12 facts about the Hungarian language you did not know about
Those who were born Hungarian might not think about the fact that our mother-tongue has some facts we, Hungarians, might not be familiar with. And for those who hear the language for the first time, these are more interesting than ever.
Read alsoDid you know?! – 10 surprising facts about the Hungarian language
Magyarországom writes about twelve facts not many people are aware of.
#12 One of the hardest languages in the world
Of course, for mother-tongue speakers learning a language is a piece of cake, but for foreigners, it can cause a headache, especially if we are talking about Hungarian.
#11 The number of Hungarian-speakers
Only 13 million people around the world speak Hungarian, in Hungary, 9.7 million (2019).
#10 Our letters cause confusions
For foreign people, letters like ty, cs, dzs are never-seen characters.
#9 Its longest word
Hungarians like to scare people who would like to learn the Hungarian-language. Are you ready?
megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért
And what does it mean? Even we, Hungarians do not know…
#8 There is more
With the Hungarian letters and using the grammatical forms and practices, in theory, we can create words with 100 characters, but these would not make any sense.
#7 Fourteen strange letters
Hungarian-language has fourteen vowels. While the English-language and many other only use a, e, i, o, u, Hungarians also have á, é, ű, ü, ó…
#6 Its origins
According to historical studies, the Hungarian-language comes from Asia, from the Ural mountains. It is part of the Finnugor-family which results in the many similarities between Finnish and Hungarian.
#5 Which comes first and last?
In Hungarian-language, words in one sentence can be organised in many ways. For example, Tegnap elmentem a boltba (I went to the supermarket yesterday) means the same if I say: Elmentem tegnap a boltba, Tegnap a boltba mentem, Boltba mentem tegnap…
tegnap = yesterday / elmentem = I went / a = definite article / boltba = to the supermarket (bolt = supermarket, shop)
#4 Ancient roots in America
Scientists have been working on solving the mystery of the Runic Stone at the Yarmouth County Museum which is a huge stone piece with many languages written on it, and some say, Hungarian is also found on the stone…
#3 It takes care of itself
Languages change all the time as new words and expressions are born, but Hungarian-language still has 68% of its traditional words and expressions.
#2 We have two words for red
Piros and vörös. Vörös is darker, and piros is lighter. But sometimes we just say, yes, that is red and that is all.
#1 What is your name?
Hello, my name is John Smith. Hello, I am Varga Dávid. Call me David. In Hungarian-language the names are in a different order.
Featured image: Youtube
The Hungarian language is thriving and in its prime
The We are Social media agency from London presented its annual study regarding the situation of the media. This report included the global standards and statistics of each countries’ habits of using digital platforms. Képmás reported that it is no surprise that the average time of using smartphones increased (especially using social media platforms), and people are participating in the phenomenon of messaging (sending real-time messages) more often. The most important social media platforms are Facebook and YouTube, and even countries with poor Internet coverage try to keep up with social media.
6 Comments
Residents we are of this blessed and beautiful country and of it’s warm and inviting citizens.
Made a deal with our Hungarian neighbours, if they teach me (1) one new Hungarian word, that I will teach them (10) ten new English words.
Progress is SLOW on my side but they are doing better than I with English.
Stay Well – ALL.
#10 Our letters cause confusions For foreign people, letters like ty, cs, dzs are never-seen characters.
Fact Check 1: two letters that are used in pairs are called Digraphs NOT characters.
Fact Check 2: the Digraph ty is common in the english language.
Fact Check 3: the english language has a number of Digraphs that are totally alien to Hungarians who have not studied the language. These include sh, ch, th, wh, ck, ph, ng.
#Gary. ‘it’s warm and inviting citizens.’ . You must have a mightily developed sense of humour or rose tinted spectacles. Generally, they are only very friendly when they are trying to screw money out you. Period.
#9 Its longest word:
According to DictZone.com, ‘megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért’ means ‘for your undesecratable deeds’.
Paulus… that’s a little crude and harsh, so take a look at your own country as well, since there are some bad apples everywhere.
I am happy to have found this article. As an Australian, I lived in Budapest for 15 years – 1997 to 2012 – raising 3 kids and living as a local. Yes, I learnt the language and still speak it – even after being back in Australia for over 8 years. People are amazed when they hear me – and I say – well yes, it is the (I believe) 2nd hardest language in the world to learn – the first being Mandarin. And the best way to learn a language is to be entrenched in it with kids at local schools and living life. Happy days!