Soft Consonants I

Hungarian Alphabet 1

Chapter 15 · The Soft Consonants I: GY and TY

🔤 The Soft Consonants — gy ty

Hungarian has four "soft" consonants, written gy, ty, ny, ly. They're made with the middle of the tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth, a position English doesn't use as its own sound. Today you'll meet the first two, gy and ty, which appear in some of the most common Hungarian words, including magyar ("Hungarian") and egy ("one"). By the end, you'll be able to say Magyar vagyok: "I am Hungarian".

✨ Two New Letters

Gy gy

a soft "dy", like the "d" in duke as many Scottish speakers say it ("dyuke")

respelled dy

Mouth tip: say "d" and "y" together as one quick sound, with the middle of the tongue pressed up against the roof of the mouth. It is one letter: nagy is NAWDY, not "nag-y".

Ty ty

a soft "ty", like the "t" in tune as many Scottish speakers say it ("tyune")

respelled ty

Mouth tip: the unvoiced partner of gy: the same tongue position, but no buzz. It is also one letter: kutya is KU-tyaw.

A Good Model for Scottish Speakers Many Scottish speakers say tune as "tyune" and duke as "dyuke", keeping a small "y" glide after the consonant. That is almost exactly the Hungarian ty and gy. If your accent doesn't do this, try "did you" and "got you" said fast, as in "didja" and "gotcha", and slow the middle down: that's the zone.

gy Is Not g + y Compare ág (AHG, "branch") with ágy (AHDY, "bed"). The extra y changes the sound completely: gy is a different letter, not g followed by y. The same is true of ty (not t + y), ny and ly.

📖 Read It — New Words

You can read all of these. Stress is on the first syllable.

#	Hungarian	Say it	English	Note
1	nagy	NAWDY	big; great	gy
2	egy	EHDY	one; a, an	gy
3	hegy	HEHDY	mountain	gy
4	magyar	MAW-dyawr	Hungarian (person or language)	gy in the middle
5	gyerek	DYEH-rehk	child	gy at the start
6	ágy	AHDY	bed	long á, then gy
7	gyár	DYAHR	factory	gy, long á
8	gyors	DYORSH	fast	s = sh
9	kutya	KU-tyaw	dog	ty
10	tyúk	TYOOK	hen	ty + long ú
11	hattyú	HAWT-tyoo	swan	tty = a long ty
12	gyertya	DYEHR-tyaw	candle	gy and ty together

Doubled Soft Consonants A doubled soft consonant keeps the pattern from Chapter 2 and writes only the first letter twice: the long ty in hattyú is spelled tty, and a long gy is ggy. (Not "tyty".) You hold the sound for an extra beat. Chapter 18 returns to this.

🗣️ Your First "I Am…" — Magyar vagyok

With gy in hand, you can say who you are. Hungarian uses vagyok ("I am") and vagy ("you are"), and it doesn't need the word for "I" or "you".

Hungarian	Say it	English
Magyar vagyok.	MAW-dyawr VAW-dyok.	I am Hungarian.
Magyar vagy?	MAW-dyawr VAWDY?	Are you Hungarian?
Nem vagyok magyar.	NEHM VAW-dyok MAW-dyawr.	I am not Hungarian.
Tanár vagyok.	TAW-nahr VAW-dyok.	I am a teacher.

Real Hungarian Tip — Magyarország Magyar means "Hungarian" (the people and the language), and ország (OR-sahg) means "country", so Magyarország (MAW-dyawr-or-sahg) is "Hungary", literally "the land of the Magyars". The English word "Hungary" comes from a different root, which is why the two names look so unalike.

🔢 Numbers Readable So Far

Number	Hungarian	Say it	Note
0	nulla	NUL-law	Chapter 3
1	egy	EHDY	new today
2	kettő · két	KEHT-teuu · KAYT	két before a noun
3	három	HAH-rom	long á
5	öt	EUT	Chapter 6
6	hat	HAWT	Chapter 6
7	hét	HAYT	Chapter 4
9	kilenc	KIH-lehnts	c = ts
10	tíz	TEEZ	Chapter 5

The missing numbers, 4 (négy) and 8 (nyolc), use the letter ny, which is next chapter.

💬 Mini-Dialogs

① A Big Dog — Nagy a kutya?

A: Mi ez? MIH EHZ? What is this?

B: Ez a kutya. EHZ aw KU-tyaw. This is the dog.

A: Nagy? NAWDY? Is it big?

B: Igen, nagy! IH-gehn, NAWDY! Yes, big!

② Where Is the Child? — Hol a gyerek?

A: Hol a gyerek? HOL aw DYEH-rehk? Where is the child?

B: Az ágyban. awz AHDY-bawn. In bed.

A: És a kutya? AYSH aw KU-tyaw? And the dog?

B: A kertben. aw KEHRT-behn. In the garden.

③ Are You Hungarian? — Magyar vagy?

A: Magyar vagy? MAW-dyawr VAWDY? Are you Hungarian?

B: Igen, magyar vagyok. IH-gehn, MAW-dyawr VAW-dyok. Yes, I am Hungarian.

A: Jó! YOH! Good!

Review: Chapter 14 — Days Cover the English and read the week aloud: hétfő · kedd · szerda · csütörtök · péntek · szombat · vasárnap. Then say "on Monday" and "on Saturday": hétfőn · szombaton.

✍️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlatok

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. What sounds do gy and ty make?

Show answer

A soft "dy" and a soft "ty", made with the middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth, like the "d" in duke and the "t" in tune with a "y" glide.

2. Read aloud and translate: nagy · egy · hegy

Show answer

NAWDY (big) · EHDY (one) · HEHDY (mountain)

3. Read aloud and translate: kutya · tyúk · hattyú

Show answer

KU-tyaw (dog) · TYOOK (hen) · HAWT-tyoo (swan)

4. How do ág and ágy differ in sound and meaning?

Show answer

AHG means "branch" (a hard g); AHDY means "bed" (the soft gy).

5. Say "I am Hungarian" and "Are you Hungarian?"

Show answer

Magyar vagyok. · Magyar vagy?

6. Count in Hungarian: 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10.

Show answer

egy · öt · hat · hét · kilenc · tíz

Coming Up in Chapter 16 The other two soft consonants: ny (like the "ny" in canyon or Spanish ñ) and ly (which is pronounced exactly like j, a "y"). You'll then be able to say 4 and 8 (négy, nyolc), and read anya (mother) and nyár (summer).