Szekely language refers to the language of the [[Székelys]] people living in [[Romania]] (600,000 people). The dialects spoken by the Hungarian, [[Szekler]] minority in Romania - Szekely and [[Csango]] - are the most deviant.

Their origin of Szekeler and their language has been much debated. Their ethnic identity as distinguished from other Romanians is largely preserved by the continuing vitality of the Szekler (Szekel) language, a Hungarian dialect. Runes of ancient Turkic origin continue to be used as a written alphabet, the latinized Romanian script being largely used for official and commercial communication, however.

==Szekely people==

According to a widely accepted modern hypothesis, the Székelys were originally a [[Turkic peoples|Turkic people]] who joined the Magyars in the [[Pontic steppes]].

== Characters ==

The runic alphabet included 42 letters. As in the Old Turkic script, some consonants had two forms, one to be used with back vowels (a, á, o, ó, u, ú) and another for front vowels (e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű). The names of the consonants are always pronounced with a vowel. In the old alphabet, the consonant-vowel order is reversed, unlike today's pronunciation (''ep'' rather than ''pé''). This is because the oldest inscriptions lacked vowels and were rarely written down, similar to other ancient languages' consonant-writing systems (Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, etc.). The alphabet did not contain letters for the phonemes dz and dzs of modern Hungarian, since these are relatively recent developments in the language's history. Nor did it have letters corresponding to the Latin q, w, x and y. The modern revitalization movement has created symbols for these; in Unicode encoding, they are represented as ligatures.

{| class="wikitable"

! Letter

! Name

! [[Phoneme]] ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]])

! Old Hungarian (image)

! Old Hungarian (Unicode)

|-

| [[A]]

| a

| {{IPA|/ɒ/}}{{Audio|Open back rounded vowel.ogg| }}

| [[Image:A (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲀 𐳀

|-

| [[Á]]

| á

| {{IPA|/aː/}}{{Audio|Open front unrounded vowel.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Á (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲁 𐳁

|-

| [[B]]

| eb

| {{IPA|/b/}}{{Audio|voiced bilabial plosive.ogg| }}

| [[Image:B (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲂 𐳂

|-

| [[C]]

| ec

| {{IPA|/ts/}}{{Audio|Voiceless_alveolar_sibilant_affricate.oga| }}

| [[Image:C (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲄 𐳄

|-

| [[hungarian cs|Cs]]

| ecs

| {{IPA|/tʃ/}}

| [[Image:CS (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲆 𐳆

|-

| [[D]]

| ed

| {{IPA|/d/}}{{Audio|Voiced alveolar plosive.ogg| }}

| [[Image:D (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲇 𐳇

|-

| [[hungarian dz|(Dz)]]

| dzé

| {{IPA|/dz/}}{{Audio|voiced alveolar affricate.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Dz (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| Ligature of 𐲇 and 𐲯

|-

| [[hungarian dzs|(Dzs)]]

| dzsé

| {{IPA|/dʒ/}}

| [[Image:DZS (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| Ligature of 𐲇 and 𐲰

|-

| [[E]]

| e

| {{IPA|/ɛ/}}{{Audio|Open-mid front unrounded vowel.ogg| }}

| [[Image:E (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲉 𐳉

|-

| [[É]]

| é

| {{IPA|/eː/}}{{Audio|Close-mid front unrounded vowel.ogg| }}

| [[Image:É (rovásbetű) JB.svg|12px]]

| 𐲋 𐳋

|-

| [[F]]

| ef

| {{IPA|/f/}}{{Audio|voiceless labiodental fricative.ogg| }}

| [[Image:F (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲌 𐳌

|-

| [[G]]

| eg

| {{IPA|/ɡ/}}{{Audio|Voiced velar plosive.ogg| }}

| [[Image:G (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲍 𐳍

|-

| [[hungarian gy|Gy]]

| egy

| {{IPA|/ɟ/}}{{Audio|Voiced palatal plosive.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Gy (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲎 𐳎

|-

| [[H]]

| eh

| {{IPA|/h/}}

| [[Image:H (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲏 𐳏

|-

| [[I]]

