2025-04-24
Hungarian seems impossible…words sound odd, the alphabet has way too many letters, and don’t even get us started on vowel harmony. It’s got mystery and a grammar system that feels like a puzzle game. Let’s dive into what makes this language so wildly unique and why it’s totally worth the challenge!
So, you’ve landed in Hungary. The cuisine is top notch, the scenery is beautiful, and then you start to hear it…the weird language that sounds nothing like anything you’ve heard before, and you feel like you will never comprehend it.
Welcome to the beautiful and unique world of „magyar”, a language that sounds like nothing else in Europe! Complicated and often misunderstood, Hungarian is like an introvert at the party, who’s super deep and fascinating once you take your time to get to know them.
The black sheep of Europe
Most European countries share similar languages, but Hungarian is an odd one. It isn’t related to German, Slavic, or Latin-based languages, instead, it’s part of the Uralic language family, specifically the Finno-Ugric branch. Its far linguistic cousins are Finnish and Estonian, but similarities are almost not noticeable anymore, since Hungarian split from them thousands of years ago.
While some theories have proposed Turkish and other origins for Hungarian, linguistic research supports its classification within the Uralic family. The strong presence of Turkish elements in Hungarian is attributed to historical contact, since the nation has been under Turkish rule for 145 years.
So while other European languages evolved alongside each other, Hungarian took its own route. It evolved uniquely thanks to the nation’s rich history, absorbing influences – e.g. Turkish, German and Russian – over centuries, yet maintaining its distinct structure.
Letters You Didn’t Know You Needed
Hungarian uses the Latin alphabet but with a major glow-up: it has 44 letters in total.
Compared to the 5 vowels of English, here you have 14 to work with. Next to the simple a, e, i, o and u, Hungarian contains many different variations, such as á, é, í, ó, ö, ő, ú, ü, and ű. Each vowel has a distinct pronunciation, and the little lines or dots on top can alter word meanings completely. Obviously, a bunch of these letters are not supported by many fonts, which sometimes causes a serious headache to Hungarian graphic designers editing text.
When it comes to consonants, the collection is also quite impressive. You can find many composite ones, which are two or three letters combined, indicating different, specific sounds. For example, sz sounds like the English s, dzs sounds like the English j, but you also have ny, gy and ty, which we recommend asking your Hungarian friends about… (yes, those are truly strange sounds).
It might look intimidating, but here’s the good news: Hungarian is phonetic. If you can read it, you can pronounce it. No silent letters sneaking in.
The challenge continues
Okay, let’s be honest. Hungarian is difficult. Once you nailed the alphabet, the equally complicated grammar comes to challenge you…We are talking:
- 26 cases: Basically, word endings that change depending on how they’re used in a sentence.
- Vowel harmony: It means that suffixes have to match the vowels of the root word. Hungarian differentiates high (e, é, i, í, ü, ű, ö, ő) and low vowels (a, á, u, ú, o, ó) and depending on which type the word ends with, the vowels in all suffixes have to match it.
For example:
autó (car) contains low vowels only, so all suffixes come with low vowels as well, like – autóban (in the car), autóval (by car), autóra (on the car)
tenisz (tennis) contains high vowels only, so all suffixes come with high vowels, like – tenisszel (with tennis), teniszben (in tennis), teniszezik (he plays tennis)
- Agglutinative structure: In other words, stacking lots of suffixes onto root words. This is called agglutination. Instead of using separate words like in English, Hungarian packs everything – tense, possession, direction, plural – into one long word.
For example:
-ház = house
-házban = in the house
-házamban = in my house
-házainkban = in our houses
Each little piece means something. It’s efficient, but totally different if you’re used to Indo-European languages.
A peek into culture through language
One significant difference in Hungarian is that names are reversed: the surname always comes first, then your given name. So, although Hungarians usually reverse their names when introducing themselves in English, it sounds quite odd in their head.
The language also reflects the people’s respect for formality and hierarchy, since it distinguishes clearly between formal and informal speech. The use of maga or ön (formal ’you’) versus te (informal ’you’) shows an emphasis on social distance and respect, especially with elders or strangers.
Hungarian is also known for being poetically expressive, with deep idioms and metaphorical richness. This reflects a culture that values artistic and emotional expression, which is visible in poetry and even everyday language.
So, Should You Learn It?
Do you want to unlock a whole new level of local experiences, connect with Hungarian people on a deeper level, and flex your brainpower? Then yes! Learning Hungarian won’t just help you navigate life here, it’ll earn you major gratitude from locals.
So go ahead and start with some basics: learn how to order your favourite lángos, have a small talk with cashiers, or impress your Hungarian friends and teachers with some new phrases! Need some help? Check out the Practice your Hungarian online course, designed for independent study, and nail Hungarian at your own pace!
