‘(Ne) Khukhry-Mukhry’: One Russian Idiom of Mongolian Origin Revisited

Abstract

The paper examines the etymology of the idiom ‘(ne) khukhry-mukhry’ which in its form fully corresponds to the so-called pair words widely used in Turkic, Mongolic and some Finno-Ugric languages. Several generations of researchers have sought for the actual etymology of this idiom. The revealed complex of features associated with the idiom suggests that this expression goes back to the Mongolic languages and may be one of the earliest Mongolian borrowings in the Russian language.

Keywords

• russian
• borrowings
• turkic
• mongolic languages
• pair words
• (ne) khukhry-mukhry
• etymology