| i

| {{IPA|/i/}}

| [[Image:I (rovásbetű) JB.svg|12px]]

| 𐲐 𐳐

|-

| [[Í]]

| í

| {{IPA|/iː/}}{{Audio|Close front unrounded vowel.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Í (rovásbetű) JB.svg|12px]]

| 𐲑 𐳑

|-

| [[J]]

| ej

| {{IPA|/j/}}{{Audio|Palatal approximant.ogg| }}

| [[Image:J (rovásbetű) JB.svg|12px]]

| 𐲒 𐳒

|-

| [[K]]

| ek

| {{IPA|/k/}}{{Audio|Voiceless velar plosive.ogg| }}

| [[Image:K (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲓 𐳓

|-

| [[K]]

| ak

| {{IPA|/k/}}{{Audio|Voiceless velar plosive.ogg| }}

| [[Image:K-ak-(rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲔 𐳔

|-

| [[L]]

| el

| {{IPA|/l/}}{{Audio|alveolar lateral approximant.ogg| }}

| [[Image:L (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲖 𐳖

|-

| [[Hungarian ly|Ly]]

| elly, el-ipszilon

| {{IPA|/j/}}{{Audio|Palatal approximant.ogg| }}

| [[Image:LY (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲗 𐳗

|-

| [[M]]

| em

| {{IPA|/m/}}{{Audio|bilabial nasal.ogg| }}

| [[Image:M (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲘 𐳘

|-

| [[N]]

| en

| {{IPA|/n/}}

| [[Image:N (rovásbetű) JB.svg|12px]]

| 𐲙 𐳙

|-

| [[Hungarian ny|Ny]]

| eny

| {{IPA|/ɲ/}}{{Audio|palatal nasal.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Ny (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲚 𐳚

|-

| [[O]]

| o

| {{IPA|/o/}}

| [[Image:O (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲛 𐳛

|-

| [[Ó]]

| ó

| {{IPA|/oː/}}{{Audio|Close-mid back rounded vowel.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Ó (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲜 𐳜

|-

| [[Ö]]

| ö

| {{IPA|/ø/}}{{Audio|Close-mid front rounded vowel.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Ö (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲝 𐳝 𐲞 𐳞

|-

| [[double acute accent|Ő]]

| ő

| {{IPA|/øː/}}

| [[Image:Ő (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲟 𐳟

|-

| [[P]]

| ep

| {{IPA|/p/}}{{Audio|Voiceless bilabial plosive.ogg| }}

| [[Image:P (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲠 𐳠

|-

| ([[Q]])

| eq

|

| [[Image:Q (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| Ligature of 𐲓 and 𐲮

|-

| [[R]]

| er

| {{IPA|/r/}}{{Audio|alveolar trill.ogg| }}

| [[Image:R (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲢 𐳢

|-

| [[S]]

| es

| {{IPA|/ʃ/}}{{Audio|Voiceless_palato-alveolar_sibilant.ogg| }}

| [[Image:S (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲤 𐳤

|-

| [[Hungarian sz|Sz]]

| esz

| {{IPA|/s/}}{{Audio|Voiceless_alveolar_sibilant.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Sz (rovásbetű).svg|6px]]

| 𐲥 𐳥

|-

| [[T]]

| et

| {{IPA|/t/}}{{Audio|voiceless alveolar plosive.ogg| }}

| [[Image:T (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲦 𐳦

|-

| [[Hungarian ty|Ty]]

| ety

| {{IPA|/c/}}{{Audio|Voiceless palatal plosive.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Ty (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲨 𐳨

|-

| [[U]]

| u

| {{IPA|/u/}}

| [[Image:U (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲪 𐳪

|-

| [[Ú]]

| ú

| {{IPA|/uː/}}{{Audio|Close back rounded vowel.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Ú (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲫 𐳫

|-

| [[Ü]]

| ü

| {{IPA|/y/}}

| [[Image:Ü (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]] [[Image:Ü-zárt (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲬 𐳬

|-

| [[double acute accent|Ű]]

