Hungarian and Turkish

Mavi Boncuk | 

A lot of old Turkish words in Hungarian are difficult to spot because they are from the Csuvash branch of Turkish languages, for instance r corresponds to Ottoman Turkish z: tenger "sea" = deniz.[1] 

Hungarian has two words for "red". Piros and vörös. The difference is historical and today there is no rule for which to use, you just have to learn it. Most of the time, "vörös" is a darker shade of red than "piros". Basically "vörös" derives from the word "vér" which means blood (kan kirmizi TR), but you can use both words for blood in fact. The difference is that blood that flows in our veins is usually considered "piros" and blood that has been spilt and has coagulated is considered "vörös". 

Like Turkish, Hungarian is also agglutinative. That means that instead of saying "IN the school" they say "iskoláBAN", that said, Hungarians stick suffixes to the end of their words. What's more, it is even possible to put more than one suffices to a word like this: "iskoláKBAN", in which "iskola" is school, "-k" is the pluralizer suffix and "-ban" means "in". Japanese, Finnish and Turkish are similar in this manner.

Among the first to arrive were the Huns, who built up a powerful empire under Attila. It is presently believed that the origin of the name "Hungary" does not come from the Central Asian nomadic invaders called the Huns, but rather originated from a later, 7th century Turkic alliance called On-Ogour, which in Old Turkish meant "(the) Ten Arrows.The Magyars migrated to Hungary in the late 9th century."

Origin of the word "Hungarian" (Magyar) is thought to be derived from the Bulgaro-Turkic Onogur, possibly because the Magyars were neighbours (or confederates) of the Empire of the Onogurs in the 6th century, whose leading tribal union was called the "Onogurs" (meaning "ten tribes" in Old Turkic).The H- in many languages (Hungarians, Hongrois, Hungarus etc.) is a later addition. It was taken over from the word "Huns"(turkish tribe), which was a similar semi-nomadic tribe living some 400 years earlier in present-day Hungary and having a similar way of life (or according to the older theories the people from which the Magyars arose). In ancient times, through the Middle Ages, and even today, the identification of Hungarians with the Huns has often occurred in history and literature, however this identification began to be disputed around the late 19th century, and is still a source of major controversy among scholars who insist that there could be no direct connection between the two.The origin of the Hungarians is partly disputed. The most widely accepted Finno-Ugric theory from the late 19th century is based primarily on linguistic and ethnographical arguments, while it is criticised by some as relying too much on linguistics. There are also other theories stating that the Magyars are descendants of Scythians, Huns, Turks, Avars, and/or Sumerians.

Many historical references related both the Magyars (Hungarians) and the Bashkirs as two branches of the same nation. However, modern Bashkirs are quite different from their original stock, largely decimated during the Mongol invasion (13th century), and assimilated into Turkic peoples."

Both the Kabars[2] and earlier the Bulgars may have taught the Magyars their Turkic languages; according to the Finno-Ugric theory, this is used to account for at least 300 Turkic words and names still in modern Hungarian"


[1] "I ONCE attended a lecture, delivered in German by a Romanian whose native language was Hungarian, and who also spoke Finnish. When the inevitable question as to the similarity of the two languages arose, he answered "Yes, they are quite similar. About as similar as French and Russian." I don't think he was being facetious: French and Russian (or for that matter English and Albanian) are similar, since they are related Indo-European languages. But the Romanian's answer is a salutary warning against over-emphasising the similarities. Finnish and Hungarian both belong to the Finno-Ugrian group of languages (Estonian also, which is very similar to Finnish). Hungarian history is well documented, since they came early into contact with the German (Holy Roman) Empire and had to be confined within their boundaries by the German king Henry I in the 10th century. They (and presumably also the Finns) are the descendants of probably the last wave of foreign invaders from the East, of whom the Huns and the Avars are perhaps the best known. To say more would be speculation. As to the question "Where do the Hungarians and the Finns come from?" - where do any of us come from? It's just that their languages stick out like erratic blocks in an otherwise homogeneous Indo-European landscape that makes us wonder about their origins. They are just people like the rest of us." Frank Shaw, Department of German, University of Bristol.

