Learn all the six Hungarian double consonants you'll need to know to speak Hungarian well
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Simone: Pronunciation Lesson 3. It’s double or nothing with Hungarian consonants. |
| Csaba: This lesson is a continuation of the second lesson, which was about consonants. |
| Simone: Yes. In this lesson, we’re going to introduce a new term. |
| Csaba: It’s something you may have never heard of. |
| Simone: When is this going to end, Csaba? |
| Csaba: The new term is “geminate”. |
| Simone: No, that does not ring a bell. |
| Csaba: It is a fancy way of saying double consonants. |
| Simone: Couldn’t you just say that? |
| Csaba: Then they pay me less if I do. Anyway, what we’re trying to say is that in Hungarian it is very important to make a distinction between short and long consonants. |
| Simone: Or single and double if you will. |
Lesson focus |
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| Csaba: I will. Let’s see an example. |
| Simone: Ok. Start with an easy one. |
| Csaba: Ok, but the whole thing is less complicated than we made it sound. Here’s a pair of words. Kasza and kassza. |
| Simone: The first one is “scythe” and the second is “cash register”. Say them again, please, in this order. |
| Csaba: Kasza, kassza, kasza, kassza. |
| Simone: This is obviously a big difference, but it doesn’t seem like a big deal to learn. |
| Csaba: Just make sure you practice them a bit. Basically the whole point is pronouncing consonants audibly longer than, well, normal. |
| Simone: Can we do this trick with all the consonants? |
| Csaba: Pretty much. |
| Simone: Ok, let’s see a few examples. Maybe the harder ones. |
| Csaba: Ok. I hope everyone remembers the TY sound we learned in the last lesson which is spelled TY. |
| Simone: Sure, we had tyúk last time, meaning “hen”. |
| Csaba: Ok. Now say this kátyú. |
| Simone: Which means “pothole”. |
| Csaba: And hattyú. |
| Simone: Or “swan”. Say those again. |
| Csaba: Kátyú, hattyú, kátyú, hattyú. |
| Simone: Ok. Let’s hear one with GY which is spelled GY. |
| Csaba: Ágyú and faggyú. |
| Simone: “Cannon” and “suet”. Say them again in that same order, please. |
| Csaba: Ágyú and faggyú. |
| Simone: Alright. Finally, let’s go for NY. |
| Csaba: Anya and könnyű. |
| Simone: The first is “mother” and the second means “easy”. Again, please. |
| Csaba: Anya and könnyű. |
| Simone: Great. So what else is there to say about this? |
| Csaba: Maybe just two things. First, there isn’t really a Hungarian consonant you can’t double. |
| Simone: Ok, and the second? |
| Csaba: It’s just a tip to help your spelling. |
| Simone: Sure. |
| Csaba: When doubling the consonants, you write the given consonant letter twice. |
| Simone: That is shocking, Csaba. |
| Csaba: Thanks. And when it’s a diagraph, you must double the first letter and just add the second letter. |
| Simone: So “cash register” from your first example would be… |
| Csaba: Kassza, K-A-S-S-Z-A. |
| Simone: Spell it out in Hungarian too, just for the kick of it. |
| Csaba: K-A-S-S-Z-A |
Outro |
| Simone: Great. That’s it for today. My mouth hurts a bit from all the pronouncing though. |
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