Hungarian Language Day is an important occasion to draw attention to the value and richness of our language. The unique features of the Hungarian language have distinguished it from others around the world for centuries.
We celebrate Hungarian Language Day on November 13, as this is the day on which Hungarian became the official language of the legislature.
On November 13, 1844, the National Assembly passed a significant law stating that Hungarian would become the official language of the Hungarian state, replacing Latin.
This was a huge step towards national identity, culture, and appreciation of the mother tongue, as language use became a real factor in public life. In 2011, the National Assembly made this day an official commemorative day to draw attention every year to the values of the Hungarian language, its past, and the importance of preserving it, writes the Association of Native Language Speakers.
The Hungarian language, which belongs to the Uralic language family, has been in written form since the 11th century. The first Hungarian-language fragment can be found in the 1055 Tihany founding charter, and the earliest coherent language fragment is the Halotti beszéd (Funeral Oration) from the end of the 12th century, both of which have been preserved in Latin codices. Hungarian writing has therefore been in continuous use since the 11th century, but Latin and German were the languages of administration and education for centuries.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the language reform movement, led by Ferenc Kazinczy, among others, set itself the goal of making Hungarian a modern scientific and official language.
One of the main topics of the 1843-1844 National Assembly was the strengthening of the rights of the national language. On June 20, 1844, the estates decreed that all members of the National Assembly were required to speak in Hungarian, and when the Croatian delegates subsequently delivered their speeches in Latin, as had been the custom until then, there was a huge outcry.
After several exchanges between the royal court and the Diet (The Diet of Hungary, the most important political assembly in Hungary since the 12th century), the decision of June 20 was revoked, and Ferdinand V, bowing to the will of the nation, ratified Act II of 1844 on the Hungarian language and nationality on November 13.
Under the law, all legislation must be drafted in Hungarian, the work of the National Assembly must be conducted in Hungarian, government offices throughout the country must conduct their business in Hungarian, and education in schools must be conducted in Hungarian. The enactment of this law was one of the greatest victories of the Reform Era, even though after the defeat of the War of Independence, German once again became the language of official business from 1849, until the October Diploma of 1860 (a new constitution adopted by Emperor Franz Joseph).
Renowned writers such as Dezső Kosztolányi, Mihály Babits, Ferenc Kölcsey, and Sándor Márai all emphasized that language is one of the deepest layers of identity.
Dezső Kosztolányi highlighted the playfulness and poetic power of the Hungarian language, while Mihály Babits believed that our language is not only a means of communication, but also “the medium of thought.” Ferenc Kölcsey viewed language as one of the main guardians of national culture, connecting the past with the future. Sándor Márai wrote that for Hungarians, their mother tongue is a spiritual refuge in which they can express themselves most sincerely.
In a Facebook video shared on the occasion of World Hungarian Language Day, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said, “We have often heard and said that a nation lives in its language. And this is indeed the case. After all, our language is the last bastion, the last bastion of Hungarian identity. This has also been the case throughout history.
When the Hungarian state collapsed due to external attacks, it was our language that preserved our nation and our Hungarian identity.
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