Latin alphabet, with a couple added variations of letters.
One sometimes speaks of the smaller (or basic) and greater (or extended) Hungarian alphabets, depending on whether or not the letters Q, W, X, Y are listed, which can only be found in foreign words and traditional orthography of names.[1]
The 44 letters of the extended Hungarian alphabet are:
Description
Each sign shown above counts as a letter in its own right in Hungarian. Some, such as the letter ⟨ó⟩ and ⟨ő⟩, are inter-filed with the letter preceding it when sorting words alphabetically, whereas others, such as ⟨ö⟩, have their own place in collation rather than also being inter-filed with ⟨o⟩.
While long vowels count as different letters, long (or geminate) consonants do not. Long consonants are marked by duplication: e.g. ⟨tt⟩, ⟨gg⟩, ⟨zz⟩ (ette 'he ate' (det.obj.), függ 'it hangs', azzal 'with that'). For the di- and tri-graphs a simplification rule normally applies (but not when the compound is split at the end of a line of text due to hyphenation): only the first letter is duplicated: e.g.
⟨sz⟩ + ⟨sz⟩ → ⟨ssz⟩ (asszony 'woman'),
⟨ty⟩ + ⟨ty⟩ → ⟨tty⟩ (hattyú 'swan'),
⟨dzs⟩ + ⟨dzs⟩ → ⟨ddzs⟩ (briddzsel 'with bridge (playing game)').
An exception is made at the joining points of compound words, for example: jeEach sign shown above counts as a letter in its own right in Hungarian. Some, such as the letter ⟨ó⟩ and ⟨ő⟩, are inter-filed with the letter preceding it when sorting words alphabetically, whereas others, such as ⟨ö⟩, have their own place in collation rather than also being inter-filed with ⟨o⟩.
While long vowels count as different letters, long (or geminate) consonants do not. Long consonants are marked by duplication: e.g. ⟨tt⟩, ⟨gg⟩, ⟨zz⟩ (ette 'he ate' (det.obj.), függ 'it hangs', azzal 'with that'). For the di- and tri-graphs a simplification rule normally applies (but not when the compound is split at the end of a line of text due to hyphenation): only the first letter is duplicated: e.g.
⟨sz⟩ + ⟨sz⟩ → ⟨ssz⟩ (asszony 'woman'),
⟨ty⟩ + ⟨ty⟩ → ⟨tty⟩ (hattyú 'swan'),
⟨dzs⟩ + ⟨dzs⟩ → ⟨ddzs⟩ (briddzsel 'with bridge (playing game)').
An exception is made at the joining points of compound words, for example: jegygyűrű 'engagement ring' (jegy + gyűrű) not jeggyűrű.
⟨Dz⟩ and ⟨dzs⟩ were recognized as individual letters in the 11th edition of Hungarian orthography (1984).[2] Prior to that, they were analyzed as two-letter combinations ⟨d⟩+⟨z⟩ and ⟨d⟩+⟨zs⟩.
Pronunciation
The pronunciation given for the following Hungarian letters is that of standard Hungarian.
Letter
|
Name
|
Phoneme (IPA)
|
Complementary allophones (IPA)While long vowels count as different letters, long (or geminate) consonants do not. Long consonants are marked by duplication: e.g. ⟨tt⟩, ⟨gg⟩, ⟨zz⟩ (ette 'he ate' (det.obj.), függ 'it hangs', azzal 'with that'). For the di- and tri-graphs a simplification rule normally applies (but not when the compound is split at the end of a line of text due to hyphenation): only the first letter is duplicated: e.g.
⟨sz⟩ + ⟨sz⟩ → ⟨ssz⟩ (asszony 'woman'),
⟨ty⟩ + ⟨ty⟩ → ⟨tty⟩ (hattyú 'swan'),
⟨dzs⟩ + ⟨dzs⟩ → ⟨ddzs⟩ (briddzsel 'with bridge (playing game)').
