You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
138 lines
14 KiB
138 lines
14 KiB
<!doctype html> |
|
<html> |
|
<head> |
|
<meta charset="utf-8"> |
|
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> |
|
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> |
|
<title>My Learning Website</title> |
|
<link href="/styles/styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> |
|
<link href="/hungary/styles/styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> |
|
<!-- HTML5 shim and Respond.js for IE8 support of HTML5 elements and media queries --> |
|
<!-- WARNING: Respond.js doesn't work if you view the page via file:// --> |
|
<!--[if lt IE 9]> |
|
<script src="https://oss.maxcdn.com/html5shiv/3.7.2/html5shiv.min.js"></script> |
|
<script src="https://oss.maxcdn.com/respond/1.4.2/respond.min.js"></script> |
|
<![endif]--> |
|
</head> |
|
<body> |
|
|
|
<div class="banner"> |
|
<h1 class="courselink">The Hungarian Language</h1> |
|
<h2 class="lecturer">Philip Osztromok</h2> |
|
<h2 class="episodetitle">The Alphabet</h2> |
|
</div> |
|
|
|
<article> |
|
<h2 class="sectiontitle">44 Letters</h2> |
|
<p>This may seem quite strange to most Europeans because if you look at a text in Hungarian, it seems to be using the same Roman alphabet that is used in most European languages, but unlike French, or German, Hungarians think of their alphabet in a slightly different way so a and á are seen as different letters. But Hungarian takes this a little bit further and considers sz, for instance, to be a separate letter. This would be equivalent of an English speaker seeing th as a letter separate to either t or h, and this does make sense because it doesn't sound like either.</p> |
|
<p>The main advantage of this is that Hungarian doesn't really mix up letters in the same way that other languages do to represent a different sound. You can see this in other letters, particularly vowels where other languages use a variety of different vowels to represent different vowel sounds. In Hungarian, every letter has its own sound and so it always sounds the same and this means that if you learn the alphabet, you should then be able to pronounce any word correctly.</p> |
|
<p>Let's just dive in and see what these letters are.</p> |
|
<section id="letters"> |
|
<span class="alphabet"> A a</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Aw, what a pity. This letter looks like an A but it is actually pronounced more like aw or like the a in what.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">Á á</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">This is more like what we consider a straightforward a sound in English so it is like the a in cat.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">B b</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">This is an easy one. It looks and sounds like a b as in bend.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">C c</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">That's a surprise. The letter c in Hungarian doesn't sound like a c in English, it's actaully pronounced ts as in that's or it's.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">CS cs</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">This is where the Hungarian alphabet starts to get a little bit challenging for non-Hungarians. Cs together is pronounced like ch in English, as in challenging.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">D d</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Doh! Even Homer could get this one right, Hungarians pronounce the d in the same way we do, so like the d in doh!</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">DZ dz</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Ye gads! There isn't quite an eqiuvlant to this letter in English. It is similar to the ds in gads. This sound is common at the end of an English word although I can't think of any example where it is used elsewhere in a word. If you say something like reds away in English, you do get a smiliar effect but the ds sound in Hungarian uses, I think, a slightly softer d sound and this gives more of an impression that it is a single letter.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">DZS dzs</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Jam! The letter dzs is like the letter j in jam, or like the letter g in manager, but I believe that it is only used in imported words rather than words that are native to the Hungarian language.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">E e</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">This is another easy one, in Hungarian, e is pronounced like the e in bed.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">É é</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Eh, what's that? É is pronounced like the a in ray.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">F f</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Ah, the F word, it isn't a Hungarian word but the f is pronounced the same so like the f in face.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">G g</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Good grief! This is letter that is pronounced differently in different English words and sometimes even in the same word (I'm looking at you garage - although the pronunciation of that second g is something that even English speakers can't always agree on). For Hungarians, the letter is pronounced like either g in Good Grief!</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">GY gy</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Garage? Some people do pronounce the second g in garage in a very similar way to this, but there isn't really an exact equivalent in English. It is pronounced more like the d in durable so it has that kind of y sound at the end. I think that for English speakers, if you think of the name Julie having more of a d sound so you want to put your tongue behind your front teeth as though you were saying d and before you release, try to say the name Julie and you should get pretty close to the correct sound.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">H h</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Howzat! You may have gathered that Hungarians don't use the h to change the sound of a letter as we do in English when we add it to s, t, c or p. In Hungarian, it's always propnounced like the h in howzat, or indeed Hungarian!</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">I i</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">It! I is a very short sound like the i in bit.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">Í í</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Ee, a Geordie would recognise this sound! It's a little bit like the ee in meet but it doesn't have that strong y sound at the end.</p></div> |
|
|
|
