Szókincsük

Szókincsük is a Hungarian lexical term meaning “their vocabulary” or “the vocabulary of them.” The construction is built from the base noun szókincs, meaning “vocabulary” or “lexicon,” combined with the third‑person plural possessive suffix –ük, which indicates that the noun refers to the possession shared by a group of persons. In Hungarian grammar that suffix is used for possessor agreement with a plural subject, so szókincsük literally translates into English as “(their) vocabulary.”

The term is common in linguistic discussions, especially in descriptions of semantic coverage, learner progress or comparative studies of language groups. For example, educators may assess students’ szókincsük before and after a unit to gauge expansion of the group’s lexical repertoire. In contrast, researchers studying aphasia might examine the szókincsük of patients to understand impairments in lexical retrieval.

Beyond its grammatical function, szókincs itself is a central concept in lexicography and lexical semantics. It comprises all words and expressions known and used by a speaker community. In sociolinguistic research, szókincsük can be analyzed for variations between age groups, socioeconomic strata, or geographical regions. Linguists often distinguish between active szókincs, the set of words regularly employed, and passive szókincs, the words known but infrequently used.

In sum, szókincsük is a straightforward possessive form that plays a practical role in Hungarian talks of vocabulary size, language development, and lexical analysis. It reflects both a grammatical rule of the Hungarian language and a key analytic concept in language theory.