A 175 éves vajdasági magyar óvodapedagógia a nemzeti identitás és az anyanyelvhasználat kérdésének tükrében

Author(s): Judit Raffai,Éva Vukov Raffai,Éva Mikuska / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2018

There were sevaral academic papers that address the education system in Vojvodina (Pálinkás 1984, Tóth 1994, Gábrityné – Mirnics 1997), however, there were few written about the history of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) that examines the rights of ethnic minorities living in this region. In recent decades, however, academic attention turned to the region’s rich ECEC history, both from Serbia (Gavrilović 2001, Kopas-Vukašinović 2004, Mačković – Runje – Srdić – Vass 2004; Stojanovic – Kovacevic – Bogovac 2018) and from Hungary (Pukánszky – Németh 1997, Molnár – Pálfi – Szerepi – Vargáné 2015). Our aim was not to produce a comprehensive historical overview of the nurseries (bölcsőde) and kindergartens (óvoda) of the Hungarian national minority in Serbia, but to mark and celebrate 175 years since the first Hungarian nursery opened in Subotica. We will cover the influence of early educational and cultural traditions and values giving specific attention to the usage of the native language that is fundamental to cultural identity.

A Brančić–Dera-féle szerb–magyar szótár hungarizmusai

Author(s): Béla Csorba / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2015

Over a thousand years of coexistence or living side by side has reciprocally left traces both in Hungarian and the South Slav languages; nevertheless, it has not changed the basic character of these languages. Interaction on the level of grammatical structures is insignificant; it is mostly manifested in the borrowing of words, which can be successfully followed basing our observations on lists of words or dictionaries compiled in earlier times. This study examines how the process of borrowing Hungarian words is reflected in a representative work of the end of the 19th century, the Blagoje Brančić and Đorđe Dera Serbian – Hungarian Dictionary containing some 40,000 words.

A comparative study of possessive construction in Kurdish and Hungarian from a cognitive perspective

Author(s): Rahman Veisi Hasar,Zaniar Naghshbandi / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2021

The present paper seeks to investigate the characteristics of possessive constructions in Kurdish (the Central variety also known as Sorani) and Hungarian from a cognitive viewpoint. Starting with nominal possessive constructions, which include attenuated possessors and nominal possessees, we will argue that both Kurdish and Hungarian make use of essentially similar typological strategies to encode the possessive relationship. Moreover, the defining characteristics of nominal possessive constructions in both languages will be justifiably accounted for through the same lines of cognitive argumentation in terms of Langacker's reference-point model (2008, 2009). However, a different cognitive treatment is proposed for cases in which the possessor and the possessee are nominal and linked to each other via an Ezafe. We will argue that Ezafe, which links the nominal head to its dependents in a Noun Phrase (Qharib et al. 1971; Moiin 1984; Ghomeshi 1997; Lotfi 2014), evokes an intrinsic asymmetric relationship between the possessor as the landmark and the possessee as the trajector. As the second major type of possessive constructions elaborated on in this paper, the predicative possessive is first classified into topic-possessive and be-possessive categories. Despite their subtle structural differences, it is again shown that both Kurdish and Hungarian employ almost similar clausal patterns to form both categories of predicative possessives, and the same cognitive models can be brought into play to account for their underlying characteristics. The final section of the present paper is devoted to the so-called ergative constructions in Kurdish. Seeking to propose a new cognitive approach to account for the peculiarities of the non-accusative alignment, we will argue that the so-called ergative constructions in Kurdish are conceptually linked to predicative possessive constructions.

A Contrastive Analysis of Hungarian and Croatian Idioms Containing the Component Head

Author(s): Nina Spicijarić Paškvan / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2018

This paper analyzes selected examples of idioms containing the component head in Croatian and Hungarian. Despite the fact that Hungarian and Croatian are not cognate languages, due to the universal experiences and to the fact that they belong to a common cultural circle, these languages have a large correspondence in their phraseology, which can be seen in somatic idioms as body parts represent a kind of universality. The aim of this paper is to show similarities and differences in lexical content and meaning of Croatian and Hungarian idioms containing the component head. The motivational basis of idioms is also discussed as well as the influence of basic and transferred meanings of the lexeme head on the meaning of idioms.

A Corpus Analysis of Differential Object Marking in Beserman Udmurt

Author(s): Natalia Serdobolskaya / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2020

This paper is focused on differential object marking in Beserman Udmurt. Elicitation sessions show the relevance of referential properties of the DO for the choice between accusative and zero marking; however, for Standard Udmurt animacy has been claimed to play a more significant role. To establish the exact ranking of each parameter, we conducted an analysis of corpus data involving 10 539 sentences with 2187 DOs. With human animates, the unmarked DO is only possible with some lexical classes; with non-human animates, referential properties play the central role, as predicted by elicitation; with inanimates, the frequency of the accusative is higher among DOs with certain types of modifiers.