<span class="alphabet">J j</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Y. The letter Y does exist in the Hungarian language, along with Q, W and X, but none of these letters exist in native Hungarian words. Whenever you see them in Hungarian, you can safely assume that these are words that Hungarian has adopted from another language. The Hungarians use the letter j to represent the same sound consontatal sound that English uses a y for so it is like the y in you.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">K k</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">The kicking c. In English, the sound of a k is the same as a c as in cat. Hungarian never uses the letter c for this sound, so k is like the c in cat and you might say that the c always kicks in Hungarian!</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">L l</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Lovely. Another letter that sounds the same in Hungarian as it does in English so l is like the l in lovely (either one)!</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">LY ly</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Yet another. In Hungarianm, it is unusual to see two letters that are even sometimes pronounced the same as we have with c and k, but this is an exception. Ly is pronounced like y in you so it is the same as the Hungarian j. Actually, this way of pronouncing j is quite common, I think, in other European languages, don't you agree - ja, of course you do. I would guess that Hungarian adopted the letter from anouther language, possibly German, and that's why we have two letters with the same sound.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">M m</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Marvellous. Another letter that Hungarians pronounce just like we do so like the m in marvellous!</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">N n</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">And another. Like the n in and. Also like the n in another.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">NY ny</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Like the leter gy, this one also doesn't really have an exact match in English. I's similar to the ny sound in annual but it is pronounced more like a single sound so the ny sound in onion is a little closer. A closer equivalent is probably the ñ sound from Spanish as in mañana. The closest we come to this in English is probably the child-like nyah as in nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">O o</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">This is actually quite similar to the a in Hungarian but it is much shorter, similar to the o in paw, but it's almost as though you are cutting the sound of half way so it is a little bot more like the o in pot.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">Ó ó</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">You might have notice something of a pattern with the acute accent in Hungarian. It make the vowel sound that little bit longer and often strays into a consonant sound. In this case, the ó is simliar to the a in paw but more rounded like the o in or, but just a little bit longer.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">Ö ö</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">A little bit like the o in polite but you want to purse your lips a little which gives you a sound similar to the vowel sound in the French le.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">Ő ő</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">A little bit like the o in polite but longer and without a w sound at the end.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">P p</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Perfect. P is pronounced the same way in Hungarian as in English so similiar to the p in perfect (or pronunced).</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">R r</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Really. This is pronounced similarly in both English and Hungarian, but the Hungarian sound is quite distinctive. So, like the r in really but with a clear rolling or trilling sound. Actually, it's probably quite similar to the the way an English speaker would pronounce the r in really when they are being saracastic!</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">S s</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">The letter s in Hungarian can be confusing for English speakers who expect it to be similar to the s in English. It is, in fact, equivalent to the sh in English, so not like the s in yes, but like the sh in English.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">SZ sz</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Again, the letter sz can be confusing for English speakers who expect the combination to have some sort of exotic sound. It is actually equivalent to the s in English so you can simply ignore the z and it would be pronounced as expected. Like the s in yes. Incidentally, sz is the only distinctively Hungarian letter in the name of this website, osztromok.com.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">T t</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">The letter t is another that is simliar to the English letter, but slightly different. Hungarians pronounce the letter t like the t in pot, but the tongue is slightly further forward, just behing the front teeth giving a slightly sharper, almost hissing sound.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">TY ty</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">This is similar to the sound the letter t makes in the word nature, but at the same time, it is a distinctively Hungarian sounding letter, made by pressing the tongue against the palate to give a sharper t sound.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">U u</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Our last vowel, u in Hungarian is like the u in put but with slightly more rounded lips.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">Ú ú</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">This is similar to the oo sound in soon, but doesn't have the w sound that we tend to add to it in English.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">Ü ü</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">This is similar to the i in sit, but again the tongue is slightly further forward and the lips are pursed. The result is actually quite similar to the u sound from tu in French.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">Ű ű</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Similar to the letter ü but twice as long.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">V v</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Lovely. In Hungarian, the v is pronounced like the v in vet or lovely.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">Z z</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Zany. Just like the letter z in the English word, zany.</p></div> |
|
<span class="alphabet">ZS zs</span> |
|
<div><p class="pronounce">Just like the sz, the letter zs can be confusing for English speakers. There is no equivalent letter in English, but it is similar to the way the letter s is sounded in a word like pleasure or leisure.</p></div> |
|
</section> |
|
<p>As in English, Hungarian uses double letters to make a consonant sound a little bit longer although the effect in Hungarian is more consistent and maybe a little bit longer so when pronouncing a word, it should be clear to the listener that there is a double letter and you will come across words with different meanings where their only difference is that one of the words has a double letter and the other doesn't. As such, you should pay particular attention to learning the pronunciation of words that do have a double letter.</p> |
|
<p>For letters such as SZ or TY and so on, in terms of spelling, a double letter only duplicates the first letter. So, is English a double S is SS. In Hungarian, rembering that the Hungarian letter SZ is equivalent to the English S, the equivalent to a double is is SSZ. This applies to all the letters in Hungarian that are made up of two or three characters, including the letter DSZ, where the double letter is DDSZ.</p> |
|
<p>In producing these, notes, I relied quite heavily on my text book, 'Get Started in Hungarian' by Zsuzsa Ponitfex.</p> |
|
<p>In the next episode, we will start to look at some Hungarian words.</p> |
|
</article> |
|
<br><br> |
|
<div class="btngroup"> |
|
<button class="previous" onclick="window.location.href='history.html';"> |
|
Previous: A Brief History of the Hungarian Language |
|
</button> |
|
<button class="next" onclick="window.location.href='basicwords.html';"> |
|
Basic Words |
|
</button> |
|
<button class="coursebutton" onclick="window.location.href='language.html'"> |
|
The Hungarian Language |
|
</button> |
|
<button class="webdevbutton" onclick="window.location.href='/hungary/hungary.html'"> |
|
Hungary |
|
</button> |
|
<button class="homebutton" onclick="window.location.href='/index.html'"> |
|
Home |
|
</button> |
|
</div> |
|
|
|
</body> |
|
</html> |