Icelandic orthography

Icelandic orthography is the way in which Icelandic words are spelt and how their spelling corresponds with their pronunciation.

Alphabet

Eth	Thorn
A handwriting extract; the Icelandic letters ð & þ are visible

The Icelandic alphabet is a Latin alphabet including some letters duplicated with acute accents; in addition, it includes the letter eth Ðð, transliterated as d, and the runic letter thorn Þþ, transliterated as th (see picture); Ææ and Öö are considered letters in their own right and not a ligature or diacritical version of their respective letters. Icelanders call the ten extra letters (not in the English alphabet), especially thorn and eth, séríslenskur ("specifically Icelandic" or "uniquely Icelandic"), although they are not. Eth is also used in Faroese, while thorn is no longer used in any other living language. Icelandic words never start with ð, which means the capital version Ð is mainly just used when words are spelled using all capitals.

Sometimes the glyphs are simplified when handwritten, for example æ (considered a separate letter, originally a ligature) may be written as ae, which can make it easier to write cursively.

The alphabet consists of the following 32 letters.

	Icelandic alphabet An Icelandic speaker reciting the alphabet in Icelandic
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Letter	Name	IPA	Frequency^[1]
Aa	a	[a]	10.11%
Áá	á	[au̯]	1.8%
Bb	bé	[pjɛ]	1.04%
Dd	dé	[tjɛ]	1.58%
Ðð	eð	[ɛð̠]	4.39%
Ee	e	[ɛ]	6.42%
Éé	é	[jɛ]	0.65%
Ff	eff	[ɛfː]	3.01%
Gg	ge	[cɛ]	4.24%
Hh	há	[hau̯]	1.87%
Ii	i	[ɪ]	7.58%
Íí	í	[i]	1.57%
Jj	joð	[jɔð̠]	1.14%
Kk	ká	[kʰau̯]	3.31%
Ll	ell	[ɛtl̥]	4.53%
Mm	emm	[ɛmː]	4.04%
Nn	enn	[ɛnː]	7.71%
Oo	o	[ɔ]	2.17%
Óó	ó	[ou̯]	0.99%
Pp	pé	[pʰjɛ]	0.79%
Rr	err	[ɛr]	8.58%
Ss	ess	[ɛs]	5.63%
Tt	té	[tʰjɛ]	4.95%
Uu	u	[ʏ]	4.56%
Úú	ú	[u]	0.61%
Vv	vaff	[vafː]	2.44%
Xx	ex	[ɛxs]	0.05%
Yy	ypsilon y	[ʏfsɪlɔn ɪ]	0.9%
Ýý	ypsilon ý	[ʏfsɪlɔn i]	0.23%
Þþ	þorn	[θ̠ɔrtn̥]	1.45%
Ææ	æ	[ai̯]	0.87%
Öö	ö	[œ]	0.78%

Deleted letter

Letter	Name	IPA
Zz	seta	[sɛta]

The letters a, á, e, é, i, í, o, ó, u, ú, y, ý, æ and ö are considered vowels, and the remainder are consonants.

The letters C (sé, [sjɛ]), Q (kú, [kʰu]) and W (tvöfalt vaff, [ˈtʰvœfal̥t ˌvafː]) are only used in Icelandic in words of foreign origin and some proper names that are also of foreign origin. Otherwise, c, qu, and w are substituted with k/s/ts, hv, and v respectively. (In fact, hv etymologically corresponds to Latin qu and English wh in words inherited from Proto-Indo-European: Icelandic hvað, Latin quod, English what.)

The letter Z (seta, [ˈsɛta]) was used until 1973, when it was abolished, as it was only an etymological detail. It originally represented an affricate [t͡s], which arose from the combinations t+s, d+s, ð+s; however in modern Icelandic it came to be pronounced [s], and as it was a rare letter anyway it was decided in 1973 to replace all instances of z with s.^[2] However, one of the most important newspapers in Iceland, Morgunblaðið, still uses it sometimes (although very rarely), and a secondary school, Verzlunarskóli Íslands has it in its name. It is also found in some proper names, and loanwords such as pizza. Older people, who were educated before the abolition of the z sometimes also use it.

While the letters C, Q, W, and Z are found on the Icelandic keyboard, they are rarely used in Icelandic; they are used in some proper names of Icelanders, mainly family names (family names are the exception in Iceland). Many consider the letters should be part of the Icelandic alphabet, as the alphabet is first and foremost a tool to collate words and names, and not having these letters in the alphabet makes it impossible to alphabetize names like Carl and Walter that are well known in Iceland. The alphabet, as taught in Icelandic schools until c. 1980, consisted of 36 letters: a, á, b, c, d, ð, e, é, f, g, h, i, í, j, k, l, m, n, o, ó, p, q, r, s, t, u, ú, v, w, x, y, ý, z, þ, æ, ö.

