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Thephonology of theHungarian language is notable for its process ofvowel harmony, the frequent occurrence ofgeminate consonants and the presence of otherwise uncommonpalatal stops.
This is the standard Hungarian consonantal system, using symbols from theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
| Labial | Dental[2] | Post- alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||||||||
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | c | ɟ* | k | ɡ | ||||
| Affricate | t͡s | d͡z | t͡ʃ | d͡ʒ | ||||||||
| Fricative | f | v | s | z | ʃ | ʒ | h | |||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||||
| Approximant | l | j | ||||||||||
Almost every consonant may begeminated, represented in writing by doubling a single letter grapheme:⟨bb⟩ for[bː],⟨pp⟩ for[pː],⟨ss⟩ for[ʃː] etc., or by doubling the first letter of adigraph:⟨ssz⟩ for[sː],⟨nny⟩ for[ɲː], etc.
The phonemes/d͡z/ and/d͡ʒ/ can occur in spoken language as geminates:bridzs[brid͡ʒː] ('bridge'). (For the list of examples and exceptions, seeHungarian dz anddzs.)
Hungarian orthography, unlike that of the surrounding Slavic languages, does not useháčky or any other consonant diacritics. Instead, the lettersc, s, z are used alone (/t͡s/,/ʃ/,/z/) or combined in the digraphscs,sz,zs (/t͡ʃ/,/s/,/ʒ/), whiley is used only in the digraphsty, gy, ly,ny as a palatalization marker to write the sounds/c/,/ɟ/,/j/ (formerly/ʎ/),/ɲ/.
The most distinctiveallophones are:
| Phoneme | Example | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| /p/ | pipa | /ˈpipɒ/ | 'pipe' |
| /b/ | bot | /bot/ | 'stick' |
| /t/ | toll | /tolː/ⓘ | 'feather' |
| /d/ | dob | /dob/ⓘ | 'throw', 'drum' |
| /k/ | kép | /keːp/ⓘ | 'picture' |
| /ɡ/ | gép | /ɡeːp/ⓘ | 'machine' |
| /f/ | fa | /fɒ/ⓘ | 'tree' |
| /v/ | vág | /vaːɡ/ⓘ | 'cut' |
| /s/ | szó | /soː/ⓘ | 'word' |
| /z/ | zöld | /zøld/ⓘ | 'green' |
| /ʃ/ | só | /ʃoː/ⓘ | 'salt' |
| /ʒ/ | zseb | /ʒɛb/ⓘ | 'pocket' |
| /j/ | jó | /joː/ⓘ | 'good' |
| /h/ | hó | /hoː/ⓘ | 'snow' |
| /t͡s/ | cél | /t͡seːl/ⓘ | 'goal', 'target' |
| /d͡z/ | edző | /ˈɛd͡zːøː/ⓘ | 'coach' |
| /t͡ʃ/ | csak | /t͡ʃɒk/ⓘ | 'only' |
| /d͡ʒ/ | dzsessz | /d͡ʒɛsː/ⓘ | 'jazz' |
| /l/ | ló | /loː/ⓘ | 'horse' |
| /c/ | tyúk | /cuːk/ⓘ | 'hen' |
| /ɟ/ | gyár | /ɟaːr/ⓘ | 'factory' |
| /r/ | ró | /roː/ⓘ | 'carve' |
| /m/ | ma | /mɒ/ⓘ | 'today' |
| /n/ | nem | /nɛm/ⓘ | 'no', 'gender' |
| /ɲ/ | nyár | /ɲaːr/ⓘ | 'summer' |
Hungarian has seven pairs of correspondingshort andlong vowels. Theirphonetic values do not exactly match up with each other, so⟨e⟩ represents/ɛ/ and⟨é⟩ represents/eː/; likewise,⟨a⟩ represents/ɒ/ while⟨á⟩ represents/aː/.[14] For the other pairs, the short vowels are slightly lower and more central, and the long vowels more peripheral:
The sound marked by⟨a⟩ is considered to be[ɒ] by Tamás Szende[13] and[ɔ] by Mária Gósy.[16] Gósy also mentions a different short/a/ that contrasts with both/aː/ and/ɒ/, present in a few words likeSvájc ('Switzerland'),svá ('schwa'),advent ('advent'),hardver ('hardware',[17] this usage is consideredhyperforeign[citation needed] or simply dated), andhalló (used whenanswering the phone; contrasting withhaló 'dying', andháló 'web').
