Icelandic orthography uses a Latin-script alphabet which has 32 letters. Compared with the 26 letters of the English alphabet, the Icelandic alphabet lacks C, Q, W, and Z, but additionally has Ð, Þ, Æ, and Ö. Six letters have forms with acute accents to produce Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú and Ý.
The letters eth (, capital ), transliterated as , and thorn (, capital ), transliterated as , are widely used in the Icelandic language. Eth is also used in Faroese and Elfdalian, while thorn was used in many historical languages such as Old English. The letters (capital ) and (capital ) are considered completely separate letters in Icelandic and are collated as such, even though they originated as a ligature and a diacritical version respectively.
Icelandic words never start with , which means its capital occurs only when words are spelled in all capitals. The alphabet is as follows:
Majuscule forms (also called uppercase or capital letters) A Á B D Ð E É F G H I Í J K L M N O Ó P R S T U Ú V X Y Ý Z Þ Æ Ö Minuscule forms (also called lowercase or small letters) a á b d ð e é f g h i í j k l m n o ó p r s t u ú v x y ý z þ æ ö
The above table has 33 letters, including the letter Z which is obsolete but may be found in older texts, e.g. verzlun became verslun.
+Names of lettersLetterNameIPAFrequencyAa 10.11%Áá 1.8%Bb 1.04%Dd 1.58%Ðð 4.39%Ee 6.42%Éé 0.65%Ff 3.01%Gg 4.24%Hh 1.87%Ii 7.58%Íí 1.57%Jj 1.14%Kk 3.31%Ll 4.53%Mm 4.04%Nn 7.71%Oo 2.17%Óó 0.99%Pp 0.79%Rr 8.58%Ss 5.63%Tt 4.95%Uu 4.56%Úú 0.61%Vv 2.44%Xx 0.05%Yy 0.9%Ýý 0.23%Zz 0.01%Þþ 1.45%Ææ 0.87%Öö 0.78%
The names of the letters are grammatically neuter (except the now obsolete which is grammatically feminine).
The letters , , , , , , , , , , , , and are considered vowels, and the remainder are consonants.
(, ), (, ) and (, ) are only used in Icelandic in words of foreign origin and some proper names that are also of foreign origin. Otherwise, , , and are replaced by , , and respectively. (In fact, etymologically corresponds to Latin and English in words inherited from Proto-Indo-European: Icelandic , Latin , English what.)
(, ) was used until 1973, when it was retired, as it was only present for etymological reasons. It originally represented an affricate , which arose from the combinations +, +, +; however, in modern Icelandic, it came to be pronounced , and since it was a letter that was kind of redundant, it was decided in 1973 to replace all native instances of with . However, one of the most important newspapers in Iceland, Morgunblaðið, still uses it sometimes (although very rarely), a hot-dog chain, , and a secondary school, Verzlunarskóli Íslands have it in their names. It is also found in some proper names (e.g. , , ), and loanwords such as (also written ). Older people who were educated before the abolition of the sometimes also use it. Prior to the 1973 reform, the letter in Icelandic was restricted to the middle or end of word stems to represent specific historical consonant collapses. Consequently, native Icelandic vocabulary never began with the letter , with initial usage limited to foreign loanwords or names.
While , , , and are found on the Icelandic keyboard, they are rarely used in Icelandic; they are used in some proper names of Icelanders, mainly family names (family names are the exception in Iceland). is used on road signs (to indicate city centre) according to European regulation, and cm is used for the centimetre according to the international SI system (while it may be written out as sentimetri). Many believe these letters should be included in the alphabet, as its purpose is a tool to collate (sort into the correct order), and practically that is done, i.e. computers treat the alphabet as a superset of the English alphabet. The alphabet as taught in schools up to about 1980 has these 36 letters (and computers still order this way): Aa, Áá, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ðð, Ee, Éé, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Íí, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Óó, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Úú, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Ýý, Zz, Þþ, Ææ, Öö.
