Chapter I: Preface

Many people are under the wrong impression that Hungarian is a difficult language to learn. It is true that it is quite unrelated to any other European language, save the Finnish, being of oriental origin, and brought with them by the invading Hungarians into the country now known as Hungary, towards the end of the ninth century A.D.

Though the vocabulary, accordingly, may at first wear an air of strangeness, this strangeness does not mean difficulty, and we venture to say that Hungarian is easier for an English student than French or German. The most striking characteristics of the language are its use of suffixes, where in English pronouns and prepositions are employed, and the law of harmony prevailing between the vowel-sounds of a word and those of its suffixes.

When once these rules, and a few relating to the verb, are grasped, Hungarian will be found to present no great difficulty, and the impression that it is a hard language to learn must be regarded as due to the bad and complicated exposition usually met with in grammars designed to teach Hungarian.

A student who thoroughly masters this short and simple grammar will be well on the way to speaking and reading Hungarian, and to unlocking for himself the golden stores of Hungarian prose and poetry.

In the hope that this book may prove serviceable to any one visiting Hungary, we have added a vocabulary and a number of phrases in common use.

C. ARTHUR GINEVER.
ILONA GINEVER
(_née_ DE GYŐRY, OF BUDAPEST).

ST. LADISLAS, CASTLE AVENUE, DOVER.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. THE ALPHABET 1

II. THE ARTICLE 4

III. THE NOUN 7

IV. PERSONAL SUFFIXES 18

V. SUFFIXES FOR PLACE, DIRECTION, &C. 22

VI. POSTPOSITIONS 26

VII. THE ADJECTIVE 30

VIII. THE PRONOUN 37

IX. THE VERB 43

X. THE ADVERB 62

XI. CONJUNCTIONS 66

XII. INTERJECTIONS 68

XIII. GENDER 70

XIV. ETYMOLOGY 72

XV. SYNTAX 75

XVI. DAYS, MONTHS, AND SEASONS 77

XVII. MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES 78

XVIII. PHRASES 79

HUNGARIAN-ENGLISH VOCABULARY 88

ENGLISH-HUNGARIAN VOCABULARY 91

HUNGARIAN GRAMMAR