The noun FÉL means half. There are a couple of words that originate from it. First of all, let‘s see what the F consonant can change into:
F > B, P, V
If something is in half, it is not the whole thing anymore. That is the concept of the following off-springs of FÉL.
VáLik – to become, to be turned into
>A thing or a person is detached from the whole and becomes something else.
VáLaszol – to answer > this verb is equivalent to FeLel – to respond.
>There is a general opinion about any subject and when you answer, it is the half you contribute to the whole.
BaLta – hatchet, axe
>An axe separates things from the whole.
VéL – to think
>Your thoughts are half of the whole or they might not coincide with the whole, so you separate yourself with your thinking from the rest of the world.
VáLaszt – to choose
>If you choose something, you separated it from the rest.
Then there is the verb FÉL meaning to fear, to be afraid. According to the ancient Hungarian thinking, love drives this world, so there should not be anything that makes you a half person and starts consuming you from the inside. When that happens, you are detached from the whole, you don‘t see the essence of certain things and you start developing irrational fear from anything.
These examples might seem far-fetched to you, but that is the concept behind them. There are a lot more words like these above. I hope FÉL helps you recognize other words like válik, válaszol, felel, etc.
Hunlang's Blog 
I have to say some of the connections do seem farfetched. Does there exist an etymological dictionary for Hungarian?
Nathan
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Yes, there is. It is quite a few clicks, but if your Hungarian is good enough, you’ll understand the explanations. The Czuczor-Fogarasi dictionary is the best so far. You can download every part of it for free right here: http://mek.oszk.hu/05800/05887/pdf/
It is a huge material. It explains the Hungarian words based on the root words I’ve mentioned in some entries, and not based on the “We’ve borrowed everything from the Slavic, German, etc. languages” lie.
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Thank you, I do understand the problem. I have one or two books on Ugric languages, which give examples of words common to Hungarian and other members of the family. I am always interested in etymologies, but my training in Classics (Greek and Latin) helps me to reject some of the folk-etymologies I have run across, not to mention the poisonous attitudes found in many nationalist postings online, even in this science. What is wrong with *Mitteleuropa*, that they all hate each other so much? Thank you for your eirenic position, Nathan Vail
On Sun, Nov 12, 2017 at 11:23 PM, Hunlang’s Blog wrote:
> hunlang commented: “Yes, there is. It is quite a few clicks, but if your > Hungarian is good enough, you’ll understand the explanations. The > Czuczor-Fogarasi dictionary is the best so far. You can download every part > of it for free right here: http://mek.oszk.hu/05800/05887/pd” >
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