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In:First Language Acquisition in Finno-Ugric Languages
Edited by Minna Kirjavainen, Ágnes Lukács and Virve-Anneli Vihman
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 33] 2025
► pp. 232–270

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Lexical development in Hungarian

 | Eötvös Loránd University
Published online: 13 October 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.33.08kas
Abstract
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of lexical acquisition in Hungarian, focusing on early development from infancy through school age. Drawing on parent-report data, corpus studies, and experimental methods, it highlights the trajectory and variability of vocabulary growth in Hungarian-speaking children. Longitudinal and cross-sectional data from the Hungarian CDI (HCDI) confirm a steady increase in receptive and expressive vocabulary from 9 to 36 months, with significant individual variation. Corpus-based research reveals characteristic developmental patterns in spontaneous speech, disfluencies, and lexical errors. The chapter also explores overgeneralization in word formation, offering insight into children’s creative application of morphological rules. Studies based on clinical assessments — including the KOBAK and Meixner tests — evaluate vocabulary skills and the organization of the mental lexicon, whereas findings from experimental studies explore semantic development and lexical access strategies. Together, these studies outline a nuanced picture of typical and atypical lexical development in Hungarian, offering essential data for diagnostics and early intervention.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction to Hungarian vocabulary
  • 2.Studies of early lexical development based on parent-report
    • 2.1Methodological revolution in early language development research
    • 2.2Trends in early vocabulary development
      • 2.2.1Cross-sectional studies
      • 2.2.2Longitudinal studies
    • 2.3First words
    • 2.4Development of vocabulary by semantic categories
    • 2.5Links between early vocabulary and grammar
    • 2.6Factors related to variation in early lexical acquisition
    • 2.7Summary
  • 3.Corpus studies
    • 3.1Lexical norms and variability in children’s narratives and conversations
    • 3.2Lexical errors in spontaneous language
    • 3.3Overgeneralisations in the development of word formation
      • 1.Word formation
      • 2.Back-formation
      • 3.Compound words
    • 3.4Summary
  • 4.Experimental studies and clinical tests of lexical development
    • 4.1Tests of receptive and expressive vocabulary
      • 4.1.1Classic assessment methods of vocabulary development in Hungarian
      • 4.1.2Complex Test of Spoken Language Abilities (KOBAK)
      • 4.1.3Lőrik Picture Word Comprehension Test
    • 4.2Studies on the organisation of the developing lexicon
      • 4.2.1Lexical constraints
      • 4.2.2Hypernyms and subordinate words
        • 1.Verbal target hypernym: Zenél ‘makes music’
        • 2.Nominal target hypernym: Hangszer ‘musical instrument’
      • 4.2.3Word associations
      • 4.2.4Strategies in lexical access: Verbal fluency tasks
      • 4.2.5Definition-forming strategies
      • 4.2.6Etymologising in the language use of preschool children
    • 4.3Summary
  • 5.Future directions in children’s lexical development in Hungarian
  • References
References (55)
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