Presentation - ECV2024-537

Children’s speech development: Hungarian

Krisztina ZAJDÓ, Széchenyi István University/University of Győr, Hungary (zajdo.krisztina@sze.hu)
Adam L. JACOBS, 1010data, Inc., USA (adam.jacobs@1010data.com)

Abstract and slides only

Hungarian is spoken by 12-13 million people in Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and communities worldwide. There are eleven main dialects, including Standard Hungarian. Standard Hungarian is characterized by 25 consonants that can be geminated, over 435 consonant clusters, 14 vowels, no diphthongs/triphthongs, no tones, and a Latin-based nearly perfectly phonemic writing system. Studies of Standard Hungarian acquisition in children point to relatively late acquisition of front rounded vowels /ø(ː), y(ː)/ and palatalized consonants /c, ɟ, ɲ/; and even later acquisition of /l/ and trilled /r/. Major phonological processes in typically developing children under 6;0 include fronting, fricativization, stopping, depalatalization of /c, ɟ/, lateralization, and approximantization. Further, at 6;0, context-dependent devoicing still operates in word-initial and word-final obstruents. The commonly used speech assessment is part of the SZÓL-E? screening test for 5-year-olds. The typically used intervention is traditional articulation therapy, but phonological intervention is gaining ground.

Key words:
Hungarian, Standard Hungarian, Hungarian dialects, multilingual, communication, speech, language, children’s development, interdisciplinary, international communities, assessment, intervention

Book chapter:
Zajdó, K., & Jacobs, A., L. (2025). Hungarian speech development. In S. McLeod (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press.

Language overview presentation:

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

Scroll to Top