Hopefully no one has asked this yet... How would you go about spelling and pronouncing the letter combo "ch" as it is in English (Russian "ч")? For example, my name is Chelsie. How would I write it in Icelandic and how would I pronounce it with an Icelandic accent?
@wilderwein I've actually looked it up and I can't find any indication that that exact sound is used in Icelandic. I looked at pronunciation guides for Icelandic that use IPA and cross-referenced them with English and couldn't find it. That being said, ts in vitsmunum ('wit' in english) is pretty damn close.
@wilderwein that combo is never used in any icelandic word. there are i think two names that have that combo though, and in them it's pronounced like 'sh' in Shirley
@ich8bit Yes, they are. If you now any of those languages it should be a breeze for you, but you'll have to learn the grammar which really isn't fun. An English speaker will have a little trouble with this. To compare your difficulty to another language, it's like a spanish speaker learning romanian.
Isn't Icelandic related to Swedish, Norwegian, Dannish right? I'm a swedish boy (very intressed by language) and I see that many words is very related many swedish words
@ich8bit: well yea..all of you are north Germanic languages...Icelandic is the only language in the world that pretty much stayed original and hasn't really undergone any change...English is the only language in the world that has undergone many changes and so became its own language...if English would have stayed Anglo Saxon (Old English) it would have sounded like German/Dutch mixed with some Icelandic...
aaah thanks a lot for the video, gonna check them all!! im just in love with icelandic music and i wish i could visit that place soon and maybe speak with someone there. again, thanks! ps: does anyone know any book or grammar for beginners?
Thank you very much for this! I've been trying to find someone to speak it online for ages. I would say thank you in Icelandic, but I can never remember the spelling...
hey, i love your videos! thank you. but i have a question (and i'm hoping you will get back to me soon on this). i am very confused on how to pronounce ð. is it a "th" sound or a "v" sound? it would help so much! this is my only problem when it comes to icelandic, the weird letters that aren't in english. it would be much appreciated!
@MaskFaceDude should be like this Ég er frá Bandaríkjunum. Ég tala ekki Íslensku, en Ég vill læra! Ég spila (víola no idea what it is) og gítar. Ég er ekki góður,
Nú means 'now' (cf. Im Nu, auf deutsch, bedeutet "in the moment")
Hví means 'why' in Old Icelandic (notice the Germanic *hwī as instrumental of *hwaz (what, who, etc.), which set up the basis for German warum, Old English hwȳ, English why, etc.)
I got this strange infatuation on a tropical island (!) few years ago with some men coming from Iceland. Living in a nordic, mysterious way. They said only 300.000 people are living on the isle. In the city I live in that would be less than half of the population. So much beautiful space. Learning Icelandic is something that drew my attention..It sounded like they were singing when they spoke. I hope I can learn the basics from the Internet . Post more, please..Bless, bless..
I can hear from your accent that you are not Icelandic, and you do way to much of an 'rrr' sound when you pronounce rós but it's a great tutorial anyways :)
You spelled lysti wrong ! i think i haven't been to Iceland for a year now dunno why i'm watching this but nice vid also nú- you actully say núna for now. I actully say nú for why but the right way in saying why is afhverju xD
what's the difference betwwen icelandic,norwegian,swedish,faroese,german,dutch,afrikaans,scottish,and english?what is the same of these languages,and what's the difference
@soccerruben1 ENG.under the little birch tree is a grasshopper in the long grass. DK.under den lille birk trae er en graeshoppe i det laenge graes. NK.under den lille bjo/rk er en gresshoppe i det lange gresse.SK. under den lilla bjorken ar en grasshoppa i det langa graset. IS. undir litla birki tre er graaahopper i the langur grasi. F.dans le cadre du bouleau peu une sauterelle dan l'herbe. Anyone who says that English is full of French, Latin and Greek, is a PRICK HEAD. (DK. PIK HOVED)
@psviking1 Actualy in Icelandic it's : Undir litla briki trénu er grasshoppari í langa grasinu. You have propably used google translate, althought google translate is a great way to understand other languages you have to remember that words in Icelandic bend. Like; Hestur,hest,hesti ,hests - These words are all the words 'horse' in Icelandic just bended :))
@IcelandicVloger þú ert kannski íslendingur en "grasshoppari" er ekki og mun aldrei verða að íslensku orði, þá sérstaklega þar sem gras hefur aldrei verið skrifað með tveimur s-um og þetta orð er ekki til í orðabók. Þó svo að þú sért íslensk/ur og notir vitlaus orð þá þýðir það ekki að útlendingar sem eru að læra tungumálið ættu að taka upp þessa röngu orðanotkun
when you say vasi it sounds like your saying vassi..with 2 S's.. when there's just one S it's supposed to "slide" through your teeth. like when imitating a snake when they do the Ssssssssssssss sound ... just a little advice :)
Wow, your knowledge of Icelandic is pretty good. I know it's a video from 2008 so you've probably gotten a whole lot better but anyways, good job. And second, vasi can also be a vase.
Thank you for these videos. I'm studying Icelandic. I linked to this video on smart.fm which I'm using to help me study Icelandic, hope you don't mind.
Thank you so much for this. I have been searching the internet and reading through pronunciation guides to hopefully one day reach my goal of being able to communicate in Icelandic. I signed up for the Icelandic courses at Haskoli Islands, but they don't cover the basics of letter pronunciation. Thank you again! I look forward to more videos from you.
@Mizenki17 I find it much easier having a background of Swedish. However I still have a problem pronouncing the "ð" in Davíð and Guðni. Can you make a video about that?
@Xexillia It's pronounced exactly like the "th" sound in "this" or "that." To make that sound, first try pronouncing "de" or "te" and notice where your tongue is. Now lightly bite the tip of your tongue (more like touch your teeth to your tongue, and you only really need your top front teeth for this consonant sound). If you vocalize now, you'll pronounce the "th" or "ð" sound.
So to pronounce Davíð, Da - vee - (bite your tongue!)th
I'm from Iceland and I think you are good at Icelandic... but some of your words are pronounced (I don't know if I said that right xD) wrong. Have you visited Iceland yet? you will love it! It's such a great place =) It's so cool seeing that someone from other country than Icelandm has such an interest in Icelandic =) If you ever need help you can always ask me =)
I have another question about this l / ll stuff. the L in [dl] sounds to me like a kind of unvoiced L, is that right? I'm not sure how exactly this is pronounced, sometimes it even sounds like [ldl] or so. Help! :D
Thank you so much for that video! How long have you been learning Icelandic? I speak some Swedish and Norwegian and half an hour ago I decided to give Icelandic a try as well! :D I shouldn't actually do this, I already mix Swedish and Norwegian all the time, but I'm a freak, I can't help it... :D Anyway, thanks for this lesson. Nice voice, by the way.
I'm not a full out Icelandic grammarian, but g and k palatize before front vowels, but not like Swedish. Though the consonants change slightly, it's nothing like the difference between Swedish k's in kärlek.
This language sounds so great, but it seems really hard to learn. In my opinion Finnish and Hungarian are hard too... By the way these languages are the most beautiful for me. So thanks for upload this useful video!
I believe so, but then again, its really based on different oppinons. Kinda like when people say oranges are the best and others will say eww, thats the nastiest thing ever!
No, I'd say Finnish is probably the hardest language. You have to learn all kinds of word declension based on like 15 grammatical cases that Finnish has. It's kind of stupid really, the cases are pretty much just replacing certain prepositions...but memorizing the declined version of the words would probably be difficult.
When judging the difficulty of a language i think its necessary to assess it in it context of other lang in the same family. Icelandic being a north germanic lang is truely more complex than other north gem lang. cuz it preservs old conjugat, but hard to compare with finnish for instance which is a finno-ugric lang. finnish really is just moderately hard compared to other lang of its group. for example, estonian is just as grammatically complex as finnish and so is the sami lang and hungarian.
Eh, more accurately OE was heavily influenced by Old Norse, mostly in the form of an extensive vocabulary borrowing. Icelandic is usually considered from ca. 1100, around the OE/ME division... But since Old Norse and Icelandic are pretty similar, I suppose you're not far off.
Well Old English (and essentially English) is a Germanic language, and had all the things modern Icelandic has. Just different vocabulary really. Old English even had the thorn character, eth, etc...Icelandic seems (at least to me) like a language frozen in time. It's really quite interesting; reminds me of some form of old english/middle english.
Yeah...English had the Wynn and the Eth too, but it doesn't seem like Icelandic has the wynn...very similar languages though, I'm considering taking up Icelandic, although there doesn't seem to be very many native Icelandic speakers online...I'm sure a quick google will point me in the right direction, however.
No language is 'harder' than any other. Depending on your L1, LEARNING it may be slightly harder than from other L1s, but that applies to any set of languages.
I speak Swedish myself and there are very many words that sound almost the same, and it's really possible to see how Swedish have developed, as Icelandic is the most norse-like language still around.
It is the same with double N as with double L. Double N is often pronounced as dn but also very often as nn.
Einn (one), seinn (late), brúnn (brown), fínn (fíne) are examples of words with double N pronounced as dn.
Hann (he), finna (find), kynna (present), hanna (design), kunna (to be able to), renna (slide), brenna (burn) are examples of words with double N pronounced as nn.
Contrary to dl pronounciation I think dn pronounciation is less common than nn pronounciation.
Very true - there's just a rule for the 'dn' pronunciation, that if 'nn' comes after an accented vowel, diphthong, or æ or ö, it is pronounced as 'dn'. I wanna cover that in a later video. Thank you though!
Interesting. However If 'nn' comes after ö it is pronounced as nn. Examples: hönnun, könnur, pönnur, fönn, sönn, hvönn, bönn. I can not remember any word with 'nn' pronounced as dn after ö.
"ll" (double L) is actually pronounced by pushing air through the sides of your mouth, I find it easier to pronounce when I press the tip of my tongue to my alveolar ridge touching the inner sides of my teeth to the sides of my tongue blocking the air with the sides of my tongue and then releasing it on the sides of my mouth, it is pronounce almost the same as "double L" in Welsh, though the welsh is "hl" instead of "tl". he pronounce it more like "ilch" which is incorrect.
can anyone tell me how to pronunce the "r" correctly? it doesnt sound like in spanish or in french. i just cant get how and where in the oral cavity icelandic speakers "roll" it...