There are two more marginal sounds, namely the long/ɛː/ as well as the long/ɒː/. They are used in the name of the lettersE andA, which are pronounced/ɛː/ and/ɒː/, respectively.[9] The adjectivefair (as 'equitable') is pronounced in Hungarian with/ɛː/ (it may also be short, though). This sound occurs as an alternative inerre 'this way' (instead of doubling the /r/), just like/ɒː/ inarra 'that way'.
The lettere marks two different historical vowels, colloquially called "open e" (nyílt e) and "closed e" (zárt e). The orthography and standard pronunciation do not differentiate between the two, but many dialects do, with various pronunciations for the two vowels such as/æ/ or/ɛ/ for "open e" and/ɛ/ or/e/ for "closed e". In text that wishes to highlight which of the two vowels is used in which place, the lettere is used for "open e" only, while "closed e" is marked withë.[18] There are minimal pairs that are distinguished only by the twoe vowels. For example,mentek could represent four different words:mëntëk ('you all go'),mëntek ('they went'),mentëk ('I save'), andmentek ('they are exempt'). In Standard Hungarian, the first three collapse to[ˈmɛntɛk], while the latter one is unknown, having a different form in the literary language (mentesek).
| Region | e | ë | Example:ember ("person, human") |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeastern, Mezőség, Budapest (standard language) | /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | /ɛmbɛr/ |
| Western (e.g.Veszprém,Zala,Vas) | /æ/ | /ɛ/ | /æmbɛr/ |
| Along theDanube, Tiszántúl | /ɛ/ | /e/ | /ɛmber/ |
| Southern (ë replaced withö) | /ɛ/ | /ø/ | /ɛmbør/ |
| Phoneme | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| /ɒ/ | hat | /hɒt/ⓘ | 'six' |
| (/ɒː/) | a | /ɒː/ⓘ | 'the letter A' |
| (/a/) | Svájc | /ʃvajt͡s/ | 'Switzerland' |
| /aː/ | lát | /laːt/ⓘ | 'see' |
| /o/ | ok | /ok/ⓘ | 'cause' |
| /oː/ | tó | /toː/ⓘ | 'lake' |
| /u/ | fut | /fut/ⓘ | 'run' |
| /uː/ | kút | /kuːt/ⓘ | 'well' |
| /ɛ/ | lesz | /lɛsː/ⓘ | 'will be' |
| (/ɛː/) | e | /ɛː/ⓘ | 'the letter E' |
| /eː/ | rész | /reːs/ⓘ | 'part' |
| /i/ | visz | /vis/ | 'carry' |
| /iː/ | víz | /viːz/ⓘ | 'water' |
| /ø/ | sör | /ʃør/ⓘ | 'beer' |
| /øː/ | bőr | /bøːr/ⓘ | 'skin' |
| /y/ | üt | /yt/ⓘ | 'hit' |
| /yː/ | tűz | /tyːz/ⓘ | 'fire' |
As inFinnish,Turkish, andMongolian,vowel harmony plays an important part in determining the distribution of vowels in a word. Hungarian vowel harmony classifies the vowels according to front vs. back assonance and rounded vs unrounded for the front vowels.[20] Excluding recentloanwords, Hungarian words have either only back vowels or front vowels due to these vowel harmony rules.[20]
While/i/,/iː/,/ɛ/, and/eː/ are all front unrounded vowels, they are considered to be "neutral vowels" in Hungarian vowel harmony.[21] Therefore, if a word contains back vowels, neutral vowels may appear alongside them. However, if only neutral vowels appear in a stem, the stem is treated as though it is of front vowel assonance and all suffixes must contain front vowels.[20]
Vowel harmony in Hungarian is most notable when observing suffixation. Vowel harmony must be maintained throughout the entire word, meaning that most suffixes have variants. For example, the dative case marker[nɒk] vs.[nɛk]. Stems that contain back vowels affix back vowel suffixes, and stems that contain only front vowels affix front vowel suffixes.[20] However, the front vowel stems distinguish rounded vs. unroundedness based on the last vowel in the stem. If the last vowel is front and rounded, it takes a suffix with a front rounded vowel; otherwise it follows the standard rules.[21] While suffixes for most words have front/back vowel variants, there are not many that have rounded/unrounded variants, indicating that this is a rarer occurrence.[21]
One is able to observe the distinction when looking at the plural affix, either[-ok] (back),[-ɛk] (front unrounded), or[-øk] (front rounded).
