The Eighth Tribe, 1975 (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1975-01-01 / 1. szám

January, 1915

THE EIGHTH TRIBE

Page Five

MAJOR GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND HUNGARIAN (MAGYAR)LANGUAGES

—Madeline Takacs Barboe

BACKGROUND DATA

In order to clarify the possible impression that the Hungarian (Magyar) language is of little importance in the world today, for comparison’s sake, let us take note of the following statistics excerpted from The 1971 World Almanac and Book of Facts:

Principal Languages of the World Hungarian (Magyar)

Czech

Greek

Finnish

Swahili

French

German

Russian (Great Russian only) English

Total No. of Speakers In Millions 13 11 10 5 13 78 120 200 326

What makes these data all the more interesting is that Hungary (Magyarország) itself is a landlocked nation in Central Europe, with a population less than the total number of speakers as shown in the above tabulation “UN est. 1969: 10,295,000“; it is a “Communist republic” since 1956, after having a revolution attempt aborted during November 1 of that year, with Soviet forces “surrounding Budapest, the capital city. Many rebels were . .. executed and . . . deported.” Approximately 185,000 people “fled the country. . .. The U. S. received 38,248” of them.

EARLY HISTORY IN BRIEF

The following is background information of interest to the topic at hand: Some of the earliest settlers, chiefly Slav and Germanic, were overrun by Huns and Magyars from the east, Hungary becoming a monarchy in approximately 1000 A.D. and had suffered repeated Turkish invasions in the 15th-17th centuries. After the defeats of the Turks, 1686-1697, Austria dominated in a dual monarchy. Defeated with the Central powers in 1918, Hungary lost much of its land to Romania, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslavakia. From the foregoing, it would appear that the nature of recorded annals of Hungary indicate successive oppression, subjugation and castration, analogous somewhaht to the plight of disadvantaged peoples the world over at various times and places; the

worst emasculation being done undoubtedly by loss of its access to the sea in 1918 — that portion to the southeast relegated to Yugoslavia. Thus, survival of the Magyar language and culture tends to evoke amazement and perhaps wonder to many interested individuals. Perhaps, in a sense such actions and transgressions may only intensify the Hungarian people’s desire for survival to the point where its language, art, and customs live on undaunted in spite of intentional suppression thereby sustaining its culture by indomitable resistance to forceful obliteration. A fierce pride may be termed a characteristic of these people so that its language will probably be around for some time yet to come.

IDENTITY AND LANGUAGE

This writer found it pertinent for purposes of this discourse to provide information in the foregoing regards and would hope that the reader obtains a vivid portrayal of the whole picture fundamental to the Magyars and their language. “The name ‘Hungarian’ is a Turki one, denoting a federation of peoples. The Hungarians’ own name for themselves is Magyar, and Hungary is to them, Magyarország (Magyar-land). The Magyars formed the bulk of the invaders who founded the Hungarian state on the Danube in 896 A.D.; the Magyar language belongs to the Finno-Ugrian linguistic group, and its nearest relatives are Vogul and Ostyák” peoples who inhabit the eastern slopes of the Ural mountains, the earliest homes of the Magyars. Their cultural traditions and way of life have long been those of the West, and their language has borrowed a substantial portion of its vocabulary from Western sources.

The latter statement concerning Western borrowings is a truism noticed from the observations of this writer in that Hungarians, although strong in their determination of retaining their own culture, will assimilate and accommodate to the ways of the majority society in which they are, so that they seem to acclimate themselves quickly to new environments and situations in order to be acceptable to the current lifestream of their circumstances or group, but yet at the same time not relinquishing a fervant inner core of Magyar soul or identity — this fire considered somewhat different from Hungarian nationalism, which presumably carries some connotation toward certain political aspects but somewhat not inaccurate in its entirety. In actuality, Hungarians seem to yearn instead for complete independence from any and/or all yokes imposed upon them by other nations or ideologies which are not of their own creation or free choice.