Headword
Language Hungarian · infinitive eladni
Four places · shared inventory with English sell · Hungarian cloth · working claim, revisable
Voice[Seller] + ApplHAVE(Buyer/Recipient-nak/-nek, ThemegoodsACC) + -ért-MeasurePPrice ⟨Amount, Denomination⟩
A sale has four participants: the Seller, the Buyer (Recipient), the Goods, and the Price. They are not four equal sisters of elad. Voice adds the Seller. Low ApplHAVE introduces the Buyer in the dative -nak/-nek and relates the Buyer to the goods. The root’s object is that Theme, the one accusative, Incremental Theme of the HAVE event. -ért selects one MeasureP whose inner arguments are Amount and Denomination. The Price is not a second accusative, and the unit is not a sister of the verb.
What is different in Hungarian. English sold Chris a lawnmower puts the buyer in a bare object. German and Dutch put the Price under a preposition, für and voor. Hungarian spells the Price as the case suffix -ért on that one MeasureP. The buyer is dative. The verbal particle el- separates from ad under nem and under Focus. There is one preverbal Focus slot, so two Foci stack badly.
A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára and the English Wiktionary print the pieces. Neither prints Seller, dative buyer, accusative goods, and a numeral -ért price in one clause. The értelmező definition names the transfer as pénzért and the buyer as vkinek. Wiktionary prints the buyer as -nak/-nek and an accusative of the goods, and no price. The Group C notes assemble the dative with a MeasureP in -ért. English puts the buyer and the goods in two bare noun phrases. Hungarian gives the verb one accusative, the goods, and introduces the buyer with -nak/-nek.
Printed buyer line · accusative goods and dative -nek · no price in this sentence
✓ Eladtuk a házunkat Péternek. English Wiktionary · example under elad
we-sold · our house-ACC · to Peter-DAT · “We (have) sold our house to Peter.” The translation is Wiktionary’s.
Printed particle line · dative buyer · el after the verb · no goods noun and no price in this sentence
✓ A legtöbbet ígérőnek adta el. Értelmező szótár · sense 1
to the one who promised the most · sold-it · particle after the verb
| Place | Introduced by (working) | Hungarian marking | Case status | English marking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seller | Spec,Voice (outer) | subject | structural | subject |
| Buyer / Recipient | low ApplHAVE | dative -nak/-nek (Péternek, ígérőnek, vkinek, Chrisnek) | structural dative · not a second accusative · not a preposition | bare first object (DOC) · to |
| Goods | complement of √SELL- (Incremental Theme of eHAVE) | the one accusative (a házunkat, a jussomat, vmit, a fűnyírót) | structural · the paradigm prints definite eladta / eladja and indefinite eladott / elad | direct object in the to-frame · second object in the DOC |
| Price | -ért selects one MeasureP ⟨n, U⟩ | case suffix -ért on the whole QP in the notes (húsz dollárért) · definition prose pénzért, ellenértékért · printed manner is drágán, olcsón, áron alul, szabott áron | case, not a preposition · one phrase · Amount and unit inside it · never split · a numeral clause is unprinted | for + MeasureP |
Marking map. One letter can belong to several heads. Read the head, then the marker.
Each row lines up one English slot with its Hungarian slot. The alignment type says what happens to the slot: = (same status), shift (structural ↔ case suffix, or DOC object ↔ dative), or a packaging change inside one status. Printed dictionary lines come first. Every other Hungarian sentence is constructed from the Group C notes or modelled on a printed line. They show the working alignment, not frequency, and not a bilingual corpus.
| Slot | EN form | HU form | Align | EN example | HU example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seller | SUBJ | subject | = | We sold our house to Peter. Wiktionary’s translation | Eladtuk English Wiktionary · the subject is in the verb |
| Goods | OBJ | accusative | = | our house Wiktionary gloss | a házunkat English Wiktionary · vmit Értelmező szótár · definition |
| Buyer (dative) | DOC first object | -nak/-nek | shift · bare object → dative · recipient lett-passive unprinted | sold our house to Peter Wiktionary translation · to | Péternek English Wiktionary · no price · ígérőnek Értelmező szótár |
| Price (-ért) | for + MeasureP | -ért on one MeasureP | shift · preposition → case suffix · the notes’ cloth · a numeral clause is unprinted | for twenty dollars | húsz dollárért constructed · notes · pénzért is definition prose, not this phrase |
| Price manner | unprinted as a sell frame | drágán, olcsón, áron alul, szabott áron | printed manner · not stacked with -ért | — | Áron alul nem adhatom el. Értelmező szótár |
| Particle | no particle on sell | el- separates from ad | packaging · under nem and Focus | — | nem ad el English Wiktionary · nem adhatom el Értelmező szótár |
| Passive of the buyer | DOC recipient passive · good on the English page | buyer as subject of lett, goods still accusative | no Hungarian twin in the sources opened | Wasn’t Chris sold a lawnmower for twenty dollars? constructed · English page | * Chris nem lett eladva egy fűnyírót húsz dollárért. constructed · notes |
| Four places | DOC + for | dative + accusative + -ért | shift on the buyer and on the Price | Pat sold Chris a lawnmower for twenty dollars. | Pat eladta Chrisnek a fűnyírót húsz dollárért. constructed · notes · dative and -ért together are not one dictionary line |
The strip below is a set of small multiples. Each card holds one frame, with English on top and Hungarian under it. The buyer chip moves from a bare object to -nek. The price card, when it is present, sits in the case suffix -ért, not under a preposition.
