Hungarian phonology

The phonology of the Hungarian language is notable for its process of vowel harmony, the frequent occurrence of geminate consonants and the presence of otherwise uncommon palatal stops.

Consonants

This is the Hungarian consonantal system, using symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

Consonant phonemes of Hungarian[1]
Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ
Stop p b t d c͡ç ɟ͡ʝ* k ɡ
Affricate t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative f v s z ʃ ʒ h
Trill r
Approximant l j

Almost every consonant may be geminated, written by doubling a single letter grapheme: bb for [bː], pp for [pː], ss for [ʃː] etc., or by doubling the first letter of a grapheme cluster: ssz for [sː], nny for [ɲː], etc.

The phonemes /d͡z/ and /d͡ʒ/ can appear on the surface as geminates: bridzs [brid͡ʒː] ('bridge (the card game)'). (For the list of examples and exceptions, see Hungarian dz and dzs.)

Hungarian orthography does not use háčky or any other consonant diacritics like the surrounding Slavic languages. Instead, the letters c, s, z are used alone (/t͡s/, /ʃ/, /z/) or combined in the digraphs cs, sz, zs (/t͡ʃ/, /s/, /ʒ/), while y is used only in the digraphs ty, gy, ly, ny as a palatalization marker to write the sounds /c͡ç/, /ɟ͡ʝ/, /j/ (formerly /ʎ/), /ɲ/.

The most distinctive allophones are:

Examples[1]
Phoneme Example
/p/ pipa /ˈpipɒ/ 'pipe'
/b/ bot /bot/ 'stick'
/t/ toll  /tol/  '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'
/c͡ç/ tyúk /c͡çuːk/ 'hen'
/ɟ͡ʝ/ gyár  /ɟ͡ʝaːr/  'factory'
/ɲ/ ró  /roː/  'carve'
/m/ ma  /mɒ/  'today'
/n/ nem  /nɛm/  'no', 'gender'
/ɲ/ nyár /ɲaːr/ 'summer'

Vowels

The vowel phonemes of Hungarian[11]

Hungarian has seven pairs of corresponding short and long vowels. Their phonetic 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/.[12] 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[14] and [ɔ] by Mária Gósy.[15] Gósy also mentions a different short /ɡ/ that contrasts with both /aː/ and /ɒ/, present in a few words like Svájc ('Switzerland'), svá ('schwa'), advent ('advent'), hardver ('hardware', this usage is considered hyperforeign),[16] and halló (used when answering the phone; contrasting with haló 'dying', and háló '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 letters E and A, which are pronounced /ɛː/ and /ɒː/, respectively.[8]

Although not found in Budapest, some dialects contrast three mid vowels /e/ (written ë in some works, but not in the standard orthography), /ɛ/, and /eː/.[17] Thus mentek could represent four different words: mëntëk [mentek] ('you all go'), mëntek [mentɛk] ('they went'), mentëk [mɛntek] ('I save'), and mentek [mɛntɛk] ('they are exempt'). In Budapest, the first three collapse to [mɛntɛk], while the latter one is unknown, having a different form in the literary language (mentesek).

Examples[14]
Phoneme Example
/ɒ/ hat  /hɒt/  'six'
(/ɒː/) a  /ɒː/  'the letter A'
(/ɡ/) 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  /lɛs/  'become'
(/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'

Vowel harmony

A Venn diagram of Hungarian vowel harmony, featuring front rounded vowels, front unrounded vowels ("neutral" vowels), and back vowels.

As in Finnish, Turkish, or Mongolian, 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.[18] Excluding recent loanwords, Hungarian words have either only back vowels or front vowels due to these vowel harmony rules.[18]

Hungarian vowel harmony[18]
Front Back
unrounded rounded back
Close i y u
Mid ɛ ø øː o
Open ɒ

While [i], [iː], [ɛ], and [eː] are all front unrounded vowels, they are considered to be "neutral vowels" in Hungarian vowel harmony.[19] 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.[18]

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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[19]

One is able to observe the distinction when looking at the plural affix, either [-ok] (back), [-ɛk] (front unrounded), or -ök [-øk] (front rounded).

Hungarian vowel harmony and suffixation[19]
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 all take a back vowel suffix instead of the front vowel suffix.[20]

Irregular suffixation[20]
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 the roots originally having contained a phoneme no longer present in modern Hungarian, the unrounded back vowel /h/, 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.[20] The theory finds support from etymology: related words in other languages generally have back vowels, often specifically unrounded back vowels. For example, nyíl 'arrow' (plural nyíl-ak) corresponds to Komi ньыл /nʲɨl/, Southern Mansi /nʲʌːl/.

Assimilation

The overall characteristics of the consonant assimilation in Hungarian are the following:[21][22]

