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- Topic: Hungarian >
- "Szia!"
102 Comments
Or Servus in Bavarian German (and Austrian German too if I'm not mistaken)
"Szervusz" is actually the Hungarian version, thank you Austro-Hungarian Empire.
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Yes, that's right. "Servus" is part of the latin language, and means "I am your servant" (but no one knows this fact when using this word).
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First word I see has both "bye" and "hello" as definitions... this'll be an interesting course... Congrats Team Hungarian!
Actually, "helló" is only supposed to be used when meeting someone and not when leaving, but misuse as "bye" has been spreading in recent years, it may become an accepted meaning sometime.
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Well, not sure if we can say misuse as it is a loan word and every language has the "right" to adapt the meaning to its own needs. But the use of "heló" as bye is nothing new. It is at least several decades old.
For a little practice:
https://youtu.be/yGkqnX9C_68
Could be, maybe it's just me not hearing it. Some people also frown on it, although that might be caused by the English meaning and not really related to the Hungarian language. I've found it in an online dictionary as meaning both hello and goodbye, I may have to buy the official dictionary now...
vvsey is right, I've been using 'heló' with both meanings (hi, and bye) for at least 30 years
I also learned "heló" for both hello and goodbye when I met teenage friends in Hungary in the mid-80s (Győr).
It's funny how the letter "s" in Hungarian makes the /ʃ/ "sh" sound, while "sz" makes the /s/ "s" sound.
Sorta. "Sz" in Polish makes a /ʂ/ sound, which is basically /ʃ/, but with your tongue curled backwards and touching the ridge near the front of your mouth. But, yeah, you have the right idea!
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Szia!
I learned a bit of Hungarian ages ago. I'm so happy that I can start again.
Köszönom :-)
Interesting to see that a word can mean both "hello" and "see you." Basically opposites.
Ciao and aloha are the same. It's not confusing at all unless you literally have problems working out if someone is arriving or leaving.
Hello from a croatian history student! :D I was doing a big project about hungarian romanesque architecture... had to research a lot in magyar and got interested in the language.
My girlfriend (who is Hungarian) always says this to our cat. Saw this update and have jumped at the chance to learn this!
First, I thank you for addind this language to Duolingo, great work. Through I don't like this beta course right now. It's way too difficult for a beginner. The new word are introduced several at once, and there are long and difficult. I passed 2 lesson, but had the point randomly, with nothing left in my memory. I'd prefer a first lesson with short word, how to say "a", "the", "boy", "girl", etc. "Szia" is very easy, but all other exercices from this first unit, is very difficult to me.
For instance, when you have the exercise "Jó éjszakát kívánok" which I know 0 words, when you click on the word, you have the global translation, and I don't know what each word means. I don't want to learn the sentences globally, like with a book method giving useful sentences for traveller, I'd like to be able to understand each words to reuse them in my own sentences. I know it's a beta, I hope you'll change a little the difficulty level, or order of the lesson, or explain more each word.
The hover hints include the (presumably Hungarian) words udvariasabban and búcsúzásra (in the English translations!) and the dictionary definitions include búcsúzásra and közvetlenebbül. What do these words mean? These words should probably be replaced with suitable English words to help new learners. My apologies if definitions are given in the Tips & Notes section, but unfortunately it is not possible to access the Tips & Notes until after the first lesson is completed.
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udvarias=formal, udvariasabb=more formal, udvariasabban=in a more formal way, közvetlen=direct/informal, közvetlenebb=more informal, közvetlenebbül=in a more informal way, búcsúzás=leave/farewell, -ra=for
I am relearning hungarian because I can't really translate words well between hungarian and english
The singer Sia is a great help with this word, haha. I'm so glad that I decided to learn Hungarian.
Igen. Nehéz a megfelelő stílust eltalálni. Igen figyelemre méltó, komoly munka ez. Én is komolyan gondolom, hogy kívánatos lenne, hogy ez a sok érdeklődő nem magyar ember ne úgy hagyja abba a tanulást, hogy a magyar nyelvben nincs az igének jövő ideje, nincs felszólító és feltételes módja. Azt megértem, hogy a kötetlen szórend nagyon megterhelné a megoldásokat, de a függőleges ékezettel lehetne elnézőbb.
Nagy élmény volt! Köszönöm szépen.
between Hungarian and English: S = sh Sz = s C = "ts" Cs = ch Z = z Zs = "zh" (like "s" in "measure" or French J)
Szervusz! I hear "szervuzs" all the time as a hello, welcome, greetings. I think "szervusz" is much more used than "szia"?
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"Szervusz" is a bit more formal, a bit more adult. An adult may say it to a child, or to another adult. But it is just a matter of personal style. The more informal way is "szia", and I think it is more frequently used.
This one also has a plural form: "Szervusztok".
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In my experience, "szervusz" is mostly used by old/older people when they address younger ones or each other. Even in these cases it is mostly used to address boys/males, since older people talking to girls/ladies would use more formal and fancy phrases like simply "jó napot" or "kézcsók"+name and its variants like "kézcsókom/kezeit csókolom".
I thought "a" was pronounced like the "o" in the word 'not'. So how come you say the word like "see ya" instead of "see y-aw"?
How do you know how people are pronouncing words when this is a written forum?
Whenever I hear someone say "szia," in the audio part of this course, or in a movie, it does sound like see-aw. The "aw" part is short, though, not a dipthong like it is in English. Also, it's not a schwa like it is in English (see-yuh :)).
Since you're not from the US, it doesn't matter much (sorry for the assumption!). In most regions of the US, the 'o' sound (as in 'not,' the 'aw' sound you referred to) sounds somewhat similar to the 'a' sound in 'father'. Not exactly the same, but from my perspective as someone who was raised in New England, they sound very similar. This is especially true when someone from the Midwestern US is talking, but I live in California now, and I often hear them pronounced similarly.
In New England, there's a strong distinction between the two vowel sounds. So that's why I wondered whether you were from there, too. Probably the New Englanders got it straight from the source. :)
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Anyone who knows how to properly pronounce "Alabama" (with each "a" sounding different), please ask your Hungarian friend/girlfriend/boyfriend/etc. to say it in Hungarian. There will be four equal "a" sounds, as it should be. They are all the same letter after all! :)
I want to remove Hungarian from my list of languages to learn. It was accidentally added as I was scrolling through the list.
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Go to your profile, then "settings" --- learning language, then you find: Reset or remove languages. Much luck.
If 'a' is pronounced as the English 'o' in Hungarian, would I pronounce "szia" as SEE-OH? It is confusing because the audio sounds more like SEE-YA, on the other hand.
It's like the short English 'o', such as the 'o' in "gone," "Bob," etc. Not like the 'o' in "oh." That's written as o or ó. :)
