Appendix:Hungarian words with alternating vowel length

Hungarian words with alternating vowel length have their (usually last) vowel shortened before several inflectional and derivational suffixes.

List of words

The column “Ending” contains the last two consonants in reverse-alphabetized order, in invisible format, only to enable sorting by the ending (aside from the other headers).

Word	Accusative	Meaning	Ending	Front/back	Note
agár	agarat	greyhound	rg	back
bél	belet	bowel, intestine, gut	lb	front unrounded
bogár	bogarat	beetle, bug	rg	back
cserép	cserepet	tile, (flower) pot	pr	front unrounded
cső	csövet	tube, pipe	cs	front rounded	v-stem word, low-vowel word
darázs	darazsat	wasp	zzr	back
dél	delet	noon	ld	front unrounded	its homonym dél (“south”) is chiefly regular
dér	deret	frost, hoarfrost	rd	front unrounded
derék	derekat	waist; (adj.) worthy, honest	kr	back	antiharmonic; noun and adjective
ég	eget	sky	g	front unrounded
egér	egeret	mouse	rg	front unrounded
egyéb	egyebet	other, else	bgy	front unrounded	adjective
elég	eleget	enough; quite, fairly	gl	front unrounded	adjective and adverb
ér	eret	vein (or artery), blood vessel	r	front unrounded
ész	eszet / észt	intellect, reason	sz	front unrounded
fazék	fazekat	pot	kz	back
fedél	fedelet	lid	ld	front unrounded
fél	felet	half	lf	front unrounded	unrelated to the homonymous verb fél (“to be afraid”)
fenék	feneket	bottom	kn	front unrounded
fonál	fonalat	yarn, thread	ln	back
fű	füvet	grass	f	front rounded	v-stem word, low-vowel word
fűz	füzet	willow	zf	front rounded	low-vowel word
gyökér	gyökeret	root	rk	front unrounded
hét	hetet	seven; week	th	front unrounded	numeral as well as a noun
hév	hevet	ardor, fervor, zeal	vh	front unrounded
ín	ínt BUT inak; inam, inad, ina etc.	sinew	n	back	antiharmonic
híd	hidat	bridge	dh	back	antiharmonic
jég	jeget	ice	gj	front unrounded
kanál	kanalat	spoon	ln	back
kenyér	kenyeret	bread	rny	front unrounded
kerék	kereket	wheel	kr	front unrounded
kevés	keveset	few, little	sv	front unrounded	indefinite numeral or adjective
kéz	kezet	hand	zk	front unrounded
kő	követ	stone, rock	k	front rounded	v-stem word, low-vowel word
kosár	kosarat	basket	rs	back
kötél	kötelet	rope	lt	front unrounded
közép	közepet	middle, center	pz	front unrounded
kút	kutat	well	tk	back
légy	legyet	fly	gyl	front unrounded
lélek	lelket	soul	kl	front unrounded	exceptionally its penultimate vowel gets shortened; its last vowel is a fleeting vowel
levél	levelet	leaf; letter (mail)	lv	front unrounded
ló	lovat	horse	l	back	v-stem word, low-vowel word
lúd	ludat	goose	dl	back
madár	madarat	bird	rd	back
mész	meszet	lime, whitewash	szm	front unrounded
mocsár	mocsarat	marsh, swamp, bog	rcs	back
mozsár	mozsarat	mortar	rzs	back
nehéz	nehezet	difficult, heavy	zh	front unrounded	adjective
név	nevet	name	vn	front unrounded
nyár	nyarat	summer	rny	back
nyél	nyelet	handle	lny	front unrounded
nyíl	nyilat	arrow	lny	back	antiharmonic
nyúl	nyulat	rabbit, hare	lny	back
nyű	nyüvet	grub, maggot	ny	front rounded	v-stem word, low-vowel word
parázs	parazsat	ember(s)	zzr	back
pohár	poharat	(drinking) glass	rh	back
réz	rezet	copper	zr	front unrounded
rúd	rudat	bar, rod, pole	dr	back
sár	sarat	mud	rs	back
sugár	sugarat	ray, (light)beam	rg	back
szamár	szamarat	donkey	rm	back
szekér	szekeret	cart, waggon, chariot	rk	front unrounded
szél	szelet	wind	lsz	front unrounded	its homonym szél (“edge, margin”) is regular
szemét	szemetet	garbage, rubbish, waste	tm	front unrounded
szén	szenet	coal, charcoal	nsz	front unrounded
szú	szuvat	woodworm	sz	back	v-stem word, low-vowel word
szűz	szüzet	virgin	zsz	front rounded	low-vowel word
tehén	tehenet	cow	nh	front unrounded
tél	telet	winter	lt	front unrounded
tenyér	tenyeret	palm (of a hand)	rny	front unrounded
tér	teret	space; (town) square	rt	front unrounded
tő	tövet	stem	t	front rounded	v-stem word, low-vowel word
tűz	tüzet	fire	zt	front rounded	low-vowel word
úr	urat	sir, gentleman, lord	r	back
út	utat	road, way	t	back
veréb	verebet	sparrow	br	front unrounded
víz	vizet	water	zv	front unrounded

