# Hungarian vowel length



## Ben Jamin

Can somebody tell me how long are actually the long Hungarian vowels? 

I have heard that the length distinction between long and short vowels is disappearing in modern Hungarian. 

Are they practically the same length, or are they clearly longer? 
Is length distinguishing an old fashioned way of speaking? 
Is it observed by theatrical actors?


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## Ateesh6800

I am no professor of prosody or anything, but...

There are two classes of vowels in Hungarian: long and short.

- "i" sounds the same as "í", but the latter is about twice as long in terms of time
- "o" sounds the same as "ó", but the latter is about twice as long in terms of time
- "u" sounds the same as "ú", but the latter is about twice as long in terms of time
- "ö" sounds the same as "ő", but the latter is about twice as long in terms of time

- "ü" sounds the same as "ű", but the latter is about twice as long in terms of time

"a" and "á", and "e" and "é" are somewhat different. The time difference is the same (1:2 in terms of length) but there are also other differences in terms of pronunciation (most Hungarians tend to think it's just the length, but there's more to it).

Anyway, there are dialects where the length difference is less than 1:2, but these are either very regional and practically not seen/heard on national TV/radio, or dialects spoken outside the country and therefore influenced by Romanian or Serbian.

The statement that *"the length distinction between long and short vowels is disappearing in modern Hungarian"* is way too radical. The length difference distinguishes between the meaning of words and therefore confusion would ensue. "Töke" and "tőke" are "his balls (testicles)" and "capital", respectively. The two never sound the same UNLESS your speaker is a foreigner or speaking under the influence of alcohol (but then his/her pronunciation is not a standard to follow).

Yes, there are changes in that certain words are pronounced with short rather than long vowels (a prime example is the dual pronunciation of "szöllő" and "szőlő", where even the ortography was uncertain for some time), but this does NOT mean that the distinction between short and long vowels is disappearing. It's not. Not as a basic feature of the language at least.

*"Are they practically the same length, or are they clearly longer?"*
If you speak at an even speed, the difference is clearly about 1:2. This can be tested if you recite metric poetry (e.g. Hungarian translations, by the best Hungarian poets, as is the tradition, of Greek classics like the Odyssey). Of course, care must be taken to realise that the length of a syllable depends not only on the length of its vowel but also on whether the vowel is followed by more than one consonants.

*"Is length distinguishing an old fashioned way of speaking?"*
No. Not distinguising between short and long vowels is a very stron sign of someone not being educated/sophisticated/articulate.
Again: "török" is "Turkish" while "tőrök" is "daggers" and "törők" is "breakers" ("people who break", e.g. "kukoricatörők", "people harvesting maize by hand").
Also: "örök" is "eternal" while "őrök" is "guards".

*"Is it observed by theatrical actors?"*
More than by anyone else. Speach education is still OK in Hungary, but even the self-taught actors observe the difference, or else can only play a single character whose personality is reflected in his speach (but, again, is not a linguistic standard by any means).

Hope this helps, feel free to ask more.

Attila


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## Zsanna

*Moderator's note:*
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*Thank you.*
Zsanna
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