Megszólal

Megszólal is a Hungarian verb meaning "to speak," "to begin to speak," "to sound," or "to be heard." It commonly denotes the act of uttering words, the onset of speech, or the emission of a sound (for example, an alarm or bell). The verb often carries an inchoative or completive nuance: it can indicate that something starts to happen or is heard.

Morphologically, megszólal combines the prefix meg- (a completive or perfective prefix) with a form related to szól ("to speak" or "to sound"), producing senses that emphasize the initiation or completion of the action. Conjugation follows regular Hungarian patterns (present: megszólal; past: megszólalt; conditional: megszólalna; imperative: szólj/ megszólalj in colloquial forms).

Typical usages include human speech (Megszólalt a tanú — The witness spoke), lack of speech (Nem szólal meg — He/She does not speak up), and sounds produced by objects (Megszólalt a csengő — The bell rang). Common idiomatic expressions include megszólalni (to start speaking) and meg sem szólal (not uttering a word; very quiet).

Related verbs and forms include megszólít (to address someone), beszél (to talk), and szól (to sound or to call). In context, nuances depend on aspectual emphasis, register, and collocation; the verb appears in both everyday speech and written Hungarian.