Hónapnevek

Hónapnevek are the names of the twelve months used in the Hungarian language. They label the months of the year in calendars and in dating events. The standard list, corresponding to January through December, is: január, február, március, április, május, június, július, augusztus, szeptember, október, november, december. In ordinary text these names are written in lowercase.

Etymology and origins: most Hungarian hónapnevek are phonetic adaptations of the Latin month names from the Roman calendar. Január comes from Ianuarius, Február from Februarius, Március from Martius, Április from Aprilis, Május from Maia, Június from Iunius, Július from Iulius, Augusztus from Augustus, while Szeptember, Október, November and December preserve their Latin roots as septem, octo, novem and decem. The Hungarian forms reflect sound changes and diacritic marks to fit Hungarian phonology.

Usage and grammar: hónapnevek function as proper nouns for time reference and are used without capitalization unless at the beginning of a sentence or in a title. They form adverbial time expressions with -ban/-ben to indicate “in” a month, for example januárban, februárban, júniusban. They also appear in adjectival form, such as januári dátum or júniusi esemény, to indicate attributes related to a specific month.

Context: The names reflect the conventional Gregorian calendar used in Hungarian culture. While their Latin origins are historical, the modern használat remains stable in daily language, education, media, and official documents.