Page:Poetry of the Magyars.djvu/29

Rh weight, and pomp, attach, such as tó, the lake; nap, the sun; hold, the moon; tábor, a camp; had, war—that e and i occur where swiftness or alacrity are denoted; as, vig, gay; vidit, to exhilirate—that disagreeable associations are usually connected with u; as, rut, ugly; buta, stupid; bu, grief: ö and ü generally represent vagueness and confusion; as, göz, vapor; füst, smoke; sötét, dark; gödör, ditch; sürü, thick. So the short vowels for the most part express rapidity, and the long ones slowness; as sebes, hasty; röpül, to fly; szalad, to run—lassú, slow; csúsz, creeps; mász, crawls. In the same manner it will be found that the hard and soft consonants are adapted to the different ideas conveyed; as for example, kö, stone; kard, sabre; durva, rude; while lágy, anya, leány, soft, mother, girl, have a sweetness suited to the objects they represent.