Hungarian

The Hungarians are the Finno-Ugric people who have moved farthest from their original areas. Their linguistically closest relatives, the mans, live between the Ural Mountains and the River Ob. The Hungarians came to present Hungary in 895 AD. Because the Hungarians ended up in a Central European environment, their culture differs from other Finno-Ugric peoples. For example, they were the first of these converted to Christianity. The oldest preserved text in any Finno-Ugric language is a burial speech in Hungarian from the end of the 12th century. Since then, a rich literature has been produced, and lyrics, in particular, are at a high level.

During their shifting history, the Hungarians have been in contact with many different people and this is reflected in the loan terms. Vocabulary differs from most of what we are used to, which means that learning words can be demanding. This is to some extent offset by a large regularity in the bending system and a very rich derivation system.

Courses at the advanced level are to be found under the heading Finno-Ugric Languages.