Linguistic Bulletins

Etymologies from the Volga Region. Part III

Klára Agyagási — 2025-12-29

Research into linguistic relations across related and unrelated languages of the Volga–Kama Region started with bilateral investigations in the early twentieth century, using the historical-comparative method. However, that phase was replaced by the approach of areal linguistics in the early 1980s, complemented by the notion of sociolinguistic dominance, due to which fact, in investigating lexical borrowings, non-lexical linguistic influences were considered along with the relationships between dominant and non-dominant languages, and cases of indirect linguistic borrowing systematically appeared in that network of correspondences. But the intensity of such research also decreased around the turn of the millennium. The reasons for that decrease can be found in the inadequate number of available historical sources, the insufficient degree of elaboration of the historical phonologies of some languages, and in the restricted possibilities of the use of then still unpublished large dialect corpora. The author of the present article draws the reader’s attention to the need for overcoming that situation, and shows, via an etymological investigation of three lexemes of Chuvash, how elaborately one can use a wide array of sources and employ a recent theory of code copying to account for the linguistic developments having occurred since the Mongol invasion, developments that can only be interpreted in specifically areal linguistic terms.

Hungarian and German short and long vowels in a comfortable speech rate and in fast speech

Andrea Deme — 2025-12-29

In fast speech, segments are generally produced shorter, but not all segments may be compressed to the same extent. Both Hungarian and German exhibit phonologically distinctive vowel length contrasts, which are expressed using various combinations of durational and spectral cues. In fast speech, we expect temporal reduction accompanied by some degree of spectral reduction due to target undershoot. Consequently, an increased speech rate is presumed to endanger the vowel length contrast in both the temporal and the spectral domains of speech. The present study tested this hypothesis and explored whether contrast reduction manifests differently in the two typologically unrelated languages mentioned. We analyzed vowel durations, as well as duration ratio and spectral distance in the F₁×F₂ plane, of short-long vowel pairs produced by 15 Hungarian and 14 German speaking females. The results showed that, in general, both durational and spectral cues of the quantity contrast were preserved in fast speech, maintaining the quantity contrast in both languages. This suggests that neither durational nor spectral cues of the contrast may be considered redundant.

The puzzle of the suffix -hAtÓ

Katalin É. Kiss — 2025-12-29

The suffix -hAtÓ (büntet-hető ‘punish-able’) is a combination of the potential morpheme -hAt (büntet-het ‘can punish’), and the present participle suffix -Ó (büntet-ő ‘punish-ing’). Unexpectedly, neither the selectional, nor the distributional properties of -hAtÓ can be derived from the properties of its components. Whereas both of these suffixes can merge with unaccusative, unergative, and transitive verbs alike, -hAtÓ can only be complemented by passivized transitive verbs. Whereas V-Ó participles not lexicalized as adjectives cannot, V-hAtÓ combinations can occur as predicates or predicate complements of tensed clauses. The paper argues that V-hAtÓ borrowed its unexpected properties analogically from its antonym, V-hAtAtlAn (olvas-hatatlan ‘unreadable’), containing the potential suffix -hAt and the suffix -tlAn, a privative morpheme. Analogical effects arise if the source category is more frequent than the target. In Modern Hungarian, V-hAtÓ is significantly more common than V-hAtAtlAn. However, as the paper documents, V-hAtÓ proliferated in Hungarian several centuries later than V-hAtAtlAn, i.e., its greater frequency is a relatively recent development.

Remarks on methodology 3. Readings and interpretations

Attila Hegedűs — 2025-12-29

This study examines the methodological challenges associated with interpreting early Old Hungarian texts, emphasizing the importance of cautious analysis. It critiques recent interpretative attempts that lack sufficient justification and overlook critical paleographic and grammatical factors. The analysis focuses on problematic issues regarding two early Old Hungarian texts: the readings of terms in the Königsberg Fragment and controversial interpretations in the Old Hungarian Lament of Mary. These cases demonstrate the risks of relying on speculative readings without robust evidence or analogical support. By reevaluating these examples with established linguistic principles, the paper highlights the necessity of rigor and careful scrutiny in reconstructing historical texts.

