Hangelnyelés

Hangelnyelés is a Hungarian term that translates roughly to "sound swallowing." It describes the phenomenon by which sounds in speech appear to be swallowed, muffled, or omitted. Because Hungarian spelling is relatively phonemic, the precise interpretation of hangelnyelés varies by context and author; it is not a single, universally defined linguistic category but a label used in descriptive accounts, pedagogical contexts, and some discussions of speech production.

In phonetics and dialectology, hangelnyelés commonly refers to processes in which one or more phonemes are shortened, de-voiced, or elided in connected speech, often under rapid speech, casual tone, or specific dialectal constraints. It may involve consonant elision at word boundaries, vowel reduction in unstressed syllables, or assimilation that changes the audible quality of sounds. The phenomenon is influenced by prosody, rhythm, and phonotactic constraints of the language, and the exact outcomes differ between speakers and dialects.

In clinical or pedagogical contexts, the term can appear in discussions of articulation and intelligibility, where sounds are systematically softened or omitted. Clinicians focus on whether such patterns hinder communication and may propose articulation therapy or training to improve clarity if needed.

In arts and media, hangelnyelés may be used to describe intentional muffling of voice for stylistic effect, such as in singing, dubbing, or voice acting, though this usage is informal and not part of standard phonetic terminology. Related concepts include elision, vowel reduction, consonant deletion, and assimilation.