Chapter 12. Differences in the forms of address between standard Hungary Hungarian and Slovakia Hungarian

Abstract

It is a documented fact that the Hungarian varieties spoken outside of Hungary exhibit differences from standard Hungary Hungarian at all levels of the language system (c.f. Lanstyák 2000). However there is little data on how address forms have changed where Hungarian is spoken outside of Hungary. According to Domonkosi (2002: 146), 16 basic address variants can be distinguished with combinations of personal suffixes of the verb, pronouns and nominal address forms, but the data refer only to Hungarian speakers in Hungary. Our study is the first attempt to compare the address forms used by the respondents of Hungary Hungarians and Hungarian minorities living outside the borders of Hungary. The results suggest significant differences between the language use of the two groups in the use of V and T forms, in the use of the auxiliary verb tetszik, and in the use of address avoidance.