körkörösnek

Körkörösnek is a Hungarian inflected form of the adjective körkörös, used as a predicative complement in constructions with verbs of perception or evaluation, such as tűnik (to seem) or látszik (appears). The form conveys that something is perceived as circular, cyclic, or repetitive, often in a metaphorical sense describing reasoning or processes. In practice, the common constructions are körkörösnek tűnik or körkörösnek látszik, meaning “it seems circular” or “appears to be circular.”

In usage, körkörösnek describes how a subject is experienced or evaluated rather than making a direct statement about its physical shape. For example: A gondolatmenet körkörösnek tűnik, mert ugyanarra a pontra tér vissza. (The line of thought seems circular because it returns to the same point.) Körkörösnek lehet mondani egy érvelést vagy folyamatot, ha az visszatérő ciklusokat vagy ismétléseket mutat. The term can carry both literal and metaphorical nuances: it may refer to something literally forming a loop or to an argument that fails to progress logically.

Related concepts include a bare körkörös used to describe physical circularity (kör alakú vagy körkörös mozgás) and körkörös érvelés, commonly translated as circular reasoning. While körkörösnek is used mainly in descriptive or evaluative sentences, the more frequent noun phrase in discourse is körkörös érvelés rather than the predicative form.

Etymology: körkörös derives from kör (circle) + -körös (a suffix indicating a circular or looping quality). The -nek ending marks the predicative complement in Hungarian grammar when paired with certain verbs, producing forms like körkörösnek tűnik.