Language

Many travelers are leery to enter a land where the language is so incomprehensible, and they cannot make any connection to their mother tongue. This is certainly true of Hungary and the complex and unusual language of the Hungarians, Magyar. There are only an estimated 15 million people worldwide who use Hungarian as their mother tongue, so if you don't, you are still in the majority. For years, it has been lumped in the Finno-Uric language family with only two other distant cousins: Finnish and Estonian. Finns and Estonians have as much trouble with Hungarian as anyone else, having less than a handful of words in common. The grammar is still very different. Recent scholarship, however, is questioning the theory of where Hungarian really has its leaf on the tree of world languages. Magyar originated on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains, but where is still uncertain.

The Hungarian language has long been one of the country's greatest obstacles and continues to be as many business and tour websites, especially for smaller cities and villages, are in Hungarian only. Nevertheless, the Hungarian people are intensely proud of their language to the point of creating laws to keep foreign language business names at bay whenever possible. Our transcription of Hungarian pronunciations is of necessity approximate. Stress is always on the first syllable of any word, and all letters are pronounced, but there are no Q, X, or Y in Hungarian unless the word has been borrowed from another language. With that said, you will find Y, but it is a consonant combination letter like gy, ly, or ny, making the two letters, one letter unto themselves. Hungarian has 44 letters and 14 of them are vowels.

Fortunately, for the modern-day traveler and Hungary's ascension into the European Union, many Hungarian young people have taken their foreign language studies much more seriously than ever before. Many young people speak English and most people in tourism venues do to some extent. Do not be daunted if you attempt some polite words and find a confused Hungarian staring at you. The difference between an o and ó can not only change the meaning of the word, but since the Magdar people are so unaccustomed to hearing strangers attempt their language, they are also a bit befuddled to the point of not understanding. At the least, try to learn the polite words and stick with them.

One more thing: Both "hello" and "goodbye" in Hungarian is hallo (sounds the same in English) or szia (sounds like see-ya). You will often see people saying goodbye to each other and saying "hallo, szia" as they depart. They often do the same on the phone before ending a call.

A printable phrase book is available at www.single-serving.com/Hungarian/print.php.

Pronunciation Guide

Vowels

a taut

á bahh

e ever

é day

i mitt

í teen

o bone

ó same as above but held longer

ö sub

o same as above but held longer

u look

ú boot

ü dove

u same as above but held longer

Consonants

Most Hungarian consonants are pronounced approximately as they are in English, including the following: b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, t, v, and y. There are some differences, however, particularly in the consonant combinations, as follows:

c gets

cs chill

g gill

gy hedge

j youth

y as in Russian nyet

r slightly rolled

s sheet

sz six

z zero

zs azure, pleasure

Signs

Bejárat -- Entrance

Érkezések -- Arrivals

Indulások -- Departures

Informácio -- Information

Kijárat -- Exit

Tilos a dohányzás -- No Smoking

Toalettek -- Toilets

Veszélyes -- Danger

Vigyázat -- Beware