EN · HU · printed dative
We sold our house to Peter.
Eladtuk a házunkat Péternek.
HU · English Wiktionary · the translation is that entry’s · no price in this line
Shift to → dative -nek · Price not in the line
EN · HU · printed el
He sold it to the highest bidder.
A legtöbbet ígérőnek adta el.
HU · Értelmező szótár · particle after the verb · EN gloss constructed from that line · no goods noun · no price
Move el follows adta
EN · HU · four places
Pat sold Chris a lawnmower for twenty dollars.
Pat eladta Chrisnek a fűnyírót húsz dollárért.
constructed · dative buyer and -ért-price together · not a dictionary line
Shift bare Chris → dative · Price is the suffix -ért, not a preposition
EN · HU · passive
Chris was sold a lawnmower.
* Chris nem lett eladva egy fűnyírót húsz dollárért.
HU constructed · starred · bad as a recipient passive · EN recipient passive is good on sell
Move English promotes the DOC buyer · Hungarian lett eladva does not
Argument difference. English can package the buyer and the goods as two bare objects, and the passive can make the buyer the subject: Chris was sold a lawnmower. German and Dutch keep one object, the goods, and put the Price under a preposition. Hungarian prints one accusative, the goods, and a dative buyer. The Price, when the notes spell it, is the case suffix -ért. lett does not promote the buyer. Romance takes the buyer as a dative clitic or an a / à phrase. Japanese puts the buyer in に and the goods in を. Mandarin puts the buyer in 给. See sell, sell · German, sell · Dutch, sell · Japanese, and sell · Mandarin.
Dictionary frames and lines · checked · quoted as printed
tárgyas · Pénzért, esetleg más ellenértékért vkinek a tulajdonába átenged, juttat vmit. · Drágán, feketén, olcsón adta el · Áron alul nem adhatom el. · Szabott áron adjuk el. · A legtöbbet ígérőnek adta el. · Sokat eladtunk már belőle. · Eladom a jussomat, pénzzé tesszük. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára · sense 1 · pénzért is definition prose · the examples do not print a numeral -ért · nem adhatom el separates the particle · Sokat eladtunk keeps it attached
Vesz és elad: kereskedik. · eladja magát · eladat; eladható; eladott Értelmező szótár · 1a is intransitive “deals” · 1b is the figurative self-sale · the three derivatives are listed with no clause · not this HAVE-goods frame except as morphology
(transitive) to sell something (to someone -nak/-nek) · Eladtuk a házunkat Péternek. — We (have) sold our house to Peter. · The prefix can split from the verb stem, e.g. nem ad el or el is ad. · infinitive eladni · paradigm column headed causative prints eladat · synonym line: (with an argument in the causal-final case -ért) ad · the entry names árul for “to deal in, to keep for sale” · middle-voice sense “to be sold” named as elkel English Wiktionary · -ért in that synonym line is on ad, not a frame of elad · Focus is unprinted · no numeral price
értékesít · etymology el- + ad · synonyms ad, árul, kiárusít, elidegenít, elkótyavetyél, elsóz, elveszteget, értékesít, pénzzé tesz, túlad rajta · angol sell · német verkaufen Wikiszótár · gloss and synonym list · no case frame · no example clause · értékesít and kiárusít are not given pages
elad · ige · sell · market · negotiate (bill) · prostitute · fence szotar.net · Díjmentes angol szótár · glosses only · no example · no -nak and no -ért · sell is the commercial gloss · the other glosses are not this HAVE-goods frame
elkel · (intransitive) to be sold, to sell, to go · Minden jegy elkelt! · The prefix can split from the verb stem, e.g. nem kel el or el is kel. English Wiktionary · elkel · the subject is the tickets · no buyer · no -ért
Strings below are constructed, from the Group C notes or modelled on the printed lines. They are not spontaneous-speech citations and not dictionary lines. Pat / Chris / fűnyíró continue the lawnmower series on English sell and on fizet. Chrisnek spells the dative. a fűnyírót is the one accusative.
