From Data to Classroom: The Termini Online Hungarian Dictionary as a Tool for Research, Language Awareness, and Education

The Termini Online Hungarian Dictionary (TOHD) – cf. Benő et al., 2025 – documents the lexicon of Hungarian as spoken in countries neighbouring Hungary. The dictionary includes two types of lexical items from Hungarian language varieties used beyond the national borders: on the one hand, items that are wholly or partly of foreign origin; on the other hand, lemmas that also occur in standard Hungarian but display different meanings. The recognition of Hungarian as a pluricentric language – widely acknowledged since the late 1990s – provides an important theoretical linguistic framework for documenting these regionally differentiated lexical items (see Kontra, 2022, p. 43; Fenyvesi, 2005) and elevates its importance to a higher level. Each entry is illustrated with authentic example sentences, which allow for the analysis of a word’s specific grammatical and pragmatic usage. The present study examines the novelties and distinctive features of the dictionary in detail, with particular attention to its structure, editorial challenges, and educational use. Since dictionary use forms part of the Hungarian National Core Curriculum, the paper also discusses pedagogical approaches that help students become familiar with language varieties and with the Termini Online Hungarian Dictionary, while simultaneously developing their dictionary-use skills. With the help of the dictionary, students gain a thorough understanding of the pluricentric nature of the Hungarian language, which enhances sensitivity to regional language varieties and fosters a broader, more inclusive perspective on language use and linguistic identity in the digital age.