Hungarian: Becs (Vienna) versus Pecs

[jeffmiller234]

Can a Hungarian speaker explain how they do not confuse Becs (Vienna) and Pecs (city in Southern Hungary). Surely too similar to a lot of ears and likely to cause confusion. Is there some other name substituted in to disambiguate either of these in spoken conversation?

 

[norbert]

I'm not a Hungarian speaker but I guess the context in which these cities are mentioned makes it easier to differentiate. I'm also curious about the etymology of Bécs. It remains obscure, although some sources claim the Magyars got it from the Avars. The Serbo-Croatian Bec is a later borrowing from Hungarian.

 

[Cees]

"B" and "P" have a distinct phonation, "P" is much "clicky" sounding.

 

[Cees]

I'm not a Hungarian speaker but I guess the context in which these cities are mentioned makes it easier to differentiate. I'm also curious about the etymology of Bécs. It remains obscure, although some sources claim the Magyars got it from the Avars. The Serbo-Croatian Bec is a later borrowing from Hungarian.

"According to Ferenc Körmendi, the Hungarian name of the city is of Avar origin: becs means guard place. According to Lajos Kiss, it comes from the Old Hungarian word "bécs" (coal-burning furnace), which was itself an adaptation of an old Turkish word with the same meaning." I am resonating more with Ferenc Körmendi, especially if we consider the great "bécsi road" which was an important route between Bécs and Buda, which was there before the Osman Empire.