An exception is made at the joining points of compound words, for example: jegygyűrű 'engagement ring' (jegy + gyűrű) not jeggyűrű.
⟨Dz⟩ and ⟨dzs⟩ were recognized as individual letters in the 11th edition of Hungarian orthography (1984).[2] Prior to that, they were analyzed as two-letter combinations ⟨d⟩+⟨z⟩ and ⟨d⟩+⟨zs⟩.
The pronunciation given for the following Hungarian letters is that of standard Hungarian.
Letter
|
Name
|
Phoneme (IPA)
|
Complementary allophones (∅
3. [x] (help·info)
4. [ç] (help·info)
| Basic: hi 1. behind 2. honest 3. Loch, Chanukah 4. human
|
1. when in intervocalic position. 2. not rendered usually when in final position méh /meː/ 'bee', cseh /tʃɛ/ 'Czech' 3. seldom, in final position, such as in doh 'dampness', MÉH 'metal recycling facility' 4. seldom, such as in ihlet 'inspiration'
|
I
|
i
|
/i/
|
|
sea, key, tree
|
Pronounced the same as Í, only shorter
|
Í
|
í
|
/iː/ (help·info)
|
|
leek, leave, seed, sea
|
Vowel length is phonemically distinctive in Hungarian: irt = 'to exterminate' and írt = 'to write (past tense)'
|
J
|
jé
|
/j/ (help·info)
|
[ç], [ʝ]
|
you, yes, faith
|
allophones occur when /j/ occurs after a consonant; (voiceless after voiceless, voiced after voiced consonants). e.g. férj 'husband', kapj 'get! (imperative)'
|
K
|
ká
|
/k/ (help·info)
|
|
key, kiss, weak
|
|
L
|
el
|
/l/ (help·info)
|
|
leave, list
|
|
Ly
|
elly, el-ipszilon
|
/j/ (help·info) / /ʎ/ (help·info)
|
|
play, pray
|
|
M
|
em
|
/m/ (help·info)
|
|
mind, assume, might,
|
|
N
|
en
|
/n/
|
[ŋ] (help·info)
[n] (help·info)
|
thing, lying (before k, g), need, bone (anywhere else)
|
allophone before /k/, /ɡ/
|
Ny
|
eny
|
/ɲ/ (help·info)
|
|
canyon
|
|
O
|
o
|
/o/
|
|
force, sorcerer
|
A shorter, more open variant of Ó. Unlike with short e, which is opened to /ɛ/ in standard speech, short o remains /o/, rather than opening to /ɔ/ where it would come close to clashing with short a.
|
Ó
|
ó
|
/oː/ (help·info)
|
|
Not in standard English. go, snow are approximations, but are diphthongs, unlike the Hungarian
|
Same as /o/ except longer. It is important to pay attention to. (eg.: kor = 'age' and kór = 'disease')
|
Ö
|
ö
|
/ø/ (help·info)
|
|
(Not used in English; corresponds to (short) German Ö); similar to shwa /ə/ (e.g. cola) except with rounded lips.
|
A shorter, more open variant of Ő
|
Ő
|
ő
|
/øː/
|
|
(Not used in English; a longer, more closed variant of Ö, similar to non-rhotic murder.)
|
Minimal pair to /ø/: öt = 'five' and őt = 'him/her (Hungarian pronouns do not specify gender)'
|
P
|
pé
|
/p/ (help·info)
|
|
peas, apricot, hope
|
|
(Q)
|
kú
|
|
[n] (help·info)
|
thing, lying (before k, g), need, bone (anywhere else)
|
allophone before /k/, /ɡ/
|
Ny
|
eny
|
/ɲ/ (help·info)
|
|
canyon
|
|
O
|
o
|
/o/
|
|
force, sorcerer
|
A shorter, more open variant of Ó. Unlike with short e, which is opened to /ɛ/ in standard speech, short o remains /o/, rather than opening to /ɔ/ where it would come close to clashing with short a.