| Stem | Gloss | Description of stem | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| asztal | table | Only back vowels | asztal-ok |
| gyerek | child | Only neutral (front) vowels, last vowel unrounded. | gyerek-ek |
| füzet | notebook | Only front vowels, last vowel unrounded. | füzet-ek |
| ismerős | acquaintance | Only front vowels, last vowel rounded. | ismerős-ök |
| papír | paper | Back vowel with neutral vowel | papír-ok |
As can be seen above, the neutral vowels are able to be in both front and back vowel assonance words with no consequence.
However, there are about fifty monosyllabic roots that only contain[i],[iː], or[eː] that take a back vowel suffix instead of the front vowel suffix.[22]
| Stem | Gloss | "At" | "From" |
|---|---|---|---|
| híd | bridge | híd-nál | híd-tól |
| cél | aim | cél-nál | cél-tól |
These exceptions to the rule are hypothesized to have originated from roots originally having contained a phoneme no longer present in modern Hungarian, the unrounded back vowel/ɨ/[clarification needed], or its long counterpart/ɨː/. It is theorized that while these vowels merged with/i/ or/iː/, less commonly/eː/ or/uː/, the vowel harmony rules sensitive to the backness of the original sound remained in place.[22] The theory finds support from etymology: related words in other languages generally have back vowels, often specifically unrounded back vowels. For example,nyíl 'arrow' (pluralnyíl-ak) corresponds toKomi ньыл/nʲɨl/, SouthernMansi/nʲʌːl/.
The overall characteristics of the consonantassimilation in Hungarian are the following:[23][24]
In a cluster of consonants ending in an obstruent, all obstruents change their voicing according to the last one of the sequence. The affected obstruents are the following:
| Voiced | Voiceless | Undergoes devoicing | Undergoes voicing | Causes voicing | Causes devoicing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b/b/ | p/p/ | dobtam[ˈdoptɒm] 'I threw (it)' | képzés[ˈkeːbzeːʃ] 'training, forming' | futball[ˈfudbɒlː] 'soccer' | központ[ˈkøspont] 'center' |
| d/d/ | t/t/ | adhat[ˈɒthɒt] 's/he can give' | hétből[ˈheːdbøːl] 'from 7' | csapda[ˈt͡ʃɒbdɒ] | pénztár[ˈpeːnstaːr] 'cash desk' |
| dz/d͡z/ | c/t͡s/ | edzhet[ˈɛt͡shɛt] 's/he can train' | ketrecben[ˈkɛtrɛd͡zbɛn] 'in (a) cage' | alapdzadzíki[ˈɒlɒbd͡zɒd͡ziːki] 'standardtzatziki' | abcúg![ˈɒpt͡suːɡ] 'down with him!' |
| dzs/d͡ʒ/ | cs/t͡ʃ/ | bridzstől[ˈbrit͡ʃtøːl] '(because) of bridge [game of cards]' | ácsból[ˈaːd͡ʒboːl] 'from (a) carpenter' | barackdzsem[ˈbɒrɒd͡zɡd͡ʒɛm] ~[bɒrɒd͡ʒːɛm] 'apricot jam' | távcső[ˈtaːft͡ʃøː] 'telescope' |
