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Icelandic-English Pages [20]
Daily Icelandic A magazine for the language, culture, and n ews of Iceland. Issue t wo
Above: An a irplane/aeroplane (flugvél). Front: Iceland’s only train (járnbrautarlest). It’s not operational. Back: A ship (skip).
Innihald: Pronunciation, pg. 2 Grammar (Málfræði), p g. 3 – 6 Greetings, p g. 7 Dialogue & Exercises, p g. 8 News (Fréttir) and Misc., pg. 9 -‐ 13
Slang and Cognates, p g. 14 Tourist Phrases, pg. 15 Textbook Reviews, pg. 15 -‐ 16 Links to Additional Info, pg. 17 Credits and About Us, pg. 18
Pronunciation The letter, which makes the sound of..., when.... A Á (ow) Before ng and nk E Ei (ey in hey) Before ng, nk, gi, gj I and Y Í (ee) Before ng, nk, gi, gj O Ó (oh) Before ng and nk U Ú (oo) Before ng and nk Ö Au (oi) Before ng, nk, gi, gj G J (y) Before i Gi Ee (ee) O or u b efore gi G Silent Before j* A Æ (eye) Before gi and gj Tt Tt in shutter Always Dd Dd in bedding Always Gg K in kitchen Always Nn Tn in catnap After æ, au, ei, ey, á, é, í, ó , ú, ý Nn Nn in running After short vowels*** Ll Tl in settle Almost always**** Hv Kv Always P F in father Before t and k F V in vest In the middle and end of words F P in pet Before l and n * An exception is when there is no vowel b efore the gj combination. If indeed there is a consonant instead of a vowel then the g m akes the regular g sound. ** Two vowels directly n ext to each other will k eep their regular sound even if followed by a combination that would normally make both vowels individually change sound. *** Short vowels a re the vowels not listed in the row d irectly above this. **** This sound does not exist in English. It’s like “tl” in “settle” o r like a “tchl” sound. Place your tongue as if to make the t sound and push air out to the sides. Extra: Words ending in i (ih) sound like they end in í (ee). Starting from this issue there will be less pronunciation help.
Grammar: Að búa – To live, reside Here a re the conjugations for the verb að búa (to live, to reside), similar to the chart p reviously for að vera and að heita. st nd rd 1 Person 2 Person 3 Person Singular Ég bý Þú býrð Hann/Hún/Það býr I live You live He/She/It lives Plural Við búum Þið búið Þeir/Þær/Þau búa We live You guys live They(m/f/mix) live
Inside a convenience store. Cans, Tins – Dósir (doe-‐sihr) Plastic -‐ Plast Liquorice – Lakkrís (lack-‐reese) Chocolate – Súkkulaði (soo-‐kuh-‐lathy)
Pea, Bean, Lentil – Baun Lentil soup (of chickpeas) -‐ Baunir Corn – Maís Store – Verslun
Country names, “Where are you from?” Icelandic English Hvaðan ert þú? Where a re you from? (From where a re you?) Hvaðan kemur þú? Where do you come from? Hvaðan komið þið? (From where come you?) Ég er frá I am from Brasilíu Brazil Kanada Canada Kína China Danmörku Denmark Englandi England Finnlandi Finland Frakklandi France Þýskalandi Germany Íslandi Iceland Japan Japan Noregi Norway Rússlandi Russia Spáni Spain Svíþjóð Sweden Bandaríkjunum United States of America, The The letters í and á are prepositions (words expressing relation, ex. on the bus, after d inner, what d id you do it for?). We will only learn one of their uses at the moment, and that is the function of “in” in the p hrase, “I live in (country)”. You usually use í if the country starts with a consonant, á if it starts with a vowel. All the words in the above list are that way. One exception is with Greenland, where you say “á Grænnlandi”. When saying “I a m from…” you do not use í or á, just like in English. Country names a re capitalized. Examples: Þær eru frá Spáni – They a re from Spain. Hann er frá Finnlandi – H e is from Finland. Ég bý í Danmörku – I live in Denmark. Við búum á Íslandi – We live in Iceland.
