Hungarian phrasebook: Pronunciation guide

Vowels

Vowel length is indicated by the acute accent. Words are often distinguished only by vowel length: e.g., kór "disease" vs. kor "age".

a like 'o' in "old" (a very deep "o") --> [SYMBOL: å]

á like 'a' in "father" --> [SYMBOL: a]

e like 'e' in "let" --> [SYMBOL: e]

é like 'a' in "say" --> [SYMBOL: ey]

i 
like i in "hit" --> [SYMBOL: i]

í like 'ee' in "seem" --> [SYMBOL: ee]

o like 'o' in "or" --> [SYMBOL: o]

ó like 'o' in "so" --> [SYMBOL: oa]

ö like 'ö' in German "schön" or English "shun" (with rounded lips) --> [SYMBOL: ø]

o like 'ö' but longer --> [SYMBOL: ø1]

u like 'ou' in "could" --> [SYMBOL: ou]

ú like 'oo' in "moon" --> [SYMBOL: oo]

ü like 'ü' in German "über" (like "ee" with rounded lips) --> [SYMBOL: u]

u like "ü" but longer --> [SYMBOL: u1]

Consonants

Only the consonants having sounds different from those in English are noted here. Consonant length is distinctive: tizenegyedik "eleventh" vs. tizennegyedik "fourteenth". Consonants written with two letters are doubled by doubling the first letter: asszony "woman". Exception: tizennyolc is tizen-nyolc.

c like 'ts' in hats --> [SYMBOL: ts]

cs like 'ch' in chair --> [SYMBOL: ch]

dzs like 'dg' in badge --> [SYMBOL: j]

gy like 'j' in major or 'de y' in made your --> [SYMBOL: dj]

j like 'y' in yes --> [SYMBOL: y]

ly same as j

ny as in canyon or 'ñ' in señor --> [SYMBOL: ny]

r always rolled like as in Spanish "María

s as in sugar --> [SYMBOL: sh]

sz like 's' in see --> [SYMBOL: s]

ty like 'tch' in batch --> [SYMBOL: ty]

zs like 'g' in genre or 's' in pleasure --> [SYMBOL: zh]

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