|
Ó
|
ó
|
/oː/ (help·info)
|
|
Not in standard English. go, snow are approximations, but are diphthongs, unlike the Hungarian
|
Same as /o/ except longer. It is important to pay attention to. (eg.: kor = 'age' and kór = 'disease')
|
Ö
|
ö
|
/ø/ (help·info)
|
|
(Not used in English; corresponds to (short) German Ö); similar to shwa /ə/ (e.g. cola) except with rounded lips.
|
A shorter, more open variant of Ő
|
Ő
|
ő
|
/øː/
|
|
(Not used in English; a longer, more closed variant of Ö, similar to non-rhotic murder.)
|
Minimal pair to /ø/: öt = 'five' and őt = 'him/her (Hungarian pronouns do not specify gender)'
|
P
|
pé
|
/p/ (help·info)
|
|
peas, apricot, hope
|
|
(Q)
|
kú
|
|
|
|
Q occurs only as part of the digraph qu in foreign words, realised as /kv/: Aquincum [ɑkviŋkum] (name of an old Roman settlement on the area of present-day Óbuda). Words originally spelled with qu are today usually spelled with kv, as in akvarell 'watercolor painting'.
|
R
|
er
|
/r/ (help·info)
|
|
The closest equivalent is r
|
also called apical trill as pronounced by trilling the tip of your tongue (the apex) and not the uvula.
|
S
|
es
|
/ʃ/ (help·info)
|
|
share, wish, shout
|
This notation is unusual for European writing systems where <s> usually stands for /s/. In Hungarian, /s/ is represented by <sz>.
|
Sz
|
esz
|
/s/ The letter ë is not part of the Hungarian alphabet; however, linguists use this letter to distinguish between the two kinds of short e sounds of some dialects. This letter was first used in 1770 by György Kalmár, but has never officially been part of the Hungarian alphabet, as the standard Hungarian language does not distinguish between these two sounds. However, the ë sound is pronounced differently from the e sound in 6 out of the 10 Hungarian dialects and the sound is pronounced as ö in 1 dialect. It is also used in names.
The digraph ch also exists in some words (technika, monarchia) and is pronounced the same as h. In names, it is pronounced like cs as well as like h or k (as in German) (see below).
Historic spellings used in names and historical documents
Old spellings (sometimes similar to German orthography) used in some Hungarian names and their corresponding pronunciation according to modern spelling include the following:
Consonants
Historic spelling
|
Pronounced like modern spelling
|
bb
|
b
|
cz
|
c
|
tz
|
c
|
z
|
c
|
ch
|
cs
|
cz
|
cs
|
č
|
cs
|
ć
|
cs
|
ts
|
cs
|
csh
|
cs
|
tsch
|
cs
|
tzsch
|
cs
|
chs
|
cs
|
cy
|
cs
|
ʟ
|
cs
|
dd
|
d
|
dsz
|
dz
|
ds
|
dzs
|
ff
|
f
|
ph
|
f
|
gh
|
g
|
