dear diary;
THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!?
probs just wasted over an hour trying to speak icelandic...
general icelandic pronunciation guide
vowels
a (short) as in "man" (british accent)
a (long) as in "father"
a (followed by "ng" or "nk") like "ou" in "house"
� like "ou" in "house"
e (short) as in "met"
e (long) like "ea" in "bear"
� like "ye" in "yet"
i (short) as in "hit"
i (long) as in "hit" but lengthened
i (followed by "ng" or "nk") like "ee" in "seen", but shorter
� like "ee" in "seen"
o (short) as in "not"
o (long) like "aw" in "saw"
� like "o" in "sole"
u (short) like "eu" in french "deux"
u (long) sounds same as short but lengthened
u (followed by "ng" or "nk") like "oo" in "moon", but shorter
� like "oo" in "moon"
y sounds same as icelandic "i" or "�"
� sounds same as icelandic "i" or "�"
� like "i" in "mile"
� (short) is similar to german "�" like "ur" in "urgent" but shorter
� (long) like "ur" in "urgent"
au like the vowel in french "feuille", similar to "oy" in "boy"
ei like "ay" in "day"
ey like "ay" in "day"
note that all icelandic vowels can be long or short. they are normally pronounced long when followed by (1) a single consonant or (2) the consonant combinations {p, t, k} + {r, j, v} (for instance pr, tr, kj). they are normally pronounced short if followed by a double consonant or a consonant combination other than the ones mentioned above.
consonants
b same as in english, but not strongly voiced eg ba�
d same as in english, but not strongly voiced eg d�ttir
f (1) at beginning of a word is same as in english eg fara
f (2) in the middle or at the end of a word like english "v" eg hafa
f (3) before "l" or "n" like english "b" eg gafl, nafn
g (1) at beginning of a word as in "good" eg g��ur
g (2) after a vowel, unless followed by "i" or "j", like German g in "sagen" eg saga, sag�i
g (3) after a vowel and followed by "i" or "j" like "y" in "yet" eg magi, segja
h same as in english eg ha
hv like "qu" in "quick" eg hva�
j like "y" in "yes" eg j�
k same as in english eg kaup
kk is preceded by a pre-aspiration eg ekkert (ehh-kert)
kl is also preceded by a pre-aspiration eg afkl��a
kn is also preceded by a pre-aspiration eg a�s�kn
l same as in english eg laun
ll like "ttl" in "settle" but not with hard "t" sound (like "dl") eg s�ll
m same as in english eg me�
n same as in english eg nei
nn (1) after "�", "�", "�", "�", "�", "�", "au", "ei", or "ey" like "dn" eg steinn
nn (2) after all other vowels and in the suffixed definate article sounds like "nn" in english eg finna
p same as in english except when before "s", "k", or "t" where it then in combination sounds like "f" eg skips, d�pka, d�pt
pp is preceded by a pre-aspiration eg sloppur
pl is also preceded by a pre-aspiration eg depla
pn is also preceded by a pre-aspiration eg opna
r like in english only trilled eg far
rl like Icelandic "ll" above eg karl
rn like Icelandic "nn" above eg barn
s as in "mouse" eg m�s
t same as in english eg takk
tt is preceded by a pre-aspiration eg h�tta
tl is also preceded by a pre-aspiration eg betla
tn is also preceded by a pre-aspiration eg batna
v same as in english eg vi�
x same as in english eg buxur
z like "s" in "sun" eg verzlun
� like "th" in "thin" eg �unnur
� like "th" in "breathe" is never found at beginning of word eg sta�a
accent
the accent of icelandic words falls in almost all cases on the first syllable. the exceptions are
words that have the negative prefix "�-" meaning "un-" as in "unwilling" eg �hreinindi
words that have the prefix "all-" meaning "rather" or "very" eg allfeginn
in these two cases, the accent falls equally on the first two syllables or mainly on the second syllable.