Help with names from Abigail

[u/ihatebindweed]

Hello! Apologies, I do not speak any Hungarian. I am a high school literature teacher in the US. My class is currently reading Abigail by Magda Szabó. My students are really enjoying the book, and we’d all like to make sure we are pronouncing names correctly while reading and discussing. Could anyone help guide me on the Hungarian pronunciation for these places and characters?

- Matula (the school)
- Mari Kis
- Torma
- Kőnig
- Kalmár
- Mitsi Horn

Thank you so much for any help!

[u/d0ntl00kback]

It is so cool your class is reading Abigail! I would’ve loved that in high school.

[u/ihatebindweed → u/d0ntl00kback]

Yes they’re really enjoying it! It’s been such a good experience so far.

[u/Nyx_Montgomery]

There is a TV series about it, which can help you and your class on how to pronounce the names. But roughly:

• Matula (the school): MAW-too-law The Hungarian "a" is deep and short, sounding a bit like the "aw" in "law" or "thought."
• Mari Kis: MAW-ree KEESH In Hungarian, the letter "s" always makes an "sh" sound. Also, Hungarians write family names first, so in the original text, she is Kis Mari.
• Torma: TOR-maw Use a short, crisp "o" like in "torn," followed by the deep "aw" sound. (If your students want to be extra authentic, tell them to slightly roll the "r").
• Kőnig: KUR-neeg The "ő" with the double accent is the hardest sound here for English speakers. It sounds very close to the "ur" in "burn" or "fern," but spoken with rounded lips. The "i" makes an "ee" sound. The R in KUR is silent. Try to say Sir but make the R silent. That's the closest to Ő.
• Kalmár: KAWL-mahr This name is great for showing the difference between the unaccented "a" (aw) and the accented "á" (ah). The "á" is a wide, open sound.
• Mitsi Horn: MEET-see HORN In the original Hungarian, her first name is spelled Mici (the letter "c" makes a "ts" sound). The English translation kindly spells it out phonetically for you, so just remember to use a sharp "ee" sound for the vowels.

[u/_PirohyJim_ → u/Nyx_Montgomery]

Kalmár here, great explanation 💯 

[u/ihatebindweed → u/Nyx_Montgomery]

Thank you, this is so helpful! I really appreciate it!

[u/nightwica → u/Nyx_Montgomery]

This is why we need IPA right here

[u/unpaid_cat_intern → u/Nyx_Montgomery]

I'm afraid maw-too-law is not correct. It's not Motulo 😅 It's Matula (mah-too-lah)

[u/mindenkihagyjon → u/unpaid_cat_intern]

All of them sound a bit off😭

[u/nightwica → u/unpaid_cat_intern]

Hungarian A is actually very, very O-like

[u/unpaid_cat_intern → u/nightwica]

10 eve tanitok es minden nyelveszeti tantargyam jeles lett az elte-n, de eskuszom nem tudom, mire gondolsz 😅

[u/nightwica → u/unpaid_cat_intern]

Amikor magyarra tanítok bárkit, néha bevetem azt a trükköt, hogy ejtsék gyakorlatilag O-ként azt a hangot, amit a magyarban "A" betűvel jelölünk. Amikor így ejtik ki a szót, hirtelen sokkal magyarosabbnak és "szebben" hangzik, mint az azt megelőző próbálkozásaik, /a/ hanggal.

Nyilván ez egy elég erős sarkítás, de az /ɒ/ az ajakkerekítés és a hátsó képzés miatt egész erősen hajaz az O-ra, főleg a "tévés"/budapesti kiejtésben.

Ezutóbbira egyébként pont egy külföldi volt diákom hívta fel a figyelmem, amikor megjegyezte, hogy a Gundel mennyire O-san mondja az A-kat, sokkal inkább, mint amit a legtöbb utca emberétől hallott eddig. Rávezetésnek szerintem tök hasznos :)

[u/InsertFloppy11]

If you set google translate to hungarian it should work (i cant check now)

Or if you want write down phonetically in english how yall pronounce them

[u/Aylarth → u/InsertFloppy11]

Alternatively, you can ask Google Gemini to pronounce the Hungarian names in Hungarian, I believe it does work well.

