Az optometrista az asztigmiáról beszél.

Because Hungarian uses the definite article a / az much like English the.

• Az optometrista = the optometrist
• az asztigmiáról = about the astigmatism

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a consonant
• az before a vowel

So:

• az optometrista because optometrista starts with a vowel sound
• az asztigmiáról because asztigmiáról also starts with a vowel

Asztigmiáról means about astigmatism or about the astigmatism.

The ending -ról / -ről is a Hungarian case ending that often means:

• about
• from off
• depending on context

With the verb beszél (to speak/talk), Hungarian commonly uses -ról / -ről to express talk about something.

So:

• asztigmia = astigmatism
• asztigmiáról beszél = talks about astigmatism

This happens because of how Hungarian nouns combine with suffixes.

The base word is asztigmia. When you add -ról, the final vowel changes in spelling:

• asztigmia
  • -ról → asztigmiáról

The a at the end becomes long á before the suffix. This is a normal pattern with many Hungarian nouns ending in -a or -e:

• szoba → szobáról
• mese → meséről
• asztigmia → asztigmiáról

So this is not irregular; it is a common sound/spelling change.

This is due to vowel harmony, a major feature of Hungarian.

Hungarian suffixes often have different forms depending on the vowels in the word:

• -ról after back vowels
• -ről after front vowels

Asztigmia takes the back-vowel form here, so it becomes asztigmiáról.

For comparison:

• asztalról = from/about the table
• könyvről = about the book

A learner does not always need to analyze every vowel perfectly at first; with time, the correct form starts to sound natural.

Beszél means speaks or talks.

In this sentence:

• Az optometrista az asztigmiáról beszél = The optometrist is talking about astigmatism

A very useful pattern is:

• beszél valamiről = talk about something
• beszél valakivel = talk with someone
• beszél egy nyelvet = speak a language

So beszél can mean either talk or speak, depending on context.

Yes, that version is also correct.

Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order. The sentence

• Az optometrista az asztigmiáról beszél

is neutral and natural, but

• Az optometrista beszél az asztigmiáról

is also grammatical.

The choice of word order can affect focus, emphasis, or information structure more than basic meaning.

Very roughly:

• Az optometrista az asztigmiáról beszél puts about astigmatism in a prominent position before the verb.
• Az optometrista beszél az asztigmiáról sounds a bit more straightforward to an English speaker.

Both are understandable and correct.

No. Hungarian does not have grammatical gender like many European languages do.

So optometrista can mean:

• a male optometrist
• a female optometrist

The sentence itself does not tell you the person’s gender unless extra words are added or the context makes it clear.

This is very different from languages where nouns themselves are grammatically masculine or feminine.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker is:

• Az ≈ awz
• optometrista ≈ op-to-me-TRIS-taw
• az asztigmiáról ≈ awz aws-tig-mee-AA-rowl
• beszél ≈ beh-SAYL

A few helpful notes:

• Hungarian stress is usually on the first syllable of each word.
• sz is pronounced like English s
• s by itself is pronounced like English sh
• é is like a long ay
• á is a broad long vowel, somewhat like a in father, but not exactly

So:

• beszél has sz, so it is beh-SAYL, not beh-SHAYL

Because the Hungarian sentence does not literally say is talking word-for-word the way English does.

Hungarian often uses a simple present tense verb where English may use either:

• talks
• is talking

So beszél can translate as:

• talks
• is talking
• speaks

depending on context.

In this sentence, English would most naturally say:

• The optometrist is talking about astigmatism or
• The optometrist talks about astigmatism

Yes. That is possible.

The verb beszél covers meanings that in English are divided between speak and talk. In this context, English usually prefers talks about or is talking about, but speaks about is also possible.

So the Hungarian verb is a bit broader than any single English verb.

Yes, it is the standard medical word for astigmatism.

It is a more technical noun, just like in English, so in everyday speech people might sometimes explain the condition more simply instead of using the exact term. But asztigmia itself is completely normal and correct, especially in a medical or optometry context.