Nú is a form of Núna. Such as when saying "Komdu nú", you'd want to say that in everyday speech instead of "Komdu núna" which is more of a command. It's the inviting form of "Come now". "Nú" as a question somehow came to be as a "why?", possibly from slang. Use "af hverju" or a variant if you're in trouble with that.
No the pronunciation of the double-L is correct, but what you are missing in (fn) is to blow air out of your nose at the end of the sound. Sort of a release of air rather than blowing.
Hahaha you shouldn't second get yourself , nú is now and núna also means now , that is why you are getting them mixed up. Nú in is used in the since , 'now' I told you what to do. Núna is used as a 'just now'. Núna stendur. Hví and að hver are why..... hope that helps. Með Kveðju... Not bad though... IPA is a pain in the arse too , you need a separate just to learn the phonetics.
thanks for this video, i've started learning icelandic from the University of Iceland's online class, and they don't explain how to pronounce anything, so this is really really helpful
hvis island, havde ligget tættere på skandinavien, ville islandsk da ha' været mere likt norsk dansk og svensk? jeg som er halv dansk og halv norsk, ser det usansynlig enkelt, at forstå de små ordene, inden de bliver oversat til engelsk, men udtalen er noe annet.
Cool video! But how do you make that 'L' sound? What do you do to your mouth to make it? It sounds like you say "Elk" but the 'k' isn't really an english 'kay' sound...but very similar. How do you do that?
Hm... well, I place my tongue behind my teeth, perpendicular to the roof of my mouth. It acts like a wall there, but air can escape around the sides of your tongue, producing that distinct sound.
Well, it's just a rolled r. If you can speak Spanish, just think of the rr in 'carro'.
If not, here is how the sound is made: place your tongue behind your upper teeth, where your teeth meet the gum. Then just... flap it rapidly. When I was first learning to roll an r (for Spanish), I actually learned to do it on the side of my mouth, in front of my molars.
You are right, final l's tend to have that sound. I didn't include that because 1) I wanted to stick to basics, and 2) if you pronounce a final 'l' as a regular 'l', you'll be understood.
Not that case of 'll' versus 'l', though. 'Bíll' means 'car'. But 'bíl' means 'car', in the accusative. =] Too many pronunciation rules boggle you, it's easier to stick to the basics and then go on from there.
I learned IPA by myself - Wikipedia was rather handy. :] The symbols I used in this video were partly my own and partly from an Icelandic book I own - I used the book's when possible, since I'm not native. :]
Haha thanks I'm only learning this cause I'm a sad bjork fan. U r facking hilarious!!
Izaak247 2 days ago
Just start with the goddamn alphabet
jdest77 3 days ago
Wasn't the thorn (þ) used in Old/Middle English?
KlimaticEgo 6 days ago
@KlimaticEgo It was used in Old English, but as far as I know it fell out of use(along with several other letters) during the shift to Middle English.
Anyway, thank you very much to Mizenki17 for putting together this awesome yet concise summary of Icelandic pronunciation. :)
Viiryen 5 days ago
This is really cool! :D
Norners13 6 days ago
L er meira borið fram sem "etl" frekar en "elk" eins og þú sagðir það :)
TheFemaleIcelander 1 month ago
Hopefully no one has asked this yet... How would you go about spelling and pronouncing the letter combo "ch" as it is in English (Russian "ч")? For example, my name is Chelsie. How would I write it in Icelandic and how would I pronounce it with an Icelandic accent?
wilderwein 3 months ago
@wilderwein I've actually looked it up and I can't find any indication that that exact sound is used in Icelandic. I looked at pronunciation guides for Icelandic that use IPA and cross-referenced them with English and couldn't find it. That being said, ts in vitsmunum ('wit' in english) is pretty damn close.
WestCanuckistan 2 months ago
@wilderwein I think it's kinda like Tjelsí :) then it's tj=ch
elfapallietta 1 month ago
@wilderwein that combo is never used in any icelandic word. there are i think two names that have that combo though, and in them it's pronounced like 'sh' in Shirley
TheFemaleIcelander 1 month ago
thanks a lot for this video lesson ;) Takk.
DemetraDraculea 3 months ago
nafn is like nabn....and then you breath out with your nose
hakondarri123 4 months ago
wow, that's some difficult pronunciation.
CorporalHicks8 4 months ago
gosh... how did you learn all that? I like this langauge so much... but no place to learn it actually...
morphena1 4 months ago
@Brjostabarn They are very closely related! Some say Icelandic is Old Norse except with different pronunciations and spellings.
thelaughingguitar 4 months ago
@ich8bit Yes, they are. If you now any of those languages it should be a breeze for you, but you'll have to learn the grammar which really isn't fun. An English speaker will have a little trouble with this. To compare your difficulty to another language, it's like a spanish speaker learning romanian.
thelaughingguitar 4 months ago
Isn't Icelandic related to Swedish, Norwegian, Dannish right? I'm a swedish boy (very intressed by language) and I see that many words is very related many swedish words
ich8bit 4 months ago
@ich8bit: well yea..all of you are north Germanic languages...Icelandic is the only language in the world that pretty much stayed original and hasn't really undergone any change...English is the only language in the world that has undergone many changes and so became its own language...if English would have stayed Anglo Saxon (Old English) it would have sounded like German/Dutch mixed with some Icelandic...
silenteyesspy 3 months ago
Comment removed
ich8bit 4 months ago
this very beautiful language reminds me of Finnish and English the "Y" is the same in Finnish
bittersweetgirlelle 4 months ago
aaah thanks a lot for the video, gonna check them all!! im just in love with icelandic music and i wish i could visit that place soon and maybe speak with someone there. again, thanks! ps: does anyone know any book or grammar for beginners?
sonolaceci 4 months ago
Thank you very much for this! I've been trying to find someone to speak it online for ages. I would say thank you in Icelandic, but I can never remember the spelling...
SerenityyAlec 4 months ago
@SerenityyAlec Takk :)
iamkaner 4 months ago
thank god i'm dutch thankfully weve got a sound more or less like "au" in icelandic though we write it "eu" yaay for dutch XD
oshie789 5 months ago
How close is Icelandic to Old Norse
Brjostabarn 5 months ago
Vikingr!
Brjostabarn 5 months ago
Many thanks to the creator of this video! * __ *
*обнимашкииии* ^_^
toyacaliko9 5 months ago
@xoxomo813 Китайский например...
toyacaliko9 5 months ago
hey, i love your videos! thank you. but i have a question (and i'm hoping you will get back to me soon on this). i am very confused on how to pronounce ð. is it a "th" sound or a "v" sound? it would help so much! this is my only problem when it comes to icelandic, the weird letters that aren't in english. it would be much appreciated!
kaitlynayates 5 months ago
Thank you!
jacquelien9 6 months ago
@xoxomo813 mmmm. Try finnish. Mandirin.
SamTalmadge 6 months ago
@mrbinni Takk! Hvar læra þú Íslensku? (PS a viola is a larger violin with one lower string :P)
MaskFaceDude 6 months ago
Why do you wrote the IPA symbols for devoiced voiced consonants (b̥, d̥)? Wouldn't that just mean that they are regular unvoiced consonants (p, t)?
inkandbamboo 7 months ago
Ég er frá Bandaríkjunum. Ég tala ekki Íslenska, en Ég vil að læra! Ég spila víola og gítar. Ég spila ekki goðan, en Ég lika spilum
could someone tell me if that makes any sense? I just started learning today from these videos :( no one I know knows Íslenska. thanks
MaskFaceDude 7 months ago
Comment removed
mrbinni 6 months ago
@MaskFaceDude should be like this Ég er frá Bandaríkjunum. Ég tala ekki Íslensku, en Ég vill læra! Ég spila (víola no idea what it is) og gítar. Ég er ekki góður,
mrbinni 6 months ago
@mariainterprete haha :D Maybe can I say this because I´m from Iceland and I live there xD haha :D
Bangsimoninn 7 months ago
I'm pretty sure "ast" (love) is pronounced "ost." O.O
Please reply
CrystalYoshi 7 months ago
@mariainterprete It´s not that hard ;D
Bangsimoninn 7 months ago
You are really good at this! xD
But I have a question, where do YOU learn this stuff?
Cuz you said you werent a native speaker.
Kivs01 8 months ago
Nú means 'now' (cf. Im Nu, auf deutsch, bedeutet "in the moment")
Hví means 'why' in Old Icelandic (notice the Germanic *hwī as instrumental of *hwaz (what, who, etc.), which set up the basis for German warum, Old English hwȳ, English why, etc.)
"Af hverju" means 'why' in Modern Icelandic.
wraith092 8 months ago 3
I forgot to add:
núna does mean now, but it has the sense of "currently". Totally synonymous to 'nú'.
wraith092 8 months ago
I got this strange infatuation on a tropical island (!) few years ago with some men coming from Iceland. Living in a nordic, mysterious way. They said only 300.000 people are living on the isle. In the city I live in that would be less than half of the population. So much beautiful space. Learning Icelandic is something that drew my attention..It sounded like they were singing when they spoke. I hope I can learn the basics from the Internet . Post more, please..Bless, bless..
Jofph 9 months ago
Mjög flott, Ég hef notað þetta myndband til að sýna fólki hvernig það á að segja íslenska bókstafi.
Hrósa þér fyrir LL hljóðið, vel flestir eiga mjög erfitt með þetta hljóð,
Walnut500 10 months ago
thanks man, you REALLY helped me :)
rixandrus 10 months ago
I can hear from your accent that you are not Icelandic, and you do way to much of an 'rrr' sound when you pronounce rós but it's a great tutorial anyways :)
IcelandicVloger 10 months ago
NAFN= NAME. Prounouce it the same as NOUN.(which means Lit Name in Latin)
psviking1 10 months ago
Thanx a lot for these videos! They're so usefull! :)
leshmi9 11 months ago
how the hell do you say the letter ð ?!
abbsoluutlara 11 months ago
@abbsoluutlara ð is pronounced the same way as the letter "th" in english.
wiiern 10 months ago 3
You spelled lysti wrong ! i think i haven't been to Iceland for a year now dunno why i'm watching this but nice vid also nú- you actully say núna for now. I actully say nú for why but the right way in saying why is afhverju xD
iSilversaku 1 year ago
You spelled lysti wrong ! i think i haven't been to Iceland for a year now dunno why i'm watching this but nice vid o.O
iSilversaku 1 year ago
@iSilversaku lysti is wrong, listi is right,
Walnut500 10 months ago
thanks for this!! I will possibly have to move with my husband to Iceland sometime this year and this will give me a chance to practice!!
webefab 1 year ago
what's the difference betwwen icelandic,norwegian,swedish,faroese,german,dutch,afrikaans,scottish,and english?what is the same of these languages,and what's the difference
soccerruben1 1 year ago
@soccerruben1 ENG.under the little birch tree is a grasshopper in the long grass. DK.under den lille birk trae er en graeshoppe i det laenge graes. NK.under den lille bjo/rk er en gresshoppe i det lange gresse.SK. under den lilla bjorken ar en grasshoppa i det langa graset. IS. undir litla birki tre er graaahopper i the langur grasi. F.dans le cadre du bouleau peu une sauterelle dan l'herbe. Anyone who says that English is full of French, Latin and Greek, is a PRICK HEAD. (DK. PIK HOVED)
psviking1 10 months ago
@psviking1 Actualy in Icelandic it's : Undir litla briki trénu er grasshoppari í langa grasinu. You have propably used google translate, althought google translate is a great way to understand other languages you have to remember that words in Icelandic bend. Like; Hestur,hest,hesti ,hests - These words are all the words 'horse' in Icelandic just bended :))
IcelandicVloger 10 months ago
@IcelandicVloger actually...."grasshoppari" is not an Icelandic word. It's "engispretta".
LexaLeetz 10 months ago
@LexaLeetz I'm Icelandic, I use grasshoppari not engispretta.
IcelandicVloger 10 months ago
@IcelandicVloger þú ert kannski íslendingur en "grasshoppari" er ekki og mun aldrei verða að íslensku orði, þá sérstaklega þar sem gras hefur aldrei verið skrifað með tveimur s-um og þetta orð er ekki til í orðabók. Þó svo að þú sért íslensk/ur og notir vitlaus orð þá þýðir það ekki að útlendingar sem eru að læra tungumálið ættu að taka upp þessa röngu orðanotkun
LexaLeetz 10 months ago
when you say vasi it sounds like your saying vassi..with 2 S's.. when there's just one S it's supposed to "slide" through your teeth. like when imitating a snake when they do the Ssssssssssssss sound ... just a little advice :)
ElinWilbergs 1 year ago
I found the "au" sound easy because of French. (-;
MusicalEutopia 1 year ago
maybe someone has said this, but nú can mean both why and now. If you say "nú er ég komin" it means "now I'm here"...
shb93 1 year ago
you forgot k=[Ch] which is the the sound like khe, like in the icelandic word keppa
rambololal 1 year ago
Hmm thats right i hear english and german words in that language.
MegaVinylshaker 1 year ago
Thanks, your videos are very helpful. Could you post more advanced vocab and maybe sentence structures? lol, please.
ruslanaukraine 1 year ago
I AM ICELANDIC
MusicDemonAndYaoi 1 year ago
The letter k is pronounced "ká" not "ka"
sindrimaringason 1 year ago
Wow, your knowledge of Icelandic is pretty good. I know it's a video from 2008 so you've probably gotten a whole lot better but anyways, good job. And second, vasi can also be a vase.
baphometasa 1 year ago
Is Icelandic your native language? or you just learned it.
1saac19 1 year ago
this is very helpful :3
thanks!
zackisverybored 1 year ago
Thank you for these videos. I'm studying Icelandic. I linked to this video on smart.fm which I'm using to help me study Icelandic, hope you don't mind.
MagicRedWolf 1 year ago
Letter R sounds different at the beginning of a word and at the end of a word, could you teach the difference, please?
Also, I and Y sound similar.
ijansk 1 year ago
Thank you so much for this. I have been searching the internet and reading through pronunciation guides to hopefully one day reach my goal of being able to communicate in Icelandic. I signed up for the Icelandic courses at Haskoli Islands, but they don't cover the basics of letter pronunciation. Thank you again! I look forward to more videos from you.
kami33kaze08 1 year ago
thanks for these videos im studying icelandic now very helpful!!
cdm0014 1 year ago
Thank you, man!!
MartaHetfield 1 year ago
Icelandic is related to English and German but because of isolation, it (like Bjork herself) sounds weird and difficult to most people.
I think Icelandic is a beautiful language and probably it's easier to learn if you've already learned Old English.
Anyway nice video! Although I hate IPA. It's so incredibly confusing.
dasmysteryman12 1 year ago 4
@dasmysteryman12 Indeed - though Icelandic is distantly related to English - something like maybe a 2nd or 3rd cousin.
And confusing? It is a lot of symbols, and a lot to learn, but once you get it down it's wonderfully useful.
Mizenki17 1 year ago
@Mizenki17 I find it much easier having a background of Swedish. However I still have a problem pronouncing the "ð" in Davíð and Guðni. Can you make a video about that?
Xexillia 1 year ago
@Xexillia It's pronounced exactly like the "th" sound in "this" or "that." To make that sound, first try pronouncing "de" or "te" and notice where your tongue is. Now lightly bite the tip of your tongue (more like touch your teeth to your tongue, and you only really need your top front teeth for this consonant sound). If you vocalize now, you'll pronounce the "th" or "ð" sound.
So to pronounce Davíð, Da - vee - (bite your tongue!)th
Good luck!
SeaWasp 1 year ago
@Xexillia Oh yeah, and air needs to be able to pass between your tongue and the roof of your mouth all the way to your teeth. So keep it clear!
SeaWasp 1 year ago
I'm from Iceland and I think you are good at Icelandic... but some of your words are pronounced (I don't know if I said that right xD) wrong. Have you visited Iceland yet? you will love it! It's such a great place =) It's so cool seeing that someone from other country than Icelandm has such an interest in Icelandic =) If you ever need help you can always ask me =)
liknet9 1 year ago
The "au" pronunciation is pretty much what in Dutch is written "ui".
NotOnlySelfLover 1 year ago
thanks from mexico
dafterable 1 year ago
That was a wonderful video, thank you so very much ^-^
aclockworkorange11 1 year ago
this sounds a little like the german language, but this is really cool!
girlovecupcake 1 year ago
Takk fyrir! ♪
nicolyrandomluv 1 year ago
Thank you very much !!!
robrockrob 1 year ago
Hey little poiner your saying K wrong we say Ká and say the á a bit strongly but your saying ka which is wrong
MultiExploradora 1 year ago
Hey just a little pointer but your kinda saying K wrong we kinda say it like Ká and say the á kinda strongly
MultiExploradora 1 year ago
Takk fyrir - this video is very helpful :) Much appreciated!
42LightYears 1 year ago
awesome, i go for this :D
lubberkin 1 year ago
this is great! i've been trying to learn icelandic on my own, but its so hard!
I see you have never been to Iceland. I suggest you visit! I have been and its amazing! The cost of the flight for me was only $400!! Round Trip!
alyssaOH7 1 year ago
I have another question about this l / ll stuff. the L in [dl] sounds to me like a kind of unvoiced L, is that right? I'm not sure how exactly this is pronounced, sometimes it even sounds like [ldl] or so. Help! :D
Snailrace 1 year ago
@Snailrace try flicking your tongue from the side... and then improvise from there :P
kchs 1 year ago
OMG you are so helpful. thank you!!! <333
Sweetwonderboy 1 year ago
Thank you so much for that video! How long have you been learning Icelandic? I speak some Swedish and Norwegian and half an hour ago I decided to give Icelandic a try as well! :D I shouldn't actually do this, I already mix Swedish and Norwegian all the time, but I'm a freak, I can't help it... :D Anyway, thanks for this lesson. Nice voice, by the way.
Snailrace 1 year ago
Does Icelandic have the same property as Swedish of palatalizing k, g and sk before i, e, y, ä and ö?
Arissef 2 years ago
I'm not a full out Icelandic grammarian, but g and k palatize before front vowels, but not like Swedish. Though the consonants change slightly, it's nothing like the difference between Swedish k's in kärlek.
Mizenki17 2 years ago
ekki slæmt hjá þér :)
danniingi 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
You Suck at Saying The Words
CrazyIcelander8321 2 years ago
thanks!
FjallaEyvindur 2 years ago
This reminds me of old english/german letters. Thanks for your help!
ravyn129 2 years ago
Taska and Tasche :)
Au be like sazing somthing like
üi? or like russian ы?
RepublicofSocialismZ 2 years ago
This language sounds so great, but it seems really hard to learn. In my opinion Finnish and Hungarian are hard too... By the way these languages are the most beautiful for me. So thanks for upload this useful video!
AnitaValo666 2 years ago 10
I believe so, but then again, its really based on different oppinons. Kinda like when people say oranges are the best and others will say eww, thats the nastiest thing ever!
DARkMAG360 2 years ago
No, I'd say Finnish is probably the hardest language. You have to learn all kinds of word declension based on like 15 grammatical cases that Finnish has. It's kind of stupid really, the cases are pretty much just replacing certain prepositions...but memorizing the declined version of the words would probably be difficult.
123IOWNALL321 2 years ago
When judging the difficulty of a language i think its necessary to assess it in it context of other lang in the same family. Icelandic being a north germanic lang is truely more complex than other north gem lang. cuz it preservs old conjugat, but hard to compare with finnish for instance which is a finno-ugric lang. finnish really is just moderately hard compared to other lang of its group. for example, estonian is just as grammatically complex as finnish and so is the sami lang and hungarian.
hxasmirl 2 years ago
This language is basically what old english/middle english was. It was just preserved since Iceland is literally isolated in the middle of the ocean.
123IOWNALL321 2 years ago
Eh, more accurately OE was heavily influenced by Old Norse, mostly in the form of an extensive vocabulary borrowing. Icelandic is usually considered from ca. 1100, around the OE/ME division... But since Old Norse and Icelandic are pretty similar, I suppose you're not far off.
theomenoo 2 years ago
Well Old English (and essentially English) is a Germanic language, and had all the things modern Icelandic has. Just different vocabulary really. Old English even had the thorn character, eth, etc...Icelandic seems (at least to me) like a language frozen in time. It's really quite interesting; reminds me of some form of old english/middle english.
123IOWNALL321 2 years ago
Well, imagine Dutch and modern English.
Similar inflections, word treatment, etc, etc, but still some major differences.
"Just different vocabulary really"..
I much rather find it to be rather similar vocabulary, but a different language. Inflection system seems remarkably similar as well.