Notes

The vowel in the noun szív (“heart”) as well as in the numerals tíz (“ten”) and húsz (“twenty”) also become short before most of the same suffixes that shorten the vowel of the words above (szívet, szívek, szíven; szívem, szíved, szíve etc.; szíves, szívű — tízet, tízen, tíze etc., tízenként — húszat, húszak, húszan etc. pronounced [szivet] etc.), but this change is not reflected in their spelling. However, the forms tized, tizedik, tizen- and huszad, huszadik, huszon- do reflect the shortened pronunciation. Native speakers are advised to use kéz as a point of reference on spelling these forms (irrespective of pronunciation).

Individual changes after derivational suffixes

Some words shorten their stem vowel before certain particular derivational suffixes but not before others. These are not productive processes and they are seen as matters of language history (etymology) only. These differences mainly affect close vowels such as i–í, u–ú, and ü–ű.

From nouns and adjectives

• bűn (“sin”) → büntet (“to punish”)
• csín (“neatness”) → csinos (“pretty”)
• csúcs (“peak, tip”) → csucsorít (“to purse one’s lips”) (also csücsörít)
• hír (“news item”) → hirdet (“to advertise”)
• hús (“meat, flesh”) → husi (“little piece of meat”)
• húg (“little sister”) → hugi (“endearing form of address for a little sister”)
• pír (“blush, flush, glow, rosiness”) → piros (“red”), pirít (“to toast, sauté, grill”)
• sík (“level, even, smooth”) → siklik (“to glide”), sikamlós (“slippery, risqué”)
• szűk (“narrow, tight”) → szükség (“need, necessity, scarcity”)
• űr (“void”) → üres (“empty”), ürít (“to empty sth”), ürül (“to get empty”), üreg (“cavity”)
• víg (“cheerful”) → vigad (“to enjoy oneself”), vigasz (“comfort, solace”), vigasság (“merrymaking”), vigalom
• zsír (“fat [grease]”) → zsiradék (“material mainly composed of fat [e.g. leaf fat, suet, butter]; glyceride [ester of glycerol and one or more fatty acid]”)

From verbs (for more comprehensive lists, see the “Derived terms” of the stem words)

