Benkő Loránd - Imre Samu (szerk.): The Hungarian language (Budapest, 1972)
THE HUNGARIAN LANGUAGE edited by L. BENKŐ and S. IMRE The interest of this volume presenting a detailed account of the most populous member of the Finno-Ugrian language family is only enhanced by the circumstance that it is some sixty years since a summary work of this kind was last published. Aiming at a full-scale presentation of Hungarian, the book offers an insight into the past history and the most important characteristic features of Finno-Ugrian linguistic relationship, the system of Hungarian phonology, grammar and orthography. The various layers of the Hungarian wordstock including loanwords, the proper names, the development of standard Hungarian and dialectal differentiations are treated in special chapters, and so are questions of early Hungarian texts and the history of Hungarian linguistics. Each paper is complemented with a select bibliography of the subject-matter. The particular studies are featured by a historical approach, but also the actual state of the language receives a thorough consideration, so that eventually an appropriate combination of synchronic and diachronic aspects helps the reader to obtain an overall orientation. Historical and educational problems are also treated parallel with strictly linguistic matters, involving a good deal of information about the history of the Hungarian nation, as