Kiejtett

Kiejtett is a Hungarian linguistic term used to refer to the spoken realization of a word or phrase. It denotes how a word is actually pronounced in speech, as opposed to its written form (írott alak). The kiejtett form may reflect standard pronunciation, regional or dialectal variations, and phonetic processes such as assimilation or vowel length. In lexical entries it generally marks the form that listeners hear when the word is spoken.

In dictionaries and language-learning materials, kiejtett is often presented together with a phonetic transcription, IPA notation, or respelling to guide pronunciation. It helps learners map orthography to sound and to recognize differences between written and spoken language. The concept is also used in phonology and sociolinguistics to compare how a word is realized across dialects, registers, or sociolects, highlighting pronunciation features that may not be obvious from spelling alone.

The term derives from the Hungarian noun kiejtés, meaning pronunciation, with suffixes used to form an adjectival or participial stem; in linguistic contexts it functions as a label for the spoken form of a lexeme. Although particularly common in Hungarian-language resources, the idea of a kiejtett form appears in many languages under the general terms pronunciation or phonetic realization.

Related concepts include pronunciation, phonology, and phonetics.