Icelandic is spoken in Iceland. It is a North Germanic language, related to Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian, but unlike them retains the full set of conjugations and declensions that Old Norse had. That and its lack of Latinate words make it a difficult language for English speakers. On the other hand, speaker of German will find many elements of Icelandic grammar familiar, as both langauges retain various conjugations and declensions from Proto-Germanic, which have been lost in other Germanic languages.
Icelandic nouns are declined in four cases, two numbers, and the presence of the definite article. Verbs have person and number, which is used with pronouns.
Although Icelandic looks very formidable with its strange characters "þ" and "ð" and many accented vowels, once the basic rules have been learned, pronunciation is fairly straightforward. Note that stress always falls on the first syllable of any word.
Some vowels in Icelandic can have accent marks which modify the sound of each vowel. Vowels can come in long or short forms. In Icelandic, all vowels can be long or short. Vowels are long when they are in single syllable words, or when they form the penultimate syllable in two syllable words.
A a
(Short) like "a" in "land", (long) like "a" in "car"; or like "ow" in "now" when followed by "ng" or "nk".
Á á
Like "ow" in "now".
E e
(Short) like "e" in "met", (long) like "ea" in "bear".
É é
Like "ye" in "yes".
I i
(Short) like "i" in "bit", (long) same "i" but lengthened; or like "ee" in "meet" when followed by "ng" or "nk".
Í í
Like "ee" in "meet".
O o
(Short) like "o" in "hot", (long) like "or" in "door".
Ó ó
Like "o" in "snow".
U u
(Short) like "u" in "put", (long) the same short "u" but lengthened; or like "oo" in "moon" when followed by "ng" or "nk".
Ú ú
Like "oo" in "moon".
Y y
Same as Icelandic "i": (short) like "i" in "bit", (long) same "i" but lengthened; or like "ee" in "meet" when followed by "ng" or "nk".
Ý ý
Same as Icelandic "í": like "ee" in "meet".
Æ æ
Like "i" in "mile".
Ö ö
(Short) like "ur" in "fur" but shorter, (long) like "ur" in "fur"; (do not pronouce the "r").
Like "th" in "that", (only occurs in word middle and word end).
F f
Like "f" in "fish", or like "v" in "van" when between vowels; or when before "l" or "n", like "p" in "speak".
G g
Like "k" in "skill", but similar to Hungarian "ty" when before e, i, æ, j, or y; it is lost after "á", "ó", "u" when followed by "a" or "u" in the next syllable or when at word end.
H h
Like "h" in "hat", or like "k" when before a consonant; (never silent like "honour").
J j
Like "y" in "yes".
K k
Like "k" in "kill" when word-initial, but similar to Hungarian "ty" with a puff of air when before e, i, æ, j, or y as word-initial; otherwise like the usual case for "g".
L l
Like "l" in "like".
M m
Like "m" in "me".
N n
Like "n" in "nurse".
P p
Like "p" in "push" when word-initial, or like "f" in "far" when before "s", "k", or "t"; otherwise pronounced like "b"
R r
Rolled, like Scottish "r".
S s
Like "s" in "sun"; (never like "z" in "zero").
T t
Like "t" in "take".
V v
Like "v" in "value".
X x
Like "x" in "axe".
Þ þ
Like "th" in "thing" (never occurs at the end of a word).
Like "ur" in "fur" (do not prononce the r) followed by "ee" in "see" but with no intervening "r" - "u(r)-ee", similar to "oy" in "boy".
ei, ey
Like "ay" in "say".
gi, gj
Like "gy" in "drag-you" at word start; like "y" in "yes" in word middle or at word end.
hv
Like "kv" in "lock vent".
kk
Like "chk" in Scottish "Loch Carron".
ll
Like "tl" in "settle". Similar to Welsh "ll" (double L) but more aspirated (has more air to it).
ng
Like "nk" in "thinker", not "ng" in "finger".
nn
Like "dn" in "hard-nosed" when after "á", "é", "í", "ó", "ú", "ý", "æ", "au", "ei", or "ey"; or like "nn" in "tunnel" after "a", "e", "i", "o", "u", "y" or "ö".
pp
Like "h" and "p" fused together, similar to "hop" without the "o".
rl
Like "dl" in "riddle" similar in form to Welsh "ll" (double L) but said harder.
rn
Like "dn" in "hard-nosed" when after "á", "é", "í", "ó", "ú", "ý", "æ", "au", "ei", or "ey".
tt
Like "h" and "t" fused together, similar to "hut" without the "u".
Note: you should take time to learn the alphabet rather than rely on the pronunciation guides within the brackets. Also note, the hyphens (-) serve only as a means to help you break down pronunciations, they do not represent where a pause should be, and the pronunciation should be read without pausing on the hyphens.
Common signs
OPEN
Opið
CLOSED
Lokað
ENTRANCE
Inn, Inngangur
EXIT
Út, Útgangur
NO ENTRY
Aðgangur bannaður
PUSH
Ýta, Ýtið
PULL
Toga, Togið
TOILET
Baðherbergi, Klósett, WC
GENTLEMEN
Menn, Herrar
LADIES
Konur
MEN
Menn, Karlar, or Karlmenn
WOMEN
Konur
FORBIDDEN
Bannaður
WARNING
Varúð
Hello.
Halló. (Hal-law)
Hello (informal, to a man).
Sæll. (Sight-l.)
Hello (informal, to a woman).
Sæl. (Sigh-l.)
Hi.
Hæ. (High.) Like the English word.
Common amongst younger generations.
How are you?
