Fülbe

Fülbe is a Hungarian bound morpheme that marks the allative case of the noun fül, meaning the ear. It denotes direction toward or into the ear and functions as a suffix rather than a standalone word. In Hungarian, the allative suffix is typically written as -ba/-be; when attached to fül, the resulting form is fülbe. As with other allative forms, fülbe occurs in noun phrases describing movement or placement into a space associated with the ear.

In use, fülbe appears in descriptive or medical contexts to indicate that something is entering or moving toward the ear. A common illustration is the simple sentence “víz kerül a fülbe,” meaning “water enters the ear.” The form interacts with surrounding morphemes to reflect definiteness or possession when extended into longer phrases, such as into a possessed form like “a fülébe,” meaning “into his/her ear.”

Fülbe is part of a family of fül-based compounds and is related to other Hungarian ear-related terms. For example, compounds such as fülbevaló (earring) combine fül with other morphemes to describe objects associated with the ear. While fülbe itself is primarily a grammatical marker, its use is essential for precise spatial or directional expression in Hungarian.

See also: fülbevaló, fülgyulladás.