| g/ɡ/ | k/k/ | fogtam[ˈfoktɒm] 'I held (it)' | zsákból[ˈʒaːɡboːl] 'out of (a) bag' | állítgat[ˈaːlːiːdɡɒt] 's/he constantly adjusts' | zsebkendő[ˈʒɛpkɛndøː] 'handkerchief' |
| gy/ɟ/ | ty/c/ | ágytól[ˈaːctoːl] 'from (a) bed' | pintyből[ˈpiɲɟbøːl] 'from (a) finch' | gépgyár[ˈɡeːbɟaːr] 'machine factory' | lábtyű[ˈlaːpcyː] 'socks with sleeves for the toes' |
| v/v/ | f/f/ | szívtam[ˈsiːftɒm] 'I smoked/sucked (it)' | széfben[ˈseːvbɛn] 'in (a) safe' | * | lábfej[ˈlaːpfɛj] 'part of the foot below the ankle' |
| z/z/ | sz/s/ | méztől[ˈmeːstøːl] 'from honey' | mészből[ˈmeːzbøːl] 'out of lime' | alapzat[ˈɒlɒbzɒt] 'base(ment)' | rabszolga[ˈrɒpsolɡɒ] 'slave' |
| zs/ʒ/ | s/ʃ/ | rúzstól[ˈruːʃtoːl] 'from lipstick' | hasba[ˈhɒʒbɒ] 'in(to) (the) stomach' | köldökzsinór[ˈkøldøɡʒinoːr] 'umbilical cord' | különbség[ˈkylømpʃeːɡ] ~[ˈkylømʃeːɡ] 'difference' |
| — | h/h/ | — | — | — | adhat[ˈɒthɒt] 's/he can give' |
Nasals assimilate to the place of articulation of the following consonant (even across word boundaries):[26]
Combination of a "palatalizable" consonant and a following palatal consonant results in a palatal geminate. Palatalizable consonants are palatal ones and their non-palatal counterparts:d/d/ ~gy/ɟ/,l/l/ ~ly/j/,n/n/ ~ny/ɲ/,t/t/ ~ty/c/.
Long consonants become short when preceded or followed by another consonant, e.g.folttal[foltɒl] 'by/with (a) patch'[clarification needed],varrtam[vɒrtɒm] 'I sewed'.
The middle alveolar[clarification needed] stops may be omitted in clusters with more than two consonants, depending on speed and articulation of speech:azt hiszem[ɒs‿hisɛm] ~[ɒst‿hisɛm] ~[ɒs‿sɛm] I presume/guess',mindnyájan[miɲːaːjɒn] 'one and all',különbség[kylømpʃeːɡ] ~[kylømʃeːɡ] 'difference'. In morpheme onsets likestr-[ʃtr], middle stops tends to be more stable in educated speech,falanxstratégia[fɒlɒnʃtrɒteːɡiɒ] ~[fɒlɒŋkʃtrɒteːɡiɒ] ~[fɒlɒŋksʃtrɒteːɡiɒ] 'strategy based onphalanxes'.
/l/ also tends to be omitted between a preceding vowel and an adjacent stop or affricate in rapid speech, causing the lengthening of the vowel or diphthongization[example needed] (e.g.volt[voːt] 'was',polgár[ˈpoːɡaːr] 'citizen'). This is quite common in dialectal speech, but considered non-standard in the official language.
Standard Hungarian prefers hiatus between adjacent vowels. However some optional dissolving features can be observed:
The stress is on the first syllable of the word. The articlesa,az,egy, and the particleis are usually unstressed.[29]
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