Icelandic (íslenska) is a North Germanic language spoken in Iceland. It is an inflected language with four cases, nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.

While most Western European languages have reduced greatly the extent of inflection, particularly in noun declension, Icelandic retains an inflectional grammar comparable to that of Latin, Ancient Greek, or more closely, Old English.

Written Icelandic has changed relatively little since the 13th century. As a result of this, and of the similarity between the modern and ancient grammar, modern speakers can still read, more or less, the original sagas and Eddas that were written some eight hundred years ago. This old form of the language is called Old Icelandic, but also commonly equated to Old Norse (an umbrella term for the common Scandinavian language of the Viking era).

Icelandic orthography is notable for its retention of two old letters which no longer exist in the English alphabet: þ (thorn) and ð (eth or edh), representing the voiceless and voiced "th" sounds as in English thin and this respectively.

The preservation of the Icelandic language has been taken seriously by the Icelanders — rather than borrow foreign words for new concepts, new Icelandic words are diligently forged for public use.

General Icelandic pronunciation guide

vowels

• a (short) as in "man" (british accent)
• a (long) as in "father"
• a (followed by "ng" or "nk") like "ou" in "house"
• á like "ou" in "house"
• e (short) as in "met"
• e (long) like "ea" in "bear"
• é like "ye" in "yet"
• i (short) as in "hit"
• i (long) as in "hit" but lengthened
• i (followed by "ng" or "nk") like "ee" in "seen", but shorter
• í like "ee" in "seen"
• o (short) as in "not"
• o (long) like "aw" in "saw"
• ó like "o" in "sole"
• u (short) like "eu" in french "deux"
• u (long) sounds same as short but lengthened
• u (followed by "ng" or "nk") like "oo" in "moon", but shorter
• ú like "oo" in "moon"
• y sounds same as icelandic "i" or "í"
• ý sounds same as icelandic "i" or "í"
• æ like "i" in "mile"
• ö (short) is similar to german "ö" like "ur" in "urgent" but shorter
• ö (long) like "ur" in "urgent"
• au like the vowel in french "feuille", similar to "oy" in "boy"
• ei like "ay" in "day"
• ey like "ay" in "day"

note that all icelandic vowels can be long or short. they are normally pronounced long when followed by (1) a single consonant or (2) the consonant combinations {p, t, k} + {r, j, v} (for instance pr, tr, kj). they are normally pronounced short if followed by a double consonant or a consonant combination other than the ones mentioned above.

consonants

• b same as in English, but not strongly voiced e.g. bað
• d same as in English, but not strongly voiced e.g. dóttir
• f (1) at beginning of a word is same as in English e.g. fara
• f (2) in the middle or at the end of a word like English "v" e.g. hafa
• f (3) before "l" or "n" like English "b" e.g. gafl, nafn
• g (1) at beginning of a word as in "good" e.g. góður
• g (2) after a vowel, unless followed by "i" or "j", like German g in "sagen" e.g. saga, sagði
• g (3) after a vowel and followed by "i" or "j" like "y" in "yet" e.g. magi, segja
• h same as in English e.g. ha
• hv like "qu" in "quick" e.g. hvað
• j like "y" in "yes" e.g. já
• k same as in English e.g. kaup
• kk is preceded by a pre-aspiration e.g. ekkert (ehh-kert)
• kl is also preceded by a pre-aspiration e.g. afklæða
• kn is also preceded by a pre-aspiration e.g. aðsókn
• l same as in English e.g. laun
• ll like "ttl" in "settle" but not with hard "t" sound (like "dl") e.g. sæll
• m same as in English e.g. með
• n same as in English e.g. nei
• nn (1) after "á", "í", "ó", "ú", "ý", "æ", "au", "ei", or "ey" like "dn" e.g. steinn
• nn (2) after all other vowels and in the suffixed definate article sounds like "nn" in English e.g. finna
• p same as in English except when before "s", "k", or "t" where it then in combination sounds like "f" e.g. skips
• pp is preceded by a pre-aspiration e.g. sloppur
• pl is also preceded by a pre-aspiration e.g. depla
• pn is also preceded by a pre-aspiration e.g. opna
• r like in English only trilled e.g. far
• rl like Icelandic "ll" above e.g. karl
• rn like Icelandic "nn" above e.g. barn
• s as in "mouse" e.g. mús
• t same as in English e.g. takk
• tt is preceded by a pre-aspiration e.g. hætta
• tl is also preceded by a pre-aspiration e.g. betla
• tn is also preceded by a pre-aspiration e.g. batna
• v same as in English e.g. við
• x same as in English e.g. buxur
• z like "s" in "sun" e.g. verzlun
• þ like "th" in "thin" e.g. þunnur
• ð like "th" in "breathe" is never found at beginning of word e.g. staða

Phonology

Icelandic phonology is somewhat unusual for European languages in having an aspiration contrast in its stops, rather than a voicing contrast (though, in fact, English exhibits some characteristics of such a contrast). However, Icelandic continuant phonemes exhibit regular contrasts in voice, including in nasals (rare in the world's languages). Additionally, length is contrastive for nearly all phonemes; voiceless sonorant consonants seem to be the only exception. The chart below was developed from data found at BRAGI and related pages; refer to the IPA article for information on the sounds of the following symbols:

Consonants

Vowels

Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel.

Morphology

Many German speakers will find Icelandic morphology familiar. Almost every morphological category in one language is represented in the other. Nouns are declined for case, number and gender, adjectives for case, number, gender and comparison, and there are two declensions for adjectives, weak and strong. Icelandic possesses only the definite article (grammar), which can stand on its own, or be attached to its modified noun (as in other North-Germanic languages). Verbs are conjugated for tense, mood, person, number and voice. There are three voices, active, passive and medial, but it may be debated, whether the medial voice is a voice or simply an independent class of verbs of its own. There are only two simple tenses, past and present, but to make up for that there are a number of auxiliary constructions, some of which may be regarded as tenses, other as aspects to varying degrees.

Syntax

Icelandic is SVO, generally speaking, but the inflectional system allows for quite some freedom in word order.

Related topics

• Icelandic alphabet

External links

• University of Iceland (English) (Icelandic)
  • Íslensk málstöð (The Icelandic Language Institute) (page in English)
  • Lexicographical Institute of Háskóli Íslands / Orðabók Háskóla Íslands (page in Icelandic)
  • Íslenskuskor Háskóla Íslands (page in Icelandic)
• An Icelandic minigrammar
• BRAGI - website on the Icelandic language, primarily in Icelandic and German, though other languages are available for some sub-pages.
• Iðunn - Poetry society (page in Icelandic)
  • Bragfræði og Háttatal (page in Icelandic)
• Some Icelandic sayings (I) (page in Icelandic)
• Some Icelandic sayings (II) (page in Icelandic)
• Meanings of Icelandic names (page in Icelandic)
• Ethnologue entry for the Icelandic language (about Ethnologue) (page in English)
• Daily spoken Icelandic - a little help (For people who speak Icelandic)
• Mannamál, Some tricky points of daily spoken Icelandic (For people who speak Icelandic)
• Icelandic - English Dictionary: from Webster's Rosetta Edition.
• Íslenska - German magazine for Learners of Icelandic
• Mimir - Online Icelandic grammar notebook