✓ Pat eladta Chrisnek a fűnyírót húsz dollárért.
constructed · notes · dative buyer · one accusative, the goods · twenty inside -ért · particle attached · not a dictionary line
✓ Nem adta el Pat Chrisnek a fűnyírót húsz dollárért?
constructed · notes’ NegQ · el follows adta under nem · the accusative stays
✓ A FŰNYÍRÓT nem adta el Chrisnek húsz dollárért?
constructed · notes · one Focus, the goods · el after the verb
✓ HÚSZ DOLLÁRÉRT nem adta el Chrisnek a fűnyírót?
constructed · notes · one Focus, the whole Price QP · Amount and unit stay inside -ért
✓ CHRISNEK nem adta el a fűnyírót húsz dollárért?
constructed · notes · one Focus, the buyer · the same slot the goods and the Price compete for
* A FŰNYÍRÓT HÚSZ DOLLÁRÉRT nem adta el?
constructed · notes · two preverbal Foci · one slot
* Chris nem lett eladva egy fűnyírót húsz dollárért.
constructed · notes · the buyer is not the subject of lett eladva · the goods stay accusative · not the English recipient passive
* Hányat nem adta el dollárért a fűnyírót?
constructed · notes · the degree leaves the unit behind -ért · the Price QP does not split
nem, Focus, and the particle are operations on the same four places. They do not add a participant.
The particle separates. Wiktionary prints nem ad el and el is ad. The értelmező prints Áron alul nem adhatom el, adta el, and adjuk el, and also Eladom a jussomat and Sokat eladtunk már belőle, where the particle stays attached. Under nem the particle follows the verb in the lines that print nem. The notes say the same of Focus: the one preverbal slot is filled, and el follows ad. The dictionaries do not use the word Focus. Which preverbal phrases expel the particle, beyond the nem lines, is not a printed paradigm. Sokat eladtunk stays as printed.
One preverbal Focus. The notes put exactly one phrase in the Focus immediately before nem adta el: the goods (A FŰNYÍRÓT), the Price (HÚSZ DOLLÁRÉRT), the buyer (CHRISNEK), or polarity (Pat NEM adta el Chrisnek a fűnyírót húsz dollárért). Those four are constructed. Two of them in front are bad: *A FŰNYÍRÓT HÚSZ DOLLÁRÉRT nem adta el, and *Pat a FŰNYÍRÓT CHRISNEK nem adta el húsz dollárért. That stack is the notes’ star. It is not a dictionary line. The competition is how a question points. It is not evidence that the four strings are four sisters of one V.
-ért does not split. Hány dollárért nem adta el Pat a fűnyírót? pied-pipes the whole Price QP. *Hányat nem adta el dollárért a fűnyírót takes the degree out and strands the unit after -ért. *Mit húsz nem adta el a fűnyírót is the same left-branch cut. Both stars are constructed. No dictionary entry checked here prints them. Húsz miben nem adta el a fűnyírót? is the notes’ in-strategy for the unit. It is constructed. It is not a second object.
-t versus -ért. On fizet the money is the accusative and -ért is Consideration on the goods: A fűnyíróért nem fizetett húsz dollárt, Hány dollárt nem fizetett … a fűnyíróért. On elad the goods are the accusative and -ért is the Price on the money: Húsz dollárért nem adta el a fűnyírót. Same suffix, opposite inner HAVE. Both clauses are constructed from the notes. The live pay page already ranks -ért as Consideration and does not print an elad clause.
No swap. Nem cserélte el a 0,2 BTC-t 8400 USDT-re inverts two themes, and the leftover is sublative -re. Nem adta el a 0,2 BTC-t 8400 USDT-ért does not invert. *Nem adta el 8400 USDT-t 0,2 BTC-ért is bad as a swap of elad. The dative buyer, when it is present, is the HAVE-goods diagnostic. These three are constructed. Wikiszótár’s synonym list does not include cserél. This page does not open it. Index 2 Transfer is cserél / kicserél, ad, not elad.