Voice assimilation

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 [doptɒm] 'I threw (it)' pzés [keːbzeːʃ] 'training, forming' futball [fudbɒlː] 'soccer' központ [køspont] 'center'
d [d] t [t] adhat [ɒthɒt] 's/he can give' tből [heːdbøːl] 'from 7' csapda [t͡ʃɒbdɒ] pénztár [peːnstaːr] 'cash desk'
dz [d͡z] c [t͡s] edzhet [ɛt͡shɛt] 's/he can train' ketrecben [kɛtrɛd͡zbɛn] 'in (a) cage' alapdzadzíki [ɒlɒbd͡zɒd͡ziːki] 'standard tzatziki' abcúg! [ɒpt͡suːɡ] 'down with him!'
dzs [d͡ʒ] cs [t͡ʃ] bridzstől [brit͡ʃtøːl] '(because) of bridge [game of cards]' ácsból [aːd͡ʒboːl] 'from (a) carpenter' barackdzsem [bɒrɒd͡zɡd͡ʒɛm] ~ [bɒrɒd͡ʒːɛm] 'apricot jam' távcső [taːft͡ʃøː] 'telescope'
g [ɡ] k [k] fogtam [foktɒm] 'I held (it)' zsákból [ʒaːɡboːl] 'out of (a) bag' állítgat [aːlːiːdɡɒt] 's/he constantly adjusts' zsebkendő [ʒɛpkɛndøː] 'handkerchief'
gy [ɟ] ty [c] ágytól [aːctoːl] 'from (a) bed' pintyből [piɲɟbøːl] 'fom (a) finch' gépgyár [ɡeːbɟaːr] 'machine factory' lábtyű [laːpcyː] 'socks with sleeves for the toes'
v [v] f [ɦ] szívtam [siːftɒm] 'I smoked/sucked (it)' széfben [seːvbɛn] 'in (a) safe' * lábfej [laːpfɛj] 'part of the foot below the ankle'
z [z] sz [s] ztől [meːstøːl] 'from honey' szből [meːzbøːl] 'out of lime' alapzat [ɒlɒbzɒt] 'base(ment)' rabszolga [rɒpsolɡɒ] 'slave'
zs [ʒ] s [ʃ] zstól [ruːʃtoːl] 'from lipstick' hasba [hɒʒbɒ] 'in(to) (the) stomach' köldökzsinór [køldøɡʒinoːr] 'umbilical cord' különbség [kylømpʃeːɡ] ~ [kylømʃeːɡ] 'difference'
h [h] adhat [ɒthɒt] 's/he can give'

Nasal place assimilation

Nasals assimilate to the place of articulation of the following consonant (even across word boundaries):[24]

Sibilant assimilation

Palatal assimilation

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: gy [ɟ] ~ d [d], l [l] ~ j [j], n [n] ~ ny [ɲ], ty [c] ~ t [t].

Degemination

Long consonants become short when preceded or followed by another consonant, e.g. folttal [foltɒl] 'by/with (a) patch', varrtam [vɒrtɒm] 'I sewed'.

Intercluster elision

The middle alveolar stops may be omitted in clusters with more than two consonants, depending on speed and articulation of speech: azt hiszem [ɒs‿hisɛm] ~ [ɒst‿hisɛm] 'I presume/guess', mindnyájan [miɲːaːjɒn] 'one and all', különbség [kylømpʃeːɡ] ~ [kylømʃeːɡ] 'difference'. In morpheme onsets like str- [ʃtr], middle stops tends to be more stable in educated speech, falanxstratégia [fɒlɒnʃtrɒteːɡiɒ] ~ [fɒlɒŋkʃtrɒteːɡiɒ] ~ [fɒlɒŋksʃtrɒteːɡiɒ] 'strategy based on phalanxes'.

Elision of [l]

/l/ also tends to be omitted between a preceding vowel and an adjacent stop or affricate rapid speech, causing the lengthening of the vowel or diphthongization (e.g. volt [voːt] 'was', polgár [ˈpoːɡaːr] 'citizen'). This is considered non-standard.

Hiatus

Standard Hungarian allows (prefers) hiatus between adjacent vowels. However some optional dissolving features can be observed:

Stress

The stress is on the first syllable of the word. The articles a, az, egy, and the particle is are usually unstressed.[27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Szende (1994:91)
  2. 1 2 Gósy (2004:74)
  3. Szende
  4. Gósy (2004:136)
  5. Siptár & Törkenczy (2007:205)
  6. Gósy (2004:77, 130)
  7. 1 2 Szende (1994:93)
  8. Gósy (2004:77, 161)
  9. Gósy (2004:161)
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Szende (1994:92)
  11. Short a is slightly rounded [ɒ] in the standard language, though some dialects exhibit an unrounded version closer to [ɑ] (Vago (1980:1)).
  12. Kráľ (1988:92)
  13. 1 2 Szende (1994:92)
  14. Gósy (2004:62, 67–70)
  15. Gósy (2004:66–67)
  16. Vago (1980:1)
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Rounds (2001:10)
  18. 1 2 3 4 Rounds (2001:11)
  19. 1 2 3 Vago (1976:244)
  20. Miklós Törkenczy: Practical Hungarian Grammar. A compact guide to the basics of Hungarian Grammar. Corvina, 2002. pp. 9-12. ISBN 963-13-5131-9
  21. A magyar helyesírás szabályai. 11.kiadás, 12. lenyomat. Akadémiai Kiadó, 1984-2000. pp. 26-30. ISBN 963-05-7735-6
  22. 1 2 3 Vago (1980:35)
  23. Vago (1980:33, 36)
  24. Vago (1980:36)
  25. Rounds (2009:8)

Bibliography

  • Gósy, Mária (2004), Fonetika, a beszéd tudománya ('Phonetics, the Study of Speech'), Budapest: Osiris, ISBN 963-389-666-5 
  • Kráľ, Ábel (1988), Pravidlá slovenskej výslovnosti, Bratislava: Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo 
  • Rounds, Carol (2001), "Vowel harmony", Hungarian : An Essential Grammar, Routledge, ISBN 9780415226127 
  • Rounds, Carol (2009), Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed.), New York: Routledge, ISBN 0-203-88619-4 
  • Siptár, Péter; Törkenczy, Miklós (2007), The Phonology of Hungarian, The Phonology of the World's Languages, Oxford University Press 
  • Szende, Tamás (1994), "Illustrations of the IPA: Hungarian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 24 (2): 91–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005090 
  • Vago, Robert M. (1980), The Sound Pattern of Hungarian, Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press 
  • Vago, Robert M. (1976), "Theoretical Implications of Hungarian Vowel Harmony", Linguistic Inquiry, 7 (2): 243–63, JSTOR 4177921 

External links

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