Randburg.com -> Iceland -> General Information about Iceland

The Icelandic Language

Icelandic is the national language and is believed to have changed very little from the original tongue spoken by the Norse settlers, but English and Danish are widely spoken. Icelandic has two letters of its own. Ţ/ţ and -/đ. Ţ is pronounced as th in "thing" and - is pronounced as th in "them".

Very few Icelanders have original surnames, so it can often be difficult to decipher out the telephone directory, which lists people by their first names. This is why Icelanders call each other by their first names - not because they all know one another - though, nevertheless, this often seems to be the case! Most people have a patronymic rather than a family surname. For example, Hróarsson, means the son of Hróar, and Finnbogadóttir means the daughter of Finnbogi.

Good words to know before travelling to Iceland are:

Here are some useful phrases in Icelandic for those of you planning to visit or just wish to learn something new.

Please note that at these phrases are mostly for amusement and to give a little sample of Icelandic. On the gramar the the general rule is that one n means female and two male, sounds the same most of the time.

On the Icelandic letters like Ţţ, Đđ, Ćć, Ýý, Éé and Öö there are some short explenations by the first phrases that should help you along the way.

Mountains in the north of Iceland

General phrases in Icelandic, some thing to play by before your visit to Iceland

Good Day / Good Morning - Góðan dag (ó as in hotel and đ as in the)
Good Evening - Gott kvöld ( ö as in unbelivable)
Good Night - Góða nótt (again ó as in hotel)
Do you speak English? - Talarðu ensku? (đ as in the)
I only speak English Ég tala bara ensku (É like in Yeah)
Nice to meet you Gleður mig að kynnast þér (đ as in the and é yeah)
See you later! Sjáumst síðar! (á as in whe the cat says mjaww)
I don't know Ég veit ekki (É like in Yeah)
How are you? Hvernig gengur?
What is your name? Hvað heitir þú? (đ as in the the is ţ is the same but stronger on the th sound)
My name is ... Ég heiti ... (É like in Yeah)
Where are you from? Hvaðan ertu? (đ as in the)
I am from ... Ég er frá ... (É like in Yeah)
What time is it? Hvað er klukkan? (đ as in the)

For all kinds of emergency or general communication

I am lost - Ég er týnd(ur) (É like in Yeah - if you use the ur in the end you are asking as a male)
Where is the ...? - Hvar er ...?
Where is the hospital? - Hvar er sjúkrahús? (ú as in you)
Where can I exchange money? - Hvar get ég skipt peningum?
Where is a telephone? - Hvar er sími? ( í as in squeek)
Where is the bathroom? - Hvar er salernið?
Where is the general store? - Hvar er matvöruverslun?
Where is a clothing store? - Hvar er fataverslun?
I am allergic to fish - Ég hef ofnæmi fyrir fiski (æ as in I have to...)
I am looking for a place to eat - Ég er að leita að matsölustað (ö as in unbelivable and đ as in the)
What is this? - Hvað er þetta?
I would like ... Ég ætla að fá ...
I would like more - Ég myndi vilja meira
What do you recommend? - Með hverju mælir þú?
How much for that? - Hvað kostar þetta?
I like that - Mér líka ţetta (as in you like something special/definit)
I don't like that - Mér líkar þetta ekki (as in you don't like something special/definit)
I don't understand - Ég skil ekki
I need to send a fax - Ég þarf að senda fax
Do Icelanders "haggle"? - Prútta Íslendingar?
Where can I get American food? - Hvar get ég fengið bandarískan mat?
Can you take us to the airport? - Geturðu farið með okkur á flugvöllinn?
Can you take us to our hotel? - Geturðu keyrt okkur á hótelið okkar?
Where is a hotel? - Hvar er hótel?
Where are you staying? - Hvar gistir þú?
I would like a room please - Get ég leigt herbergi?
I need to buy a map - Ég þarf að kaupa kort

ˇ Agriculture ˇ Commerce & Services ˇ Culture & Arts ˇ Education ˇ Entertainment ˇ
ˇ Fisheries ˇ Health ˇ Industries ˇ News & Media ˇ Public Authorities ˇ
ˇ Recreation & Sports ˇ Shopping ˇ Shipping & Transport ˇ Tourism ˇ

ˇ Home ˇ Search ˇ About Randburg ˇ What's New ˇ Sign Up! ˇ