The particle 'csak' (’only’) in the A1 and A2 volumes of the coursebook called MagyarOK

Abstract

The occurrences of the Hungarian particle 'csak' (‘only’) can be divided into two main groups: logical and discourse
marker types. This paper investigates whether csak and its various constructions (e.g. 'csak nem', lit. ‘only not’, e.g. Are you lost or something?) occur and if yes, how they occur in one of today’s most popular coursebooks of Hungarian at the beginner levels. Although the textbooks systematize the level-appropriate rules and patterns of the Hungarian language in a transparent way, the A1 and A2 volumes only mention logical types of 'csak', and even those types are not explained for their formal and functional differences (e.g. stress, word order). Discourse marker types of 'csak' do not appear at all in the A1 and A2 volumes, neither the unstressed type in imperatives nor the stressed type with a specific pragmatic meaning. Likewise, 'csak'-constructions are only tangentially discussed in the context of stand-alone example sentences. Consideration should be given to whether – to be better able to express pragma-semantic content at higher levels (from B1 on) – A2 learners should learn to distinguish between the various logical types of 'csak' and should also be familiarized with its basic discourse marker type(s).