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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.
This is the standard Hungarian consonantal system, using symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
| Labial | Dental [2] | Post- alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||||||||
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | c | ɟ * | 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'). (For the list of examples and exceptions, see Hungarian dz and dzs.)
Hungarian orthography, unlike that of the surrounding Slavic languages, does not use háčky or any other consonant diacritics. 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 /c/, /ɟ/, /j/ (formerly /ʎ/), /ɲ/.
The most distinctive allophones are:
| Phoneme | Example | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| /p/ | pipa | /ˈpipɒ/ | 'pipe' |
| /b/ | bot | /bot/ | 'stick' |
| /t/ | toll | ⓘ | 'feather' |
| /d/ | dob | ⓘ | 'throw', 'drum' |
| /k/ | kép | ⓘ | 'picture' |
| /ɡ/ | gép | ⓘ | 'machine' |
| /f/ | fa | ⓘ | 'tree' |
| /v/ | vág | ⓘ | 'cut' |
| /s/ | szó | ⓘ | 'word' |
| /z/ | zöld | ⓘ | 'green' |
| /ʃ/ | só | ⓘ | 'salt' |
| /ʒ/ | zseb | ⓘ | 'pocket' |
| /j/ | jó | ⓘ | 'good' |
| /h/ | hó | ⓘ | 'snow' |
| /t͡s/ | cél | ⓘ | 'goal', 'target' |
| /d͡z/ | edző | ⓘ | 'coach' |
| /t͡ʃ/ | csak | ⓘ | 'only' |
| /d͡ʒ/ | dzsessz | ⓘ | 'jazz' |
| /l/ | ló | ⓘ | 'horse' |
| /c/ | tyúk | ⓘ | 'hen' |
| /ɟ/ | gyár | ⓘ | 'factory' |
| /r/ | ró | ⓘ | 'carve' |
| /m/ | ma | ⓘ | 'today' |
| /n/ | nem | ⓘ | 'no', 'gender' |
| /ɲ/ | nyár | ⓘ | 'summer' |
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/. [14] 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 [13] and [ ɔ ] by Mária Gósy. [16] Gósy also mentions a different short /a/ 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), [17] 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. [9]
Although not found in Standard Hungarian, some dialects contrast three mid vowels /ɛ/, /eː/, and /e/, with the latter being written ⟨ë⟩ in some works, but not in the standard orthography. [18] Thus mentek could represent four different words: mëntëk[ˈmentek] ('you all go'), mëntek[ˈmentɛk] ('they went'), mentëk[ˈmɛntek] ('I save'), and mentek[ˈmɛntɛk] ('they are exempt'). In Standard Hungarian, the first three collapse to [ˈmɛntɛk], while the latter one is unknown, having a different form in the literary language (mentesek).
| Phoneme | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| /ɒ/ | hat | ⓘ | 'six' |
| (/ɒː/) | a | ⓘ | 'the letter A' |
| (/a/) | Svájc | /ʃvajt͡s/ | 'Switzerland' |
| /aː/ | lát | ⓘ | 'see' |
| /o/ | ok | ⓘ | 'cause' |
| /oː/ | tó | ⓘ | 'lake' |
| /u/ | fut | ⓘ | 'run' |
| /uː/ | kút | ⓘ | 'well' |
| /ɛ/ | lesz | ⓘ | 'will be' |
| (/ɛː/) | e | ⓘ | 'the letter E' |
| /eː/ | rész | ⓘ | 'part' |
| /i/ | visz | /vis/ | 'carry' |
| /iː/ | víz | ⓘ | 'water' |
| /ø/ | sör | ⓘ | 'beer' |
| /øː/ | bőr | ⓘ | 'skin' |
| /y/ | üt | ⓘ | 'hit' |
| /yː/ | tűz | ⓘ | 'fire' |
As in Finnish, Turkish, and 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. [19] Excluding recent loanwords, Hungarian words have either only back vowels or front vowels due to these vowel harmony rules. [19]
While /i/, /iː/, /ɛ/, and /eː/ are all front unrounded vowels, they are considered to be "neutral vowels" in Hungarian vowel harmony. [20] 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. [19]
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. [19] 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. [20] 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. [20]
One is able to observe the distinction when looking at the plural affix, either [-ok] (back), [-ɛk] (front unrounded), or [-øk] (front rounded).
| 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 take a back vowel suffix instead of the front vowel suffix. [21]
| 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 roots originally having contained a phoneme no longer present in modern Hungarian, the unrounded back vowel /ɨ/[ clarification needed ], 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. [21] 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/.
