The Icelandic Language

Icelandic is a Germanic language and is closely related to Norwegian and Faroese. Icelandic is more distantly related to German, Dutch, and English, with many cognate words - words which are derived from a common root and have similar meanings.

Most Icelandic speakers—about 330,000—live in Iceland. More than 8,000 Icelandic speakers live in Denmark. The language is also spoken by about 5,000 people in the United States and by more than 1,400 people in Canada, and a handful sprinkled in other countries. English is taught in Icelandic schools from a young age. 

Pronounciation

The Icelandic alphabet has kept two old letters which no longer exist in the English alphabet: Þ, þ (þorn, modern English "thorn") and Ð, ð (eð, anglicised as "eth" or "edh"), representing the voiceless and voiced "th" sounds (as in English "thin" and "this"), respectively. Below is a guide to pronunciation.

Pronounciation Guide

A - “a” in father
E - “e” in bed
I - “i” in little
Y - “e” in piano
U - "ü" in German für or "u" in French tu
Æ - eye
ö - "ö" in German höher or "eu" in French neuf
Ð - “th” in weather (voiced th)
Þ - “th” in this (unvoiced th)

Words & Greetings

Já (y-ow) - Yes
Nei (ney) - No
Takk (tah-k) - Thank you
Takk fyrir - Thank you very much
þú ert velkominn/Gerðu svo vel - You’re welcome
Vinsamlegast/Takk - Please
Fyrirgefðu (fih-<r>-ih-<r>-gef-thu) - Excuse me
Hæ/ Halló (Hi/ Hah-low) - Hello
Góðan daginn (go-thah-n die-in) - Good morning
Bless - Goodbye
Gaman að kynnast þér - Nice to meet you
Ég heiti (ye-gh hey-tee) - My name is
Hvað heitir þú? - What is your name?
Vernig hefur þú það? - How are you?
Góður/Góð (male/fem) - Good
Vondur/Vond (male/fem) - Bad
Hvor er …? (Kva-<r> e<r> - Where is …?
Klósett (k-low-seht) - Bathroom
Strætisvagn - Bus
Umferðarmiðstöð - Bus station
Flugvöllur - Airport
Brottför - Departure
Koma - Arrival
Hótel - Hotel
Herbergi - Room
Bókun - Booking/Reservation
Miða - Ticket
Hvað kostar þetta (kve<r>-su mih-kith coh-stah-<r> theh-tah) - How much does this cost?
Takið þið við krítarkortum? - Do you accept cards?
vitunn (kv-ih-tuhn) - Receipt
Opið - Open
Lokað - Closed

Numbers

1 - Einn
2 - Tveir
3 - Þrír
4 - Fjórir
5 - Fimm
6 - Sex
7 - Sjö
8 - Atta
9 - Níu
10 - Tíu
0 - Núll