| ű

| {{IPA|/yː/}}{{Audio|Close front rounded vowel.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Ű (rovásbetű).svg|14px]] [[Image:Ű-nyílt (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲭 𐳭

|-

| [[V]]

| ev

| {{IPA|/v/}}{{Audio|voiced labiodental fricative.ogg| }}

| [[Image:V (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲮 𐳮

|-

| ([[W]])

| dupla vé

| {{IPA|/v/}}{{Audio|voiced labiodental fricative.ogg| }}

| [[Image:W (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| Ligature of 𐲮 and 𐲮

|-

| ([[X]])

| iksz

|

| [[Image:X (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| Ligature of 𐲓 and 𐲥

|-

| ([[Y]])

| ipszilon

| {{IPA|/i/}}

| [[Image:Y (rovásbetű) JB.svg|12px]]

| Ligature of 𐲐 and 𐲒

|-

| [[Z]]

| ez

| {{IPA|/z/}}{{Audio|Voiced_alveolar_sibilant.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Z (rovásbetű) JB.svg|14px]]

| 𐲯 𐳯

|-

| [[Hungarian zs|Zs]]

| ezs

| {{IPA|/ʒ/}}{{Audio|Voiced_palato-alveolar_sibilant.ogg| }}

| [[Image:Zs (rovásbetű).svg|14px]]

| 𐲰 𐳰

|}

The Hungarian runes also include some non-alphabetical runes which are not ligatures but separate signs. These are identified in some sources as "{{lang|la|capita dictionum}}" (likely a misspelling of {{lang|la|capita dicarum}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rovasirasforrai.hu/Rovasiras/Csudabogarak.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-09-24 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428003309/http://www.rovasirasforrai.hu/Rovasiras/Csudabogarak.htm |archive-date=2015-04-28 }}</ref>). Further research is needed to define their origin and traditional usage. Some examples:

*TPRUS: [[Image:Szekely-Hungarian Rovas letter TPRUS.svg|14px]]

*ENT: [[Image:Szekely-Hungarian Rovas letter ENT.svg|14px]] 𐲧 𐳧

*TPRU: [[Image:Szekely-Hungarian Rovas letter TPRU.svg|16px]]

*NAP: [[Image:Szekely-Hungarian Rovas letter NAP.svg|16px]]

*EMP: [[Image:Szekely-Hungarian Rovas letter EMP.svg|16px]] 𐲡 𐳡

*UNK: [[Image:Szekely-Hungarian Rovas letter UNK.svg|16px]] 𐲕 𐳥

*US: [[Image:Szekely-Hungarian Rovas letter US.png|14px]] 𐲲 𐳲

*AMB: [[Image:Szekely-Hungarian Rovas letter AMB.svg|16px]] 𐲃 𐳃

==The language of minority [[Szeklers]]==

;Székely language

The language most commonly associated with Transylvania has a distinctive and colourful vocabulary; together with the region's rich traditions and folk culture it has given rise to significant literary works. The language makes use of many Romanian loan words, which are not understood by speakers of standard Szekely language.

The newspaper of Szekler in Szekler language <ref>http://www.szekelyhirmondo.ro/ </ref>

==The Szekely script==

Székely-magyar rovás, 'székely-magyar runiform', or rovásírás.

[[File:2013.09.09 Balaton (3).JPG|thumb|Welcome sign in Latin and in Old Szekely script for the town of [[Vonyarcvashegy]] (𐲮𐳛𐳚𐳀𐳢𐳄𐳮𐳀𐳤𐳏𐳉𐳎), Hungary]]

The script is known formally as {{lang|hu|Székely rovásírás}} ('Szekler script').<ref name="ReferenceA">{{audio|Szekely rovasiras.ogg|listen}}</ref> The writing system is generally known as {{lang|hu|rovásírás}}, {{lang|hu|székely rovásírás}},<ref name="ReferenceA" /> and {{lang|hu|székely-magyar írás}} (or simply {{lang|hu|rovás}} 'notch, score').<ref>by the public. From the verb {{lang|hu|ró}} 'to carve', 'to score' since the letters were usually carved on wood or sticks.</ref>

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{Uralic-lang-stub}}