The Symbolic Hungarian „Language Act”
The Symbolic Hungarian „Language Act”

Summary/Abstract: In my study, I place the Hungarian Language Act, passed in 2001 and discussed again in 2023 on the Day of Hungarian Culture, in the network of French and other Central and Eastern European (Polish, Slovak, Ukrainian) language acts, which serve as a basic model. I present the main features of the language act; its possible positive and probable negative effects. Almost a quarter of a century since its creation has shown that it is in fact a symbolic law, as it has hardly been used. The Hungarian Language Act has met with total rejection in the academic world, especially among linguists. Once it was passed, it did not have a particularly strong social resonance. The question of whether a particular language needs to be protected by law and, if so, in what areas. Or how else can a language be protected.

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