A deixis szerepe a tér- és időviszonyok ábrázolásában

Author(s): Anita Ujvári Tóth / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2015

The paper deals with the deixises traceable in the dramatic interlocutions, herein with the deixis of space and time. It examines the impact the deixis, as a microlevel element, has on the macro level of the text. It aspires for the presentation of space and time relations, the analyses present the intercourse of space and time relations with deixis. The samples are taken from the winning dramas of the Hungarian Playwriting competition in Vojvodina between 2010 and 2014.

A kivitelezés hibái mint megakadásjelenségek középiskolások fogalmazásaiban

Author(s): Edit Katona / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2015

The paper analyses the errors in compositions of high school students. The work relies on the psycholinguistics results of the speech performance researches, since just like when speaking, at the formation of the written work, first we look up the words in the mental lexicon being equal to the thought, and then we order them according to the grammatical rules, communicational situations, and pragmatic relations. In writing and speaking it is common that the same base of consciousness and the same or similar planning skills can be used in both methods of the usage. The examination of the errors also shows that the units of planning and implementation process can be hardly separated from each other.

A kódváltás lexikai-szemantikai aspektusai a vajdasági magyar nyelvben

Author(s): Ilona Rajsli / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2015

In the process of code-switching in the communication of bilingual people, different sorts of loanwords appear (mostly lexemes ans phrasemes). The analysis of this typological and terminological aspect shows extraordinary variety, because classic, diachronic vocabulary in some cases fades into elements of sociolinguistic approach. For this reason, first and foremost aspects of our research are those that are used in the systematization of contactology, we have looked at types of borrowing in the corpus: we analized direct word-loaning, morphologic and semantic loans, as well as other combined forms (morphology-semantics, overcorrected types). Code-switching is analized in the given context, this way except for lexical-semantic analysis one can interpret basic pragmatic aspects of code-switching.

A kollaboratív online nyelvtanulás lehetőségei és tanulságai két magyar mint idegen nyelvi projekt alapján

Horvát–magyar–japán közelítések

Author(s): Levente Borsos,Tamás Kruzslicz,Beatrix Oszkó / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 4/2020

The study introduces snippets of a research result related to teaching Hungarian as a foreign language. The participants of the research were Hungarian teacher-trainees, Japanese and Croatian language learners, and it was conducted at the universities of Budapest, Osaka and Osijek. These two projects focused on intercultural communication competency and on the usage of ICT-tools. The interface for communication was provided by social media pages (LINE and Facebook). The topic centred tasks available on both computer and mobile devices were created by the teacher-trainees, and were solved by the language learners either in pairs or in teams. The last element of the projects was a survey completed by the participants. Based on the results of these projects, we elaborated on what was found useful by the participants, moreover what they found challenging. As expected, cultural mediation and real communication were proved to be among the strengths, as well as the practice gained by theusage of ICT-tools. The two student groups indicated the challenges in varied measures. Parallel with other international studies, the results of our research also proved that the teacher being in control is an inevitable element of the projects. However, the teacher being in control can bring a lively colour into language teaching and learning.

A közvetett beszédaktusok

Author(s): Irén Láncz / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 3/2015

In everyday communications we often hear utterances which are not meant to be understood literally because what the speaker intends to say is different from the actual meaning of the sentence uttered. The classical theory of indirect speach acts was developed by J. Searle. According to his theory the speaker when uttering an indirect speach act can understand the sentence the way he says it, but can mean something else as well. The intended meaning can be detected through the complicated process of deduction, taking into consideration background knowledge. P. Grice shows indirect speech acts including them into the frame of the theory of interference. He also considers the intention of the speaker to be important, and introduces two concepts to the understanding of the phenomenon: the principles of implicature and of cooperation. There are significant differences between the views of the two scholars. The theory of relevance does not draw a sharp deviding line between literal/ direct and indirect meaning. Building upon / Following up on Grice’s theory, Sperber and Wilson differentiate between two kinds of intentions: the informative and the communicative intention. Their assumption is that in the process of interpretation analysis related / connected to the code is supplemented by deductive processes which enable / make possible full interpretation. These processes are however characteristic not only of language. Non literal / indirect meaning is the basis of metaphors and irony as well, and fiction can also be related to it.

