Gergely Ujhelyi: Fun facts about my name

 

 

·       Gergely Ujhelyi is pronounced [gergej υjhejI] or “gher-ghey ooy-he-yi.”

 

·       It features one of every Hungarian schoolchild’s nightmares, the “ly.” Both “ly” and “j” are pronounced “y” like “yes.” Some words are spelled with “ly” and some with “j,” and in general there is no way to tell which is which. Since otherwise most things in Hungarian are written the way they sound, this is a big deal when you learn how to spell.

 

·       It is often mis-spelled even by Hungarians. “Új helyi” means more or less “from a new place,” consequently many people write my last name Újhelyi, with an accent on the U. But they are wrong.

 

·       In the Hungarian ordering (last name followed by first name), it is an Adonic line ( ¯ È È   ¯ ¯ ). 

 

·       This paper shows why just the “U” can make life difficult in academia (it does not discuss the above issues with j, ly, ú, or Adonic lines). 

 

 

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