Phate6660's Icelandic Notes

This is Phate6660’s personal notes for learning Icelandic.

Typing Special Characters

Linux

First you need to set up the compose key on Xorg.
I’ll leave you to do that on your own, it’s out of the scope of this as
depending on what DE/WM you’re using, there are various different ways to enable it.

Windows

I came across wincompose while making my own AHK script.
Once I found it, honestly I fell in love with it. The rest of this document will assume you’re using it.

Sequences

The compose key needs to be pressed before all shortcuts.
However a nice thing is that the key has a rollover effect.
Meaning that it doesn’t need to stay pressed down, you can press the keys in order one-by-one.

Shortcut Character
’-a á
’-A Á
’-e é
’-E É
’-i í
’-I Í
’-o ó
’-O Ó
’-y ý
’-Y Ý
“-o ö
“-O Ö
a-e æ
A-E Æ
d-h ð
D-H Ð
t-h þ
T-H Þ

Pronunciations

If unspecified, assume that the pronounciation is the same as the english letter.

Letters Pronunciation Additional Notes
Á, á “ow”
Ð, ð “th” Like in “this”, but aspirated as well.
E, e “ay”
É, é “ea”
G, g ————> At the beginning of words it is said as a hard English g.
In between vowels and at the end of a word a very soft throaty g resembling a toned down German “ch” at the back of the throat.
It is not pronounced between accented vowels.
It is said as an Icelandic j between a vowel and j.
After a vowel and before a t or s it is a hard German “ch”.
I, i, Y, y “eh”
Í, í, Ý, ý “ee”
J, j “y”
O, o “ah”
Ó, ó “oh”
R, r ————> Pronounced like in English, but is always rolled.
S, s ————> Like in English; always an “s”, never said as a “z”.
U, u “eu”
Ú, ú “ew”
X, x “ch”
Þ, þ “th” Like in “thing”.
Æ, æ “eye”
Ö, ö “uh” or “oh”
Hv “kf”
Ll “tl” Push it more out the side of your mouth with your tongue.
Nn “tn”
Pp, tt, kk ————> Are all aspirated (small puff of air).
Au “öj”
Ei, ey “ay”

Words

Adverbs

English Icelandic Pronunciation
Almost Næstum “n-eye-steum”
Always Alltaf “ah-ll-tah-f”
Maybe Kannski “kon-skih”
Never Aldrei “ahl-drey”
No Nei “nay”
Now Núna “n-ew-nah”
Quickly Fljótt “fl-oh-tt”
Rarely Sjaldan “sya-ll-dahn”
Sometimes Stundum “steu-n-deum”
Soon Bráðum “brow-th-ew-m”
Sorry Því miður “th-vee mith-eur”
The Hið “hith”
Today Í dag “ee d-ah-ch”
Together Saman “sah-m-ah-n”
Tomorrow Á morgun “ow m-ah-r-geun”
Tonight Í kvöld “ee kv-uh-ld”
Yes Já “yow”
Yesterday Í gær “ee g-eye-r”

Prepositions

English Icelandic Pronunciation
About Um “eu-m”
Above Yfir “eh-fir”
And Og “ah-ch”
Before Áður en “ow-th-eur ay-n”
Between Á milli “ow m-eh-leh”
But En “ayn”
For Fyrir “feh-rehr”
From Frá “fr-ow”
In Í “eh”
To Til “tel”
With Með “m-ay-th
Without Án “ow-n”

Nouns

English Icelandic Pronunciation
Bathroom Klósett “k-low-set”
Congratulations Til hamingju “till hah-min-ch-you”
Fire Eldur “ail-deur”
Test Próf “prohf”

Verbs

English Icelandic Pronunciation
Help Hjálpa “hyowl-pa”
Please Vinsamlegast “vin-sahm-lay-ch-st”
Stop Hættu “hai-tu”
Test Prófa “proh-fah”

Random Phrases

English Icelandic Pronunciation
Thank You Takk “tah-kk”
You’re Welcome Þér er velkomið “thair air vail-kom-ith”
Excuse Me Fyrirgefðu “fir-irch-ayyf-thew”
What is Your Name Hvað heitir þú? “kf-ah-th hay-tir thew”
Nice to Meet You Gaman að kynnast þér “gah-mon ahth kin-ahst thear”
How Are You Vernig hefur þú það? “vair-nich hay-feur thew th-ah-th”
Good Morning Góðan dag “goh-thon dach”
Good Night Góða nótt “goh-tha note”
I am Lost Ég er týndur “ey-ch air tindeaur”
My Name Is Ég heiti “ey-ch hay-tea”
Where is Hvar er “kf-ah-r air”
Leave me alone Láttu mig í friði! “l-ow-teu mi-ch ee fri-thi”
I don’t know Ég veit ekki “ey-ch vay-it ay-k-i”
Please speak more slowly Gætirðu talað hægar “g-eye-tirth-eu tah-lah-th hi-g-ahr”
Get well soon Láttu þér batna “l-ow-teu th-ea-r baht-na”
I am speaking Icelandic Ég er að tala íslensku “aych air ath tala ees-layn-skeu”
You’re a good boy Þú ert góður drengur “thew airt go-thoo-er dree-nch-ew-r”
What the hell Hvað er í gangi eiginlega “kf-ath air ee ch-ah-chi ay-ch-en-lee-cha”
Icelandic be pretty cool Íslenska vera nokkuð flott “ees-layn-skah vay-rah nah-kk-eu-th fl-ah-tt”
Night witches Næturn æringar “nigh-teurn aye-rin-gahr”
I’m a foreigner Ég er útlendingur “ea-ch air ewt-layn-dehn-geur”

Random LONG phrases

This will be done in a bullet list type format as to not make really wide tables.

Random Names of Places and Stuff in Iceland

Actual Numbers

Number Written Form (Icelandic) Pronunciation
0 Núll “newl”
1 Einn “ay-tn”
2 Tveir “t-vair”
3 Þrír “threer”
4 Fjórir “fyoh-rir”
5 Fimm “fimm
6 Sex “sex”
7 Sjö “syur”
8 Átta “ow-tah”
9 Níu “neeu”
10 Tíu “teeu”

Numbers In Adjective Form

English Icelandic Pronunciation
First Fyrstur “feh-steur”
Second Sekúnda “say-kewn-dah”
Third Þriðji “th-rith-yeh”
Fourth Fjórði “fyour-th-eh”
Fifth Fimmti “fimm-teh”
Sixth Sjötti “syuh-teh”
Seventh Sjöundi “syuh-eun-deh”
Eightth Áttunda “ow-teun-dah”
Ninth Níundi “nee-eun-deh”
Tenth Tíundi “tee-eun-deh”

Grammar

Nouns

They are declined in 4 cases:

There are also gender-specific suffixes for words:

Articles

Indefinite articles (such as a/an) do not exist, but there are definite articles.

They would be…

Singular (without articles):

Singular (with article):

Plural (without article):

Plural (with article):

Examples

Examples showing nouns for each respective gender declined in nominative: