 Hungarian has traditionally been classified as an Ugric language within the family of Uralic languages , but alternative views exist . For instance , linguist Tapani Salminen rejects the existence of a Proto @-@ Ugric language , saying Hungarian was a member of an " areal genetic unit " that also included Permic languages . Paleolinguistic research suggests the speakers of the Proto @-@ Uralic language lived in a territory where four trees – larch , silver fir , spruce , and elm – grew together . The study of pollen in fossils shows these trees could be found on both sides of the Ural Mountains along the rivers Ob , Pechora , and Kama in the 4th millennium BC . The land between the Urals and the Kama was sparsely inhabited during this period . From around 3600 BC , the Neolithic material culture of the wider region of the Urals spread over vast territories to the west and east . Regional variants emerged , showing the appearance of groups of people who had no close contact with each other . 
