Hol van Abbázia?

Abstract

Where is Abbázia? Results of a questionnaire survey on the use of Hungarian exonyms The paper attempts to examine the current use of exonyms in the Hungarian language based on a questionnaire survey. The survey tested the knowledge of exonyms indicating places (i) in the area of the historical Hungary, (ii) in parts of Central Europe and (iii) in areas beyond our region; the tendencies in exonym use according to communicative situations (cf. the use of place names on maps, in official documents, in everyday communication, in the mother tongue and in an English language environment); and the social attitudes towards exonyms. Although the survey does not work with representative data, the results are expressive. The survey suggests that the use of exo-nyms in present-day Hungary is affected by ideological as well as linguistic factors. Most of the respondents chose the Hungarian name forms (i.e. the exonyms) consistently and accurately in the questionnaire, especially when historically well-established Hungarian name forms were tested; others remarked that if they knew the appropriate Hungarian names, they would use them. Acceptance of or favour for the ‘foreign names’ (i.e. the endonyms) could only be observed sporadically in the survey. Higher age and qualification, as well as neutral or even conservative attitudes in language use, seem to contribute to the preference for using Hungarian name forms, whenever it is possible. Linguistic factors such as language environment, spelling conventions and rules for suffixation also influence the choice of names. It is important to note, however, that there might be significant differ-ences in the currency of the Hungarian name forms; thus, well-known and little-known Hungarian exonyms can only be distinguished if the names are tested individually.