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Getting understood in Iceland: pre-aspiration. Posted by on Apr 23, 2013

One way of describing spoken Icelandic is that Icelanders breathe it out. Take this literally: there are many “hidden” extra h-sounds in the language that aren’t written down but nevertheless are there, which give Icelandic its trademark whisper-like sound that’s unlike all the other Nordic languages. I already wrote about some of them in the…

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Icelanders love books! Posted by on Mar 15, 2013

Another eventful week just went by so quickly I hardly noticed the time passing. Some of it was spent in research, some in language study, and some – just by reading books I did not need to read. Fellow book lovers will understand: just because some books aren’t on your course list does not mean…

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Loki’s children. Posted by on Feb 20, 2013

“You can choose any text you like, except for poems or song lyrics.” The first translation course that the University of Iceland offers is typically on the first semester of the third year. It takes two years of studying Icelandic before we have gathered enough vocabulary and knowledge on Iceland and its culture to be…

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A naked tourist on the Prime Minister’s lawn. Posted by on Jan 31, 2013

One of our current classes is now focusing on what makes written text difficult to read. The most obvious causes are very topic specific vocabulary (that can make the text hard even for the locals), proverbs and idioms that are impossible to understand unless you already know what they mean etc. Then there’s the word…

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How to order coffee in Icelandic Posted by on Nov 24, 2012

Icelanders are among the leading nations in the world when it comes to coffee consumption per capita. This means that no matter how small they are, every single town has at least three cafes, and that in Reykjavík there are so many of them that it’s hard to choose among them. Some serve a wide…

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Icelandic proverbs Posted by on Nov 8, 2012

What taught the naked woman to spin thread? Or why does one become happy twice when one sits on a stone? Icelandic proverbs show how the people here think and view the world around them, and besides that they’re often very sharp and accurate to their point. Let’s look at some of my favourites! A…

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Here, there, trolls everywhere! Posted by on Oct 12, 2012

Tröllið er þar / tröllið er þarna; tröllið er hér / tröllið er hérna: which sentences do you think should make you react faster? What about the difference between tröllið kemur héðan as opposed to tröllið kemur hingað? Of the first two examples both translate as “the troll is there” and the latter two as “the troll…

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