Appendix:Hungarian words with an alternating final vowel
Words with an alternating final vowel (Hungarian hangszínt és időtartamot váltakoztató tövek (literally “stems alternating vowel quality and length”)) change their word-final vowel ó (sometimes ú) to a and ő to e in their third-person possessive forms and sometimes in other forms as well, such as before the adjective-forming -i and -ú/-ű/-jú/-jű, as well as the verb-forming -z.
Many of these variants (though not all) are archaic.
If the possessive denotes ownership rather than inalienable possession (body part or familial relation), the regular possessive is normally preferred: az ács ajtója (“the carpenter's door”) versus a ház ajtaja (“the door of the house”).
Alternation still in use
[edit]| Word | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ajtó | door | |
| apró | small part | today only in apraja-nagyja; regular elsewhere |
| első | [the] first | only as a day of the month |
| erdő | forest, woods | |
| erő | strength, force | |
| esztendő | year | dated or literary |
| fattyú | bastard, by-blow | |
| fő | head; chief | its alternant is already lexicalized (together with the consonant of the possessive) as fej (“head”) |
| idő | time | before other suffixes as well, e.g. ideig (“for [some] time/while”) |
| késő | late | currently only in kései (“belated”) |
| kettő | two | in forms like kettejük (“[the] two of them”) |
| mező | field [pasture] | the alternating form is less common in the technical senses of field |
| szülő | parent | currently only with multiple possessions, i.e., one's both parents |
| tető | roof; peak | also in the derived verb tetéz |
| tüdő | lung | |
| velő | marrow; brains; gist | |
| vő | son-in-law | its alternant is partly lexicalized (together with the consonant of the possessive) as vej |
| zászló | flag | the alternating form is somewhat literary |
Some more terms expressing spatial relations, typically with possessive suffixes:
| Word | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| belső | inside [part] | |
| elő (archaic) | front part | in the archaism also in the sense “one's ancestors” (plural possessive) |
| felső/fölső | upper part | |
| külső | outside [part] |
These words are distinguished from words with a fleeting final vowel, where the final vowel element is part of the suffix.
Alternation only in the archaism (and/or certain dialects)
[edit]Common nouns
[edit]| Word | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| adó | tax | |
| akó | (old unit of capacity, approx. 13 gal) |
|
| alsó | lower part | |
| bimbó | bud | |
| bíró | judge | |
| bogyó | berry | |
| borsó | peas | |
| cipó | loaf (of bread) | |
| cipő | shoe(s) | |
| csípő | hip (body part) | |
| dió | walnut | |
| csikó | foal | |
| disznó | pig | |
| dűlő | (a kind of) land or field (parcel) | |
| ernyő | umbrella, parasol, shade | |
| fördő/fürdő | bath(ing site) | |
| gyűrű | (finger) ring | |
| hintó | carriage, coach | |
| hordó | barrel | |
| kendő keszkendő/ keszkenő |
kerchief | |
| komló | hops | |
| koporsó | coffin | |
| korsó | jug, pitcher | |
| kunyhó | hut | |
| küllő | spike | |
| kürtő | chimney stack, flue | |
| lépcső | stair[s] | |
| lepedő | bedsheet | |
| mellső | front (legs) | |
| nő | woman | its alternant is lexicalized on its own (together with the consonant of the possessive) as nej (“wife”), regular in the latter sense |
| olló | pincers, clippers, claw | more regular in the sense “scissors, shears” |
| orsó | spindle, reel | |
| padló | floor(ing) | |
| patkó | horseshoe | |
| pondró | grub | |
| posztó | (broad) cloth | |
| rézső/rőzső | brushwood, twigs, kindling | standard: rőzse |
| seprő/söprő | dregs, lees (of wine) | |
| szőlő | grape, grapevine, vineyard | |
| tapló | touchwood | |
| tinó | steer (young bullock/ox) | |
| túró | cottage cheese | |
| üsző | heifer | |
| véső | chisel | |
| vessző | comma; twig; phallus | |
| zacskó | bag | |
| zsidó | Jew | its alternating form may be considered derogatory and offensive |
Place names
[edit]They are retained today chiefly in surnames and certain set phrases:
See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Magyar Tudós Társaság (today: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia ’Hungarian Academy of Sciences’). A’ magyar nyelv rendszere (’The System of the Hungarian Language’). Buda, 1846 (p. 151 linked)
- Balassa, József. Két „-a, -e” végű főnévképző (’Two noun suffixes ending in -a/-e’). In: Magyar Nyelvőr (’Steward of the Hungarian Language’), Budapest, vol. 12 (1883), issue 7 (July 15), pp. 299–302 (especially p. 300)
- Szabó, József. A névszőtövek vizsgálata Nagykónyi község nyelvjárásában (’Examination of nominal stems in the dialect of the small town Nagykónyi’). In: Acta Universitatis Szegediensis : Sectio Ethnographica et Linguistica = Néprajz és Nyelvtudomány, vol. 26 (1982), pp. 115–142 (especially pp. 122–124)
- Rónai, Béla: Somlai vagy somlói? In: Dunántúli Napló, April 14, 2004, p. 7.
- napló, naplója (linguistic advice at E-nyelv.hu, September 22, 2011), with a list of terms given in Keszler, Borbála (ed.). Magyar grammatika (’Hungarian Grammar’). Budapest: Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, 2000. →ISBN