"The words shared with Turkish are cultural items, which are most subject to borrowing. The words that Hungarian shares with Finnish, however, belong to the stable core of the language, such as personal pronouns, basic natural phenomena, body parts, etc. The Finno-Ugric hypothesis was denied by Hungarians throughout the last century - in the face of over-whelming evidence - on the irrelevant grounds that the Hungarians were conquerors on horseback whereas the Saami and the Udmurts, etc, were hunter-gatherers who had never conquered anyone." Paul Whitehouse, London N1

"THE HYPOTHESIS which asserts a common origin for the Hungarian and Finnish languages is based on the fact that there are about 600 words shared by Hungarian and Finnish. This "official" version is generally the only one taught in schools and universities. However, it is also true that there is an equal or greater number of words shared by Hungarian with Turkish and many other languages. Moreover, the anthropology, the mythology and the traditional music of Hungarians shows a much closer kinship with the Turkic peoples than with the Finns and the other related Uralic peoples. The earliest sources relating to Hungarians generally describe them as Turks, Huns, Sabirs, Onogurs, etc, but never as Finns. If the questioner wishes to know more about the "official" story of Hungarian origins, he only has to consult any textbook anywhere in the Western world. But most Hungarian people no longer believe in this version. If he wishes to know something about the research concerned with the alternative views, he could contact us." I Halasz, Hungarian Historical Society, 115 Auburn Road, Auburn 2144, Australia

"First, the question is where the languages come from, not whether they are related. Finns' ancestors left Siberia and headed north-west. If the Hungarians left from the same area they headed south-west, and besides, this took place thousands of years ago.
Second, languages are not categorised solely by shared words. Finnish has more words derived from Swedish than the 600 common words with Hungarian, but nobody is claiming that Finnish has suddenly become an Indo-European language. These 600 words shared by Hungarian and Finnish are not "common" but they obviously are of same origin. Categorisation includes such features as stress of words and sentences, grammatical system, e.g. case system, syntax and morphology. These features happen to be closely related in both Finnish and Hungarian.
Finally, I couldn't care less if Hungarians prefer being related to Turks, but people who claim something should take all facts into consideration and not just those which suit to them." Salla Koivisto, Guildford, Surrey, (li65sk@surrey.ac.uk)

"Regarding Turkish and Hungarian one should read the paper "Turkish material in Hungarian" by John Dyneley Prince, Columbia University. Not all the so called Turkish "loan words" can be considered borrowed. Some fundamentals are never borrowed and point to a common, cognate linguistic connection . Example the followings are not loan material: Turkish "Çok var", Hungarian "Sok van", "There are many". The cognates Çok, Sok; var, van are clear. Furthermore the relationship between Turkish ol (to be) and Hungarian volt is obvious. Same can be said about Hungarian oly, olyan and Turkish öile "Thus so"; Hungarian jó , Turkish iyi, eyi ("good"), Hungarian and Turkish öl ("kill and die"). Same is true for the Hungarian verbal suffixes 1.p -m 2.p -sz and Turkish -m, s(en), personal pronouns Hungarian én, Turkish ben "I", Hungarian ő, Turkish o "He/She" , Hungarian te, Turkish sen "You", Hungarian Ki, Turkish Kim "Who". The first person possessive affix -m in Turkish and Hungarian çocuku gyerek child çocuğum gyerekem my child çocuklarım gyerekeim my children One can point from the basic Hungarian vocabulary to family words. Hungarian words like anya ("mother") , apa, atya ("father") Turkish ana, anne and ata. These were just some from the many simmilarities between Hungarian and Turkish. I end with a sentence in Turkish and Hungarian: Cebimde çok küçük elma var. Zsebemben sok kicsi alma van. I have many little apples in my pocket. As a native Hungarian my point is that Hungarian is distantly related to Turkish, but I would not deny any distant relationship with Finnish either." Erik Vail, Cluj, Romania

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[2] The Kabars (Greek: Κάβαροι) or Khavars were Khalyzians, Turkic Khazar people who joined the Magyar confederation in the 9th century.

The Kabars consisted of three Khazar tribes who rebelled against the Khazar Khaganate some time in the ninth century; the rebellion was notable enough to be described in Constantine Porphyrogenitus's work De Administrando Imperio. Subsequently the Kabars were expelled from the Khazar Khaganate and sought refuge by joining the Magyar tribal confederacy called Hét-Magyar (meaning "seven Hungarians"). The three Kabar tribes accompanied the Magyar invasion of Pannonia and the subsequent formation of the Principality of Hungary in the late 9th century.

Around 833 the Hungarian tribal confederacy was living in Levedia, between the Don and the Dnieper rivers, within the orbit of the Khazar empire. Toward 850 or 860, driven from Levedia by the Pechenegs, they entered Atelkuzu (Etelköz). The Magyars reached the Danube river basin around 880. Shortly afterward, the Byzantine emperor Leo VI, then at war with Simeon, the Bulgarian czar, called the Hungarians to his aid. The Magyars, led by Árpád, crossed the Danube and attacked Bulgaria. The Bulgarians, in turn, appealed to the Pechenegs, now masters of the steppe, who attacked the Hungarians in the rear and forced them to take refuge in the mountains of Transylvania. At that moment, Arnulf, duke of Carinthia, at war with the Slav ruler Svatopluk, prince of Great Moravia,[citation needed] decided like the Byzantines to appeal to the Hungarians. The Hungarians overcame Svatopluk, who disappeared in the conflict (895). Great Moravia collapsed, and the Hungarians took up permanent abode in Hungary (907).

The origin of the name Hungary is believed to originate from the Bulgar tribal confederacy named On-Ogur, (meaning "ten" Ogurs) (comparable to Tokuz-Oguz (meaning "nine" Oguz)), who ruled the territory of Hungary prior to the arrival of the Magyars.

Many Kabars settled in the Bihar region of the later Kingdom of Hungary and Transylvania now in Romania. Some historians believe the character recorded by Gesta Hungarorum as lord Marot and his grandson Menumorut, dux of Biharia, were of Kabar descent.[citation needed] One of the names on the Kievian Letter is "Kiabar", which may suggest that Kabars settled in Kiev as well. At least some Kabars were of Jewish faith; others may have been Christians, Muslims or shamanists.

The presence of a Turkic aristocracy among the Hungarians could explain the Byzantine protocol by which, in the exchange of ambassadors under Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Hungarian rulers were always referred to as "Princes of the Turks".

The Kabars eventually assimilated into the general Hungarian population, leaving scattered remains and some cultural and linguistic imprints. Some scholars[citation needed] believe that the Székely are their descendants.

A Kabar inscription: The Mihai Viteazu inscription (Alsószentmihály inscription), discovered in the 20th century in present-day Romania, is one of few surviving relics of the Kabars. It was transcribed by the archaeologist-historian Gábor Vékony. According to the transcription, the meaning of the two-row inscription is the following: (first row) "His mansion is famous." and (second row) "Jüedi Kür Karaite." or "Jüedi Kür the Karaite."

The Karaim language (Crimean dialect: къарай тили, Trakai dialect: karaj tili, Turkish dialect: karay dili, traditional Hebrew name lashon kedar לשון קדר "language of the nomads")^[6] is a Turkic language with Hebrew influences, in a similar manner to Yiddish or Ladino. It is spoken by only a few dozen Karaims (Qrimqaraylar) 

in Lithuania, Poland and Crimea and Galicia in Ukraine. The three main dialects are those of Crimea, Trakai-Vilnius and Lutsk-Halych all of which are critically endangered. The Lithuanian dialect of Karaim is spoken mainly in the town of Trakai (also known as Troki) by a small community living there since the 14th century. There is a chance the language will survive in Trakai as a result of official support and because of its appeal to tourists coming to the Trakai Island Castle, where Karaims are presented as the castle's ancient defenders.