The Hungarian language is a real puzzle (it is no coincidence that the Rubik's cube was invented in Hungary). Hungarian is a surprise language, a riddle language, a rebus language. It is not similar to any of its related languages.
Hungarian is one of the languages the most complex languages, along with Chinese, Arabic and Japanese. But despite this, its popularity is gaining momentum. Firstly, it is a rare language, knowledge of which can be an advantage when finding a job (which employer would be surprised today by your perfect command of English?). Secondly, it is an interesting, unusual language, and for a polyglot, learning Hungarian is a challenge. Thirdly, today the tourism industry is actively developing in Hungary. Sanatoriums, boarding houses, resorts, tourist routes, low prices, beautiful nature, delicious cuisine - in Hungary, in fact, there are all the opportunities for an ideal holiday. However, English in Hungary is spoken predominantly by young people; older generations most often do not speak any foreign languages. This means that vacationers will need at least basic knowledge of Hungarian. In times of crisis, it is more important than ever to think about opportunities for cheap holidays.
The Hungarian language is part of the Finno-Ugric language group, but, it seems, only formally. Hungarian is too different from any of the Finno-Ugric languages. Even scientists decided to classify Hungarian as a Finno-Ugric group only after hundreds of years of research and discussion - for a long time they could not understand what kind of outlandish language this was. Hungarian is closest, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, to the language of the Khanty and Mansi peoples (the ancestors of modern Hungarians, the Onogur tribes, come from the Urals). For hundreds of years, the Onogurs led a nomadic lifestyle until they settled on the territory of modern Hungary. Nomadic life greatly influenced the Hungarian language. He absorbed a little from every language he came into contact with. Hungarian has a large number of borrowings from Turkic and Slavic languages. It also contains a lot of Anglicisms, Gallicisms and borrowings from German.
The Hungarian alphabet has 40 letters (of which 14 are vowels), more than 20 cases. Words are formed primarily by the method of agglutination (“gluing”). For example, what in Russian we express with the help of a preposition, in Hungarian is glued to the end of the word in the form of a case ending. In Hungarian, endings, suffixes, prefixes and prefixes also express circumstances of place and time, and much more.
Thus, words often turn out to be very long. To read a word, you often have to divide it into parts of the word or into syllables. As a rule, the stress is placed on the first syllable, but in especially long words there are also side stresses placed on every odd syllable (first, third, fifth, seventh).
In phonetics, the most difficult thing is to distinguish between long and short vowels: “ö” and “ő”, “ü” and “ű” - different sounds, and an error in their use leads to a change in the meaning of the word.
However, in Hungarian, for example, there are only two tenses, past and present. The future tense is formed using perfect form present time. At the same time, there are so-called objective and objectless inflections of the verb, which depend on whether we inflect the verb with a noun with a definite article (objective inflection) or an indefinite (objectless). If there is no article, then the conjugation can be anything, but there are also some nuances here: for example, if the verb is intransitive, then the conjugation can only be objectless.
The combination of all these (and many other) features makes Hungarian a difficult, but extremely attractive language to learn.
The Hungarian language can safely be called a puzzle language, it’s not for nothing that the Rubik’s cube was invented in Hungary. And yet, many Russians decide to storm this complex system: some want to go to university, others want to obtain citizenship, others simply believe that knowledge additional language it will be useful for them. Also, Russian citizens often come to Hungary on vacation, in which case Hungarian skills will also come in handy - not everyone in the country even speaks English, only young people, while older people, as a rule, communicate only in their native language.
About the origin
We must warn you right away: learning the Hungarian language is not easy. Formally, it belongs to the Finno-Ugric group, but in fact it has little in common with Estonian and Finnish. Until the nineteenth century, the belonging of the Hungarian language to this group was questioned. It is closest to the dialect of Mansi and Khanty: the Hungarians brought their speech from Siberia to Eastern Europe, managing, despite the influence of Slavic and Turkic languages, preserve to a large extent its main features.
Peculiarities
For beginning polyglots, the Hungarian language may seem overwhelmingly difficult - it presents many surprises. Unique phonetics, forty letters in the alphabet, as many as fourteen vowel sounds, each of which is indicated by a separate letter: a [ɒ], á, e [ɛ], é, i [i], í, o [o], ó, ö [ ø], ő [ø:], u [u], ú, ü [y] and ű. The first letter of the alphabet - a - must be pronounced as something between the Russian “o” and “a”: the lower part of the jaw drops, the lips round, and the tip of the tongue is pulled back. But what can I say, even if the formation of words is supplemented by as many as twenty-three cases, when in Russian there are only six of them.