Turning points in research on inner aspect

Éva Kardos — 2025-12-29

IIn this paper I provide an overview of some important semantic and syntactic analyses of inner aspect (or event aspect) from the past seven or so decades. A central goal of this work is to show how several generalizations have been questioned in recent decades regarding this grammatical category due to novel empirical findings and the development of linguistic theory. I show how novel data from well-studied and lesser-studied languages require new analyses for a better understanding of old and new aspectual phenomena alike.

The information density of Old Hungarian and Middle Hungarian translations of the gospels

Péter Rácz — 2025-12-29

The information density of a text captures the extent to which we can use elements of the text to predict other elements. The mathematical tools that express information density are related to linguistic, structural properties of the text, such as syntactic and paradigmatic complexity. This allows us to use information density as a general linguistic measure of text. This paper compares mediaeval and early modern Hungarian translations of the first four books of the New Testament in terms of information density. The results allow an interpretation according to which the successive translations reveal the gradual emergence of Hungarian literary language.

A quantitative analysis of the variable linking vowel of the Hungarian accusative

Péter Rácz — 2025-12-29

If a Hungarian noun stem ends in a coronal sonorant + coronal fricative consonant cluster, the linking vowel of the accusative can vary (klienset / klienst ‘client.acc’). The phonotactics of the language does not completely account for this behaviour. The existing literature points to phonetic, lexical, and analogical factors. We use data drawn from the 2nd Hungarian Webcorpus to expand on existing descriptive work and determine the factors driving variation in the linking vowel. Our results point towards a novel explanation, namely, that the variable pattern is the result of a lexical gang effect.

On structural variation and change of intensity-marking annyira ‘so much’

Mónika Varga — 2025-12-29

The structural characteristics of certain intensifiers can be subject to various changes. The present paper investigates the syntactic changes of annyira (‘so, so much’) based on historical and modern corpus data. Resultative clauses not only highlight the manner of a given activity but also its intensity and consequences. Regarding the Old Hungarian period, this applies to clauses with annyira as well. Thus, the sentence structure often supported the expression of intensity. In Modern Hungarian, annyira frequently occurs in coordinated clauses and in stand-alone sentences, especially in informal registers. This is the result of pragmatic strengthening during which annyira has become a direct functional equivalent or variant of nagyon ‘very’. The paper studies the ratios of annyira occurring in embedded and independent clauses across different periods and registers. The analysis also highlights a variety of syntactic patterns in which annyira expanded into independent clauses.

Herman 100. Memorial session on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of József Herman's birth

Béla Adamik — 2025-12-29

Would Hungarian sociolinguistics have been born without József Herman?

Miklós Kontra — 2025-12-29

This is a tribute to József Herman (1924–2005), who was director of the Linguistics Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from 1982 to 1992. In 1985, Herman initiated Hungarian sociolinguistic research by creating the Department of Sociolinguistics, which soon launched two major projects: the Hungarian National Sociolinguistic Survey (a pen-and-paper study of a random stratified sample of adult Hungarians in Hungary), and the Budapest Sociolinguistic Interview (based on tape-recorded interviews with 250 respondents in Budapest). The answer to the question posed in the title is “yes”, but Hungarian sociolinguistics would have been born only later, and it would not attract as much international attention as it does today.

József Herman as a Romanist

Giampaolo Salvi — 2025-12-29

The article provides an overview of the aspects of József Herman’s scientific activity that constitute his most original contributions to Romance studies. In addition to reporting on some of his important results, it mainly presents the theoretical and methodological framework of his research: the methods used in the interpretation of texts from the transition period, his views on the causes and mechanisms of language change, and his theory on the development (“birth”) of the Romance languages.