Yes, no, not, and questions vs. sentences Ekki – Not Nei – No Já, Jú – Yes. Já is used with regular questions, such a s “Ert þú Jón? -‐ A re you Jón?”. Jú is used with “negative” questions, meaning questions with “not” in them. Remember that isn’t, haven’t, don’t, et cetera really mean: is not, have not, do not. You would use “jú” with those. An example of this is “Ert þú ekki Jón? – A re you not Jón, A ren’t you Jón?”. You would answer yes with “jú”. Sentence structure for sentences. Subject Verb Adverb Preposition Object/Predicate Þú Ert Frá Rússlandi. You Are From Russia. Þú Ert Ekki Frá Rússlandi. You Are Not From Russia. Sentence structure for questions. Verb Subject Adverb Preposition Object/Predicate Ert Þú Frá Rússlandi? Are You From Russia? Ert Þú Ekki Frá Rússlandi? Are You Not From Russia? Examples: Ert þú f rá Englandi? – Are you from England? Já, ég er f rá Englandi – Yes, I a m from England. Nei, ég er ekki frá Englandi – No, I a m not f rom England. Ert þú ekki frá Englandi? – A re you not (aren’t you) from England? Þú ert f rá Englandi, er það ekki? – You a re from England, isn’t that right (Literally: You are from England, is it not)? Jú, ég er f rá Englandi – Yes, I a m from England.
“-‐ing” and “a” Gerunds are words with –ing endings and something you can substitute with a noun, a s in “I a m a cat, I like cats – I am talking, I like t alking”. Gerunds are the “infinitive” form of the word with –ing added. The infinitive forms are to talk, to walk, to mail, as in “I like to talk”. Infinitives and gerunds in Icelandic are exactly the same. Infinitive forms are að (to) plus the v erb. Example: To talk, speak – Að tala I am talking – Ég er að tala Now, just now – Núna I am talking now – Ég er að tala núna I want to talk – Mig langar að tala I was talking just now – Ég var að tala núna To learn, study – Að læra I am learning – Ég er að læra I am learning Icelandic – Ég er að læra íslensku (language names a re not capitalized) I want to learn Icelandic – Mig langar að læra íslensku I am not learning Icelandic – Ég er ekki að læra íslensku Are you learning Icelandic? – Ert þú að læra íslensku? The “indefinite article” is the word “a” o r “an”, for example an apple, a dog. This is only implied in Icelandic, there is no real word for “a”. So in Icelandic you would just say dog, instead of a dog. Example: I am a student (Literally: I a m student) -‐ Ég er nemandi I am not a student – Ég er ekki n emandi I am a student now – Ég er n emandi núna I was a student – Ég var n emandi Are you a student? – Ert þú n emandi? This is an apple (Literally: this is apple) -‐ Þetta er epli Here is an apple – H ér er epli To eat – að borða I am eating an apple – Ég er að borða epli I want to eat an apple now – Mig langar að borða epli núna
Greetings and phrases: Nice to m eet you. -‐ Gleður m ig að kynnast þ ér, Gaman að kynnast þér. Likewise. -‐ Somuleiðis. Hi, what’s going on? -‐ Hæ, hvað er u m að v era? What's new? -‐ Hvað er að frétta? What's up? (Lit: What say you good/kindly?) -‐ Hvað segir þú gott? How's it going? -‐ Hvernig gengur? What do you want? -‐ Hvað v iljið þ er? Nothing much. -‐ Ekkert m ikið. I don’t have a clue (Lit: I have not little idea) -‐ Ég h ef ekki m innstu hugmynd. I’m fine, I’m good. – Ég segi a llt gott/ágætt. See you later! -‐ Bless á meðan, Sjáumst síðar. Bye all! -‐ Bless allir!
