Mini language lesson #2: Animal names and sayings

Welcome to our second mini session where we try to help you learn some of the nuts and bolts of the Hungarian language with witty learning cards, useful words and funny sayings. This time we take on the topic of animals, which might sound childish at first, but you’ll be surprised at how common animal names are in certain sayings, and also at how interestingly some of them are constructed.

Keep in mind that we are not linguists in any way, we’re just as dazzled by the curiosities of the Hungarian language as foreigners are. So this series doesn’t aim to explain the etymology of words, it’s more of a fun take on our language. We try to bring Hungarian closer to you with witty learning cards made by Daily magyar, a language-enthusiast person, whose posts give an insight into the complexity of the Hungarian grammar. But don’t worry, it’s all done in an easy-going way, so that it can make learning fun.

In the previous article we focused on Hungarian greetings, basic sayings and their slang versions. Now we take a turn and face the beautiful world of animals. Most language courses cover this topic quite early on, because we can encounter names of animals or sayings with animals in our everyday lives, plus thematic learning is always easier. Especially in the case of the Hungarian language, which loves to operate with animal names in different contexts, sayings, expressions etc.

Let’s start with a list of Hungarian-English animal name-pairs. We’re not going into too much detail about species, subspecies etc., but rather focus on basic words you might want to know. You could visit the Budapest Zoo or one of the many zoos all over the country and practice the words by connecting them to the actual animals.

• dog = kutya
• cat = macska
• horse = ló
• lion = oroszlán
• tiger = tigris
• rabbit = nyúl
• fish = hal
• bird = madár
• pig = malac
• cow = tehén
• chicken = csirke
• snake = kígyó
• monkey = majom
• parrot = papagáj
• butterfly = pillangó
• bee = méh
• bear = medve
• elephant = elefánt
• giraffe = zsiráf
• squirrel = mókus

Naturally, the list could go on, but this is probably enough for now. If you’re interested in any other animal related word, you’re more than welcome to leave a comment below.

Now comes the fun part: there are several animal names in the Hungarian language which have literal meanings that are completely different from their commonly used, abstract meanings. These are compound words mostly, or just Hungarian curiosities 🙂

First of all, we have a little table with some of them:

Then, Daily magyar also made fun memes for these animals:

teknősbéka [ˈtɛknøːʃbeːkɑ] – turtle; tortoise

teknő [ˈtɛknøː] – carapace; shell

béka [ˈbeːkɑ] – frog

meztelencsiga [ˈmɛztɛlɛntʃˈiɡɑ] – slug

meztelen [ˈmɛztɛlɛntʃˈiɡɑ] – naked; nude [Literally::: dressless]

csiga [ˈtʃiɡɑ] – snail

víziló [ˈviːziloː] – hippopotamus

vízi [ˈviːzi] – water-; of the water; aquatic; watery

víz [ˈviːz] – water

ló [ˈloː] – horse

szitakötő [ˈsitɑkøtøː] – dragonfly

szita [ˈsitɑ] – sieve

kötni [ˈkøtni]

1) to knit

2) to bind, tie (to attach or fasten with string)

mosómedve [ˈmoʃoːmɛdvɛ] – raccoon

mosó [ˈmoʃoː] – washing