A magyar nyelv areális európaisága

Author(s): László Molnár Csikós / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2015

At the time of the conquest of their homeland in the Carpathian Basin the Hungarian speaking community settled among people speaking Indo-European languages. In order to survive, Hungarian had to adjust so as to align with the Indo-European languages. It adopted a great number of words from Latin, German and Slavic languages. It was not only the Indo-European languages which influenced Hungarian but Hungarian also had an impact on them. It had a particularly strong influence on Bunjevac and Rusyn (Ruthenian). Hungarian can be classified among the Danubian language alliance from the areal typological perspective, since it has been shaped in a continuous relationship with the Indo-European languages. The system of the Hungarian language combines its traditional elements with Indo-European patterns. Appositional adverbs with an attributive function and relative clauses with attributive function are considered to be Indo-European patterns. Futurity by circumlocution and the replacement of the potential or permission form expressed by the suffix -hat/-het by the verb tud (may/can) and the infinitive, are also evidence of Indo-European influence. The relationship between Hungarian and the Indo-European languages was also affected by the fact that due to assimilation, many speakers of German and Slavic origin acquired the Hungarian language. Indo-European influences on the structure of Hungarian were not as substantial as to turn Hungarian into an Indo-European language.

A magyar szem, illetve a szerb oko lexéma összevető szóasszociációs vizsgálata

Author(s): Edit Andrić / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 4/2015

Lexical associations contribute to understanding associations between words in the mental lexicon. By analysing a single lexeme, the present paper aims at revealing the workings of one segment of the mental lexicon in Hungarian and Serbian. It is often claimed that the more common features a lexeme has with its equivalent in another language, the more likely it is that the two will trigger the same reaction. This is shown using a concrete concept as an example: the organ of vision, more precisely the Hungarian lexeme denoting it and its Serbian equivalent. Since the analysis is based on contrasting lexemes of two genealogically and typologicaly different languages, the initial hypothesis is that the differences between the two languages will also be reflected in the associative meaning fields of the lexemes contrasted. The analysis is based on associative dictionaries of the two languages, namely the Encyclopedia of Hungarian Norms of Associations and the Associative dictionary of Serbian.

A moldvai csángó nyelvi revitalizációs folyamatok kutatása. Közösen értelmezett tudások, részvételiség és bevonás

Author(s): Csanád Bodó,Veronika Lajos / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 09/2020

In this article we introduce our fouryear long interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research project (2019- 2023). In the project we investigate the ways students living in a dormitory in Miercurea-Ciuc (Csíkszereda), Romania supported by the Moldavian Csángó Hungarian Educational Programme find their place in the Hungarianspeaking Transylvanian city; the ways they relate to their original home in Moldavia and the ways they interact between each other when using different linguistic and non-linguistic practices of belonging, identifying and differentiating themselves. First we introduce the research topic, then the objectives of the project and the proposed plan to carry out the research based on the principle of participation and engagement. Since the COVID-19 pandemic reached Romania and Hungary in March 2020 we also pose some questions regarding the possibilities of carrying out a participatory research in the field in the current situation.

A mondatszerkezetek szemantikai interpretációja

Author(s): Irén Láncz / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 4/2015

Generative language theory has several models; in each one of them there is interaction between the syntactic form and structure of meaning. The models differ from each other among other things on determining which structure is interpreted by one of the grammar components: the semantic component. In Aspects of the Theory of Syntax deep structure gives the semantic component of a sentence; it is the deep structure which determines thematic relations. In the model developed in the 1970s, surface structure also has this role, while according to a newer conception only the surface structure is interpreted by the semantic component; namely, meaning has certain aspects which form the meaning of the sentence in the surface structure, (focus, coreference, presupposition). As the model was developed further, it became enriched by a new concept, the concept of the Logical Form, which is a partial representation of the meaning of a sentence. The principles of the theory of the 1980s, the theory of Government and Binding are included in partial theories, and some of these refer to meaning. The Structural Hungarian Syntax, which is theoretically based on the theory of government and binding, also includes rules relating to grammatical meaning.

A nyelvi érintkezés formái a vajdasági magyar családnevekben

Author(s): Ilona Rajsli / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2019

The great variety of Vojvodinian Hungarian family names is coming from the period of settling and migration in the 18-19th century, but this variety has become even more wide as there were more and more mixed marriages. Language contact phenomena in family names may be of phonetic origin, mainly caused by the different vocal substance of Serbian and Hungarian language as in Kürti > Kirti, Györe > Đere. Language contacts raise numerous questions about spelling, too: shifts between Latin and Cyrillic script, transcription of the Hungarian letters ny and gy, hybrid forms of names (e.g. Aničić Dália). In our research we are dealing with questions of family names which got adopted in Hungarian: e.g. German names as well as those of Slavic origin, the integration of names with suffixes -ics ~ -ity, common words originating from the same etymon becoming family names in the languages which are in contact. In the process of creation of the examined corpus of family names, a diachronic aspect of the use of names in the region was important, as well.

