Why are Hungarian words so long?

Published: July 28 2023

Hungarian, known as Magyar, is a unique and fascinating language. Notable for its long words, it often mystifies non-Hungarian speakers. The length of Hungarian words can be largely attributed to two main features of the language: agglutination and vowel harmony.

Agglutination is the process of adding affixes (prefixes, suffixes, etc.) to the root of a word. In Hungarian, multiple affixes can be attached to a word to express what, in English, might require a complete sentence.

Take the word 'megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért' for example, which, with a staggering 44 letters, is one of the longest words in Hungarian. This word translates to 'for your [plural] continued pretending to be indesecratable.' Here, various prefixes and suffixes are added to the root word to express a very specific, complex concept.

Another factor contributing to the length of Hungarian words is the concept of vowel harmony. In languages with vowel harmony, vowels within a word interact in a way that affects their phonetic features.

In Hungarian, suffixes are modified based on the vowels in the word to which they're attached. This can lead to longer words as certain suffixes are elongated or even duplicated to maintain vowel harmony.

To understand how this works, consider the Hungarian word for 'with,' which can be '-val' or '-vel.' If the last vowel of a word is back vowel (like 'a,' 'o,' 'u,'), '-val' is used, like in 'macskával' (with a cat). If the last vowel of a word is a front vowel (like 'e,' 'i,' 'ü'), '-vel' is used, as in 'késsel' (with a knife).

While Hungarian words can appear intimidating due to their length, understanding the linguistic mechanisms at play makes the language far less daunting. Indeed, the length of Hungarian words is less a question of mere character count, but about a rich tradition of linguistic structures - agglutination and vowel harmony.

So next time someone wonders why Hungarian words are so long, you now know how to demonstrate the linguistic prowess nestled in those lengthy expressions. It's a reflection of the elaborate and detailed nature of the language itself. A long Hungarian word carries a wealth of information within it, making it a fascinating study for linguists and language enthusiasts.