A window of Bónus (Bonus), the cheapest grocery store. Grocery store, Grocery shop – Shopping t rolly/cart – Kerra Matvöruverslun, Matvörubúð What’s for dinner? – Circle, Ring -‐ Baugur Hvað er í matinn? Pig – Grís
Example dialogue: Jón: Hæ! Hvað heitir þú? H i! What is your name? (Hi! Kvath hey-‐tihr thoo?) Sarah: Halló! Ég h eiti Sarah. Ég bý í Kanada o g ég er að læra íslensku. Hvaðan ert þú? H ello! My name is Sarah. I live in Canada and I am learning Icelandic. Where are you f rom? (Hallo! Yehg hey-‐tea Sarah. Yehg b ee ee Canada a w y ehg air ath lie-‐rah eese-‐len-‐skoo. Kva-‐than air-‐t thoo?) Jón: Ég h eiti Jón. Ég er f rá Íslandi. Ég er að læra ensku. My name is Jón. I am from Iceland. I am learning English. (Yehg hey-‐tea Yo-‐hn. Yehg air frow Ees-‐landy. Yehg air ath lie-‐rah ehn-‐ skoo.) Sarah: Gaman að kynnast þ ér. Nice to m eet you. (Gah-‐mahn ath k in-‐nahst th-‐yer.) Jón: Somuleiðis! Likewise! (Soo-‐muh-‐lay-‐this!) Exercises: (Fill in the blank) _____________________________ H e is from Germany Við __________________________ Íslandi We live in Iceland Hann ________________________ Noregi H e lives in Norway Þær _________________________ They live in Russia _____________________________ You all a re from England (Translate to Icelandic then convert sentences to questions and vice-‐versa) Example: You are from France. A ren’t you from France? Isn’t h e f rom Sweden? _____________________________ He is a student _____________________________ Don’t they (m) live in Finland? ___________________________ We live in the United States. _____________________________ You guys are f rom Iceland, a ren’t you? ________________________ Don’t you a ll live in Spain? ______________________________ He is learning Icelandic now _____________________________
Fairly Recent News: The Prime Minister of Iceland, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, married Jónína Leósdóttir in June 2010. They had previously been in a civil union together but this makes them “officially” wife and wife.
Vocabulary: Couple, married couple – Hjón Marriage – Hjónaband Marital law -‐ Hjúskaparlög Prime Minister/Premier -‐ Forsætisráðherra My time will come! -‐ Minn t ími mun koma! The civil unions that were p reviously Are the beds in the t wo-‐person available had the exact same rights rooms separate? -‐ as marriage for straight couples, it Eru rúmin í tveggja manna was just a d ifferent name. herbergjunum aðskilin
“Te & Kaffi” is a shop that a lso sells sweets/candy. Tea -‐ Te Coffee -‐ Kaffi Automobile -‐ Bíll
Excellent Cup -‐ Framúrskarandi bolli Website – Vefsetur And – Og
History: People used to throw soap in geysers to get them to erupt. This was especially popular with the soldiers during WWII out of sheer boredom. You could a lso cook your food in hot springs (like eggs) or in the h eat of a geyser. There were no real roads in Iceland until the Danish royalty came, then they made a single one to cater to their sensitive-‐rulers-‐who-‐never-‐
visited. This was for the most part the only real road until the American o ccupation in WWII, where the soldiers made a bunch. Vocabulary: Soap – Sápa Street, road – Stræti Coach, Carriage, Vehicle – Vagn Meet, Hit – Hitta Damn Dane fool -‐ Helvítis andskotans danafífl
Witches:
Vocabulary: Hag, Vixen, Witch -‐ Skass When there were witch burnings Witch – Norn taking p lace in various countries, To burn, be on fire – Að brenna Iceland also participated. However Betrayal, Treachery, Fraud – Svik unlike most countries, Iceland High t reason – Landráð burned mostly m en. Despite this the Woman -‐ Kona first p erson to be burned alive was a Man – Karlmaðu woman, and it was for treason. (Disclaimer: This was from m emory, the facts may not be accurate.) Pufflings -‐
The pufflings fly out into the o cean after they’re thrown. Finding the In summer the inhabitants of pufflings is a popular thing for Heimaey take to the streets at night children to do and without their to find fledgling puffins (pufflings) help, the little birds would be that land in the city during their first mauled and/or eaten by cats and migration. Atlantic Puffins use the dogs. moon to navigate when they migrate and the streetlights disrupt Vocabulary: inexperienced pufflings’ flights. Puffling -‐ Lundapysja In the night, At night – Að nóttu til The b irds are captured, placed in To flee, escape – Að f lýja boxes, and k ept until morning. Then To throw – Að kasta they’re taken to the beach and Kids -‐ Krakkar thrown into the a ir by the children.
