The Eighth Tribe, 1977 (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1977-01-01 / 1. szám
Page 8 THE EIGHTH TRIBE January, 1977 (5) Some woven mats, etc. were noted that bore similarities with patterns and geometries to American Indians, such as the Navaho, among others. In addition, patterns of the Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish, particularly quilting, painted hex signs, etc., were recognized to the discerning eye and mind as being similar to Hungarian designs; also, some of the cuisine, such as funnel cakes, bearing resemblance to certain Hungarian recipes and preparations too. (6) Woven reed masks, complete with simulated teeth and detailed eyes were examples of some used by Hungarian menfolk, who would wear sheepskins in disguising themselves when giving in for a bit of fun into the general weaving room (fonó) where the womenfolk usually would be involved in sewing or handcrafting on long wintry nights. (7) Another practical, yet remarkably creative item was a full-length shepherd’s cape of white wooly hide, with an attached small, black lambskin (the latter to be used as a hood during bad weather or as a naturally draping collar adornment during fair days). (8) A mini-tepee put together of reeds by shepherds for shelter—this was noticeably similar in form to the American Indians’ wigwams, but the latter larger in size and generally made out of fur hides or other different materials. All items, among the numerous objects displayed, were designed, carved or beautified in careful and loving manner, though to be for utilitarian purposes, they emphasized the useful aspects plus the aesthetic nature of these pragmatic people—those in Hungary as well as those in America or throughout the world that seemed to confirm the evidence of “tender, loving care.’’ These qualities were pointed out also as one young lady guide said simply, “I don’t know why, but I just can’t help loving everything Hungarian even though I was born in America!” —M. Takacs Barboe If you would like to get in touch with M. Takács Barboe, write to: P. 0. Box 2244, Edison, N. J. 08817. The Eighth Tribe is looking for local representatives throughout the U. S. and Canada to send in articles and gathering subscriptions The commission is $1 on each $8 subscription. If interested please write to: Eighth Tribe, P. 0. Box 637, Ligonier, Pa. 15658. languages. But this later relationship, which used to be popular among linguistic scholars, is not fully accepted any more. Some linguists claim that there is no such thing as a Ural-Altaic family of languages. Whatever the case, however, the fact remains that the Uralic and Altaic languages do display certain common structural characteristics: Their common flexibility and agglutinitive nature. This means that they work with prefixes and suffixes, and not with prepositions as do their Indo-European counterparts, such as the various Germanic, Slavic, Latin, Celtic, Baltic, etc. languages. As an example, a word construction such as meg-SZENT-ség-telen-ít-het-etlen-ség-ed-del (megszentségteleníthetetlenségeddel = with your characteristic of not being able to be desanctified) — all built upon the single word szent — saint — would be impossible in any of the Indo-European languages. But it is very much possible in the Uralic and Altaic languages, all of which are “agglutinitive” in their construction. Or to give you another example, it would be similarly impossible to express the following two-word construction in only two words in any of the Indo-European languages: “Holt-od-ig-lan el tart anál ak (“I would be willing to provide for you until your death.” In German: “Ich würde dich zu deinem Tode ernähren.”) It is on the basis of the “agglutinitiveness” of both the Magyar and the ancient Sumerien, that some researchers are trying to find a link between these two languages, the people, their culture and ethnicity. Many of these proponents of Sumerian-Magyar relationship are also finding similarities between Sumerian and Magyar woi'ds and their meaning. But this is a very open and controversial issue that we shall try to treat in a subsequent chapter. At this time we should simply accept that according to the traditional and well-established scholarly conclusions, the Magyar is a Finno-Ugric language, whose closest linguistic relations are the Vogul (Mansi) and Ostiak (Khanty) of the Ugor branch of this family. Slightly more distant linguistic relations of the Magyars include the Finn, Estonian, Livonian, Cheremis (Mari), Mordvin, Zyryen (Komi), Votiak (Udmurt), Samoyede and numerous other languages, spoken by people who today live mostly in various sections of the Soviet Union. And if the common Ural-Altaic relationship is accepted, then their more remote linguistic relatives include even those people who speak various Turkic, Mongol, and Tunguz-Manchu languages. Perhaps we should hasten to add that in the establishment of linguistic relationships, the structure of a language is much more important than its vocabulary. Words are constantly borrowed by all languages, until finally only a certain percentage of the original root words remain. 6 HUNGARIAN RADIO PROGRAM WEDO — 810 AM, McKeesport, Pa. Sunday afternoon: 2:45 to 3:00 — Worship Service — Sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Hungarian Protestant Churches. 3:00 to 3:30 — Hungarian Hour — Host: Dr. Victor Molnár. WDUQ — 90.5 FM, Pittsburgh, Pa. Saturday evening, 6 to 7 o’clock: “Music from Europe” — Host: Dr. Victor Molnár. Wc ask other Radio Program Director to send in the time of their programs, so we can include them in this column. — editor.