Phonetics
Of course, the difficulty here is posed by the shortness and length of the rounded vowels “ü”, “ű”, “ö”, “ő”. It should be remembered that these are completely different letters, and an error with longitude, as in any language, can distort the meaning of the word. It can be quite difficult for foreigners to understand Hungarians at first, and the Hungarians themselves note this, since often the entire remark sounds like an obscure single word, although in fact it is a whole sentence. But the Hungarian language does not have diphthongs.
Grammar
No matter how complex the grammatical system is, it lacks some elements characteristic of other languages, for example, there is no category of grammatical gender, only two tenses: present and past, and for the future they use a present perfect tense verb or a construction involving fog. All this makes Hungarian language lessons much easier for foreign students.
Articles and conjugations
The definite, and the very category of uncertainty and certainty in general, play a large role in language. It is inextricably linked with verb conjugations, which depend entirely on the noun - the object. If this object is mentioned for the first time, then the objectless conjugation of the verb is used and indefinite article. For example: “Dad bought a ball (of some sort).” In the sentence “Dad bought a great ball (the same one)” the objective conjugation of the verb and the definite article will already be used.
If the object is absent, both conjugations can be used, but what matters here is whether the verb has one. Thus, the words “sit”, “walk”, “stand”, “go” do not have it, so there can only be an objectless conjugation here.
Case endings
Everything that in Russian belongs to the category of prepositions appears in Hungarian case endings, added to the word. With all this, the authors of the textbooks cannot agree on how many there are: some textbooks indicate that it is twenty-three, while others contain a different figure - nineteen. But the fact is that the endings used to indicate the circumstances of time and place are considered case in the Hungarian language. There are also rare cases, for example, a distribution used to express the repetition of an action in time: “every day”, “annually”.
Reading words
The Hungarian language is rich in For example, megszentségteleníthetetlen (25 letters) is translated as: “that which cannot be desecrated.” To read them correctly, they should be divided into roots or syllables. Moreover, in such structural linguistic units a secondary (side) stress necessarily occurs, falling on odd syllables. It is worth noting that, for example, the stress on the fifth syllable will be stronger than on the third.
How to learn Hungarian?
Comprehension of any language is a difficult task. First of all, you should understand that this is painstaking work, and you need to treat it that way. Now there are many language courses, which promise that you will master a new language in just a couple of months of classes, however, as you probably understand, this is just marketing and nothing more. Do not neglect the “old-fashioned” ways of learning a language: master vocabulary, systematically study grammar, memorize elementary structures, listen to Hungarian songs, watch films with subtitles - this is the basis from which you need to build.
Textbooks to help
Various textbooks and tutorials can help you learn the language. Thus, the textbook by K. Vavra has good reviews - it is quite old and, of course, not ideal, but it is conceptually well constructed. It would be great if you also find a language course for this manual. Then you will have a complete set of tools for mastering the Hungarian language. Of course, studying without a teacher is only possible textbooks it won't be easy. This is especially true for grammar. You may sometimes have to guess something yourself or look for information in other books, but believe me, this “ research work"will only benefit you. Another good helper in learning a language is training course Rubin Aaron.
Learning words
Many people who set out to learn Hungarian very quickly come to the conclusion that it is a useless endeavor. It’s not that they can’t remember the words, but they can’t even just pronounce them. However, the main thing in this matter is desire and perseverance. Over time, you will learn to speak not only in individual words, but also in sentences. The following method gives an absolutely real effect. Read a group of words into your mobile phone voice recorder, and then listen to the resulting recording at least ten times using headphones. The same can be done with audio recordings recorded by native speakers. Your goal is to achieve an understanding of the meaning of the spoken text without mental translation it into Russian. Rest assured, this system really works! The main thing is to believe in yourself and work continuously. Breaks in this matter are simply disastrous - it is better to devote half an hour to studying every day than to not study for a week, and then try to master everything completely and at once.
These basic postulates, of course, apply not only to learning Hungarian, but also any other language. And don’t forget that the approach to learning should be systematic. You should gradually comprehend phonetics, vocabulary, grammar, and so on. Some limit themselves to cramming individual words. This is wrong. Knowing only that, for example, the word “hello” in Hungarian sounds like “jó nap”, and “thank you” sounds like “kösz” and so on, is unlikely to give you the opportunity to fully communicate with native speakers and understand them. Good luck!
Hungary is a very curious country with an ancient and rich history. And it is not surprising that its people use an extremely interesting and rich language. Even if it is not one of the widespread ones, you should still get to know it.
1. Hungarian language (magyar) is official language in Hungary, where about 10 million people speak it. Plus, it is used by many people living in neighboring countries. For example, in Romania, Hungarian is spoken by about two million people. In other countries, the number of Hungarian speakers is not so high. But we are still talking about tens of thousands of people. You also need to remember about all kinds of diasporas scattered around the world - Canada, USA, Brazil, Australia...
2. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the area of distribution of the Hungarian language in Europe was noticeably larger than it is today. The decline occurred after Hungary's defeat in the First World War, when parts of its lands went to Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Austria.
3. Despite the fact that Hungary is located in the very middle of Europe, the Hungarian language has a completely different origin. Around 900-1000 AD, the tribes that had previously lived in the Urals began to move, moving far to the west. This resettlement was not easy and was accompanied by constant conflicts with Germanic, Slavic and other tribes living in those areas.
4. The Hungarian language belongs to the Finno-Ugric family. Its relatives in Europe are also languages. However, this relationship is already so distant that for a long time scientists generally doubted it. It was finally proven only at the beginning of the twentieth century. Before this, the family ties of Hungarian only caused bewilderment.
5. Hungarian is characterized by complexity. It is distinguished by a special phonetics of vowels, which makes it difficult for foreigners to learn this language. The number of cases can frighten the unprepared - there are 18 of them. And the number of word forms sometimes goes beyond all reasonable limits. As for the alphabet, it has 40 letters (26 consonants and 14 vowels), plus 4 letters (Q, W, X, Y) found exclusively in words of foreign origin.
6. The Hungarian language has many borrowings from the most different languages. Gradually moving west and coming into contact with inhabitants of various lands, the Proto-Hungarian tribes learned new words. They came from Slavic, Germanic and Turkic dialects. And, of course, many words were borrowed from the ubiquitous.
7. The oldest known to us literary work in Hungarian it dates back to around 1200. This is Halotti Beszéd és Könyörgés (Funeral Oration and Prayer). But in those years, texts were much more often written in Latin and the language. Hungarian literature began to truly develop only in the 17th century.
8. The Hungarian language has about 10 dialects. At the same time, the differences between them are not too great; their speakers understand each other well. The only thing that can be particularly highlighted is the Csangos - this is the name of the Hungarian national minority living on the territory of modern Romania. About 70 thousand people speak the Chango language (Chango dialect) (according to other sources - about 300 thousand). It is considered to be the closest language to medieval Hungarian.
9. Hungarian is one of the agglutinative languages, which means it allows you to construct very long words. The longest word in it is considered Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért, which can be roughly translated as “because of your constant desire to be undefiled.” However, it does not carry any special meaning. It's hard to imagine a situation in which it would be particularly useful. Meanwhile, linguists continue to practice inventing the longest words. And there is no doubt that new records await us.
10. The most frequently used letter in Hungarian is “ e" You can build entire meaningful sentences in which it will be the only vowel. However, the peculiarities of the language make it possible to build similar constructions based on other vowels. But there will be less meaning in such proposals.
Hungarian is recognized by Europeans as the second most difficult language to learn. In this ranking it is second only to Finland. However, with the right (most importantly, professional) approach, the learning process becomes quite accessible and effective and allows you to freely master this beautiful and sonorous language.
Features of the formation of the Hungarian language
Mysterious origins and a rich past, replete with important historical events, - this is how Hungary is characterized, whose language has been formed over many centuries. The founders of the Hungarian state are considered to be the Magyars, an alien people from Western Siberia. This theory is confirmed by the closeness of the Magyar language to the language of the Khanty and Mansi, who inhabit northern Russia. Thus, Hungarian is one of the few languages that are not part of the group of languages of the Indo-European group, but have common roots with the Ugric group of the Finno-Ugric language family.
The Magyars, who invaded the territory of what is now Hungary, unwittingly assimilated with the Slavs who inhabited this region. As a result, many Slavic lexical elements appeared in the Magyar language. The adoption of Christianity by the Magyars entailed the introduction of Latin and Greek terms into the Hungarian language.
The result Tatar-Mongol yoke and submission Ottoman Empire was the appearance of a strong Turkic substratum in the Hungarian language. After the formation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Hungarians were strongly influenced by the German linguistic culture, but to this day they have managed to preserve the identity and uniqueness of their language.
Currently, Hungary attracts thousands of tourists with its numerous cultural, historical, architectural, literary. Year after year, the popularity of Hungarian as one of the most colorful and unusual languages peace is increasing.
Learning Difficulties
- The main reason for the difficulties and complexities with which the language in Hungary is inextricably linked is the principle of agglutinative inflection. That is, when forming a phrase, several different formants are added to the main form of the keyword - prefixes and suffixes that carry the function plural, pronouns and other forms or parts of speech. As a result, the original word becomes almost unrecognizable - difficult to pronounce, difficult to perceive and translate.
