The Society was founded in 1904 by a group of the most prominent Hungarian linguists of the time, with the participation of a number of representatives of related social sciences. Although the Society was not formed as part of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences but as an independent association, its membership included many linguists who were also Members of the Academy and its leaders have always been among the most prominent scholars of the field. Since 1948, the Society has been supported, financially as well as intellectually, by the Academy.
In addition to conducting scholarly/scientific inquiry into Hungarian, the purposes of the Society were and still are to cultivate, develop, maintain, and enrich this language. Accordingly, it has always been encouraging non-linguist intellectuals who had an affinity to the cause of their mother tongue to join its ranks. Apart from linguists whose specific area of research is the Hungarian language, the membership of the Society includes researchers of other languages as well as general linguists. The number of members has been between 600 and 800 for decades now. Furthermore, the Society has honorary members and external members from Hungary and abroad. It is a unitary organization but, due to its variegated tasks, it is subdivided into sections. In addition to its annual general assembly, it also has 30 to 40 section meetings or public lectures a year and organises national symposia, primarily ones aimed at improving mother-tongue education in this country. Of the societies of related social sciences, the Linguistic Society has especially close links with those of literary criticism, history, and ethnography. Its journal, Magyar Nyelv [The Hungarian Language] has been published, generally in four issues a year, ever since the Society was founded.
Jenő Kiss