Nyelvek, nyelvváltozatok, következmények I.

Before turning to the actual realizations of vowel harmony implementation in the loanwords in question, it is helpful to briefly review the general characteristics of the Hungarian vowel harmony in light of its application as a ‘tool’ in the adaptation strategies. Generally, as a phonological phenomenon, vowel harmony can hardly fail the linguist – its realizations in different languages provide rich material for investigations1. The various aspects of the phenomenon are, naturally, language-specific. Nevertheless, certain mechanisms in its functioning are showing universal tendencies. Therefore, namely by examining a given language, it is possible to complement the overall picture of the phenomenon. The Hungarian language is often presented as a textbook example of a vowel harmony language. It has a rich vowel system – 14 vowels, seven short and seven long. As with every vowel harmony language, the vowel system is subdivided into two main sets: the harmonic and the neutral vowels: