Flámæli

(; ), also known as and , was an Icelandic-language sound change which was widespread in the first half of the 20th century in Iceland, especially in the West and the South. The vowels and (written or and respectively) were lowered so that (, ) was pronounced (as if written ) and (, a kind of yogurt) as (like ), while the vowels and were raised such that (, ) sounded like (as if ) and (, ) as (as if ).

This sound change was thought to be very ugly and called (). It was prominent from 1940 in the speech of people from the Southwest and the Eastfjords, but also in the North and in Húnavatnssýsla. A special campaign was carried out during 1940–1960 in primary schools to eliminate . RÚV and enforced a policy that the so-called phonological error would not be allowed. In 1929, 42% of children in Reykjavík spoke with , but by 1960 it had been eradicated among children.

It has been suggested that Flámæli has, to a larger or lesser extent, been preserved among immigrant communities of Icelanders in North America.Birna Arnbjörnsdóttir. 1990. North American Icelandic: The Linguistic and Social Context of Vowel Mergers. Austin, TX: University of Texas at Austin (Dissertation)Ankirsky, Alexander. 2018. Investigating the potential for merger of Icelandic 'flámæli' vowel pairs through functional load. University of Georgia. (Thesis)

Flámæli

Bron en licentie