Almost all languages use some sort of attachment (suffix) system. Take English for example: you can go from “milk” to “milking”. We are all aware that such endings exist but we often ignore them as there aren’t many of them.
That’s not the case with Hungarian. There are thousands of these b@stards…
The whole idea behind the language, if we imagine it was created in some sort of lab by some sort of mad linguist, is that these rules apply to every single word:
- Take a simple word, any word; such as “olvas” (to read)
- Apply some ending on it; make it “olvasó” (reader)
- Then apply another one on top of it, because why not??? – “olvasónak” (to the reader)
- Keep going… go on… MOAR ATTACHMENTS
Anyaway… just image, dear reader, an entire language built on attachments. You won’t even need prepositions anymore, keep adding stuff until it works.
To be fair, it does sound like patchwork on some sort of military hardware: it’s mostly duct tape and baling wire now but it still works.
So what does that leave us with for lessons? It’s exactly as you expect. We’ll have long discussions about attachments. Buckle up!