Wikijunior:Languages/Icelandic

From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
Jump to navigation Jump to search

What writing system(s) does Icelandic use?[edit | edit source]

Where the Latin Alphabet is used today

Icelandic uses what is today called the Latin Alphabet. This alphabet is thought by many historians to have been a modified version of the ancient Greek alphabet, which in turn is also a variation of ancient Phoenician writing. Icelandic also uses some letters that are not very common in other languages, like ð (eth) and æ (ash).

Icelandic is descended from Old Norse.

How many people speak Icelandic?[edit | edit source]

All inhabitants of Iceland (about 300,000) speak Icelandic.

Where is this language spoken?[edit | edit source]

In Iceland, some parts of Canada and also some people from Denmark, Sweden, Norway speak the language.

What is the history of this language?[edit | edit source]

It descends from Old Norse.

Some famous people who spoke this language[edit | edit source]

Björk comes from Iceland.

What are some basic words in this language that I can learn?[edit | edit source]

  • Halló, hæ- Hello, hi
  • Bless, bæ- Goodbye, bye
  • Fögur er hlíðin- The hill is beautiful, an excerpt from Njála.
  • Og - And
  • Ég - I
  • Hvað heitir þú? - What is your name?
  • Ég heiti Páll. - My name is Paul.
  • Hvaðan kemurðu? - Where do you come from?
  • Ég kem frá Bretlandi. - I come from Britain.
  • Takk (fyrir).- Thank you

References[edit | edit source]