History

The modern Icelandic alphabet has developed from a standard established in the 19th century, by the Danish linguist Rasmus Rask primarily. It is ultimately based heavily on an orthographic standard created in the early 12th century by a document referred to as The First Grammatical Treatise, author unknown. The standard was intended for the common North Germanic language, Old Norse. It did not have much influence, however, at the time.

The most defining characteristics of the alphabet were established in the old treatise:

Use of the acute accent (originally to signify vowel length).
Use of þ, also used in the Old English alphabet as the letter thorn.

The later Rasmus Rask standard was basically a re-enactment of the old treatise, with some changes to fit concurrent North Germanic conventions, such as the exclusive use of k rather than c. Various old features, like ð, had actually not seen much use in the later centuries, so Rask's standard constituted a major change in practice.

Later 20th century changes are most notably the adoption of é, which had previously been written as je (reflecting the modern pronunciation), and the replacement of z with s in 1973.^[3]

Function of symbols

This section lists Icelandic letters and letter combinations, and how to pronounce them using a narrow International Phonetic Alphabet transcription.^[4]^[5]

Icelandic vowels may be either long or short, but this distinction is only relevant in stressed syllables: unstressed vowels are neutral in quantitative aspect. The vowel length is determined by the consonants that follow the vowel: if there is only one consonant (i.e., a [VC] syllable), the vowel is long; if there are more than one ([VCC]), including geminates, the vowel is short. There are, however, some exceptions to this rule:

A vowel is long when the first consonant following it is [p t k s] and the second [v j r], e.g. esja, vepja, akrar, vökvar, tvisvar.
A vowel is also long in monosyllabic substantives with a genitive -s whose stem ends in a single [p t k] following a vowel (e.g. ráps, skaks), except if the final [p t k] is assimilated into the [s], e.g. báts.
The first word of a compound term preserves its long vowel if its following consonant is one of the group [p t k s], e.g. matmál.
The non-compound verbs vitkast and litka have long vowels.

The chart below is incomplete:

Vowels
Grapheme	Sound (IPA)			Examples
Grapheme	Long	Short	Before [ŋ]	Examples
a	[äː]	[ɐ]	[äu̯]	taska "handbag, suitcase" listen kaka "cake" listen svangur "hungry"
á	[äu̯]			fár "damage" listen
au	[œy̯]			þau "they" listen
e	[eɛ̯]	[ɛ]	[ɛi̯]	skera "to cut" drekka "to drink" listen drengur "boy"
é	[jɛː]	[jɛ]		ég [jɛːɣ] "I" listen
ei, ey	[ɛi̯]			skeið "spoon" listen
i, y	[ɪ]		[i]	sin "sinew" listen syngja "to sing"
í, ý	[i]			íslenska "Icelandic" listen
o	[oɔ̯]	[ɔ]		lofa "promise" listen dolla "pot"
ó	[ou̯]			rós "rose" listen
u	[ʏ]		[u]	hundur "dog" listen munkur "monk"
ú	[u]			þú "you" listen
æ	[äi̯]			læsa "lock" listen
ö	[œ]		[œy̯]	ör "scar" listen öngull "hook"

