Icelandic orthography

Icelandic orthography is the way in which Icelandic words are spelt and how their spelling corresponds with their pronunciation.

Function of symbols

This section lists Icelandic letters and letter combinations, and how to pronounce them using a narrow International Phonetic Alphabet transcription.^[1][2]

Icelandic vowels may be either long or short, but this distinction is only relevant in stressed syllables: unstressed vowels are neutral in quantitative aspect. The vowel length is determined by the consonants that follow the vowel: if there is only one consonant (i.e. in a [VC] syllable), the vowel is long; if there are more than one ([VCC]), including geminates, the vowel is short. There are, however, some exceptions to this rule:

1. A vowel is long when the first consonant following it is [p t k s] and the second [v j r], vg. esja, vepja, akrar, vökvar, tvisvar.
2. A vowel is also long in monosyllabic substantives with a genitive -s whose stem ends in a single [p t k] following a vowel (vg. ráps, skaks), except if the final [p t k] is assimilated into the [s] (what sometimes happen, vg. báts).
3. The first word of a compound term preserves its long vowel if its following consonant is one of the group [p t k s], vg. matmál
4. The non-compound verbs vitkast and litka have long vowels.

The chart below is incomplete:

Grapheme	Phonetic realization	Examples
a	long: [äː] open central unrounded vowel short: [ɐ]	taska "handbag, suitcase"  listen (help·info) kaka "cake"  listen (help·info)
	before ng or nk [äu̯]	svangur "hungry"
á	[äu̯]	fár "damage"  listen (help·info)
au	[œy̯]	þau "they"  listen (help·info)
b	In most cases: [p⁼] unaspirated voiceless bilabial plosive	bær "town"  listen (help·info)
	Between m and d, t, s, or g: Ø	kembt [cʰɛm̥tʰ] "combed [past participle]"
d	In most cases: [t⁼] unaspirated voiceless alveolar plosive	dalur "valley"  listen (help·info)
	Between l or n and g, n, l, k, or s: Ø	lands [lans] "land [genitive case]"
ð	between vowels, between a vowel and a voiced consonant, or at end of word: [ð̠] voiced alveolar non-sibilant fricative	eða "or"  listen (help·info) bað "bath"  listen (help·info)
	before a voiceless consonant: [θ̠] voiceless alveolar non-sibilant fricative	maðkur "maggot"  listen (help·info)
	Between r and n, and between g and s: Ø	harðna [ˈhartna] "harden" bragðs [braxs] "trick [genitive case]"
e	long: [eɛ̯] short: [ɛ]	skera "to cut" drekka "to drink"  listen (help·info)
	before ng or nk [ɛi̯]	drengur "boy"
é	[jɛ]	ég [jɛːɣ] "I"  listen (help·info)
ei, ey	[ɛi̯]	skeið "spoon"  listen (help·info)
f	At the beginning of a word or before a voiceless consonant, and when doubled: [f]	fundur "meeting" haft [haftʰ] "had [past participle]"
	Between vowels, between a vowel and a voiced consonant, or at the end of a word: [v]	lofa "promise"  listen (help·info) horfa [ˈhɔrva] "look"
	between ó and a vowel: Ø	prófa [prou̯ɐ] "test"  listen (help·info) gulrófa [ˈkʏltˌrou̯.ɐ] "rutabaga"  listen (help·info)
	before l or n: [p⁼]	Keflavík  listen (help·info)
fnd	[mt]	hefnd [hɛmt]  listen (help·info)
fnt	[m̥t] (voiceless)	nefnt [nɛm̥t]  listen (help·info)
g	beginning of word, before a consonant or a, á, é, o, ó, u, ú and ö; or between vowel and l or n: [k⁼] unaspirated voiceless velar plosive	glápa "have a look"  listen (help·info) logn "calm (weather)"  listen (help·info)
	beginning of word, before e, i, í, j, y, ý, æ, ei or ey: [c⁼] unaspirated voiceless palatal plosive	geta "can"  listen (help·info)
	between a vowel and a, u, ð, l or r; or at end of word: [ɣ] voiced velar fricative	fluga "fly"  listen (help·info) lag "song"  listen (help·info)
