HUNGARY-L Archives

From:
Subject: [HUNGARY-L] Hungarian Alphabet and Pronunciation for the newer members of the "LIST"
Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2001 09:54:48 EST

You may wish to print this out for future reference. These rules are safe to
follow and there are only a few exceptions. I hope the Internet did not
scramble the accent marks.
Hungarian Alphabet and Pronunciation

Consonants
The following are pronounced and written as in English:
b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, t, v, z
Notes:
g is always hard as in 'gun', never soft as in 'gem'
r is rolled off the tongue, though not really trilled
t is pronounced with the tongue touching the back of the teeth (dental)

The following consonants are pronounced and/or spelled differently than in
English, and require special attention:
c is pronounced like the ts in 'bats'
cs is the English ch as in 'check'
gy is one sound pronounced like dy, or the d in 'adulation'
j, ly are both pronounced as y like 'yes'
ny is pronounced like the Spanish ñ and like the ni in the English word
'onion'
s This is always pronounced like sh as in 'shun' and 'ship'
sz like a regular English s as in 'sell', never pronounced as a z like
'rose'
ty a soft t sound, pronounced much as it looks; say 'at your' fast
zs like the s in 'pleasure'
The letters q, w, x, y are not Hungarian and appear only in foreign words or
in some family names. The English sound /j/ as in 'jet' appears in foreign
words and is spelled dzs in Hungarian.

Note: In the Hungarian alphabet the "double letters" (consonants) are listed
separatelly:
gy, ny, ty, sz , zs, cs, etc.


Vowels
a as in art, cart
á a very open in (American) 'father'
e the sound in 'set' and 'bed'
é Like the sound in 'way'
i not quite as short as the sound in 'sit', more like the short ee in 'feet'
and 'meet'
í a long ee as in 'feed' and 'bleed'
o like the sound in 'stole' and 'sold'
ó a long o, as in 'rogue' and 'rode'
u a short oo as in 'boot'
ú a long oo as in 'food' and 'cool'
ö say "her" but stop before the r, Also as in German ö, or French 'peu' and
'le'
o" a longer version of ö, like German 'schön' (Note: o" really looks like an
o with a quotation mark or double acute accent on top, but is represented
here with a quote next to it)
ü like German ü and French u as in 'début'
u" a longer version of
Note: There are no diphthongs in Hungarian, so always pronounce each vowel
separately.
Notably missing is the English "th" and "w", now you know why all Hungarians
speak with the same accent. hahahahaha

Stress
Stress in Hungarian falls on the first syllable of the word. The accent marks
over the various vowels DO NOT alter stress, but rather the quality of the
vowel. And although stress is on the first syllable, every syllable is
pronounced distinctly (unlike English, where many unstressed vowels are often
swallowed).

This thread:

• [HUNGARY-L] Hungarian Alphabet and Pronunciation for the newer members of the "LIST" by

  • Re: [HUNGARY-L] Hungarian Alphabet and Pronunciation for the newer members of the "LIST" by "Kathy Funk" <>