Some Easy Icelandic for You

When you see the "hv" you'll notice she's pronouncing it "kv."

"Eg" ("I") is half-palatized at the front (I think that's how I make the sound) so it's almost "yeg."

You'll be surprised to see how easy "hae" and "bae" and "bless bless" were, huh lol?

For those who know German, they'll probably see the similarities. I know only a little German (like 1200 or 1500 words) but I recognize German cognates all the time.

Gangur you'll see is related to "going." For example, Utgangur is exit and Ingangur is entrance.



My favorite colors in Icelandic are orange and purple. Of course this is an inflected language (like Latin) so endings change all the time but...you still have to start with the words themselves and their roots...



Maybe you have read or heard of the reputation the Academie Francaise has when it comes to protecting the purity of the French language? Well, the Icelandic make the French seem like pushovers. The French casually let such words as "le sex appeal" and "le weekend" enter their language. Icelanders are a wonderfully hospitable people but they are rather obsessive about creating an Icelandic word for each new piece of technology, etc.

Here's an brief paragraph I just found online, which tells me what I already knew firsthand from studying the language...

The Formation of New Words

"In order to drag foreign influences out of the language, there is a determined programme of new word formation. New words are formed from indigenous word stems. An example of such a word is “þota”, for the English word jet plane, formed from the verb “að þjóta”, to dash or whistle past like the wind. Those who criticize this method point out that words formed with Icelandic stems will normally be longer than the English words they aim to replace, and that it is easier just to use the English.
As an example, one may point to the words “myndband” and “myndbandstæki” which were formed for the English words video (which many use instead). A different method by which to revise the vocabulary is to revive old words and give them a new meaning. Words such as “snælda” come about in this way: it now means “hljóðsnælda” (for the English word cassette) but originally was used for a kind of spindle.
Despite these efforts, many foreign words have taken hold in Icelandic, with the words which have gained full acceptance in the language adapted to the Icelandic system of inflections. Examples of such words are “jeppi” (jeep), “appelsína” (orange, derived from the Danish word “appelsin”), “banani” (banana), “sápa” (soap), and many more.
Although one might say the vocabulary is in a process of constant renewal, in essence it always remains the same."



If you want to experience a little immersion, you can try this. Rammsteinfreak advises, "Where the lyrics are grammatically incorrect in English, it is because they are grammatically incorrect in Icelandic as well." (That really only happens on one screen). If you see what looks like "ad" that's the "to" form of the infinitive before the verb. Many of the words have English cognates so you can sort of tell what they are even if this is virgin immersion. The direct object will sound more like a weird form of "thee" or "thou" (that's a good way to think of what "you" is in Icelandic) and it will usually come before the verb as in German.