AREAL EUROPEANNESS OF THE HUNGARIAN LANGUAGE

Abstract

At the time of the conquest of their homeland in the Carpathian Basin the Hungarian speaking community settled among people speaking Indo-European languages. In order to survive, Hungarian had to adjust so as to align with the Indo-European languages. It adopted a great number of words from Latin, German and Slavic languages. It was not only the Indo-European languages which influenced Hungarian but Hungarian also had an impact on them. It had a particularly strong influence on Bunjevac and Rusyn (Ruthenian). Hungarian can be classified among the Danubian language alliance from the areal typological perspective, since it has been shaped in a continuous relationship with the Indo-European languages. The system of the Hungarian language combines its traditional elements with Indo-European patterns. Appositional adverbs with an attributive function and relative clauses with attributive function are considered to be Indo-European patterns. Futurity by circumlocution and the replacement of the potential or permission form expressed by the suffix -hat/-het by the verb tud (may/can) and the infinitive, are also evidence of Indo-European influence. The relationship between Hungarian and the Indo-European languages was also affected by the fact that due to assimilation, many speakers of German and Slavic origin acquired the Hungarian language. Indo-European influences on the structure of Hungarian were not as substantial as to turn Hungarian into an Indo-European language.