szótagban

Szótagban is a Hungarian term meaning “in a syllable.” It is the locative form of szótag (syllable) and is used in linguistic description to refer to phenomena that occur within a single syllable, rather than across syllable boundaries.

Etymology: The word szótagban is formed from szótag + the locative suffix -ban. Szótag itself is a compound of szó (word) and tag (part, section). The suffix -ban marks location, yielding the sense “in the syllable.”

Syllable structure and usage: In Hungarian phonology, a syllable typically has a nucleus (the vowel) and may have an onset (consonants before the vowel) and a coda (consonants after the vowel). Onset clusters can occur, but the nucleus is always a vowel. Many phonological processes, such as vowel length variation or consonant distribution between onset and coda, are analyzed as occurring szotagban (within a syllable). Stress in Hungarian generally falls on the first syllable of the word, so szótagban typically carries primary stress on szó, as in SZÓ-tag-ban.

Examples and relevance: The word itself can be syllabified as szó-tag-ban, illustrating a three-syllable word with clear syllable boundaries. The concept of szótagban is used when describing internal syllable phenomena, such as the position of a consonant within an onset or the length of the nucleus, without invoking cross-syllable effects.

See also: szótag, magánhangzó, hangsúly, fonetika.