Purpose is hogy, a separate clause. The notes’ Nem adta el a fűnyírót, hogy kiürítse a fészert? is that shape, constructed. *Hogy húsz dollárért nem adta el? puts the Price inside the purpose complement. The notes keep it bad. No purpose clause of elad was in the dictionary lines checked. A fészer kiürítésére nem adta el a fűnyírót? is the notes’ nominal purpose, marked, constructed. It is not the Price.
kel el is another verb. Wiktionary: intransitive elkel, “to be sold”, example Minden jegy elkelt, and the particle splits as nem kel el. The entry calls that the passive equivalent in meaning of elad. The subject in the printed line is the goods. No buyer and no -ért are in it. The notes’ A fűnyíró nem kelt el húsz dollárért? is constructed: Voice is demoted, the Price stays in -ért, and the buyer is not promoted. *Az időjárás nem adta el a fűnyírót Chrisnek is the notes’ weather star, constructed. A weather subject is unprinted in the entries checked.
-tat is an outer wrap. The Wiktionary paradigm prints eladat in the column it heads “causative”. The értelmező lists eladat among derivatives, with no clause. Neither prints an instrumental Causee. The notes’ wrap is constructed: A dékán nem adatott el a bizottsággal egy fűnyírót Chrisnek húsz dollárért? The dean is the argument of the outer event. The committee is instrumental -val/-vel, the Causee. The goods stay accusative. The buyer stays dative. The Price stays in -ért. -tat is a derivational outer wrap, a second event, not a lexical causative. Focus can still take one inner argument: A dékán a FŰNYÍRÓT nem adatott el a bizottsággal Chrisnek húsz dollárért, constructed. Japanese -sase- is a derivational outer wrap on sell · Japanese. It is not a place of elad.
Each sketch is a working drawing, not a locked analysis. The notes’ point is one accusative (the goods), one Price in the case -ért, a dative buyer, and one preverbal Focus. Open one sketch at a time. Which theta role is the object in this low ApplHAVE domain is the revisable note Causative templates and argument selection. This page does not edit that note.
Constructed · the notes’ declarative · particle attached
[VoiceP Pat Voice ← Seller = Spec,Voice … inner layers … el-adta ] ← verbal particle + verb · one word here
✓ Pat eladta Chrisnek a fűnyírót húsz dollárért. constructed
The Seller is the external argument. Under nem and under the one Focus, the particle separates and follows the verb. That separation does not add a participant. A weather subject is the notes’ star, constructed, and none is printed in the entries checked.
[FocP a fűnyírót Foc
[NegP nem
[VoiceP … adta … el ]]] ← one Focus · el after the verb
* [FocP a fűnyírót [FocP húsz dollárért … ]] ← two Foci · out
✓ A FŰNYÍRÓT nem adta el Chrisnek húsz dollárért? constructed
* A FŰNYÍRÓT HÚSZ DOLLÁRÉRT nem adta el? constructed · one slot
One buyer · dative -nak/-nek · not a second accusative
[VoiceP Pat Voice
[ApplP_LOW Chrisnek Appl_HAVE ← Buyer · HAVE the goods · -nek
[VP el- √ad-
[Theme a fűnyírót ]_ACC ] ← Goods · the one accusative
[MeasureP húsz dollár ]-ért ]] ← Price · case suffix · outside that accusative
Wiktionary prints the dative and the accusative without the Price: a házunkat Péternek. The értelmező prints the dative without a goods noun: ígérőnek. The tree adds -ért. That addition is the notes’ packaging. It is constructed.
✓ Eladtuk a házunkat Péternek. English Wiktionary · one buyer · no price
* Chris nem lett eladva egy fűnyírót húsz dollárért. constructed · the buyer is not promoted · the goods stay accusative
One Price phrase · the suffix is on the whole QP · not a preposition
-ért [ MeasureP [ Amount húsz ] [ N dollár ] ] hány dollárért = that whole QP · pied-piped hányért = the unit asked · still one -ért * hányat … dollárért ← degree out · unit stranded · not a second object
✓ pénzért · ellenértékért Értelmező szótár · definition prose · not a numeral MeasureP
✓ Hány dollárért nem adta el Pat a fűnyírót? constructed · the answer is húsz dollárért, not dollár minus húsz
* Hányat nem adta el dollárért a fűnyírót? constructed · number and unit do not split
húsz dollár = one MeasureP. n and U compose inside that phrase. The suffix -ért is on the phrase. Orthography is not extra arity. There is no further argument “currency name.” Composition in this cloth is -ért(MeasureP), not V(n)(U). German für and Dutch voor are prepositions on the same kind of MeasureP. Hungarian uses the case suffix. The értelmező’s drágán and áron alul are manner, a different cloth of talking about price, not a second MeasureP, and not stacked with -ért in the lines read.
