Hungarian Language

HUNGARIAN LANGUAGE. This language, a member of the Finno-Ugrian family of languages, is known in Hungarian as Magyar (pronounced Madyar), and is spoken by ten and a half millions of people, of whom half a million are in the United States.

Old Hungarian used a script akin to Old Turkish Runish script, but this was superseded about A.D. i000 by the Roman character at the time of the adoption of Christianity.

The letters without exception retain the same sound value and are clearly pronounced in accented and in unaccented syllables.

The short vowels are a, e, i, o, o, u and ii. They are pronounced thus : a like a in wall ; e like a in man ; i like i in little ; o like o in corn ; o like French eu in Europe ; u like u in full and ii like French is in buffet.

The long vowels are ö, o, ii, u and are pronounced thus: at like a in father; e like ai in wait ; i like ie in field; o like o in home ; o like French eu in peux; u like oo in too and ii like u in French nature.

The simple consonants are b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, 1, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, z. The compound consonants are cs (cz), dz, dzs, gy, ly, ny, sz, ty, zs. C is pronounced like is in bits; g like g in good; j like y in yard; r is rolled and s pronounced like sh in short. The other simple consonants are spoken as in English. The com pound letters are pronounced thus: cs (cz) as ch in child; oz = ts; dz as d in English; dzs as j in jolly; gy as d in duty; ly, ny, ty, simply as two letters as in English ; zs as s in pleasure.

single words the accent is always on the first syllable as apa (father), eleven (living). In syntactical com pounds as noun and adjective, verb and adverb, noun and post position, the accent remains on the first syllable.

Special Features.

Original Hungarian words never begin with a double consonant, except onomatopoeic words as krdkog (to cough). The vowels are classed as high (e, é, i, o, u) and low (a, o, u). In conjugation, declension and combination the vowels are harmonized to conform to the vowel of the main root, thus: ben (in) with haz (house) is ban: ha'zban; with a kert (garden) is a kertben; vdr (to wait), ker (to ask), tor (to break) form vdrtok—kertek, tortok. Similar vowel changes express vari ous meanings as ez (these), az (that) ; itt (here), ott (there). There is no grammatical gender. Compounds and verbal modifi cations are effected by a large number of suffixes. The active verb has two conjugations, definite and indefinite. The former is used when there is no object or when the object is not exactly defined. Causatives, frequentatives, potentials and diminutives are formed by affixes. Syntactical relations are mainly produced by affixes to the noun root. Thus fej (the head), fejtol (of the head), fejnek (to the head), fejjel (with the head), fejben (in the head). In some cases the suffix remains separate as postposition, thus : a ha'z elott (before the house), a hdz mogott (behind the house).

The relations of possession and number are indicated by suf fixes, as hdzam (my house), hdza (his or her house), hdzunk (our house), tollam (my pen), tollaim (my pens), tollunk (our pen), tollaink (our pens), tollad (thy pen), tollaid (thy pens).

Adjectives are not changed, thus: a nagy hdz (a great house), a nagy hdzak (of a great house), a nagy hdzban (in a great house).

There is no word "to have" : a dative form is used as in Latin, nekem van konyvem (to me is my book=I have a book). Hun garian has developed independently of its congeners for at least 2,00o years and is therefore marked by sharp differences es pecially in its phonetic system (see FINNO-UGRIAN LANGUAGES).

Morphologically it has lost a dual form, still preserved in Ostjak and `Vogul which also retain the objective conjugation. The singular substantive is used after numerals and adjectives of quantity. The Christian name and title are used after the family name, thus: Olmosy., Karoly tenor ur (lit. Olmosy, Charles Profes sor Mr.) .

Some 400 words form the common or original stock of the Finno-Ugrian languages and may be classified as (I) Numerals, (2) Pronouns, (3) Parts of the body, (4) Family terms, (5 ) Natural phenomena, (6) Plants, (7) Animals, (8) Tools and weapons, (9) Industries, (io) Property, (I I) Places, etc. The words for horse (lo) and saddle (nyereg) belong to the original stock, testifying to the nature of the culture of their early ancestors.

The language was enriched about the time of Christ by the development of compound words and the use of suffixes, while a third period of development took place as the result of the spread of writing and learning (1750-1850).

Loan Words.

Contacts with alien cultures at various histori cal periods have added to the original stock. Thus, at an early period before the separation of the Finno-Ugrian groups, rela tions existed with an Eastern or Satem Indo-European group, from which some such words as szdz (hundred), szary (horn). The general Ugrian stock (c. 200 B.e.) borrowed such words as arany (gold), het (seven), ezer (thousand). Hungarian took defi nite shape while living near to the Caucasus and in the 1st century A.D. came into contact with an Iranian language, predecessor of Ossete, and obtained such words as asszony (woman), vdr (fort), vrlsdr (market), hid (bridge), tolgy (oak). Turkish has provided many words since the 5th century—when the neighbouring Turko Bulgarian peoples taught them agriculture and pastoralism. Buza (wheat), drpa (barley), eke (plough), alma (apple), szullo (grape), bor (wine), bika (bull), okor (ox), iirii (mutton), gyapju (wool), balta (hatchet), tiikur (mirror), kapu (door), tenger (sea), betii (letter). Personal names such as Almos, Arpdd, Tas, Turul were borrowed later under the first kings (I 1 th to 13th centuries). A second Turkish invasion added such words as koboz (lute) and drkany (lasso). The third invasion, under the Osmanlis (15th to 17th centuries) brought kdve (coffee), findzsa (cup), csizma (boots). From Slavonic sources came words spe cially related to Christianity, to ecclesiastical and political organ ization, economic life and industries. German settlements and the long political relationship with the Hapsburgs added generally to the stock, while Old French—learnt by students in Paris—con tributed somewhat. From Latin—for some time the speech of church and school, of education and legal administration—came a few words, especially in old Latin forms. Italy has provided terms in art, France in fashion, England in sport.

Etymological.

Analysis of current speech and of the written language shows that of i,000 words 884 are Hungarian in origin, 38 come from Romance speech, Slavonic sources yield 33, German gives 15, while from Turkish (io) and other sources come 20 words; in all 88% Hungarian and 12% foreign. Another less favourable computation allows 65% to Hungarian and 35% to foreign sources.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--J. Csink, A complete practical grammar of the Bibliography.--J. Csink, A complete practical grammar of the Hungarian language (London, 1853) ; I. Singer, Simplified grammar of the Hungarian language (1882) ; A. and I. Ginever, Hungarian grammar (1909) ; Arthur B. Yolland, Dictionary of the Hungarian and English languages, two parts, (Budapest, 1924), with compendium of Hung. grammar; Th. Duka, "An Essay on the Ugor branch of the Ural-Altaic languages" (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society) 1889, XXI.; J. Szinnyei, Finnisch-ugrische Sprachwissenschaft (191o) ; J. Szinnyei, Ungarische Sprachlehre (1912) ; J. Szinnyei, Die Herkun f t der Ungarn, ihre Sprache and Urkultur (2nd ed. 1923). (V. T.)