Énekeltetek, énekeltétek? (Did you sing? Did you sing it?)

Abstract

This short article is a deliberation on the semantically meaningful difference between two Hungarian sounds: e [ε] and é [e:]. In the process of first language acquisition which is inseparable from cognition and meaning development, children easily learn the meaningful difference between the two sounds which in Hungarian palatal verbal endings serve to distinguish between verbal inflectional patterns for known and unknown objects. However, the same task is a major challenge for learners of Hungarian as a foreign language. Only after they cross the threshold of being able to accurately perceive and articulate these sounds can they begin to process instances of definite–indefinite conjugation in Hungarian in meaningful contexts. It is argued that language pedagogy cannot bypass the socio-constructivist idea claiming that sounds provide the primary material for linguistic symbols which capture schematic grammatical, situational meanings in any natural language.