Szótest

Szótest is a Hungarian term that translates to "word body" or "word form." It refers to the inflected or derived forms of a Hungarian word. Hungarian is an agglutinative language, meaning that suffixes are added to a root word to express grammatical functions such as case, number, tense, and mood. Each of these resulting forms is considered a szótest.

For example, the root word "ház" means "house." Adding the plural suffix "-ak" creates "házak," meaning "houses." This is a different szótest from the singular "ház." Further suffixes can be added, such as the possessive suffix "-am" to create "házam," meaning "my house." Each of these is a distinct szótest.

Understanding szótest is crucial for learning Hungarian grammar, as it dictates how words change to convey specific meanings and relationships within a sentence. Dictionaries typically list the root form of a word, and learners must understand the rules of Hungarian morphology to generate the correct szótest for various contexts. The concept helps to organize and analyze the vast number of word forms that can be derived from a single root in Hungarian.