A nyelvi jogsértések szankcionálhatóságának tételes jogi és nemzetközi jogi dimenziói

Author(s): Katinka Beretka / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2019

The paper is aimed to present the legal regulation of linguistic rights in Serbia and sanctions or other negative legal consequences imposed in case of violation of these rules, especially from the aspect of official use of national minority languages both in domestic and international legal framework. Besides presentation of language rights that are rightly honoured in many elements, the accent is put on critical analysis of probable sanctions provisions and their efficiency, with special regard to the not so much fair legal practice in Serbia that in most of the cases leaves the wrong without any legal consequences. The goal is to round up those legal provisions that regulate any kind of sanctions or other ways of impeachment in case of violation of linguistic rights, and to evaluate, as far as possible, their productivity in process of enforcement of national minority language rights.

A Possible Slavic Etymology of Hungarian komor ‘gloomy’ and komoly ‘serious’

Author(s): Ádám Galac / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2018

The Hungarian words komor ‘gloomy’ and komoly ‘serious’ are of unknown origin. The present paper aims to elucidate this question from various angles: it gives an overview of what the Hungarian etymological dictionaries say on this topic, shows that komoly is a relatively late development out of komor, spread by the language reformers (especially by Ferenc Kazinczy) at the end of the 18th century, and presents the attempts to prove the Turkic origin of komor. Finally, it offers a Slavic etymology based on the Slavic stem *chmur-, demonstrates that semantically the two words match perfectly, and dissolves the phonological doubts that may arise at first sight.

A rádióban elhangzott dialógusok jellemzői

Author(s): Irén Láncz / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2016

The paper looks at the characteristics of dialogues from the aspect of conversation analysis and she also tackles certain pragmatic and linguistic features based on conversations from the Hungarian programs of Radio Novi Sad. By presenting parts of dialogues she shows how elements of the conversation script, among other things engaging in conversation, speaker change and ending the conversation, are materialized. Basing it on the analysis, one can say that not only questions (Yes/No questions, WH questions and from the pragmatic point of view open-ended questions) but also comments and statements of facts can organize dialogues. Unlike everyday dialogues, dialogues in formal situation rarely contain a change of topic. The author shows how the participants return to the original topic. There are linguistic errors in the spontaneous spoken dialogues from the radio. The examples show how they become corrected. The context of the conversation includes the situational context, context of the action and thematic context. Their components among other things include reference to space and time and marking relationships between speakers in the conversation. The study shows the presence and linguistic means of expression of these components.

A receding paradigm as a tool of language discrimination

Author(s): István Kozmács / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2020

The 1Sg forms of ik-verbs are identical in the definite and indefinite conjugations in Standard Hungarian. The use of nonstandard forms can evoke discrimination despite the fact that it has been well-known for a long time that by the 18th century the ik-paradigm survived only in some eastern and western dialects of the language (Simonyi, 1906a, p. 14; Brassai, 2011, p. 253; Benkő, 1992, p. 213). In the early 19th century the language revival movement revived the disappearing ik-conjugation (Révai, 1806) and made it part of the educated, literary, and later standard variety. The present paper demonstrates how a paradigm that almost completely receded became the tool of language stigmatization as a result of the actions of those with linguistic power, and shows, on the basis of a questionnaire based study, to what extent the ik-paradigm is present in the language use of 14–19-year-olds at the beginning of the 21st century. This paper addresses the issue, on the one hand, of how the use of the ik-conjugation of Hungarian can still be the measure of educated speech in Hungarian despite the fact that, according to historical linguistic evidence, this conjugation was no longer used in most of the Hungarian language area over 200 years ago. On the other hand, I aim to demonstrate, on the basis of a questionnaire based survey, that education is the most important factor in the continuing use of the conjugation (or the remnants of it).

A Szigeti veszedelem jelzőrendszere

Author(s): Ilona Rajsli / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 3/2016

Attributives are among the most prominent stylistic devices in Zrinyi’s epic poem, The Siege of Sziget. In our paper we study constructions with attributes of qualification from the aspect of grammatical category and structure. Regarding grammatical category – next to adjectival attributes – attributive nouns are extremely powerful and of condensing nature, while participles as attributes have special stylistic effect; all three types are found in the corpus. Structurally there are three types of attributives: simple (containing one attribute), multiple and cumulative attributives. In the latter type the attributes in the structure can be co-ordinate, and in this case they semantically strengthen each other, or the sequence of attributes entwine and thus have the character of gradation. There are a number of attributes which function as a decorative element or are there for the sake of prose rhythm or rhyming, and they are often recurrent; they function as kind of permanent attributives, creating thus the typical “Zrinyi-attributes”. Synesthetic or metaphoric attributives also give a special atmosphere to this epic poem. Next to the stylistic function of the attributives semasiological aspects were also considered alongside the contextual issues of pictorialness, metaphoricalness and attributes, for example, attributive constructions built into similes.