V-Inserting Stems

Understanding v-stems requires recognizing the triggers, exceptions, and historical context.

1. Noun Triggers and Low Linking Vowels: V-stem nouns belong to the "low-vowel" class (nyitótövű szavak). This means they require the low linking vowels -a- and -e- for suffixes like the plural (-k). Examples: ló (horse) → lovak (horses); cső (pipe) → csövek (pipes). For multi-syllable v-stem nouns, the final vowel drops when the v appears (e.g., in the plural falu → falvak, tetű → tetvek). In the accusative, these multi-syllable nouns often have dual acceptable forms in modern Hungarian (e.g., falvat/falut, tetvet/tetűt). For core single-syllable v-stem nouns, the accusative frequently triggers the v-stem (e.g., hó → havat, ló → lovat). However, there are exceptions like szó, which is a v-stem noun (plural szavak) but typically takes a regular accusative (szót), though the v-stem form szavat is used in literary contexts, and the possessive accusative form is used in idioms (e.g., szavát adja). Others have dual acceptable forms like lé (levet/lét). Note that the accusative of the noun mű is művet. Another crucial trigger is the singular possessive suffixes, which force the v-stem for many words (e.g., lovam, lovad, lova). Additionally, the superessive case is a frequent trigger for single-syllable v-stem nouns (e.g., lovon, havon, tavon).

2. Verb and Adjective Triggers: For v-stem verbs like lő (shoot), the v surfaces before vowel-initial suffixes, such as present tense endings (lövök) or the present participle (lövő). In contrast, the v remains hidden before consonant-initial suffixes, such as the infinitive (lőni, not lövni) or the third-person plural present (lőnek, not lövenek). They also use the v in the adverbial participle (e.g., lőve, nőve, szőve). However, regular v-stem verbs drop the v in the past tense (e.g., lőtt, nőtt, szőtt). Crucially, this category includes most of the highly frequent sz-alternating verbs, though eszik and iszik are notable exceptions. For all of these verbs, the v appears in participles (evő, ivó, tevő, vevő) and verbal nouns (evés, ivás, tevés, vevés). For adverbial participles, the forms téve and véve are standard prescriptive forms, while eszik and iszik generally lack a commonly used adverbial participle (forms like éve and íva are highly marginal or archaic). The true contrast lies in the past tense: eszik and iszik use the v-stem (evett, ivott), while the others (tesz, vesz, visz, hisz, lesz) form their past tense without a v (tett, vett, vitt, hitt, lett). In the infinitive, the stem consonant assimilates to the suffix, resulting in -nn- (tenni, venni, enni, inni, vinni, hinni, lenni). Furthermore, their imperative and subjunctive forms use a gy or ggy stem (tegyél, vegyél, egyél, igyál, vigyél, higgyél, legyél). Note that hisz and lesz lengthen their vowels in the participle to become hívő and lévő (though levő is also a standard, officially accepted alternative for lesz). Additionally, the highly frequent sz-d-v alternating verbs (e.g., alszik, fekszik) use a v in their participles and verbal nouns (alvó, alvás) but a d in their past tense (aludt). The pattern also applies to a few core adjectives, such as bő (loose/abundant) and hű (faithful). While most single-syllable v-stems shorten their vowel when the v appears (ló → lovak), a few exceptions keep the long vowel, such as mű (work/art) → művek, bő → bővebb, and the verb óv (protect) → óvja/óvok. Notably, the root hű shifts its vowel to í in certain related words when the v appears (e.g., the adverb híven, or the lexicalized noun hívek meaning 'believers'), but the regular plural adjective is simply hűek.

3. Semantic Splits: Sometimes, the use of the v-stem distinguishes meaning. For example, daru becomes darvak when referring to the bird (crane), but daruk when referring to the machine. Similarly, mag becomes magvak (seeds in a biological or abstract sense) vs. magok (seeds as physical objects/grains), and szó becomes szavak (words in connected speech) vs. szók (words as grammatical units). This semantic split also applies to the possessive of szó: szava means 'his/her word' (as in a promise, speech, or voice), while szója refers to a word as a linguistic or grammatical unit.

4. The Historical Reality: While modern grammars call them "v-inserting," historical linguistics reveals the v is not actually inserted. It is a remnant of the original Ugric root (e.g., *lov-). The final consonant was lost in the nominative singular, causing compensatory lengthening (lov → ló). The v simply resurfaces when protected by a suffix.