- The next feature that makes learning the Hungarian language difficult is its morphological diversity, which is expressed in more than 20 cases for nouns and a specific word order in a sentence. Lack of grammatical gender in nouns and complex rules Verb conjugations make it significantly more difficult for Russian speakers to learn Hungarian.
- The phonetics of the Magyar language is also unusual for foreigners, in which there are 14 vowels and many diphthongoids, and there are no reduced sounds. Strong articulation in Hungarian speech requires clear pronunciation of vowels and syllables that have short and long sounds, different rises and intonations.
Numerous features determine the exclusivity of the Magyar language - Hungarians are rightfully proud of their melodic, sonorous and expressive language.
The impossible is possible
The specificity of learning the Hungarian language lies in the need to master a huge variety of lexical and grammatical nuances and subtleties. You can master intelligible, correct Hungarian speech quickly and effectively if you study with a native speaker.
You need to contact experienced teachers who can teach the Hungarian language, depending on the purpose of your trip to Hungary. Effective training programs are provided for tourists, students, businessmen, and holidaymakers. Groups with different levels of training provide the opportunity to start learning with any amount of starting knowledge, allowing you to start from scratch or improve the level of existing linguistic knowledge.
The language in Hungary has been formed over many centuries and currently represents a complex set of phonetic and morphological features. The historical past of the country allows us to classify the Hungarian language as a member of the Finno-Ugric group, which also includes the Finnish, Estonian languages and the language of the Khanty and Mansi in Western Siberia. Due to various circumstances, the Hungarian language contains Slavic, Turkic, German, and Latin substratum.
Translation from Hungarian into Russian requires knowledge of many Russianisms, Gallicisms, Anglicisms and other linguistic elements. Its accuracy largely depends on deep knowledge in various spheres of life of the Hungarian people. The difficult to learn Hungarian language has a number of exclusive grammatical, lexical and phonetic features. But with a strong desire, you can easily overcome the obstacles in mastering the Hungarian language and master this melodic and sonorous Magyar language to perfection.
Are you planning to learn Hungarian? Or have you already started mastering this language? Share your experience in the comments to the article. To stay updated on the release of our new materials, subscribe to our newsletter.
May 2012 Alex
First time in Hungary, on a business trip. As described by other travelers, Hungarians are very friendly and many are willing to help. At the bank, the girl switched to Russian when she saw my passport :) Don’t even try to learn their language. Well, at least it’s hard for me to understand when I’m not used to it. English saved me. By the way, the residents of Budapest are very poorly oriented in the city itself. I asked the girls where the famous metro station was, but they didn’t know. They sent me to the wrong metro line. Although I know all the stations in Moscow (and there are many more of them). So be careful with the advice.
Hungarians and their language
August 2010 Anna
I did an internship on the lake. Heviz within a month, I learned a lot of interesting things! First of all, I want to say that I really liked the Hungarians; they treat Russians positively, openly, and hospitably. I personally saw that they are very responsive people, always ready to help: we ended up in Budapest in the evening, missed our bus, and couldn’t get back to Heviz. Everyone we met helped us, one young man even took us to his home to look up the schedule on the Internet, and one girl talked to the cashier and went to the station manager, since they didn’t want to sell us tickets. For this we are hugely grateful to them! As for the language, I wouldn’t say that Hungarians know English so well, many speak German well (maybe because Heviz is full of Germans and Austrians - I don’t know), half of the people I met boasted about their knowledge of Russian, it was It’s funny and, of course, nice, attention to your culture. The Hungarian language is complex, but when you hear it around for weeks, Hungarian words no longer seem unpronounceable. It sounds interesting to the ear, I’ve heard from many that it doesn’t resemble anything else, and that’s true. For example, “mama” seems to be an international word, but among the Hungarians it sounds like “anyo”. On the other hand, some words are very reminiscent of Russian ones, for example, “Thursday” will be “chyutertek”, “plum” will be “silva”. Hungarian has many sounds “ch”, “sh”, and others, including those that we do not have, for example, the uniotated “ё”, “yu”. Thank God I studied German, and this is not a problem for me. And yet, maybe this is naive, but I am amazed at how quickly they pronounce these difficult words, some are really full of “ch”, “r”, “sh” through a vowel and the size of half a line. It's all about training, apparently! I am proud that I know, albeit a little, but a few words in this language. It was interesting experience!
Thank you in Hungarian - "koson", hello-bye - "siasto", bon appetit - "ergeshegedre", street - "utsa", pedicure - "pedicure". The language is a mixture of Turkish, Polish and German. Many Hungarians speak English, but more at the level of “you go to the right and again and again.” Many Hungarians do not know their own city: one very tired girl sent us to the city center so that from there we could take the metro three stops to the Göder club. The club stood quietly a five-minute walk from the place where the route was explained.
