Appendix:Hungarian low-vowel words

Low-vowel words (Hungarian nyitótő (literally “opening stem”); see also the article in the Hungarian Wikipedia) take a more open vowel than usual for their linking vowel:

• back-vowel types take -a- instead of the regular -o-,
• while rounded front-vowel types take -e- instead of the regular -ö-.

These words use this low linking vowel in the accusative even if it is not justified by the ending consonant, for example (low-vowel) vajat vs. (regular) bajt, from vaj (“butter”) and baj (“trouble”).

Apart from the accusative (-t), it affects the plural (-k), the possessive-suffixed forms (first and second person singular, second person plural: -m, -d, -tok/-tek/-tök), the distributive -nként, and the sociative -stul/-stül. As far as derivational suffixes are concerned, the adjective-forming suffix -s, and the ordinal-forming suffix -dik, the diminutive suffix -cska/-cske, and the verb forming suffixes -z/-zik and -l are also affected.

Back-vowel words

Word	Accusative	Meaning	Vowel	Ending	Note
ág	ágat	branch	á	gá
agy	agyat	brain	a	yga
ágy	ágyat	bed	á	ygá
agyar	agyarat	fang, tusk	zaa	rayga
alj	aljat	lower part; skirt	a	jla
áll	állat	chin, jaw	á	llá	Inflection set apart from forms of the verb áll by the vowel. Homonymy brought about with állam (“state”).
ár	árat	price; flood, flow, tide; awl	á	rá	Homonymy brought about with áram (“[electric] current”) and árad (“to swell/flood”); another homonymy with árok (“ditch, trench”) averted.
arany	aranyat	gold	zaa	ynara
árny	árnyat	shade, shadow	á	ynrá
báj	bájt (bájat) BUT bájak	charm, gracefulness	á	jáb
díj	díjat	fee; prize, award	í	jíd
fal	falat	wall	a	laf	Inflection set apart from forms of the verb fal by the vowel. Homonymy brought about with falat (“bite [of food]”).
fog	fogat	tooth	o	gof	Inflection set apart from forms of the verb fog by the vowel. Homonymy brought about with fogad (“to receive”) and fogat (“team of horses; carriage”).
gally	gallyat	twig [small branch]	a	yllag
gát	gátat	dam, dyke, levee	á	tág
gyár	gyárat	factory, plant	á	ráyg
had	hadat	army, military troops	a	dah
haj	hajat	hair [on the head] (only sing.)	a	jah	Homonymy brought about with hajadon (“maiden”).
háj	hájat	fat, flab	á	jáh
hal	halat	fish	a	lah	Inflection set apart from forms of the verb hal by the vowel. Homonymy brought about with halad (“to proceed”).
hamv	hamvat	ash[es] (mostly in the plural)	a	vmah
hárs	hársat	lime, linden	á	sráh
has	hasat	abdomen, belly	a	sah	Homonymy brought about with hasad (“to crack, burst”).
hát	hátat	back	á	táh
ház	házat	house, building	á	záh
héj	héjat	peel, shell, rind, [plant's] skin	é	jéh
hold	holdat	moon; [approx.] acre	o	dloh
hossz	hosszat	length	o	zssoh
igaz	igazat	truth; [being] right	zia	zagi	Used in the phrase igaza van (igazam, igazad, igazatok).
íj	íjat	bow [weapon]	í	jí
kád	kádat	tub, bathtub	á	dák
láb	lábat	leg, foot	á	bál	Homonymy brought about with lábad (“[of eyes] to fill with tears”).
láz	lázat	fever	á	zál	Homonymy brought about with lázad (“to revolt”).
lyuk	lyukat	hole	u	kuyl	Homonymy brought about with lyukad (“to get a hole”).
máj	májat	liver	á	jám
máz	mázat	glaze, gloss; veneer, varnish	á	zám
nád	nádat	reed, cane	á	dán
nyáj	nyájat	flock	á	jáyn
nyak	nyakat	neck	a	kayn
nyál	nyálat	saliva	á	láyn
nyár	nyárat	poplar, aspen	á	ráyn	Loses vowel length in the sense “summer”; see below.
nyárs	nyársat	spit, skewer	á	sráyn
ól	ólat	kennel, sty, henhouse	ó	ló
olaj	olajat	oil	zoa	jalo
oldal	oldalt BUT oldalak	side, flank	zoa	ladlo	Its accusative is oldalt.
sál	sálat	scarf, cravat; shawl	á	lás
sarj	sarjat	sprout, offshoot	a	jras	Homonymy brought about with sarjad (“to sprout”).
sav	savat	acid	a	vas
szád	szádat	(rare) aperture [of a cave, pot, etc.]	á	dázs	Homonymy existing with szád (“your mouth”).
száj	szájat	mouth	á	jázs
szakáll	szakállt (szakállat) BUT szakállak	beard	zaá	llákazs
szál	szálat	thread, yarn, [thin] stick	á	lázs
szár	szárat	stalk, stem	á	rázs	Homonymy brought about with szárad (“to get dry”).
szárny	szárnyat	wing	á	ynrázs
szarv	szarvat	horn	a	vrazs
szíj	szíjat	strap, belt, thong	í	jízs
szomj	szomjat	thirst	o	jmozs
táj	tájat	landscape, scenery	á	ját
tál	tálat	bowl, dish, platter	á	lát
talp	talpat	sole, (lower) foot	a	plat
tár	tárat	store, repository; [rifle] magazine	á	rát	Regular accusative tárt is also possible. Inflection set apart from forms of the verb tár by the vowel.
tárgy	tárgyat	object	á	ygrát
társ	társat	companion, mate, partner, spouse	á	srát
toll	tollat	pen, feather	o	llot
ujj	ujjat	finger (or thumb, toe)	u	jju
vad	vadat	game [wild animal]	a	dav	Polysemy existing with vad (“wild [adjective]”).
vád	vádat	accusation, prosecution	á	dáv
vágy	vágyat	desire	á	ygáv	Inflection set apart from forms of the verb vágyik by the vowel.
vaj	vajat	butter	a	jav
váll	vállat	shoulder	á	lláv
vár	várat	castle, fortress	á	ráv	Inflection set apart from forms of the verb vár by the vowel.
vas	vasat	iron [material]	a	sav
váz	vázat	frame, framework	á	záv
vonal	vonalat	line	zoa	lanov
zár	zárat	lock	á	ráz	Inflection set apart from forms of the verb zár by the vowel.