dgy
|
ggy
|
dy
|
gy
|
g
|
gy
|
gi
|
gy
|
gj
|
gy
|
gʹ~g′
|
gy
|
ǵ
|
gy
|
ġ
|
gy
|
j
|
gy
|
jj
|
j
|
l
|
j
|
y
|
j
|
ck
|
k
|
kh
|
k
|
x
|
ks
|
xy
|
ksz
|
xz
|
ksz
|
qu
|
kv
|
ll
|
l
|
l
|
ll
|
w
|
lv
|
j
|
ly
|
l
|
ly
|
li
|
ly
|
ry
|
ly
|
lly
|
ly
|
′l(ʹl)~l′(lʹ)~ŀ
|
ly
|
n
|
ny
|
ni
|
ny
|
nʹ~n′
|
ny
|
ń
|
ny
|
ṅ
|
ny
|
my
|
ny
|
ph
|
p
|
pp
|
p
|
rh
|
r
|
rr
|
r
|
ꝛ
|
r
|
sch
|
s
|
ss
|
s
|
ss
|
ssz
|
s
|
sz
|
sc
|
sz
|
sy
|
sz
|
z
|
sz
|
th
|
t
|
tt
|
t
|
ti
|
ty
|
tʹ~t′
|
ty
|
ṫ
|
ty
|
ky
|
ty
|
u
|
v
|
w
|
v
|
s
|
z
|
s
|
zs
|
ss
|
zs
|
zy
|
zs
|
['s]
|
zs
|
[4]
Vowels
Historic spelling
|
Pronounced like modern spelling
|
a
|
á
|
aa
|
á
|
aá
|
á
|
áá
|
á
|
áh
|
á
|
ä
|
e
|
ae
|
e
|
ai
|
e
|
ay
|
e
|
áe
|
é
|
ái
|
é
|
áy
|
é
|
e
|
é
|
ee
|
é
|
eé
|
é
|
éh
|
é
|
i
|
í
|
ié
|
í
|
íh
|
í
|
ii
|
í
|
ií
|
í
|
å
|
o
|
o
|
ó
|
óh
|
ó
|
oo
|
ó
|
oó
|
ó
|
ua
|
ó
|
â
|
ö
|
åe
|
ö
|
åi
|
ö
|
åy
|
ö
|
eö
|
ö
|
ew
|
ö
|
oe
|
ö
|
oi
|
ö
|
oy
|
ö
|
eö
|
ő
|
eő
|
ő
|
ew
|
ő
|
ia
|
ő
|
ö
|
ő
|
őh
|
ő
|
öö
|
ő
|
öő
|
ő
|
óe
|
ő
|
ói
|
ő
|
óy
|
ő
|
üa
|
ő
|
u
|
ú
|
úh
|
ú
|
uó
|
ú
|
uu
|
ú
|
uú
|
ú
|
ue
|
ü
|
ui
|
ü
|
uy
|
ü
|
ü
|
ű
|
űh
|
ű
|
üő
|
ű
|
üü
|
ű
|
üű
|
ű
|
úe
|
ű
|
úi
|
ű
|
úy
|
ű
|
aë
|
aj
|
aï
|
aj
|
aÿ
|
aj
|
ei
|
aj
|
áë
|
áj
|
áï
|
áj
|
áÿ
|
áj
|
åë
|
oj
|
åï
|
oj
|
åÿ
|
oj
|
eu
|
oj
|
oë
|
oj
|
oï
|
oj
|
oÿ
|
oj
|
óë
|
ój
|
óï
|
ój
|
óÿ
|
ój
|
au
|
uj
|
uë
|
uj
|
uï
|
uj
|
uÿ
|
uj
|
úë
|
új
|
úï
|
új
|
úÿ
|
új
|
(g)y ~ gÿ
|
gi
|
y
|
ji
|
ý
|
jí
|
(l)y ~ lÿ
|
(l)i
|
(n)y ~ nÿ
|
(ny)i or (n)i
|
(t)y ~ tÿ
|
ti
|
On áá: [5]
Generally, y in historic spellings of names formed with the -i affix (not to be confused with a possessive -i- of plural objects, as in szavai!) can exist after many other letters (e.g.: Teleky, Rákóczy, Dézsy). Here are listed only examples which can be easily misread because of such spelling.
Examples:
Historic spellings of article and conjunctions
In early editions the article a/az was written according to the following rules:
- before vowels and h — az: az ember, az híd
- before consonants — a': a' csillag.
The abbreviated form of the conjunction és (and), which is always written today as s, was likely to be written with an apostrophe before — ’s (e.g. föld ’s nép).
Capitalisation
The di- and the trigraphs are capitalised in names and at the beginning of sentences by capitalising the first glyph of them only.
- Csak jót mondhatunk Székely Csabáról.
In abbreviations and when writing with all capital letters, however, one capitalises the second (and third) character as well.