Consonants
Grapheme	Phonetic realization (IPA)	Examples
b	In most cases: [p⁼] unaspirated voiceless bilabial stop	bær "town" listen
b	Between m and d, t, s, or g: Ø	kembt [cʰɛm̥tʰ] "combed [past participle]"
d	In most cases: [t⁼] unaspirated voiceless alveolar stop	dalur "valley" listen
d	Between l or n and g, n, l, k, or s: Ø	lands [lans] "land [genitive case]"
ð	between vowels, between a vowel and a voiced consonant, or at end of word: [ð̠] voiced alveolar non-sibilant fricative	eða "or" listen bað "bath" listen
	before a voiceless consonant: [θ̠] voiceless alveolar non-sibilant fricative	maðkur "maggot" listen
	Between r and n, and between g and s: Ø	harðna [ˈhartna] "harden" bragðs [braxs] "trick [genitive case]"
f	At the beginning of a word or before a voiceless consonant, and when doubled: [f]	fundur "meeting" haft [haftʰ] "had [past participle]"
	Between vowels, between a vowel and a voiced consonant, or at the end of a word: [v]	lofa "promise" listen horfa [ˈhɔrva] "look"
	between ó and a vowel: Ø	prófa [prou̯ɐ] "test" listen gulrófa [ˈkʏlˌrou̯.ɐ] "rutabaga" listen
	before l or n: [p⁼]	Keflavík listen
fnd	[mt]	hefnd [hɛmt] listen
fnt	[m̥t] (voiceless)	nefnt [nɛm̥t] listen
g	beginning of word, before a consonant or a, á, é, o, ó, u, ú* and ö; or between vowel and l or n:* [k⁼] unaspirated voiceless velar stop	glápa "have a look" listen logn "calm (weather)" listen
	beginning of word, before e, i, í, j, y, ý, æ, ei* or ey:* [c⁼] unaspirated voiceless palatal stop	geta "can" listen
	between a vowel and a, u, ð, l* or r; or at end of word:* [ɣ] voiced velar fricative	fluga "fly" listen lag "song" listen
	before t or s [x] voiceless velar fricative	dragt "suit"
	between a vowel and j or i [ɪ] palatal approximant	segja "to say"
	between á, ó, ú, and a or u Ø	fljúga "to fly"
gj	[c⁼] unaspirated voiceless palatal stop	gjalda "to pay"
h	[h] voiceless glottal fricative	hár "hair"
hj	[ç] voiceless palatal fricative	hjá "next to, with"
hl	[l̥] voiceless alveolar lateral approximant	hlýr "warm"
hr	[r̥] voiceless alveolar trill	hratt "fast"
hv	[kʰv] ([xv] among some older speakers in southern Iceland)	hvað "what" listen
j	[ɪ]	já "yes"
k	beginning of word, before a consonant or a, á, é, o, ó, u, ú* and ö:* [kʰ]	kaka "cake" listen
	beginning of word, before e, i, í, y, ý, æ, ei* or ey:* [cʰ] aspirated voiceless palatal stop	keyra "drive" kynskiptingur "transsexual" listen
	before t [x] voiceless velar fricative	október "October"
kj	beginning of word: [cʰ] aspirated voiceless palatal stop	kjöt "meat"
kj	all other contexts: [c⁼] unaspirated voiceless palatal stop	þykja "to be regarded"
kk	[ʰk]	þakka "thank" listen
l	in most cases: [l]	lás "lock" listen
l	at end of word, or next to a voiceless consonant: [l̥] voiceless alveolar lateral approximant	sól "sun" listen , stúlka
ll	in most cases: [tl]	bolli "cup" listen milli "between" listen
ll	in loan words and pet names: [lː]	bolla listen mylla "mill" listen
m	in most cases: [m]	mamma "mum"
m	after and before voiceless consonants [m̥]	lampi "lamp"
n	in most cases: [n]	nafn "name"
	after and before voiceless consonants [n̥]	planta "plant" hnífur "knife"
	before g or k [ŋ]	vængur "wing"
nn	after accented vowels or diphthongs: [tn̥]	steinn "rock" fínn "elegant"
nn	all other contexts [nː]	finna "to find"
p	beginning of word: [pʰ] aspirated voiceless bilabial stop	par "pair" listen
	after a voiceless sound: [p⁼] unaspirated voiceless bilabial stop	spara "save" listen
	before s, k or t: [f] voiceless labiodental fricative	September "September" skips "ship's"
	before n: [ʰp]	vopn [vɔhpn̥] "weapon"
pp	[ʰp]	stoppa "stop" listen
r	at the beginning of words and between vowels: [r] (voiced alveolar trill)	rigna "to rain" læra "to learn"
r	before and after voiceless consonants and before a pause [r̥] (voiceless alveolar trill)	svartur "black"
rl	[rtl̥]	karlmaður "man"
rn	[rtn̥]	þorn "the name of the letter þ"
s	[s]	sósa sauce
sl	[stl̥]	rusl
sn	[stn̥]	bysna
t	beginning of word: [tʰ] aspirated voiceless alveolar stop	taka "take" listen
t	after voiceless sound: [t⁼] unaspirated voiceless alveolar stop	stela "steal" listen
tt	[ʰt]	detta "to fall"
v	[v]	vera "to be"
x	[xs]	lax "salmon"
z	[s]	beztur "best" (former orthography) Zakarías "Zachary"
þ	[θ̠] see ð above	þú "you" Aþena "Athens" listen

References

↑ "Icelandic Letter Frequencies". Practical cryptography. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
↑ Hvers vegna var bókstafurinn z svona mikið notaður á Íslandi en því svo hætt? (Icelandic)
↑ Eiríkur Rögnvaldsson. "Stafsetning og greinarmerkjasetning" (in Icelandic). Retrieved 9 May 2014. 2. og 3. grein fjalla um bókstafinn z, brottnám hans úr íslensku, og ýmsar afleiðingar þess. z var numin brott úr íslensku ritmáli með auglýsingu menntamálaráðuneytisins í september 1973 (ekki 1974, eins og oft er haldið fram). (Icelandic)
↑ Thráinsson, Höskuldur. Icelandic in The Germanic Languages, 2002, eds. König, Ekkehard; van der Auwera, Johan. pgs 142-52. Routledge Language Family Descriptions
↑ Einarsson, Stefán (1949). Icelandic: Grammar, Texts, Glossary. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press. pp. 1–25.

External links

Guidelines for phonetic transcription

Icelandic language

Features	Braille Grammar Orthography N-rule Phonology Vocabulary

Names	Patronymic names Street names List of exonyms

History and literature	History Old Icelandic Literature Proverbs Sagas Poetic Edda Skaldic poetry

Promotion and purism	Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies Icelandic Language Day Icelandic Language Council Icelandic Language Fund Icelandic Language Institute Icelandic Naming Committee Linguistic purism

Related topics	Icelandic Sign Language

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