Regular sound correspondences between Hungarian and other Finno-Ugric languages
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There are numerous regular sound correspondences between Hungarian and the other Finno-Ugric languages. For example, Hungarian á corresponds to Khanty o in certain positions, and Hungarian h corresponds to Khanty x, while Hungarian final z corresponds to Khanty final t. These can be seen in Hungarian ház ("house") and Khanty xot ("house"), or Hungarian száz ("hundred") and Khanty sot ("hundred").
Hungarian and Khanty are both Ugric languages, one branch of the Finno-Ugric languages, the other being the Finno-Permic languages. The distance between the Ugric and Finnic languages is greater, but the correspondences are also regular. The relationship is most obvious when comparing all the Ugric languages with all the Finnic languages, for then individual idiosyncrasies are averaged out, but here we will just compare Hungarian with Finnish and Estonian (two Finnic languages). One important innovation of Hungarian is the lenition of the stop consonants *p *k in initial position:
- Hungarian [f] corresponds to Finnish and Estonian [p]:
| Hungarian | Finnish | Estonian | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| fa | puu | puu | tree |
| fél | pelätä | pelgama | to fear |
| fészek | pesä | pesa | nest |
- Before front vowels, Hungarian [k] corresponds to Finnish and Estonian [k]:
| Hungarian | Finnish | Estonian | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| könny | kyynel | küünistama | tear |
| kéz | käsi | käsi | hand, arm |
| kő | kivi | kivi | stone |
- Before back vowels, Hungarian [h] corresponds to Finnish and Estonian [k] (just like English [h] in hound corresponds to Latin [k] in canis)
| Hungarian | Finnish | Estonian | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| hal | kala | kala | fish |
| ház | kota | koda | house (Hung.), hut (Finn. and Est.) |
| húgy | kusi | kusi | urine |
The third stop inherited from Proto-Uralic, *t, did not undergo such a change.
- Hungarian [t] corresponds to Finnish and Estonian [t] at the beginning of a word:
| Hungarian | Finnish | Estonian | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| tél | talvi | talv | winter |
| tud | tuntea | tundma | to know |
| tavasz | touko | spring |
In the middle of words (note that due to the loss of the word final vocals in the Old-Hungarian language these are now at the end of the words), Hungarian has also lenited original stops, but in a different fashion.
- Hungarian [z] corresponds to Finnish and Estonian [t] (which can alterate with [d] or [s]):
| Hungarian | Finnish | Estonian | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ház | kota | koda | house (Hung.), hut (Finn.) |
| kéz | käsi : käden : käte- | käsi : käte- | hand, arm |
| fazék | pata | pada | pot |
This is just a sample. Even in the small number of words above, other regular sound correspondences can be seen, such as Hungarian [l] corresponding to Finnish and Estonian [l].