Pat sold Chris a lawnmower for twenty dollars · working, parallel to English sell
[VoiceP Pat Voice ← Seller
[ApplP_LOW Chris Appl_HAVE ← Buyer = bare DOC object
[VP √SELL
[Theme a lawnmower ] ← Goods
[PP for [ MeasureP twenty dollars ]]]]]
Structural case in the English double object goes to the applied buyer and, in the to-frame, to the goods. The passive can promote that buyer: Chris was sold a lawnmower. Hungarian does not take that step with lett. The buyer is dative -nak/-nek. The only accusative is the goods. The Price stays inside for in English and inside the case -ért in Hungarian. German and Dutch use a preposition for that Price. -tat is a second event outside this tree. Japanese -sase- is a derivational outer wrap, not a place of this verb.
| Layer | sell (EN) | elad | fizet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spec,Voice | Seller | Seller | Payer |
| person layer | DOC buyer, or to | dative -nak/-nek · HAS the goods | dative-like -nak/-nek · HAS the money · constructed on that page |
| accusative | goods (to-frame) · buyer is the other bare object in the DOC | goods only | the money · MeasureP |
| -ért / for | Price · preposition for + MeasureP | Price · case suffix -ért on one MeasureP | Consideration · the leftover goods |
| pointing | the DOC passive can promote the buyer | one preverbal Focus · el- separates under nem and Focus · buyer-as-subject of lett stays bad | one preverbal Focus · no particle on fizet |
On elad, Chris comes to HAVE the lawnmower, and twenty dollars measures the price. On fizet, Chris comes to HAVE the twenty dollars, and a fűnyíróért is Consideration. Same suffix, opposite accusative. cserél uses -re for the other theme in the notes. -ért on elad is the Price, and is a different case from that -re.
Working paper · October 2026 · Hungarian micro-entry · Beyond Index 2 · Group C
Four-place commercial transfer in Hungarian: Seller (Voice, subject), Buyer/Recipient (dative -nak/-nek), Goods (the one accusative, Incremental Theme of HAVE), and Price (case suffix -ért on one MeasureP ⟨Amount, Denomination⟩). Same inventory as English sell. The difference from German and Dutch is the Price: a case suffix, not a preposition. The verbal particle el- separates from ad under nem and Focus. One preverbal Focus. *Chris nem lett eladva egy fűnyírót stays bad. On live fizet the accusative is the money and -ért is Consideration. cserél uses -re for the other theme in the notes. -tat is a derivational outer wrap, a second event, with the Causee in the instrumental.
Same inventory as English sell, the Romance twins, German verkaufen, Dutch verkopen, Japanese uru, and Mandarin mài. Not five-place. Not four sisters of one V. A flat grid would predict two accusatives, or a buyer that lett promotes the way English promotes Chris, or a Price under a preposition. Hungarian shows one accusative, the goods, a buyer in -nak/-nek, and a Price in the case -ért.
húsz dollár = one MeasureP. See the MeasureP sketch. hány dollárért resumes the phrase. It does not resume the unit minus the number. The értelmező’s pénzért is definition prose. drágán and áron alul are printed manner, not a second price.
What Hungarian changes is the cloth of the Price and the one Focus slot. What it does not change is the inventory. The goods are still the Incremental Theme of HAVE. The Price is still one MeasureP. Payment-settled is still implicated, not entailed. HAVE of the goods is still what the applicative says. The particle el- separates from the verb under nem and Focus. That separation is not a fifth place.
In Pat eladta Chrisnek a fűnyírót húsz dollárért, Chris comes to HAVE the lawnmower. That is give-geometry. The price measures the sale. It is not the object that is transferred.
Dictionary frames: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára at ertelmezo.oszk.hu; English Wiktionary elad and elkel; Wikiszótár elad; szotar.net Díjmentes angol szótár. The Magyar értelmező kéziszótár article at szotar.net listed the headword and did not serve the definition. Constructed argument frames follow the Group C note on negative questions for this verb: Seller subject, goods = the one accusative, Buyer = dative -nak/-nek, Price = -ért on one MeasureP, the verbal particle separating under nem and Focus, one preverbal Focus, kel el as the middle, -tat as an outer wrap with an instrumental Causee, and the recipient passive bad. The chat extract named on the other sell pages is 18-negative-questions-for-sell-verb.md. Index 2 does not list elad. Hungarian Transfer in Index 2 is cserél / kicserél, ad.
Series placement: Hungarian sense×language twin of English sell, Spanish vender, French vendre, Italian vendere, Japanese uru, Mandarin mài, German verkaufen, and Dutch verkopen. Records the four places, the dative buyer, and -ért as the Price. Does not reopen causation-chain papers.