Szótövet

Szótövet is a term encountered in Hungarian linguistics that refers to the core morpheme sequence that underlies a word and serves as the basis for inflection and derivation. In practice, it is related to the concept of a word stem, but it is sometimes described as a broader or slightly different notion that can include a stable core across related forms within a word family. The exact usage of szótövet varies between grammars, and it is not as uniformly defined as the more standard term szótő.

The relationship between szótövet and szótő is a matter of terminology and emphasis. Szótő (stem or root) is the central base form to which affixes attach, and it is typically the minimal form used in morphological analysis. Szótövet is sometimes presented in pedagogical or historical contexts as a way to illustrate how related words share a common morphological core, potentially including additional derivational material that remains constant across related forms. Because of this variability, szótövet is less common in contemporary theoretical linguistics.

In modern practice, the preferred terms in Hungarian grammar are szótő and the various affixes or morphemes that attach to it. Szótövet may appear in older grammars, educational materials, or discussions describing word formation in a more illustrative sense. In computational linguistics and language learning tools, the underlying goal is often to reduce related forms to a single base form, which aligns with the general idea behind szótő or a stem-based representation, even if the exact label szótövet is not routinely used.