The overall characteristics of the consonant assimilation in Hungarian are the following: [22] [23]
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 [ˈdoptɒm] 'I threw (it)' | képzés [ˈkeːbzeːʃ] 'training, forming' | futball [ˈfudbɒlː] 'soccer' | központ [ˈkøspont] 'center' |
| d /d/ | t /t/ | adhat [ˈɒthɒt] 's/he can give' | hétből [ˈheːdbøːl] 'from 7' | csapda [ˈt͡ʃɒbdɒ] | pénztár [ˈpeːnstaːr] 'cash desk' |
| dz /d͡z/ | c /t͡s/ | edzhet [ˈɛt͡shɛt] 's/he can train' | ketrecben [ˈkɛtrɛd͡zbɛn] 'in (a) cage' | alapdzadzíki [ˈɒlɒbd͡zɒd͡ziːki] 'standard tzatziki' | abcúg! [ˈɒpt͡suːɡ] 'down with him!' |
| dzs /d͡ʒ/ | cs /t͡ʃ/ | bridzstől [ˈbrit͡ʃtøːl] '(because) of bridge [game of cards]' | ácsból [ˈaːd͡ʒboːl] 'from (a) carpenter' | barackdzsem [ˈbɒrɒd͡zɡd͡ʒɛm] ~ [bɒrɒd͡ʒːɛm] 'apricot jam' | távcső [ˈtaːft͡ʃøː] 'telescope' |
| g /ɡ/ | k /k/ | fogtam [ˈfoktɒm] 'I held (it)' | zsákból [ˈʒaːɡboːl] 'out of (a) bag' | állítgat [ˈaːlːiːdɡɒt] 's/he constantly adjusts' | zsebkendő [ˈʒɛpkɛndøː] 'handkerchief' |
| gy /ɟ/ | ty /c/ | ágytól [ˈaːctoːl] 'from (a) bed' | pintyből [ˈpiɲɟbøːl] 'from (a) finch' | gépgyár [ˈɡeːbɟaːr] 'machine factory' | lábtyű [ˈlaːpcyː] 'socks with sleeves for the toes' |
| v /v/ | f /f/ | szívtam [ˈsiːftɒm] 'I smoked/sucked (it)' | széfben [ˈseːvbɛn] 'in (a) safe' | * | lábfej [ˈlaːpfɛj] 'part of the foot below the ankle' |
| z /z/ | sz /s/ | méztől [ˈmeːstøːl] 'from honey' | mészből [ˈmeːzbøːl] 'out of lime' | alapzat [ˈɒlɒbzɒt] 'base(ment)' | rabszolga [ˈrɒpsolɡɒ] 'slave' |
| zs /ʒ/ | s /ʃ/ | rúzstól [ˈruːʃtoːl] 'from lipstick' | hasba [ˈhɒʒbɒ] 'in(to) (the) stomach' | köldökzsinór [ˈkøldøɡʒinoːr] 'umbilical cord' | különbség [ˈkylømpʃeːɡ] ~ [ˈkylømʃeːɡ] 'difference' |
| — | h /h/ | — | — | — | adhat [ˈɒthɒt] 's/he can give' |
Nasals assimilate to the place of articulation of the following consonant (even across word boundaries): [25]
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: d/d/ ~ gy/ɟ/, l/l/ ~ ly/j/, n/n/ ~ ny/ɲ/, t/t/ ~ ty/c/.
Long consonants become short when preceded or followed by another consonant, e.g. folttal[foltɒl] 'by/with (a) patch'[ clarification needed ], varrtam[vɒrtɒm] 'I sewed'.
The middle alveolar[ clarification needed ] 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'.
/l/ also tends to be omitted between a preceding vowel and an adjacent stop or affricate in rapid speech, causing the lengthening of the vowel or diphthongization[ example needed ] (e.g. volt[voːt] 'was', polgár[ˈpoːɡaːr] 'citizen'). This is quite common in dialectal speech, but considered non-standard in the official language.
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