Thus ("The Rules of Hungarian Orthography", a book edited by th The digraph ch also exists in some words (technika, monarchia) and is pronounced the same as h. In names, it is pronounced like cs as well as like h or k (as in German) (see below).
Old spellings (sometimes similar to German orthography) used in some Hungarian names and their corresponding pronunciation according to modern spelling include the following:
Consonants
Historic spelling
|
Pronounced like modern spelling
|
bb
|
b
|
cz
|
c
|
tz
|
[4]
Vowels
Historic spelling
|
Pronounced like modern spelling
|
a
|
á
|
aa
|
á
|
aá
|
á
|
áá
|
á
|
áh
|
á
|
ä
|
e
|
ae
|
e
|
ai
|
e
|
ay
|
e
|
áe
|
é
|
ái
|
é
|
áy
|
é
|
e
|
é
|
ee
|
é
|
eé
|
é
|
éh
|
é
|
i
|
í
|
ié
|
í
|
íh
|
í
|
ii
|
í
|
ií
|
í
|
å
|
o
|
o
|
ó
|
óh
|
ó
|
oo
|
ó
|
oó
|
ó
|
ua
|
ó
|
â
|
ö
|
åe
|
ö
|
åi
|
ö
|
åy
|
ö
|
eö
|
ö
|
ew
|
ö
|
oe
|
ö
|
oi
|
ö
|
oy
|
ö
|
eö
|
ő
|
eő
|
ő
|
ew
|
ő
|
ia
|
ő
|
ö
|
ő
|
őh
|
ő
|
öö
|
ő
|
öő
|
ő
|
óe
|
ő
|
ói
|
ő
|
óy
|
ő
|
üa
|
ő
|
u
|
ú
|
úh
|
ú
|
uó
|
ú
|
uu
|
ú
|
uú
|
ú
|
ue
|
ü
|
ui
|
ü
|
uy
|
ü
|
ü
|
ű
|
űh
|
ű
|
üő
|
ű
|
üü
|
ű
|
üű
|
ű
|
úe
|
ű
|
úi
|
ű
|
úy
|
ű
|
aë
|
aj
|
aï
|
aj
|
aÿ
|
aj
|
ei
|
aj
|
áë
|
áj
|
áï
|
áj
|
áÿ
|
áj
|
åë
|
oj
|
åï
|
oj
|
åÿ
|
oj
|
eu
|
oj
|
oë
|
oj
|
oï
|
oj
|
oÿ
|
oj
|
óë
|
[5]
Generally, y in historic spellings of names formed with the -i affix (not to be confused with a possessive -i- of plural objects, as in szavai!) can exist after many other letters (e.g.: Teleky, Rákóczy, Dézsy). Here are listed only examples which can be easily misread because of such spelling.
Examples:
Historic spellings of article and conjunctions
In early editions the article a/az was written according to the following rules:
- before vowels and h — az: az ember, az híd
- before consonants — a': a' csillag.
The abbreviated form of the conjunction és (and), which is always written today as s, was likely to be written with an apostrophe before — ’s (e.g. föld ’s nép).
Capitalisation
The di- and the trigraphs are capitalised in names and at the beginning of sentences by capitalising the first glyph of them only.
- Csak jót mondhatunk Székely Csabáról.
In abbreviations and when writing with all capital letters, however, one capitalises the second (and third) character as well.
Thus ("The Rules of Hungarian Orthography", a book edited by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences):
- A magyar helyesírás szabályai
- MHSZ (not MHSz)
- A MAGYAR HELYESÍRÁS SZABÁLYAI (not SzABÁLyAI)
Alphabetical ordering (collation)
While the characters with diacritical marks are considered separate letters, vowels that differ only in length are treated the same when ordering words. Therefore, for example, the pairs O/Ó and Ö/Ő are not distinguished in ordering, but Ö follows O. In cases where two words are differentiated solely by the presence of an accent, the one without the accent is put before the other one. (The situation is the same for lower and upper-case letters: in alphabetical ordering, varga is followed by Varga.)
