hajlékba

Hajlékba is a Hungarian directional expression formed by the noun hajlék (shelter, hut, dwelling) and the illative suffix -ba, which marks movement into a place. The phrase means “into the shelter” or “to a shelter” and is used with verbs of motion to indicate arrival inside a shelter.

Hajlék itself denotes a place of shelter or refuge, often implying a modest or rustic dwelling. In contemporary usage the term is relatively literary or archaic; more common synonyms for shelter or refuge include menedék, szállás, or rejtekhely. The combination hajlékba therefore tends to appear in historical, descriptive, or poetic contexts rather than everyday speech.

Grammatically, hajlékba demonstrates Hungarian’s suffix-based illative case, which expresses direction toward a place. Since hajlék ends with a consonant, the illative takes the form -ba, producing hajlékba. Other illative forms follow compatible vowel harmony rules, such as -ba or -be depending on the final vowel of the base word.

Example sentences:

- A vihar elől a hajlékba menekültek. (They took shelter in the shelter.)

- A kunyhó felé vezető út a hajlékba vezetett. (The road toward the hut led into the shelter.)

See also:

- hajlék

- menedék

- illative (illatív) case in Hungarian study

Note: Hajlékba is primarily encountered in literary, historical, or descriptive Hungarian and may sound archaic in everyday modern usage.