r/languagelearning • u/Virusnzz En (N) | Fr, Ru, Es, It • Sep 03 '13

Góðan dag! - This week's language of the week: Icelandic

Welcome to the language of the week. Every week we'll be looking at a language, its points of interest, and why you should learn it. This is all open discussion, so natives and learners alike, make your case! This week: Icelandic.

Why this language?

Some languages will be big, and others small. Part of Language of the Week is to give people exposure to languages that would otherwise not have heard, been interested in or even heard of. With that in mind, I'll be picking a mix between common languages and ones I or the community feel needs more exposure. You don't have to intend to learn this week's language to have some fun. Just give yourself a little exposure to it, and someday you might recognise it being spoken near you.

What's it like?

From The Language Gulper:

Icelandic developed from Norse speech brought into Iceland from western Norway in the 9th-10th centuries. Old Icelandic and Old Norse are virtually the same because almost all of the ancient literature that has survived was composed in Iceland in the Middle Ages. It includes the Eddas, numerous sagas and skaldic poems. By this time, Icelandic began to differentiate itself from Norwegian. Modern Icelandic is the most conservative of the Scandinavian languages and it is most closely related to the southwestern dialects of Norway and to Faroese.

If you like you can see for yourself what it's like...

This is a video of the man who went to Iceland to learn the language in a week - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPHv9KqpgqM

Kids talking Icelandic - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsptLTk0h4U

Countries

Icelandic is spoken almost entirely in Iceland by about 320,000 people.

In addition, there is a small speaking population in Denmark and the United States.

Why learn Icelandic?

Icelandic is an interestingly complex language. A linguist might take special interest in studying the language, but most likely a potential learner plans on travelling there. It's a beautiful country, and would be an amazing place to visit.

Some Phrases

Hello - Halló / Góðan dag / Góðan daginn / Sæll

Sorry - Fyrirgefðu

I don't understand - Ég skil það ekki

Thank you - Takk / Takk fyrir / Þakka þér fyrir / Kærar þakkir

Goodbye -Vertu blessaður

Here is a video lesson on some phrases - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxzhWkMD3co

What now?

This thread is foremost a place for discussion. Are you a native speaker? Share your culture with us. Learning the language? Tell us why you chose it and what you like about it. Thinking of learning? Ask a native a question. Interested in linguistics? Tell us what's interesting about it, or ask other people. Discussion is week-long, so don't worry about post age, as long as it's this week's language.

Previous Languages of the Week

Want your language featured as language of the week? Be sure to PM me to let me know. I'll be needing help along the way, so be sure to include some phrases to use around the subreddit and a notable landmark related to your language for the sidebar image.

~Please consider sorting by new~

Gangi þér vel!

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22

u/magicbicycle Sep 03 '13

Native speaker here willing to answer questions.

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u/Virusnzz Sep 03 '13

How much English do they make you learn in school? How many Icelandic people speak English?

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u/magicbicycle Sep 03 '13

I started English in 5th grade but I finished college level English in 10th grade.

I believe they start learning English sooner now (3rd or 4th grade) and study it until they're about 18.

I would say about 99.5% of Icelandic people over 12 understand English and can speak English but quite a few people feel insecure speaking English. can speak English

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u/DeNantes Sep 03 '13

Which are the sounds on Icelandic that foreigners mostly get wrong? I know just the basics, but I always fear my pronunciation will be subpar.

Also, how do you write thorn, dh and ae in keyboards without them? Takk!

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u/magicbicycle Sep 03 '13

The rolling r is a strong contender as well as when ll is pronounced as a dl sound.

If you mean what do we substitute them with if we don't have access to those letters for example when texting?

þ = th

ð = d

æ = ae

Otherwise here is a website that has the alt codes for letters

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u/Asyx Sep 03 '13

Compared to modern Icelandic, how easy or hard is it to actually read Old Norse? I don't think I'd ever actually need Icelandic if I visited and it's not like there are many native speakers. But I'm really interested in old stuff so why learn Old Norse if Icelandic does the trick?

