Szóalaphoz

Szóalaphoz, also known as word stem or root, refers to the core part of a word that carries its primary meaning. In linguistics, it is the part of a word that remains unchanged when inflectional endings are added. For example, in the English word "running," the stem "run" is the szóalaphoz, to which the suffix "-ing" is added to form the present participle. In Hungarian, the concept of szóalaphoz is crucial for understanding word formation and inflection. Hungarian words often consist of a stem and various suffixes that indicate grammatical categories such as case, number, and tense. For instance, in the word "könyvtár" (library), "könyv" is the szóalaphoz, and "-tár" is a suffix indicating a place where books are kept. Understanding szóalaphoz is essential for studying morphology, the branch of linguistics that deals with the structure of words.