Fejével

Fejével is a Hungarian grammatical construction meaning “with his head.” It is formed from the noun fej (head) together with the third-person possessive suffix and the instrumental suffix, producing fejével, which literally translates to “with his head.” The form expresses the instrument or means by which an action is carried out.

Morphology and usage: fejével combines the possessed form of the noun (his/her head) with the instrumental suffix -vel, which is chosen to fit Hungarian vowel harmony and phonology. In general, analogous forms exist for other body parts or objects, such as kezével (with his/her hand) or lábával (with his/her foot). The construction is used to indicate how something is done, rather than who does it.

Examples and contexts: fejével is common in descriptions of actions performed using the head, notably in sports and physical activities. For instance, A játékos fejével fejelte a labdát means “The player headed the ball with his head.” The phrase can also be used more broadly to describe actions performed with a person’s head as the instrument. In everyday language, similar instrumental forms appear with different possessors, such as fejemmel (with my head) or kezével (with his/her hand).