ON THE SYSTEM OF SPELLING COMPOUNDS AS ONE OR TWO WORDS (A kuloniras es az egybeiras rendszererol)

This paper surveys the system of spelling compounds as presented in the current (11th) edition of Rules of Hungarian Orthography. Various problems are identified on the basis of an analysis of the chapter of the rulebook concerning the principles of spelling compounds. The presence and proportions of grammatical and spelling-specific considerations in the relevant rules are discussed. Problems are pointed out with respect to the content or phrasing of individual rules, or to the specific examples occurring in them. The authoress is a member of the Hungarian Language Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, working at present on the preparation of the 12th edition of Rules of Hungarian Orthography. In the framework of that larger project, the authoress presents suggestions as to how the problems noted could be overcome, and presents a new version of the relevant chapter that she wrote with that aim in mind.