The polygraphic consonant signs are treated as single letters.
comb
|
|
cukor
|
|
csak
|
<cs> comes after <c>
|
...
|
|
folyik
|
|
folyó
|
<ó> is sorted as <o>
|
folyosó
|
|
...
|
|
fő
|
and <ő> is sorted as <ö>,
|
födém
|
but <ö> comes after <o>
|
...
|
|
The simplified geminates of multigraphs (see above) such as <nny>, <ssz> are collated as <ny>+<ny>, <sz>+<sz> etc., if they are double geminates, rather than co-occurrences of a single letter and a geminate.
- könnyű is collated as <k><ö><ny><ny><ű>. tizennyolc of course as <t><i><z><e><n><ny><o><l><c>, as this is a compound: tizen+nyolc ('above ten' + 'eight' = 'eighteen').
Similar 'ambiguities', which can occur with compounds (which are highly common in Hungarian) are dissolved and collated by sense.
- e.g. házszám 'house number (address)' = ház + szám and of course not *házs + *zám.
These rules make Hungarian alphabetic ordering algorithmically difficult (one has to know the correct segmentation of a word to sort it correctly), which was a problem for computer software development.
Keyboard layout
The standard Hungarian keyboard layout is German-based (QWERTZ). This layout allows direct access to every character in the Hungarian alphabet.
Capitalisation
The di- and the trigraphs are capitalised in names and at the beginning of sentences by capitalising the first glyph of them only.
- Csak jót mondhatunk Székely Csabáról.
In abbreviations and when writing with all capital letters, however, one capitalises the second (and third) character as well.
Thus ("The Rules of Hungarian Orthography", a book edited by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences):
- A magyar helyesírás szabályai
- MHSZ (not MHSz)
- A MAGYAR HELYESÍRÁS SZABÁLYAI (not SzABÁLyAI)
Alphabetical ordering (collation)
While the characters with diacritical marks are considered separate letters, vowels that differ only in length are treated the same when ordering words. Therefore, for example, the pairs O/Ó and Ö/Ő are not distinguished in ordering, but Ö follows O. In cases where two words are differentiated solely by the presence of an accent, the one without the accent is put before the other one. (The situation is the same for lower and upper-case letters: in alphabetical ordering, varga is followed by Varga.)
The polygraphic consonant signs are treated as single letters.
comb
|
|
cukor
|
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csak
|
<cs> comes after <c>
|
...
|
|
folyik
|
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folyó
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<ó> is sorted as <o>
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folyosó
|
|
...
|
|
fő
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and <ő> is sorted as <ö>,
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födém
|
but <ö> comes after <o>
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...
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|
The simplified geminates of multigraphs (see above) such as <nny>, <ssz> are collated as <ny>+<ny>, <sz>+<sz> etc., if they are double geminates, rather than co-occurrences of a single letter and a geminate.
- könnyű is collated as <k><ö><ny><ny><ű>. tizennyolc of course as <t><i><z><e><n><ny><o><l><c>, as this is a compound: tizen+nyolc ('above ten' + 'eight' = 'eighteen').
Similar 'ambiguities', which can occur with compounds (which are highly common in Hungarian) are dissolved and collated by sense.
- e.g. házszám 'house number (address)' = ház + szám and of course not *házs + *zám.
These rules make Hungarian alphabetic ordering algorithmically difficult (one has to know the correct segmentation of a word to sort it correctly), which was a problem for computer software development.
Keyboard layout
The most common letters in Hungarian are e and a.[6]
The list below shows the letter frequencies for the smaller Hungarian alphabet in descending order.
Letter
|
Frequency
|
e |
12.256%
|
The most common letters in Hungarian are e and a.[6]
The list below shows the letter frequencies for the smaller Hungarian alphabet in descending order.
Letter
|
Frequency
|
e |
12.256%
|
a |
9.428%
|
t |
7.380%
| The list below shows the letter frequencies for the smaller Hungarian alphabet in descending order.
| | | | |