History The modern Icelandic alphabet developed from a standard established in the 19th century (primarily by Danish linguist Rasmus Rask). It is ultimately based heavily on an orthographic standard created in the early 12th century by a document referred to as The First Grammatical Treatise, author unknown. The standard was intended for the common North Germanic language Old Norse. It did not have much influence, however, at the time.
The most defining characteristics of the alphabet were established in the old treatise:
Use of the acute accent (originally to signify vowel length). Use of , also used in the Old English alphabet as the letter thorn.
The later Rasmus Rask standard was a re-enactment of the old treatise, with some changes to fit concurrent North Germanic conventions, such as the exclusive use of rather than . Various old features, like , had not seen much use in the later centuries, so Rask's standard constituted a major change in practice.
Later 20th-century changes are most notably the adoption of , which had previously been written as (reflecting the modern pronunciation), and the replacement of with in 1973.
Spelling-to-sound correspondence This section lists Icelandic letters and letter combinations and their phonemic representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Vowels 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 before another vowel or at the end of the word (i.e., CVCV or CVC# syllable structure), the vowel is long; if there are more than one (CVCCV), counting geminates and pre-aspirated stops as CC, the vowel is short. There are, however, some exceptions to this rule:
A vowel is long when the first consonant following it is and the second , e.g. , , , , . A vowel is usually kept long in one syllable morphemes or words ending in ; notably in: Compounds, e.g. . Though the morpheme boundary may be blurred and words such as and its derivatives have both variants. The usage is also indecise for the non-compound verbs and . Word + preposition sequences, e.g. . Genitives, e.g. . Alternatively influenced by the s, e.g. , , (alongside , , ).
+ Vowels Grapheme Sound (IPA) Examples Long Short Before Before or a "handbag" "to take" "hungry" á "lock" au "they" e "a way" "egg" "Hengifoss" é "I" ei, ey "spoon" "island" i, y "sinew" "to sing" í, ý "goddess" o "to promise" "windstill" ó "rose" "daughter" u "dog" "moon" ú "you" æ "to lock" "heel" ö "scar" given name "song, singing"
Consonants + Consonants Grapheme Phonetic realization (IPA) Examplesb between and : "combed " in most cases: unaspirated voiceless bilabial stop "a town"d between or and : "a land's " in most cases: unaspirated voiceless dental stop "a valley" ð between vowels, between a vowel and a voiced consonant, word finally: voiced alveolar approximant "or" before an aspirated consonant and before a pause: voiceless alveolar non-sibilant fricative "a worm" "a bath" between and , and between and : "to harden" or "a trick's , a flavour's " f word initially or before an aspirated consonant, when doubled and before a pause: "a father" "some air, a sky" "a coffee" between vowels, between a vowel and a voiced consonant, or word finally: "to promise" "a wolf" before or : "Keflavík" between and : "to test" fnd "a revenge" fnt (voiceless) "named" g word initially: before a consonant, or ; between a vowel and or ; after a consonant: unaspirated voiceless velar stop "to stare" "windstill" "a city" word initially, before or : unaspirated voiceless palatal stop "to be able, " between a vowel and ; or word finally after a vowel: voiced velar fricative "a fly" "a triumph" before or before a pause: voiceless velar fricative "a suit" "a layer" between a vowel and or : palatal approximant "to say" between and : "to fly" gj unaspirated