r/finnougric • u/Beneficial-Bowl-3421 • Jun 26 '25
The székely dialect
The székely people and their dialect of hungarian can be found mainly in eastern Transylvania, and I'm a székely myself. I have recently got into studying other finno-ugric languages, and I realised that this dialect shares more phonetic similarities with other finno ugric languages than standard hungarian does. I always used it, altrough I never noticed it since now that székely often use the ä sound instead of the e when speaking. This solely doesn't really say much about any linguistic realtion, but according to the legend, the székely moved into the carpathian basin before the hungarians, with the huns. Also there aren't any languages in the region that have the ä sound, so I thought I'd share this thought of mine and see what you think!
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u/blueroses200 Jun 26 '25
Are Székely people proud of their dialect and still keeping it? What is the mindset currently?
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u/Milan-77 Jun 27 '25
Actually I’ve noticed (as a Hungarian) that some Hungarians here in Hungary are starting to say e as a sound like ä. Probably unrelated but I thought I’d mention it.
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u/Karabars Jun 26 '25
Archeogenetic studies and linguistics (from what I saw and read) show that Székelys and Hungarians are too similar for a different migration period, or origin, but Székelys do have a slightly higher Hunnic admixture (like more haplogroup Q and C). Historical documents and toponyms also showcase how they migrated to their current place in the 11-12th century, as borderguards (meaning of székely/székelni) resettled from the Western to the Eastern borders, as Hungary faced a more stable relation with "Germany" (West) than with the nomadic East.
Most likely a smaller, truly Hunnic (in origin) elite group formed this identity within them and passed on it as oral traditions. Probably same with the Arpad dynasty (R-Z93).
(Sidenote, I'm a mainland Hungarian, my paternal line came from Transylvania and have partial Szekler origin from Aranyos Seat.)