably Estonian and perhaps Samir languages as well) has -t as the accusative marker for personal pronouns, though I haven’t looked up if that’s completely unrelated to the Hungarian -t.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Dec 7 '20 at 0:47
  • @JanusBahsJacquet not so for North Sami, it has mu for nominative and mun for accusative first person pronoun. I believe Lule and Ume are the same(ish)
    – OmarL
    Dec 8 '20 at 13:16
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    As for your question "how could a possessive suffix evolve into an accusative marker?" There could be a parallel going on in English right now. "So get your oats and mix it with your butter and sugar, rubbing it all together with your fingertips" is quite normal in my variety of English. Here "your" does not have a possessive meaning, it is just an oblique case marker.
    – OmarL
    Dec 8 '20 at 13:22
  • In some Russian declensions, I believe, the accusative has genitive form. (But don't take my word for it, I'm VERY rusty.)
    – Anton Sherwood
    Dec 12 '20 at 3:14
  • @AntonSherwood I think what you're referring to may be a case of syncretism, rather than reflecting a connection in meaning.
    – user8606
    Dec 12 '20 at 13:39

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