The words kaptár (“beehive”) (kaptárok~kaptárak) and var (“scab, incrustation”) (varok~varak) might have this kind of suffix in the plural, although their normal inflection is the regular one.

The nouns lábos and város are exceptional in terms of their linking vowel; the regular (adjectival) derivations would be lábas and váras.

Non-noun elements of this group

Most of the adjectives (e.g. gyors (“fast, quick”), okos (“smart, clever”), rossz (“bad”), excluding nationalities like orosz), past participle and verbal participle forms, definite numerals (nyolc (“eight”), harminc (“thirty”), -van: hatvan (“sixty”), nyolcvan (“eighty”), száz (“hundred”)), and pronouns (hány (“how many”)), as well as the indefinite numerals (e.g. sok (“many”), néhány (“some”)) can be grouped here, including the numeral sense of pár (“a couple of”). However, the definite numeral hat (“six”) is inflected as a regular noun.

Already inflected word forms that take further inflectional suffixes will also take the low-vowel variant (that is, after the past tense -t, the subjunctive -j and its alternative forms in verbs, the plural -k and any possessive suffix in nouns, and the comparative degree -bb and the marking suffix -ik in adjectives and some pronouns).

Overlap with other groups

• The back-vowel nouns in the loss-of-length group belong here: agár, bogár, darázs, derék, fazék, fonal/fonál, híd, ín, kanál, kosár, kút, lúd, madár, mocsár, mozsár, nyár (in the sense “summer”), nyíl, nyúl, parázs, pohár, rúd, sár, sugár, szamár, úr, and út, as well as the numeral húsz (“twenty”).
• A few back-vowel nouns in the fleeting-vowel group also belong here: ajak, farok, fátyol, jászol, kazal, sarok (in the sense “heel”), sátor, vászon, as well as the numeral három (“three”) and all nouns ending in -alom (except cimbalom, not a derivation).
• The back-vowel words among v-stem words take the low-vowel stem after the v, namely javak/java (formally the plural and the possessive of jó), hó, ló, szó, szú, tó, and optionally the v-variant forms of falu and mag.
• The ú~a stems like varjú and fattyú may also take the low-vowel (varjatok, fattyatok), as well as fi and fiú (in the sense “son”).

(Rounded) front-vowel words

Note that these words do take the vowel -ö- in two forms that have a 3-way distinction, the superessive and the allative (e.g. földön and földhöz), despite having the low-vowel -e- in the accusative, the plural, and in adjective- or adverb-forming suffixed forms (földet, földek, földes, földenként, földestül).