[u/gammelimhotep]

• Matula — /ˈmɒtulɒ/ — roughly MAH-too-lah
• Kis Mari — /ˈkiʃ ˈmɒri/ — roughly KISH MAH-ree
• Torma — /ˈtormɒ/ — roughly TOR-mah
• Kőnig — /ˈkøːniɡ/ — roughly KUR-neeg
• Kalmár — /ˈkɒlmaːr/ — roughly KAL-maar

I haven't read it, I saw the movie a long time ago.

It's really good.

[u/BedNo4299 → u/gammelimhotep]

A KUR-neeg csak akkor lenne jó, ha non-rhotic akcentusa van OP-nak, aminek amerikai tanárként kis esélye van. Ezt így "körníg"-nek fogja olvasni.

[u/vressor → u/BedNo4299]

igen, de nem nagyon van jobb megközelítés, az olyan neveket, mint Gödel is úgy írák le "fonetikusan", hogy GUR-dl, GUR-del vagy GUR-dəl, és szeirntem főleg az Amerikaiak

[u/ihatebindweed → u/gammelimhotep]

Thank you!

[u/BedNo4299]

Google translate reads things correctly. You can make the voice say them.

[u/Quiet-Friendship-531]

Also there was a lovely TV series made from the book, check it out. It might be interesting to your students.

[u/ihatebindweed → u/Quiet-Friendship-531]

Oh I will, thank you!

[u/Awkward-Abrocoma-703]

https://indavideo.hu/video/Abigel_1resz 07:57. Árkod 09:37 Vitay Georgina 14:26. Kiss Mari, Torma Piroska 14:40 Matula 15:00 Torma Gedeon 17:55 Kalmár Péter 18:12 Kőnig 19:17 Abigél 57:27 Horn Mici 01:04:24 Zsuzsanna

[u/nightwica → u/Awkward-Abrocoma-703]

Doing gods work

[u/BrupieD]

An easy pronunciation rule to remember is that emphasis is always on the first syllable. Hungarians also use a less emphatic stress than English. I think this is because English uses a secondary and tertiary stress, so there is a greater need to distinguish between these.

[u/ihatebindweed → u/BrupieD]

That’s a very helpful detail, thank you!

[u/Turbulent-West2175]

My favourite book❤️🙏 I am so happy your class reading it!

[u/ihatebindweed → u/Turbulent-West2175]

I love it too, and I’m so glad the kids are enjoying it! They see a lot of parallels to their own experiences in spite of the differences in time and culture, and I think that’s beautiful.

[u/KingValidus]

Google Translate generally pronounciates well. You can click the "Listen" button under the Hungarian text:

https://translate.google.com/?sl=hu&tl=en&text=Matula%2C%20Kis%20Mari%2C%20Torma%2C%20K%C5%91nig%2C%20Kalm%C3%A1r%2C%20Horn%20Mici%2C&op=translate

[u/GarabonciasDiak]

Please tell us Hungarians, how and why you picked that book for your class to read? :)

[u/ihatebindweed → u/GarabonciasDiak]

I read it a while ago and really enjoyed it! The class is called “Coming of Age in World Literature” and I thought it was a perfect novel for the theme.

[u/nightwica → u/ihatebindweed]

Let them watch the movie, too! :)

[u/MentAlt_Health]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaceToLinkTo/comments/1ww42fj/hun_helping/

Why posting audio has to be this convoluted I don't know

[u/Acwo272]

That's my favourite book, I'm so happy you're reading that with your class!! 

[u/Illustrious-Bike-817]

Chatgpt is your friend in case you missed the latest news

[u/ihatebindweed → u/Illustrious-Bike-817]

Not sure what this means but as an educator chatgpt will never be my friend.