Hungarian Names and the Art of Rolling an "R"

I recently returned from conducting some business in the Czech Republic. This wasn't my first visit. I'd been in the region before thanks to a stint in the Armed Forces. I think the most interesting locales were the Ukraine and Hungary. If I had to narrow it down even further I guess I would pick Hungary as one of the most enjoyable places I've ever been. Just don't ask me to pronounce any Hungarian names.

There are probably several indicators that are dead give-aways that you're in a foreign country: obviously the language is number one on the list. Whether it's spoken or written or read, if you can't figure it out or at the very least ask where the restroom is, then I'd say you're in a heap of trouble. Other less intimidating factors would include the way people dress and the way they spend their time. But for my money, if you can't speak the language you shouldn't be in the country. So it was the case with Hungarian names. I was in Budapest on business - so I wasn't going anywhere for at least a week.

The toughest thing about any Hungarian name is first of all they're difficult to pronounce and second they don't necessarily correspond with names that you know. To excel, you really need to be able to roll an "r". But that's not always the rule, more like the exception. For example, the English name Angela gets twisted around and comes out as "Angyalka". Don't ask me how to pronounce it because I don't know. Or how about the name Barbara. That's a pretty typical name. It rolls off your tongue quite easily as a matter of fact. But give it the Hungarian treatment and it becomes "Borbála". Close but no cigar. At least "Borbála" kind of sounds like Barbara. Perhaps if I was thinking of Hungarian baby names I would settle on Borbála because Borbála sounds like something that might come out of a baby's mouth. I met a girl who was named Pricilla - in English anyway - but in Hungarian it was Piroska. Again, if we're talking about Hungarian baby names; Piroska might not be so bad. But spending 20 years with someone named Piroska? It's not going to happen. I'm quite sure that most Hungarians take the difficulty in pronouncing their Hungarian names into consideration, and will give foreigners the English or American version of their names. At least they did with me, and I am forever grateful because of it.

When it comes to Hungarian names I wonder what effect they have in specific situations. Take for example romance. Imagine you're in passionate embrace with the girl of your dreams and you want to whisper her name in her ear. Well, if her name is Elisabeth that's one thing, but in Hungarian it's Erzsébet. You can cut it any way you want to, but I'm telling you, I wouldn't feel all that romantic if I'm moaning the name Erzsébet in someone's ear, I don't care how attractive they are.

This is just a hunch on my part. There are probably are sorts of people - excluding Hungarians of course - that are quite enamored with Hungarian names. Some people enjoy pronouncing words they just can't grasp, whether it's someone's name or a plate of food in a restaurant. Personally I don't think I'm paying anyone a compliment by butchering their language. Hungarian names, like the language in general, demands that one study the pronunciation and didactics. Only then can you save yourself the embarrassment of possibly offending someone.

Having established that, it should be said that one of the great pleasures in life is having an opportunity to spend time in a foreign country. Thanks to the internet and every mode of travel imaginable, I'd say the world really does seem to be smaller. And at the end of the day, in the majority of countries, people are more or less the same everywhere.

Getting back to this crazy this called language, I have no doubt that Hungarians or Chinese or whatever the nationality is have the same reservations about names and language that are not their own. So that makes us even in way. In fact, in my own small way I'm using my cultural ineptitude to build bridges with other countries. It's actually easier than I thought!