Weather in Iceland (Reykjavík) Although Iceland is only t wo degrees south of the a rticle circle it is relatively warm in climate due to being n ear the Gulf Stream. The average temperature is around 0°C/32°F in winter and 10 to 15/50 to 59° in summer, however Reykjavík is v ery windy and you need to take that wind chill factor into effect. The countryside, depending on where you go, can b e colder or warmer than the capital.
Due to the “midnight sun” effect there is almost constant daylight in the m iddle of summer and almost no daylight in the m iddle of winter. Vocabulary: The A rctic Circle – Norðurheimskautsbaugurinn Climate -‐ Loftslag Winter -‐ Vetur Summer -‐ Sumar Daylight -‐ Dagsbirta Darkness -‐ Myrkur Precipitation -‐ Úrkoma
The v iew outside Café. Meet House -‐ Red -‐ Pedestrian -‐ Hitt Húsið Rauður Fótgangandi He said h e would come -‐ Hann sagðist ætla að koma
Music: Erla Þorsteinsdóttir’s voice is very clear and you can follow along with her songs and h ear the different syllables in h er words easily. H er songs a re v ery good for listening practice and learning new vocabulary. However, h er music is older and it m ight be difficult to find CDs and lyrics. Áramótaskaupið: “The New Year’s Comedy” is an annual television special shown before m idnight on New Year’s. The show receives some of the highest ratings in the world and it consists of satirical skits that poke fun at the events that happened in the past year, for example how the government has a cted. Most Icelanders watch the show and sometimes the skits are subtitled. You can watch the show online after it has a ired if you missed it.
and a café is up a few f lights of stairs. -‐ See a movie. You can f ind show times in the local paper or wander to the theatre and catch something random. They show a lot of foreign films and most likely you’ll see some of the same English-‐language ones you can find at home, but the Icelandic movie theatre experience is slightly unique. If you’re lucky, you’re in Iceland when the foreign film festival is happening. Most o r a ll of the movies a re subtitled in English and if you want to see a lot of them you can buy all your t ickets at once for a discount. Since not all of the movies take place in the same building you can see inside various places you might not have traveled to otherwise. Last y ear you could buy tickets at Eymundsson.
-‐ See a protest o r hazing. Protests are more common these days, and Things to visit and do: hazing is a v ery popular thing to do In Reykjavík: to new students of all a ges. If you’re -‐ Visit Eymundsson. It’s a book store in the right spot at the right time where you can buy things in you might manage to catch one o r Icelandic, English, and other major both of these things – chances a re languages. There are multiple f loors you’ll have no clue what’s going on, but there will b e music and people.
A scene in a James Bond movie was f ilmed here. Glacier -‐ Jökull Beach -‐ Strönd Black -‐ Svartur
Sand – Sandur Tourist – Ferðamaður Boat -‐ Bátur
Fish Pancakes (Fisklummur): Leftover, cooked f ish (fisk) Garlic (hvítlaukur) 1 small laukur 1 msk. Kartöflumjöl 3 msk. mjöl 1 egg 2 kartöflur Milk (mjólk) Remove the bones (bein) f rom the f ish and f lake with a fork. Mince the cooked potatoes, chop the onion, add garlic for taste. Add t he flours, beaten egg, and thin with m ilk until it is like thin porridge o r pancake dough. Fry as with pancakes on medium h eat.