	before t or s [x] voiceless velar fricative	dragt "suit"
	between a vowel and j or i [j] palatal approximant	segja "to say"
	between á, ó, ú, and a or u Ø	fljúga "to fly"
gj	[c⁼] unaspirated voiceless palatal plosive	gjalda "to pay"
hj	[ç] voiceless palatal fricative	hjá "next to, with"
hl	[l̥] voiceless alveolar lateral approximant	hlýr "warm"
hr	[r̥] voiceless alveolar trill	hratt "fast"
hv	[kʰv] ([xv] among some older speakers in southern Iceland)	hvað "what"  listen (help·info)
i, y	[ɪ]	sin "sinew"  listen (help·info)
í, ý	[i]	íslenska "Icelandic"  listen (help·info)
j	[j]	já "yes"
k	[kʰ]	kynskiptingur "transsexual"  listen (help·info)
	beginning of word, before e, i, í, y, ý, æ, ei or ey: [cʰ] aspirated voiceless palatal plosive	keyra "drive"
	before t [x] voiceless velar fricative	október "October"
kj	beginning of word: [cʰ] aspirated voiceless palatal plosive	kjöt "meat"
	all other contexts: [c⁼] unaspirated voiceless palatal plosive	þykja "to be regarded"
kk	[ʰk]	þakka "thank"  listen (help·info)
l	in most cases: [l]	lás "lock"  listen (help·info)
	at end of word, or next to a voiceless consonant: [l̥] voiceless alveolar lateral approximant	sól "sun"  listen (help·info), stúlka
ll	in most cases: [tl]	bolli "cup"  listen (help·info) milli "between"  listen (help·info)
	in loan words and pet names: [lː]	bolla  listen (help·info) mylla "mill"  listen (help·info)
m	in most cases: [m]	mamma "mum"
	after and before voiceless consonants [m̥]	lampi "lamp"
n	in most cases: [n]	nafn "name"
	after and before voiceless consonants [n̥]	planta "plant" hnifur "knife"
nn	after accented vowels or diphthongs: [tn̥]	steinn "rock" fínn "elegant"
	all other contexts [nː]	finna "to find"
o	long: [oɔ̯] short: [ɔ]	lofa "promise"  listen (help·info) dolla "pot"
ó	[ou̯]	rós "rose"  listen (help·info)
p	beginning of word: [pʰ] aspirated voiceless bilabial plosive	par "pair"  listen (help·info)
	after a voiceless sound: [p⁼] unaspirated voiceless bilabial plosive	spara "save"  listen (help·info)
	before s, k or t: [f] voiceless labiodental fricative	September "September" skips "ship's"
pp	[ʰp]	stoppa "stop"  listen (help·info)
r	at the beginning of words and between vowels: [r] (voiced alveolar trill)	rigna "to rain" læra "to learn"
	before and after voiceless consonants and before a pause [r̥] (voiceless alveolar trill)	svartur "black"
rl	[rtl̥]	karlmaður "man"
rn	[rtn̥]	þorn "the name of the letter þ"
s	[s]	sósa sauce
sl	[stl̥]	rusl
sn	[stn̥]	bysna
t	beginning of word: [tʰ] aspirated voiceless alveolar plosive	taka "take"  listen (help·info)
	after voiceless sound: [t⁼] unaspirated voiceless alveolar plosive	stela "steal"  listen (help·info)
tt	[ʰt]	detta "to fall"
u	[ʏ]	hundur "dog"  listen (help·info)
	before ng or nk [u]	munkur "monk"
ú	[u]	þú "you"  listen (help·info)
v	[v]	vera "to be"
x	[xs]	lax "salmon"
þ	[θ̠] voiceless alveolar non-sibilant fricative	þú "you" Aþena "Athens"  listen (help·info)
æ	[äi̯]	læsa "lock"  listen (help·info)
ö	[œ]	ör "scar"  listen (help·info)

See also

• N-rule

v t e Icelandic language Features Alphabet Braille Grammar Orthography N-rule Phonology Vocabulary Names Patronymic names Street names List of exonyms History and literature History Old Icelandic Literature Proverbs Sagas Poetic Edda Skaldic poetry Promotion and purism Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies Icelandic Language Day Icelandic Language Council Icelandic Language Fund Icelandic Language Institute Icelandic Naming Committee Linguistic purism Related topics Icelandic Sign Language

External links

• Guidelines for phonetic transcription

References