• bír (“to own; to bear”) → birodalom (“empire”), birkózik (“to wrestle”)
• bízik (“to trust”) → biztos (“certain, sure”)
• bújik (“to hide [oneself]”) → bujdosik (“to hide and wander”), bujkál (“to keep hiding”)
• csíp (“to pinch, peck”) → csipesz (“clothes peg, tweezers”), csipet (“[a] pinch [of]”), csipked (“to keep pinching”), csipdes (“to peck around”), csipeget (“to peck [from]”)
• csúszik (“to slide, glide”) → csusszan, csuszamlik
• dívik (“to be in vogue”) → divat (“fashion, vogue”)
• dúl (“to ravage”) → dulakodik (“to grapple, tussle”)
• dől, dűl (“to tip over, tumble down”) → dülled (“to goggle”), dülleszt (“to thrust forward”), düledezik (“to be falling down”), dülöngél (“to stagger, totter”)
• fúl (“to suffocate, drown [refl.]”) → fullad (“to suffocate, drown”), fullaszt (“to suffocate, drown [trans.]”)
• fúr (“to bore, drill”) → furakodik (“to push one’s way”), furkál (“to drill around”)
• fűl, fűlik (“to heat [refl.]”) → fülled (“to become stuffy”)
• fűz (“to string [sth]”) → füzér (“string [noun]”), füzet (“exercise book”)
• gúny (“sarcasm, mockery”) → gunyoros (“sarcastic, mocking”)
• gyúl (“to catch fire”) → gyullad (“to catch fire”)
• gyúr (“to knead”) → gyurma (“plasticine”)
• gyűlik (“to gather [refl.]”) → gyülekezik (“to gather [refl.]”)
• gyűr (“to crumple, crease”) → gyürkőzik
• hív (“to call”) → hivatás (“vocation”), hivatal (“office, bureau, authority”), hivatkozik (“to refer[ence]”)
• hízik (“to get fat”) → hizlal (“to fatten [make fat]”)
• húz (“to pull”) → huzal (“wire”), huzamos (“prolonged”), huzat (“draught of air; (bedclothes) cover, slip”), huzigál (“to keep pulling”), huzakodik (“to quarrel, wrangle”), huzavona (“wrangle, quarrel”)
• hűl (“to become cool/cold”) → hüledezik (“to be struck dumb”)
• ír (“to write”) → irat (“document”), iroda (“office”), irodalom (“literature”), iratkozik (“to register, sign up”)
• ívik (“to spawn”) → ivar (“sex [of low-level beings]”)
• nyílik (“to open [refl.]”) → nyilván (“obviously”), nyilatkozik (“to make a statement, declare”)
• múlik (“to pass, go by”) → mulandó (“passing, ephemeral”), mulaszt (“to miss [out on], neglect, let slip; make go away”)
• nyír (“to shear, trim”) → nyiratkozik (“to have a haircut”), nyirbál (“to keep trimming”)
• rúg (“to kick”) → ruganyos, rugalmas (“elastic”), rugó (“spring [mechanic]”)
• sír (“to weep, cry”) → siralom (“lamentation”), siránkozik (“to lament, whine”), sirat (“to mourn, bewail, lament”)
• súg (“to whisper, prompt”) → sugall, sugalmaz (“to suggest, intimate”), sugdos (“to keep whispering [sth]”), sugdolózik (“to keep whispering between each other”)
• szív (“to suck, inhale, absorb”) → szivacs (“sponge”), szivárog (“to ooze, seep out/away”), szivar (“cigar”), szivattyú (“pump”)
• szúr (“to prick, stab”) → szurkál (“to keep pricking”), szurony (“bayonet”)
• szűnik (“to cease, stop [refl.]”) → szünet (“break, recess”), szüntet (“to cease, stop [trans.]”), szüntelen (“unceasing, incessant”), szünidő (“vacation [from school]”)
• szűr (“to filter [sth]”) → szüremkedik, szüremlik (“to filter (get filtered) through”), szürcsöl (“to slurp”)
• túr (“to dig up, root about, rummage”) → turkál (“to keep digging, rooting about, rummaging”)
• tűnik (“to appear”) → tünet (“symptom”), tünékeny (“elusive”), tünedezik (“to keep disappearing [one after the after]”), tündöklik (“to gleam, glitter”), tünemény (“phenomenon, portent”), tündér (“fairy”), tüntet (“to demonstrate; to make sth vanish”)
• tűr (“to tolerate”) → türelem (“patience”)
• úszik (“to swim”) → uszoda (“swimming pool”), uszony (“fin”)
• űz (“to pursue”) → üzem (“[industrial] plant”), üzemel (“to operate [refl.]”), üzlet (“shop, store”), üzelmek (“machinations, practices”)
• ví(v) (“to fence, fight”) → viadal (“combat, fight”)

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian words with an alternating final vowel