Is Hungarian easy for a Finnish speaker? (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

Is Hungarian easy for a Finnish speaker?
Tags: Uralic Languages \| Hungarian \| Finnish
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Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages

22 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3

Hungringo
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Speaks: Hungarian*, English, Spanish
Studies: French

Message 17 of 22

04 February 2014 at 8:13pm | IP Logged

Chung wrote:

Nitpicking here but it's pata and elma in Finnish and Turkish respectively. There is alma in Azeri, Kazakh and Tatar among others and so that's all still close enough

Sorry, I am trying to recall my secondary school grammar lessons.
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Hungringo
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Message 18 of 22

04 February 2014 at 8:17pm | IP Logged

We have to keep in mind that Hungarian was influenced not by Oguz Turkic languages such as modern Anatolian Turkish, but by mostly Kipchak and Oghur Turkic languages, so no wonder Kazakh is a closer match than Turkish.

Edited by Hungringo on 04 February 2014 at 8:18pm
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FuroraCeltica
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Message 19 of 22

07 February 2014 at 8:33pm | IP Logged

Hungringo wrote:

I am Hungarian and for me Finnish is extremely difficult. The relationship between Hungarian and Finnish is not like between Swedish and English rather like between Swedish and Greek.

Transparency between Finnish and Hungarian is basically zero.

Thank you for saying this, I have heard similarly that Hungarian and Finnish are technically related but not enough to be of practical use for learners seeking a 'discount'. However I heard Estonia and Finnish are pretty close, can anyone confirm?

Edited by FuroraCeltica on 07 February 2014 at 8:39pm
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Hungringo
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Message 20 of 22

07 February 2014 at 9:12pm | IP Logged

FuroraCeltica wrote:

Hungringo wrote:

Finnish and Estonian are definitely much closer although I am not familiar enough with either, especially not with Estonian, to judge the level of transparency between them. I do know that Estonians pick up Finnish very quickly and many watch Finnish TV programs.
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Verikukko
Diglot
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Finland
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Speaks: Finnish*, English
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Message 21 of 22

08 February 2014 at 11:19am | IP Logged

FuroraCeltica wrote:

Hungringo wrote:

I am Hungarian and for me Finnish is
extremely difficult. The relationship between Hungarian and Finnish is not like between
Swedish and English rather like between Swedish and Greek.

Transparency between Finnish and Hungarian is basically zero.

Thank you for saying this, I have heard similarly that Hungarian and Finnish are
technically related but not enough to be of practical use for learners seeking a
'discount'. However I heard Estonia and Finnish are pretty close, can anyone confirm?

The vocabulary is extremely similar. I don't technically know a word of Estonian, but
if I watched an Estonian TV show I would understand over 50% of it. Also, Finnish
tourists who go to Estonia literally speak Finnish there, instead of English,
and the Estonians speak back in Estonian and both parties usually understand each
other.

Edited by Verikukko on 08 February 2014 at 11:20am
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Chung
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Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish

Message 22 of 22

08 February 2014 at 6:58pm | IP Logged

Estonian and Finnish are similar, but the intelligibility seems to be asymmetric and dependent on the person involved. Based on my experience the divergence and resultant (un)intelligibility is rather like German and Dutch.

See the following for some more commentary.

Finnish & Estonian
Estonian/Finnish/Hungarian "cheat sheet"
Finno-Ugric Profile

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