Also, the 'Þ' (thorn, þorn) letter I heard actually originated with the Anglo-Saxons.
pahico 2 years ago
Yeah...English had the Wynn and the Eth too, but it doesn't seem like Icelandic has the wynn...very similar languages though, I'm considering taking up Icelandic, although there doesn't seem to be very many native Icelandic speakers online...I'm sure a quick google will point me in the right direction, however.
123IOWNALL321 2 years ago
No language is 'harder' than any other. Depending on your L1, LEARNING it may be slightly harder than from other L1s, but that applies to any set of languages.
theomenoo 2 years ago
Wow Icelandic is a really interesting language!
I speak Swedish myself and there are very many words that sound almost the same, and it's really possible to see how Swedish have developed, as Icelandic is the most norse-like language still around.
VonCarlsson 2 years ago
ohhhhh, so the eu sound is like 'feuille' in french? that's totally not how I was saying it... thanks so much!! this video is genius .
crayoncassette 2 years ago
thank you so much! this is very helpful :)
LeahSaysHello 2 years ago
This is fun, thank you so much! :D
28Einsamkeit28 2 years ago
I love Iceland and the people...
But I can't say the same about their language LOL
tsjoencinema 2 years ago
Goodness, I noticed so many words sound very similar to the German words..
americanstylefreak 2 years ago 2
It is the same with double N as with double L. Double N is often pronounced as dn but also very often as nn.
Einn (one), seinn (late), brúnn (brown), fínn (fíne) are examples of words with double N pronounced as dn.
Hann (he), finna (find), kynna (present), hanna (design), kunna (to be able to), renna (slide), brenna (burn) are examples of words with double N pronounced as nn.
Contrary to dl pronounciation I think dn pronounciation is less common than nn pronounciation.
ahardar 2 years ago
Very true - there's just a rule for the 'dn' pronunciation, that if 'nn' comes after an accented vowel, diphthong, or æ or ö, it is pronounced as 'dn'. I wanna cover that in a later video. Thank you though!
Mizenki17 2 years ago
Interesting. However If 'nn' comes after ö it is pronounced as nn. Examples: hönnun, könnur, pönnur, fönn, sönn, hvönn, bönn. I can not remember any word with 'nn' pronounced as dn after ö.
ahardar 2 years ago
@Mizenki17 when I say the "NN" sound, it sort of comes out of my nose.
kchs 1 year ago
Not hard at all to pronounce to me at least. The double l sound seems interesting, anyone know where I can learn more about it?
hxasmirl 2 years ago
Double L is most often pronounced like dl but not always.
Halla (a woman's name) is pronounced "Hadla".
Ella (another woman´s name) is pronounced "Ella".
ahardar 2 years ago
cool stuff!
justhavefun94 2 years ago
Icelandic is a cool language!
thatlazyslacker 2 years ago 16
"ll" (double L) is actually pronounced by pushing air through the sides of your mouth, I find it easier to pronounce when I press the tip of my tongue to my alveolar ridge touching the inner sides of my teeth to the sides of my tongue blocking the air with the sides of my tongue and then releasing it on the sides of my mouth, it is pronounce almost the same as "double L" in Welsh, though the welsh is "hl" instead of "tl". he pronounce it more like "ilch" which is incorrect.
elvisheepofdoom 2 years ago
Go find Icelanders to help you?? :-)
Can someone explain more about 'll' and 'fn' pronunciations? It sounds SO weird.
And difference between y, ý, i, and í ?
KenjoLuma 2 years ago
Thank you so much!
todayiamglad 2 years ago
can anyone tell me how to pronunce the "r" correctly? it doesnt sound like in spanish or in french. i just cant get how and where in the oral cavity icelandic speakers "roll" it...
chuuubi 2 years ago
Nú is a form of Núna. Such as when saying "Komdu nú", you'd want to say that in everyday speech instead of "Komdu núna" which is more of a command. It's the inviting form of "Come now". "Nú" as a question somehow came to be as a "why?", possibly from slang. Use "af hverju" or a variant if you're in trouble with that.
Hope that helps.
GratulorIncognito 3 years ago
And also, when we use "nú?" we usually follow up with "af hverju". Example:
Guy 1: Þú getur ekki gert þetta.
Guy 2: Nú? Af hverju ekki?
GratulorIncognito 3 years ago
I appreciate the help!
dantemustkill 2 years ago
thanks!
dantemustkill 2 years ago
Why is "af hverju" but you can aslo say "nú" ...
And now is "nú" or "núna"
eplabaka 3 years ago
I want to learn Icelandic because I actually want to immigrate there someday, or at the very least, host an Icelandic exchange student.
Iceland is such a beautiful place. I love it.
swimlonely 3 years ago 15
How to pronounce :
" Roar Kvam " ?
adorf9999 3 years ago
Your pronunciation of the double-L sounds wrong to me, thou the IPA is written right.
Achird1 3 years ago
No the pronunciation of the double-L is correct, but what you are missing in (fn) is to blow air out of your nose at the end of the sound. Sort of a release of air rather than blowing.
johanneshaukur 3 years ago
Hahaha you shouldn't second get yourself , nú is now and núna also means now , that is why you are getting them mixed up. Nú in is used in the since , 'now' I told you what to do. Núna is used as a 'just now'. Núna stendur. Hví and að hver are why..... hope that helps. Með Kveðju... Not bad though... IPA is a pain in the arse too , you need a separate just to learn the phonetics.
