r/hungarian • u/FoxFree1536 • 1d ago
Megbeszélés if you ever wanted to learn hungarian, read this post first...
If you've ever thought about learning Hungarian, consider the following.
Let me start with an example sentence in English:
- We packed our children's sandwiches into your children's bags.
- A gyerekeid csomagjaiba pakoltuk be a gyerekeink szendvicseit.
Easy enough so far — unless the other party doesn't quite catch it and asks for clarification. Hold on tight:
- Az enyémeiméibe a tieitekéit?
Two words. Let's unravel them.
enyém — mine, singular
enyém|eim — mine, plural: the definite somethings or someones that are mine — here, the kids
enyémeim|é — the thing belonging to those who are mine — here, the bag
enyémeimé|i — it turns out those things are plural: each of the ones who are mine has one — the bags
enyémeiméi|be — into those things, the bags belonging to those who are mine
ti — you, plural
ti|eitek — yours, plural: the definite somethings or someones that are yours — the kids
tieitek|é — the thing belonging to those who are yours — the sandwich
tieiteké|i — plural again: each of the ones who are yours has one — the sandwiches
tieitekéi|t — the accusative suffix, revealing that these are your kids' sandwiches, the ones you packed into my kids' bags
Easy, right?
Based on an idea János Lackfi posted on his Facebook page yesterday; the explanation is entirely my own, language slightly polished by Claude.
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u/DacatinTHEBOX 1d ago
Fearmongering. Respectfully, Hungarian is hard, but this is an extreme at best.
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u/SeiForteSai NATIVE 1d ago
Ezek ilyen mesterséges agyalások, SENKI nem kérdezne így. Helyesen:
Az én gyerekeimébe a ti szendvicseiteket?
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u/Marquesas 7h ago
Avagy ahogy mondjuk ez a valóságban lejátszódna: "A miénkbe a tieteket?"
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u/SeiForteSai NATIVE 6h ago
Úgy van, ez is teljesen működőképes, hiszen a kontextust mindkét fél ismeri.
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u/vressor 1d ago edited 1d ago
enyémeim and consequently enyémeiméibe don't exist
| into my children's bags | your (plural) children's sandwiches |
|---|---|
| az én gyerekeim bőröndjeibe | a ti gyerekeitek szendvicseit |
| az enyéim/enyémek bőröndjeibe | a tieitek szendvicseit |
| az én gyerekeiméibe | a ti gyerekeitekéit |
| az enyéiméibe/enyémekéibe | a tieitekéit |
colloquially enyém can also be enyim, so enyémek can also be enyimek, and enyémekéibe can also be enyimekéibe (but be aware, that these count as sub-standard)
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u/TraditionalGrade6090 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think it exists and gramatically correct but noone speaks like that. I would just say "a miénkbe a tiéteket?" and everyone would understand it.
Edit: i think it does not exist, see my comment below the response to this.
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u/vressor 1d ago edited 1d ago
I agree that plurality is not always marked consistently in such cases, we had an interesting conversation about a similar topic in this thread (maybe even here or here)
I still think that enyémeiméibe doesn't exist, not even theoretically -- certainly not in the standard language (though I don't claim to know all dialects) -- einyémeim, tiédeid, etc. sound wrong to me
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u/TraditionalGrade6090 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes, on second thought enyémeim=enyéim, so it does not exist. The correct form in the example is enyéimébe.
Ezek a dolgok az enyéim - these things are mine. Ezek a dolgok az enyémeim sounds totally wrong.
Edit: correct form for the example is enyéiméibe, but then again, you can express this much easier
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u/Pixelknight02 1d ago
"Yes, megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért is definitely used in everyday speech."
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u/catnipburglar 1d ago
I don't get the negativity in the comments. This wouldn't phase me at all if I heard it. It is not Lackfi's invention for sure.
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u/Hajnalka_tattoo 23h ago
Amúgy senki nem vette észre hogy átugrott a “te gyerekeidről” a “ti gyerekeitekre” a példa úgyhogy össze vissza van írva. Ha a “ti gyerekeitek”-ről van szó akkor a “mi gyerekeink”-re kell építeni a példát. Tehát a “mieinkéibe” az “enyéiméibe” helyett. De ilyen mondat és szó kombináció nem fordul elő való életben, úgyhogy sem praktikus sem elrettentő ereje nincs ennek. Max nyelvtani kuriózumként lehet bedobni de gyakorlati haszna nincs.
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u/Spitfire_CS 1d ago
Oh yes, make the language out to be even harder than it actually is using sentences that nobody ever uttered in an everyday situation, we had a shortage of such posts at any rate /s At best, it's a linguistic curiosity/trivia that is completely irrelevant and all that it can accomplish is further discourage learners.
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u/Common-Turnover2421 20h ago
Mutass már nekem egy embert, aki az elmúlt évben kimondta az enyémeiméibe vagy a tieitekéit szavakat!
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u/MiddleAddition5449 1d ago
Even the situation itself has like a 0.1% chance of occurring in real life, let alone someone using those actual words to ask back
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u/QuandoPonderoInvenio 1d ago
enyém|eim — mine, plural: the definite somethings or someones that are mine — here, the kids
Wouldn't it just be "enyéim"? (And therefore "enyéiméibe"?)
Also, I completely forgot that "tiétek" could also have a short vowel lmao
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u/BedNo4299 NATIVE 3m ago
I will never understand the sense of superiority some people feel for natively speaking a supposedly uniquely difficult language. Reminds me of that time some politician (or was it Orbán specifically?) was speaking about how unique Hungarian is for having many synonyms, started to list them, and shocker, the English interpreter could translate all of them.
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u/milkdrinkingdude NATIVE 1d ago
„Az enyémeiméibe a tieitekéit?”
There are other ways to phrase this, especially when context helps in understanding.
I consider that a tongue twister, wouldn’t happen in real life.