Icelandic language

Description I have a real good friend who's originally from Iceland. He was very young when he left there, and has been in so many places since, he doesn't remember the language as well as he'd wish. I looked the alphabet up, and tried to understand it as best I could, and put this together for him. I learned just a few words of Icelandic too. The neat thing about the Icelandic alphabet is that it still has three letters that used to be in the Old English alphabet, namely: the eth (Ðð) which…

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Visiting Iceland for the first time? Fear not! Here are some useful dummy-proof Iceland facts, tips, and trivia!

The phonetic guide (pictured above) on how to pronunce basic Icelandic words is pretty impressive. It was left behind by an unknown traveller and found by local girl Sandra Smára, who posted it to Twitter, thanking the unknown traveller for the "laugh out loud moment of the day": Icelanders never cease to be amused by funny non-native attempts to pronounce Icelandic words.

How do Icelandic last names work? What are the typical Icelandic names? Do Icelanders really have a Naming Committee? Find out all about it!

Icelandic Personal Prenouns

On a clear day I can see Eyjafjallajökull when I go riding. You know the volcano. The one no one can pronounce. Actually one of the little joys of my day is making tourists say it. I’m mean like that. Much like anything it’s not so hard if you know how (ey-yeah-fytl-la-jook-utl or at least that’s…

One of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe – Iceland became home to the earliest inhabitants in 874 AD. The Norwegians, along with Scandinavians, moved to Iceland, bringing their Gaelic culture along. And only few decades later Althing, an Icelandic Parliament was constituted in 930. Also known as ‘Alþingi‘ in the Icelandic language, it became the earliest places where legislature was first exercised. Check website for full article and know more about the oldest parliament.

1. Children in Iceland are not allowed to have names with the letter "C" in them. All names must conform to the rules of the Icelandic language, which does not have the letter "C."

Understand the history of the Icelandic language, learn how to approach the language learning process, and master a few useful phrases in Icelandic!