French linguistics in József Herman’s scientific activities

Anna Sőrés — 2025-12-29

József Herman is widely known as a Romanist, more precisely as a Latinist, a specialist of Late Latin. But he started his scientific career in the field of French linguistics. First, the paper presents his early activities promoting research on French and Hungarian contrastive linguistics. Later, he published several university textbooks on French phonetics and phonology. I also discuss his two books on the history of French: one of them for a wide reading public in Hungarian, and the other for university students. Finally, I recall some personal memories from the period when Herman was my thesis advisor in the 1980s, something I remember with deep gratitude.

József Herman and the digital dialectology of Latin

Béla Adamik — 2025-12-29

This study presents some aspects of the scholarly work of József Herman (1924–2005), a Romanist linguist, which focused on Late (Vulgar) Latin and ultimately laid an entirely new foundation for the study of the regional varieties of the Latin language. Beyond the methodological renewal of the dialectological analysis of epigraphic material, Herman was also a pioneer in initiating the creation of a digital historical linguistic database of Late Latin (Late Latin Data Base). Although this project could not be realized during his lifetime, it was later reconstituted under the name Computerized Historical Linguistic Database of the Latin Inscriptions of the Imperial Age (LLDB). This reimagined database has since become a driving force in contemporary Latin dialectology and a veritable treasure trove of resources for related research.

The frequency of syncope in Imperial Latin

Nóra Paulus — 2025-12-29

Scholarly works dealing with Vulgar Latin often mention the increasing frequency of syncope as a characteristic feature of Late Antique Latin phonology. However, as early as in 1984, József Herman observed that, based on the epigraphic material from the Imperial period, the widespread nature of this phenomenon in Late Antiquity is not clearly evident. Herman’s observation was confirmed by Béla Adamik’s study conducted in 2015, using the Computerized Historical Linguistic Database of Latin Inscriptions of the Imperial Age (LLDB). Adamik’s results showed that syncope was a productive linguistic phenomenon only in the Early Imperial period (1st–3rd centuries); in later centuries, according to the inscriptions, its occurrences declined. The substantial increase in the number of data entries recorded in the aforementioned database now makes it possible and desirable to conduct a more detailed spatial and temporal analysis of the productivity of syncope during the Imperial period, compared to previous studies.

A study of the occurrence of genus alternans in the St. Gall material of Chartae Latinae Antiquiores

Béla Szlovicsák — 2025-12-29

The aim of this paper is to describe the main properties of gender confusions in the private legal charters of St Gall from the 8th century. The most important question is whether the so-called genus alternans (alternating gender) was present and used in this region during the period under study. To answer this question, all nouns displaying non-standard agreement patterns were checked in the charters. This led to some nouns which could be connected to a developing genus alternans. This evidence is not conclusive, but it will aid future research in describing this gender.

The interpretation of the pronoun ipse in St. Gall charters. Focus strength, stacked referring expressions and textual distance

Dorottya Pálfi — 2025-12-29

The present study aims to further explore the Late Latin demonstrative use of the 8th-century parchment private charters of St. Gall. A previous study (Pálfi 2023) applied a heterogenous method considering not just the charters’ linguistic character, but also their compositional strategies, i.e. their strict wording (formulas). Within this framework, the present study further investigates the problematic duplicated phrases of ipse+supradictus+N and seeks to determine whether this construction signals semantic instability (vacillation in the demonstrative’s focusing force perceived by the language user) and whether ipse is developing a higher focusing value characteristic of proximal demonstratives. Therefore, a diachronic analysis and a textual distance examination are conducted. Apart from ipse, the results of the previous study regarding hic, iste, ille and idem are also reassessed.

András Zoltán: Slavo-Hungarica. Studies on Slavic–Hungarian linguistic contacts

László Horváth — 2025-12-29

Anna Borbély – Csilla Bartha (eds): Multilingualism in Hungary. Sociolinguistic studies of minorities

Fruzsina Krizsai — 2025-12-29

István Hoffmann – Katalin E. Nagy (eds): Toponyms of the Hajdúnánás District. Hungarian National Toponym Registry 1.

Dániel Németh — 2025-12-29

August Ahlqvist: Tschuwaschisches Dialektwörterbuch

Orçun Ünal — 2025-12-29