voiceless palatal stop "to pay" h voiceless glottal fricative "a house" "to have" hj voiceless palatal fricative "Hjörsey" hl voiceless alveolar lateral approximant "warm" "musical instrument" hn voiceless alveolar nasal "a knee" hr voiceless alveolar trill "male name, Rudolph" hv "sharp" j "yes" k word initially, before a consonant, or : "a rabbit" word initially, before or : aspirated voiceless palatal stop "a cow" other contexts, before or : "a shoe" "a chin" other contexts, before or : unaspirated voiceless palatal stop "a cloud" before : "volcano" "a physician" before : voiceless velar fricative "October" kj word initially: aspirated voiceless palatal stop "meat" other contexts: unaspirated voiceless palatal stop "a small box" kk , "to thank" "drinking" "film title, Short raincoat"l next to an aspirated consonant, before a pause: voiceless alveolar lateral approximant "always" "sun" in most cases: "lock"ll at morpheme boundaries, in loanwords, pet names, slang and childish vocabulary: "seemingly intact" "bun, bread roll" "mill" in most cases: "cup" "between"m before aspirated consonants: "fifteen" in most cases: "mús"n after and before aspirated consonants, between a voiceless consonant and a pause: "plant" "knee" "name" in most cases: "name"ng before : "disc" "movement's " in most cases: , "wing" "meadow" nk , "coil, loop" "bank" nn after broad vowels (accent bearing and graphical diphthongs): "one's ." "fine ." between broad vowels and a pause: "one" "fine" elsewhere: "to find" p word initially: aspirated voiceless bilabial stop "pair" other contexts: unaspirated voiceless bilabial stop "to save" "coat" before and : voiceless labiodental fricative "September" before : "apple(s)" "weapon(s)" pp "to stop" r word initially and between vowels: (voiced alveolar trill or tap) "to rain" "to learn" before and after aspirated consonants and before a pause: (voiceless alveolar trill or tap) "black" rl , mostly "masculinity" before a consonant (forming a cluster that does not simplify) or at the end of words: , mostly "man" rn , mostly "thorns' (Þs') ." before a consonant (forming a cluster that does not simplify) or at the end of words: , mostly "the name of the letter Þ/þ" before : "protection" s "sauce" sl "to litter" "garbage" sn "pretty, rather" before a pause or a consonant (forming a cluster that does not simplify): "wonder, multitude" t word initially: aspirated voiceless dental stop "take" before : "Attila" "rhythm" "water" elsewhere: unaspirated voiceless dental stop "to steal" "stern" tt "to fall" v "to be" x "salmon" z "the best" (former orthography) "Zachary" þ voiceless alveolar non-sibilant fricative "you" "Athens"
+ Simplified table Graphemep bfvtdþðkgkjgjshjlrmnnkngxsometimes[f] (before ⟨k, s⟩) (between and ) (between ⟨ó⟩ and a vowel) (between ⟨l⟩ or ⟨n⟩ and ⟨l, n, k, g, s⟩) (between ⟨r⟩ and ⟨n⟩, and between ⟨g⟩ and ⟨s⟩) (between ⟨á, ó, ú⟩, and ⟨a, o, u⟩); [ɣ] (between a vowel and ⟨a, u, ð, r⟩); [j] (between a vowel and ⟨j⟩ or ⟨i⟩); [x] (before ⟨s⟩ or before a pause)[ŋ] (before ⟨l, d, s⟩)word initially, before a vowel[pʰ][p][f][v][tʰ][t][θ̠] -[kʰ], [cʰ] [k], [c][cʰ][c] [s][h] [j][l][r] [m][n] - -between vowels[p][v][t][θ̠][ð̠][k], [c][c][s] -[j][l][r] [m][n][ŋ̊k], [ɲ̊c][ŋk], [ɲc]doubled[hp] -[f] -[ht] - -[hk], [hc] - - -[tl][rː][mː][nː], [tn̥] -near aspirated consonants[p][f][v][t][θ̠][θ̠][k], [c][c] [s][j][l̥] [r̥][m̥][n̥]near voiced consonants[v][ð̠][l][r] [m][n]before ⟨l⟩ [hp] -[p] -[ht] - -[hk] - -[st] - -[(r)t] - -before ⟨n⟩before ⟨m⟩ - - -before ⟨t⟩[f] -[x][x]word finally[p][v][t][θ̠][ð̠], [θ̠][k][ɣ][c][s][j][l̥] [r], [r̥][m][n][ŋ̊k], [ɲ̊c][ŋk], [ɲc][ks]combined with h - -[kʰv] - - - - -[ç] [l̥][r̥] -[n̥] - -combined with nd, nt -[mt], [m̥t] -
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