Word	Accusative	Meaning	Vowel	Ending	Note
csönd	csöndet	silence	ö	dnösc	alternative form of csend
föld	földet	ground, earth, soil, land	ö	dlöf
fül	fület	ear; handle; tab	ü	lüf
fürj	fürjet	quail	ü	jrüf
fűz	füzet	willow [tree]	ű	zűf	with alternating vowel length Inflection set apart from forms of the verb fűz (“to lace, to stitch”) by the vowel.
hölgy	hölgyet	lady	ö	yglöh
könny	könnyet	tear [from crying]	ö	ynnök
könyv	könyvet	book	ö	vynök
öl	ölet	[someone's] lap	ö	lö	Inflection set apart from forms of the verb öl (“to kill”) by the vowel.
ölyv	ölyvet	buzzard	ö	vylö
örv	örvet	[dog] collar; pretext	ö	vrö
öv	övet	belt, waistband	ö	vö
őz	őzet	roe deer	ő	ző
rügy	rügyet	bud	ü	ygür
rüh	rühet	scabies, mange	ü	hür	Often inflected with the regular linking vowel.
szög	szöget	nail [for woodwork]	ö	gözs
szörny	szörnyet	monster	ö	ynrözs
szügy	szügyet	[animal's] chest or breast	ü	ygüzs
szűz	szüzet	virgin	ű	zűzs	with alternating vowel length
tőgy	tőgyet	udder	ő	ygőt
tölgy	tölgyet	oak	ö	yglöt
törzs	törzset	trunk, torso, hull; tribe	ö	szröt
tűz	tüzet	fire	ű	zűt	with alternating vowel length Inflection set apart from forms of the verb tűz (“to pin”) by the vowel.
ügy	ügyet	matter, case, affair	ü	ygü
ürügy	ürügyet	excuse, pretext, pretence	zü	ygürü
völgy	völgyet	valley	ö	yglöv

The word öröm (“joy, pleasure”) may also take the low linking vowel in the accusative (and rarely in other forms).

Non-noun elements of this group

All front-vowel adjectives (e.g. zöld (“green”), bölcs (“wise”), excluding nationalities like görög), past participle forms and any adjectives and/or nouns derived from them (tört, sült, sérült, jelölt, küldött, esküdt etc.), as well as the irregular comparative több (“more”)), can be grouped here. Some nouns whose meaning have departed far from the participle sense might take the regular suffix, e.g. pörkölt (“meat stew”) → pörköltem ~ pörköltöm, as opposed to pörkölt (“roasted, singed”), which latter sense only allows for the low vowel.

Overlap with other groups

• The words fűz, szűz, and tűz are also part of the loss-of-length group.
• Among v-stem words, cső, fű, kő, and nyű also take the low vowel -e- after the v.

Unrounded front-vowel words

Certain unrounded front-vowel words may also be counted in this group, based on the fact that (considering their stem-final consonant[s]) they could take -t for their accusative, and yet they take -et:

• those ending in j or ly: fej (“head”), hely (“place”) and tej (“milk”) (compare e.g. pej (“bay, chestnut”) + ‑t, zörej (“noise, rustle”) + ‑t)
• those ending in l: jel (“sign, symbol”) (compare e.g. kel + ‑t)
• those ending in ll: mell (“breast”) (compare e.g. modell + ‑t)
• those ending in ny: meny (“daughter-in-law”) (compare e.g. köpeny (“coat”) + ‑t)
• those ending in z: méz (“honey”) (compare e.g. géz (“gauze”) + ‑t) and íz (“joint, piece”) (compare e.g. íz (“taste, flavor”) + ‑t, csíz (“siskin”) + ‑t)

Overlap with other groups

• The words víz, tíz, kéz, réz, mész, tél, nyél, szél (“wind”), fél (“half”), fedél, dél, bél, ér, dér, tér, kenyér, gyökér, egér, szekér, tehén, szén, and levél are also part of the loss-of-length group.

Further reading

• Nyílt kötőhangzójú mássalhangzós tövű főnevek, mély (low-linking-vowel consonant-stem nouns with a back-vowel stem, including compound words and adjectives used as nouns)
• Nyílt kötőhangzójú mássalhangzós tövű főnevek, ajakkerekítéses, magas [“alacsony” is a typo] (low-linking-vowel consonant-stem nouns with a rounded front vowel, including compound words and adjectives used as nouns)
• Low-vowel nouns defined in Rounds, Carol. Hungarian: an Essential Grammar. London / New York: Routledge. 2013.
• Low-vowel nouns listed in Rounds, Carol. Hungarian: an Essential Grammar. London / New York: Routledge. 2013.
• Links to the 2nd-person plural possessive template hu-pos-atok, used in the entries of (back-vowel) low-vowel words in Wiktionary, including compound words, adjectives, numerals, pronouns, participles, etc.