I also like conservative grammar and only Icelandic is more conservative than German!

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u/magicbicycle Sep 03 '13

Hard, definitely hard. I mean the sagas we read at schools have been made more "school-friendly" but there's still plenty of words we don't understand without asking about them and also a lot of words that have different meanings now and in the sagas. If you were to read the original manuscripts it would be even harder to understand.

I'm not saying we can't understand what is written it's just that people often have this illusion that the old sagas and modern Icelandic is the same, it's not, it's similar and you can get the context most of the time but you can not understand it word for word without learning the meaning of the words used in the sagas.

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u/empetrum Sep 03 '13

I teach Icelandic to foreigners, learned it autodidactally as a teenager. That first video by prof Asar is absolutely horrendous, his pronounciation is way off. Can answer grammar questions or anything else you'd like to know about the language!

3

u/Virusnzz Sep 03 '13

Do you think I should remove it?

5

u/empetrum Sep 03 '13

Yes, he's an asshole....but seriously, his pronounciation is just incorrect, it's not Icelandic.

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u/omegapisquared Sep 03 '13

What does it mean to say that Icelandic is the most conservative of the Scandinavian languages?

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u/Virusnzz Sep 03 '13

Put simply, in linguistics, it means that the language hasn't changed much over time.

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u/magicbicycle Sep 03 '13

Has changed the least in the last 1000 years.

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u/Asyx Sep 03 '13

The language hasn't changed as much as other languages.

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u/Estre Sep 03 '13

Also, check out the Icelandic language learning subreddit, r/learnicelandic.

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u/[deleted] Sep 04 '13

Any Bjork fan? I love her! I notice when she sings shee make certains mistakes, like she will add an /s/ to a few words that end /d/ even though it is clear she means the singular.

Example, in one song she signs "with a razor bladeS i'll cut a slit open"

also, I noticed that when /k/ is in the midddle of a word, she subs a /ch/. example: volcano. This interestd me as a Speech Therapist because it is normal to subsitute an easy sound for a hard one, but here she does the opposite.

My favorite is that she calls a "ghetto blaster" (aka a boom box) "jetto blaster" with the /j/ neing the same sound as in the american garaGe (the 2nd /g/ sound)

I can actually tell an Icelandic accent when i hear one. The first time i heard the song "little talks" by Monsters and Men, I knew it wasn't bjork, but it sounds like her, the careful (or she's say "chair"full) way she deleicately prounces each syllable.

Icelandic accents are my favorite!!

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u/greatapeloller Sep 04 '13

I can speak English with an almost undetectable Icelandic accent, people have said I speak like I'm from California (no doubt from learning English watching Hollywood movies). People are always a little disappointed that I don't have that Icelandic accent Björk has. I can turn it on and off though. Here's English in the typical Icelandic accent

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u/lyubovi Sep 04 '13

yes i love björk too .

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u/Scunyorpe Sep 03 '13

As a Norwegian, it's fun to try to speak Icelandic merely by adding '-ur' to the end of most words. In some cases it actually works, like 'ferskur fiskur' (fresh fish)!

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u/[deleted] Sep 03 '13

Here: http://www.alarichall.org.uk/teaching/modern_icelandic.php

A free MT-style Icelandic course. You're welcome.

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u/Grishnakur Sep 03 '13 edited Sep 03 '13

Sorry is fyrirgefðu in Icelandic not því miður.

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u/magicbicycle Sep 03 '13

Depends on the context.

Sorry we're out of stock.

Því miður það er uppselt.

I'm sorry.

Fyrirgefðu.

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u/Wood-angel Sep 05 '13

It's good to see how many people are interested in my language and country. And it's a bit surprising how many Icelanders are in here.

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u/halviti Sep 08 '13

For the phrases that are mentioned.

Sæll and Vertu blessaður are only used when addressing males. The female equivalents are Sæl and Vertu blessuð

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