Tag Archives: vocabulary
Filling in your Icelandic. Posted by hulda on Jul 21, 2015
The one big difference between written and spoken Icelandic it would probably be this: spoken Icelandic has more words. Well – non-words, actually, more like fillers and exclamations of various types. Some are used for the typical purpose of a filler word, to patch a pause in conversation while the speaker is thinking of how to…
From hand-leg to leg-throat. Posted by hulda on May 7, 2015
Broadening your vocabulary is best started with themes, and I’m going to suggest body parts as a good first option! This is especially because you’ll find some dangers therein and some fairly interesting words as well, words that really make you wonder why and how do they even exist. Did the Icelanders of old just…
Non-binary pronouns in Icelandic. Posted by hulda on Feb 26, 2015
Icelandic grammar offers a gender neutral option for personal pronouns. Does that therefore mean that referring to non-binary people is easy and straight-forward? Alas, no. Icelandic gender structure is very strict and merciless and the local non-binary folk have had to give this matter a great deal of thought. When the whole world of Icelandic…
How to romance a viking. Posted by hulda on Feb 11, 2015
You know what day is just around the corner, so let’s get prepared with some relevant vocabulary! The important days Valentínusardagur = Valentine’s Day. The tradition caught on in Iceland perhaps a little earlier than the rest of the Nordics, but since the country was occupied by the USA since the WW2 it may not be too surprising…
Dative in Icelandic: throw that ball! Posted by hulda on Jan 14, 2015
Genitive was covered in Holy genitive case in Icelandic, Batman! and I touched upon accusative in Prepositions + accusative, so let’s now look at the third one, the dative. Before we go on, one warning: Icelandic dative does not work exactly as dative is described to. For the most part þágufall closely resembles dative but…
Angry, angry Icelanders. Posted by hulda on Nov 30, 2014
After a whole month of talking about fighting in the Medieval era I felt it’s time to see if anything’s changed in one thousand years. Are Icelanders still solving their problems by hacking parts off of their enemies? Should you carry an axe around just in case when visiting the country? Perhaps not, because one…
The reliable rhubarb. Posted by hulda on Sep 30, 2014
Last week’s Recipe for Marital Bliss reminded me again of something very Icelandic – rabarbari or tröllasúra (= trolls’ sour), rhubarb. While it does not originate in Iceland and in fact arrived here comparatively late (from Denmark and at the end of the 1800’s) Icelanders really took a liking to it. And why not –…