The Sound Map
Hungarian Grammar 1
Chapter 1 · The Sound Map
🔊 The Sound Map — A hangtérkép
Hungarian grammar is built out of sounds. Every suffix you will meet in this course changes its shape depending on the vowel or consonant next to it, so before the rules you need a clear map of the sounds themselves. This chapter is not a second alphabet course: it takes what Hungarian Alphabet 1 taught you letter by letter and re-sorts it into the groups that grammar cares about.
The 14 vowels in three groups
Say a back vowel and your tongue sits towards the back of the mouth and your lips are rounded. Say a front vowel and your tongue moves forward. The front vowels split again: unrounded (lips spread, as in English bed) and rounded (lips rounded while the tongue stays forward, as in German schön or French peu). Hungarian Alphabet 1, chapters 4 to 7, introduced them one pair at a time; here they are together.
| Group | Short | Long | Say it (CAPITALS = the vowel) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back | a · o · u | á · ó · ú | a = the o in Scottish hot · á = a in father · o = short go · ó = long go · u = put · ú = moon |
| Front, unrounded | e · i | é · í | e = bed · é = say without the glide · i = sit · í = see |
| Front, rounded | ö · ü | ő · ű | ö = say e with rounded lips · ő = the same, long · ü = say i with rounded lips · ű = the same, long |
Short and long pairs: why the length matters
Length changes the meaning of a word, and, as Hungarian Grammar 1, chapter 4 shows, it changes how words take suffixes. A few pairs to say aloud:
| Short | Long | Meaning | Say it |
|---|---|---|---|
| kar | kár | arm · damage, pity | KAWR · KAHR |
| hat | hát | six · back | HAWT · HAHT |
| kor | kór | age · illness | KOR · KOHR |
| kert | kért | garden · asked | KEHRT · KAYRT |
| tör | tőr | breaks · dagger | TEUR · TEUR (longer) |
| ujj | új | finger · new | UYY · OOY |
The consonants: voiced and voiceless partners
Hungarian consonants come in pairs that differ only in whether the vocal cords vibrate. Put your fingertips on your throat: for a voiced consonant you feel a buzz; for a voiceless one you do not. This matters in Hungarian Grammar 1, chapter 5, where suffixes make a consonant take over its neighbour's voicing.
| Voiced (buzz) | Voiceless (no buzz) | Example pair | Say it |
|---|---|---|---|
| b | p | bor wine · por dust | BOR · POR |
| d | t | dél noon · tél winter | DAYL · TAYL |
| g | k | gép machine · kép picture | GAYP · KAYP |
| z | sz | zár lock · szár stem | ZAHR · SAHR |
| zs | s | zsír fat · sír cries | ZHEER · SHEER |
| v | f | vér blood · fér fits | VAYR · FAYR |
| gy | ty | no common pair; both are 'soft' | DY · TY |
| dz, dzs | c, cs | rare; see below | DZ, DJ · TS, CH |
The soft consonants
gy (like the d in British due), ty (like the t in British tune) and ny (like the ny in canyon) are made with the middle of the tongue against the hard palate. ly is pronounced exactly like j (English y): király sounds like KEE-rah-y. These are written with two letters but each is one sound and one letter of the alphabet, which matters for sorting and syllable counting.
Stress and rhythm
The stress in a Hungarian word falls on the first syllable, always. A suffix never moves it: HÁZ, HÁZ-ban, HÁZ-ak-ban. Long vowels are longer, but they do not carry the stress: in BU-da-pest and DEH-breh-tsen the stress is at the front and the other syllables are said evenly, without the reduced uh sounds of English. Treat every vowel in a word as full.
What the map is for
| Question you will ask | Chapter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Back or front? Rounded or not? | Hungarian Grammar 1, chapters 2 and 3 | ház → házban but kert → kertben |
| Short or long? | Hungarian Grammar 1, chapter 4 | alma → almák (a becomes á) |
| Voiced or voiceless? | Hungarian Grammar 1, chapter 5 | kéz + -val → kézzel |
🗣️ In Use — Használatban
The rule in real sentences. Read each exchange aloud and spot the pattern.
① Arm or damage?
② Where is the stress?
📋 Quick Reference — Gyorstábla
| Group | Letters | What to remember |
|---|---|---|
| Back vowels | a á o ó u ú | Take back suffixes (-ban, -nak, -hoz) |
| Front unrounded | e é i í | Take front suffixes (-ben, -nek, -hez); i/í/e/é are 'neutral' (Hungarian Grammar 1, chapter 3) |
| Front rounded | ö ő ü ű | Take front suffixes; three-way suffixes use the rounded form (-höz, -ön) |
| Voiced / voiceless | b p · d t · g k · z sz · zs s · v f | Partners in assimilation (Hungarian Grammar 1, chapter 5) |
| Soft consonants | gy ty ny ly | Each is one letter; ly sounds like j |
| Stress | first syllable | Never moves, whatever the suffix |
✏️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlás
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Which vowel group does u belong to?
Show answer
Back. (a, á, o, ó, u, ú)
2. Which vowel group does ö belong to, and what are its long partner and group-mates?
Show answer
Front rounded. Long partner: ő. Group-mates: ü and ű.
3. Which of these pairs differ in quality and not just length: a/á, o/ó, e/é, u/ú?
Show answer
a/á and e/é.
4. Say kar and kár. Which is 'damage'?
Show answer
Kár, with the long á.
5. Give the voiceless partner of b, d, g and zs.
Show answer
p, t, k and s.
6. How is ly pronounced, and what other letter sounds the same?
Show answer
Like English y; the letter j sounds the same.
7. On which syllable is the stress in házakban (in houses)?
Show answer
On the first: HÁ-zak-ban. Suffixes never move the stress.
8. Zár and szár differ in only one sound. Which sound, and is it voiced or voiceless in szár?
Show answer
The first consonant (z versus sz). In szár it is voiceless.