Hungarian Coordination Morphemes

[Sza15] [BGD+25]

Hungarian is one of two languages in our sample (with Georgian) that attests all three M&S conjunction strategies: J-only, MU-only, and J-MU.

• es — J, free, prepositive: "A es B"
• is — MU, free, postpositive: "A is B is"
• es...is — J-MU combined: "A is es B is"

The MU particle is is also Hungarian's additive/focus particle ("also/too"), confirming Mitrovic & Sauerland's prediction that MU = additive particle.

[BGD+25] found no significant sentence-type effect on comprehension in Hungarian children (possibly ceiling effects).

Connection to Typology.lean: Haspelmath2007.hungarian Connection to BillEtAl2025: Hungarian is one of two test languages.

def Hungarian.Coordination.es : Coordinator

es — primary conjunction, J particle. Free, prepositive. "Peter es Mari" = "Peter and Mari".

Equations

• Hungarian.Coordination.es = { form := "és", gloss := "and", role := Coordinator.Role.j, boundness := Boundness.free }

def Hungarian.Coordination.is_ : Coordinator

is — MU particle / additive focus particle. Free, postpositive. Conjunction: "Peter is Mari is" = "both Peter and Mari". Additive: "Peter is alszik" = "Peter also sleeps". One of the key pieces of evidence for M&S's MU = additive particle claim.

Equations

• Hungarian.Coordination.is_ = { form := "is", gloss := "also, too; and (MU)", role := Coordinator.Role.mu, boundness := Boundness.free, alsoAdditive := true }

def Hungarian.Coordination.vagy : Coordinator

vagy — disjunction. Free, prepositive. "Peter vagy Mari" = "Peter or Mari".

Equations

• Hungarian.Coordination.vagy = { form := "vagy", gloss := "or", role := Coordinator.Role.disj, boundness := Boundness.free }

def Hungarian.Coordination.de : Coordinator

de — adversative conjunction. "szep de draga" = "beautiful but expensive".

Equations

• Hungarian.Coordination.de = { form := "de", gloss := "but", role := Coordinator.Role.advers, boundness := Boundness.free }

def Hungarian.Coordination.allEntries : List Coordinator

Equations

• Hungarian.Coordination.allEntries = [Hungarian.Coordination.es, Hungarian.Coordination.is_, Hungarian.Coordination.vagy, Hungarian.Coordination.de]

theorem Hungarian.Coordination.all_free : (allEntries.all fun (x : Coordinator) => x.boundness == Boundness.free) = true

All Hungarian coordination morphemes are free (no bound clitics). This contrasts with Georgian, where MU (-c) is bound. [BGD+25] speculate this difference may explain why Georgian children found MU harder than Hungarian children did.

theorem Hungarian.Coordination.mu_is_additive : ((List.filter (fun (x : Coordinator) => x.role == Coordinator.Role.mu) allEntries).all fun (x : Coordinator) => x.alsoAdditive) = true

The MU particle is also serves as an additive particle.