Stridhhrafn 3 years ago
thanks for this video, i've started learning icelandic from the University of Iceland's online class, and they don't explain how to pronounce anything, so this is really really helpful
MountGoth 3 years ago
hvis island, havde ligget tættere på skandinavien, ville islandsk da ha' været mere likt norsk dansk og svensk? jeg som er halv dansk og halv norsk, ser det usansynlig enkelt, at forstå de små ordene, inden de bliver oversat til engelsk, men udtalen er noe annet.
Hirse1982 3 years ago
Actually "nú" DOES mean "now" just the same as "núna".
It's not a word you would really describe as meaning "why".
Since you can't use it when saying, for example "why is the sky blue" or whatever.
It can be used as a kind of "oh?" and just saying "nú" is probably just shortened from "nú, af hverju?" which is sort of like "oh? why?".
also, can have a meaning similar to "well" as in.. "well, because.." which would become "nú, af því að.."
Hope that made some kind of sense. :0
Aggisu 3 years ago
exactly !!
ketillflatnefur 3 years ago
Knowing IPA doesn't make you a geek xD
Then I'd also be a geek since I'm studying this in school... or at least part of it!
Your Icelandic is also very good which makes me wonder how long you've been learning it? ^^
hrafnaklukka 3 years ago
Erm... well, on and off for a year or two, I guess. Never had a teacher or anything formal. D=
Mizenki17 3 years ago
@Mizenki17 but you've been to Iceland? or did you just learn ot on your own cause it's really good :O
KeaneKiller18 1 year ago
@KeaneKiller18 Never been, learned it on my own. =] Thank you!
Mizenki17 1 year ago
Letter, IPA, use in a word, and spoken examples... This is everything anyone could ever need. 5 stars!
crouchtig 3 years ago
your very edumacated! this is cool
jad3d18 3 years ago
I guess that you aren´t icelandic:)
Because some words are very strange when you say it
saltpillur 3 years ago
Ég er frá Bandaríkjunum... =]
Mizenki17 3 years ago
Ok, þetta er samt voða flott hjá þér :)
Heyrði þetta í nokkrum orðum þar sem u er og svona (:
saltpillur 3 years ago
Your not fat or a geek, just a normal guy
Stelpa230894 3 years ago
Cool video! But how do you make that 'L' sound? What do you do to your mouth to make it? It sounds like you say "Elk" but the 'k' isn't really an english 'kay' sound...but very similar. How do you do that?
ClassicsHouse 3 years ago
Hm... well, I place my tongue behind my teeth, perpendicular to the roof of my mouth. It acts like a wall there, but air can escape around the sides of your tongue, producing that distinct sound.
Mizenki17 3 years ago
Is there any hints to say the letter r? It's way too difficult!
hkspiceboy 3 years ago
Well, it's just a rolled r. If you can speak Spanish, just think of the rr in 'carro'.
If not, here is how the sound is made: place your tongue behind your upper teeth, where your teeth meet the gum. Then just... flap it rapidly. When I was first learning to roll an r (for Spanish), I actually learned to do it on the side of my mouth, in front of my molars.
Mizenki17 3 years ago
Oh man I can already see what my problem will be. I won't be speaking Icelandic with an English accent but with a German one.
Curse you 6 years of German classes!
Thank you so much for making these videos, they're exactly what I've been looking for :D!
Geekaful 3 years ago
Ah ok, fair enough, I just wasn't sure if I learnt it wrong, but you taught me a good tip, single -l's at the end of the word have that sound.
Thanks again!
Murphyalex 3 years ago
But with "L", there it sounded right but what about:
Gangi þér vel, or sæl ... those have the strange sound, like half of the double-l
Right?
Murphyalex 3 years ago
You are right, final l's tend to have that sound. I didn't include that because 1) I wanted to stick to basics, and 2) if you pronounce a final 'l' as a regular 'l', you'll be understood.
Not that case of 'll' versus 'l', though. 'Bíll' means 'car'. But 'bíl' means 'car', in the accusative. =] Too many pronunciation rules boggle you, it's easier to stick to the basics and then go on from there.
Mizenki17 3 years ago
wow now i can some icelandic! always wanted to know some words! Du you know how to speak Faroese? Want to learn that to. :)
Nytemer 3 years ago
I don't know any Faroese, no. I think it's a beautiful language though, and I'd love to learn it.
Mizenki17 3 years ago
Yeah, me too. I visited the Faroe Islands this summer. :)
Nytemer 3 years ago
Did you learn the IPA in a linguistics class or on your own? That would be really cool to know.
rosesandmisery 3 years ago
I learned IPA by myself - Wikipedia was rather handy. :] The symbols I used in this video were partly my own and partly from an Icelandic book I own - I used the book's when possible, since I'm not native. :]
Mizenki17 3 years ago
Lol thanx, this really helps. And the hint of humour u added was funny too :)
42LightYears 3 years ago
Thanks. I'll definately look at Wikipedia then!
rosesandmisery 3 years ago
Oh God I should forget about visiting Iceland because I'm never going to be able to figure this out!
musime 3 years ago