Page:Simplified grammar of the Hungarian language.djvu/31

Rh Note.—To inflect a noun with the personal suffixes, whether in singular or plural, take away the plural endings (after having formed its plural), and what remains will be the root to which the suffixes are joined, as shown in the tables above. The plural ending will then serve as a clue to which class of declension the noun belongs; as ökör, an ox; plural ökrök; therefore, the root will be ökr-; and its ending -ök shows that it is to be suffixed as Class V. (a). Monosyllable nouns make no exception to this rule, and so, for instance, the root of fa (tree; plural fák) is f-; fám, fád, fája, &c.

The following orthographical rules are to be observed:—

Obs. 1.—Nouns of the second, fourth, and fifth declension, if ending in the nominative singular with a mute, b, cs, d, g, k, m, (ny), p, t, ty, take in the third person singular and third person plural of Table A (object in singular), and in all persons singular and plural of Table B (object in the plural), a j before the suffix. Exceptions to these rules are all nouns which undergo some orthographical change in the plural. For instance: bot, bot-ok; bot-j-a, bot-j-uk; but kerék, kerekek, kerek-e, kerek-ük, &c. See also the following examples:—

Atya, father; anya, mother; bátya, elder brother, take in the third person singular and plural (Table A) only -ja and -jok, instead of -ája and -ájok.

Öcs, a younger brother, takes cs instead of j.