entangledbank
Senior Member
English - South-East England
Can someone tell me why the likes of hely, mell, térd are listed (in the very good Routledge Essential Grammar) as low-vowel nouns, rather than 'regular' nouns? That is, they use the linking vowel from the e/a set rather than from the e/o/ö set. But if they're monosyllables with the stem vowel e or non-shortening é, the result is the same in either case: helyek, mellek, térdek. It's the same with the accusative ending, I believe. So what is the difference between these and regular nouns like szék, where there's also no shortening? Am I missing something?
Could it be the difference between the two sounds of e, hidden by the standard orthography?
Could it be the difference between the two sounds of e, hidden by the standard orthography?