Hvað segirðu gott? (Kvadh sek-ir-dhu goht?)
Fine, thank you.
Ég segi allt gott, þakka þér fyrir. (Yeh sek-i atlt goht, thah-ka thyer fi-rir.)
What is your name?
Hvað heitirðu? (Kvadh hay-tir-dhu?)
My name is ______ .
Ég heiti ______ . (Yeh hay-ti _____ .)
Nice to meet you.
Komdu sæll, (to a man). (Komdu sight-l.)
Komdu sæl, (to a woman). (Komdu sighl.)
Please.
Gjörðu svo vel, (to one person). (Gyer-dhu svo vel.)
or Gerið þið svo vel, (to many people). (Ger-adh thi-dh svo vel.)
Thank you.
Þakka þér fyrir. (Thah-ka thyer fi-rir.)
Thanks (informal)
Takk. (Tahk.)
You're welcome.
Ekkert að þakka. (Eh-kehrt adh thah-ka.)
Yes.
Já. (Yaw.)
or Jú (Yoo; for answering a negative question).
No.
Nei. (Nay.)
Excuse me, (getting attention).
Afsakið. (Av-sak-idh.)
Excuse me, (begging pardon).
Fyrirgefðu. (Fi-rir-gyev-dhu.)
I'm sorry, (didn't hear).
Ha? (Ha?)
or Hvað segir þú? (Kvadh se-kir thoo?)
I'm sorry, (regretful).
Því miður. (Thvee mi-dhur.)
Goodbye, (informal).
Bless. (Bless; often said twice, "Bless bless".)
I can't speak Icelandic [well].
Ég tala ekki íslensku [svo vel]. (Yeh ta-la eh-ki ees-len-sku [svo vel].)
Do you speak English?
Talarðu ensku? (Ta-lar-dhu en-sku?)
Is there someone here who speaks English?
Er einhver hér sem talar ensku? (Er ayn-kver hyer sem ta-lar en-sku?)
Help!
Hjálp! (Hyawlp!)
Look out!
Varúð! (!)
Good morning.
Góðan daginn. (Goh-dhan da-kin.)
Good evening.
Gott kvöld. (Got kvur-lt.)
Good night.
Góða nótt. (Goh-dha no-ht.)
Good night, (to sleep).
Sofðu vel. (So-vdhu vel.)
I don't understand.
Ég skil ekki. (Yeh skil eh-ki.)
Could you speak more slowly?
Gætirðu talað hægar? (Gigh-tir-dhu ta-ladh high-kar?)
How do you say _____ in Icelandic?
Hvernig segir maður _____ á íslensku? (Kver-nik se-kir ma-dhur _____ aw ees-len-sku?)
OK.
Allt í lagí. (Atlt ee lak-i.)
or Ókei (Oh-kay; this is used amongst younger generations.)
NOTE: The numbers 1 to 4 have three gender forms in Icelandic, and this gender form changes depending upon whether the number is attached to a masculine, feminine, or neuter word. Only numbers one to four have these gender forms. In addition the numbers one to four change for the four grammatical cases; however, all numbers below are in their nominative (or natural) forms.
DATE: The date in Iceland is written in the dd/mm/yyyy format, as in Europe. The days and months are normally only capitalised at the start of a sentence, otherwise they are entirely in lower case. A fullstop ,or period, (.) is placed after the date in Icelandic.
Example:
miðvikudagur 14. apríl 2007
Wednesday 14th April 2007
TIME: The time in Iceland is written in the 24 hour format, as in most of Europe (not including UK or Ireland), with 00.00 being midnight and 12.00 being midday. The colon (:) is not used as the digit seperater, but rather the fullstop, or period, (.) is used. Note: the term "half-past the hour" in Icelandic is more like "half to the [next] hour" (see examples below).
Examples of time:
Written: klukkan 07.05
Spoken: "klukkan er fimm mínútur yfir sjö" (kluch-kan er fim meen-oot-ur i-ir syur)
Written: klukkan 13.30
Spoken: "klukkan er hálftvö" (kluch-kan er hawlv-tvur)
Sometimes "klukkan" can be shortened to "kl.":
Written: kl. 20:45
Spoken: "klukkan er korter í níu" (kluch-kan er kor-ter ee neehu)
NOTE: the words that describe the later pm hours of the time are rarely ever used, when speaking of them it is common just to say, example: "átta" (eight)instead of "tuttugu" (twenty)
Note: there are no trains in Iceland. There are two kinds of bus: rúta, is a long distance coach; strætisvagn (or strætó, as it is commonly known) are the buses found in towns.
Ég borða aðeins gyðinglega [=Jewish] réttfæðu. (...) There are almost no Jews in Iceland, so many people will have only the vaguest of ideas of what constitutes a kosher diet.
breakfast
morgunmatur, or morgunkaffi (...) The latter translates as morning coffee. Breakfast is usually light, as is lunch. Dinner is usually the main meal of the day.
lunch
hádegisverður (...)
tea (meal)
kaffi (...) Afternoon tea is referred to as "coffee" in Iceland.
I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen.
Ég er amerískur/breskur/ástralskur ríkisborgari. (...)
I demand to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate.
Ég krefst þess að tala við ameríska/ástralska/breska sendiráðið/ræðismannsskrifstofuna. (...)
I want to talk to a lawyer.
Ég vil tala við lögfræðing. (...)
Can I just pay the fine now?
Get ég ekki bara borgað sektina núna? (...)
This is a guide phrasebook. It covers all the major topics for traveling without resorting to English. But please Plunge forward and help us make it a star!