Traits of Icelanders: Icelanders eat most things with knives and forks. This can include pizza, chips/French fries, and hamburgers. When driving they a ct as if they’re the only ones on the road, make abrupt U-‐turns, and run red lights. Occasionally one person will run a red light, and so will the car b ehind them. But don’t worry, driving in Iceland is just a s safe as in your Slang, Cognates, Et Cetera: Box, boxing – Box Book – Bók House – Hús Mother – Móðir Father – Faðir Brother – Bróðir
home country -‐ possibly even safer, because there is a low population in Iceland which makes t raffic light. Vocabulary: Knife – Hnífur Fork – Gaffall Pizza – Pitsa Chips/Fries -‐ Franskar Kartöflur Hamburger -‐ Hamborgari It’ll b e a lright, It’ll turn out fine -‐ Þetta reddast Sister – Systir Step(mother) – Stjúp(móðir) Yoghurt – Jógúrt Broccoli – Brokkolí, Spergilkál Sour m ilk (type of yoghurt) -‐ Súrmjólk
The t ruth sounds more like a lie (Fact is stranger than f iction) -‐ Sannleikurinn er lyginni líkastur. To talk nineteen to the dozen (often used sarcastically to comment that someone is being quiet o r unresponsive) -‐ Samkjafta ekki. Similar pays v isit to similar (It takes one to know one) -‐ Líkur sækir líkan h eim. It’s like you ate a mad man’s shit (“Used to describe someone a cting like a crazy bitch.”) -‐ Það er eins o g þú hafir étið óðs manns skit. I come completely f rom the mountains (I have no idea what you’re talking about / what’s going on) -‐ Ég k em alveg af fjöllum.
Tourist Vocabulary and Phrases: What do you call this in Icelandic? What is this? Do you want… Do you want the receipt? May I offer you a receipt? That is 8767 crowns. Anything else? Do you want a bag? May I offer you a bag?
Hvað heitir þetta á íslensku? Hvað er þetta? Viltu… Viltu miðann/kvittun/strimilinn? Má bjóða þ ér miðann/kvittun/strimilinn? Það eru/gera 8767 k rónur. (Var það) eitthvað fleira? Viltu poka? Má bjóða þ ér poka?
All you need to understand is “fleira”, “poka”, “kvittun”, “miðann”, and “strimilinn”. Then reply with já/nei, takk. Always say “takk – thanks”. In Iceland you almost a lways bag your o wn groceries, so make sure to do this yourself. Ordering more: Fleiri – more (a greater number) Meira – more (in quantity) You'd say fleiri b lýantar (more pencils) but m eira kaffi (more coffee). You can't say "fleira kaffi" because kaffi can't be counted in numbers. Learning Resource Reviews: 1.) The Icelandic Online website is poorly laid out and difficult to use in the b eginning. The grammar explanations a re mostly just charts. There’s little way of checking your mistakes for the example dialogue and reading passages. The m ini activities t ell you how much you got wrong o r right, but not exactly which answers were correct or incorrect. Icelandic Online also only
provides the m inimum amount of Icelandic needed to pass the exam in order to get into the bachelor’s degree program for Icelandic as a second language at the University of Iceland. However, the site does contain a lot of learning materials and once one is a cquainted with the basics of Icelandic, it is easy to figure out most learning objects. From then on the site is very helpful.
2.) Lærum Íslensku contains a lot of vocabulary and useful conjugation charts as well a s grammar. However, the t extbook is v ery thick and the grammar is spread out between many pages of vocabulary charts. This makes the t extbook overwhelming with the a mount of memorization required between moving onto new lessons and makes it very t edious to go through. The lessons are a lso very wordy and difficult to read even while containing good information.
the book. They do a good job of breaking down the grammar and teaching it simply, while also teaching some phrases o r expressions not found in other textbooks. They have more realistic dialogues than some other textbooks. However the book has typos in its Icelandic and the audio CDs fall out of their slots if you don't tape them closed (they don't close on their o wn). The typos make m e wary about the accuracy of the book overall.
3.) Beginner's Icelandic consists of fourteen chapters, each with grammar, dialogue, and exercises. Two audio CDs are included with
One of the many tourist destinations. Nature -‐ Náttúra Rocks -‐ Grjót Mountain – Fjall Gravel b ed -‐ Melur Gravel bank -‐ Malarkambur
Links: Community for practicing languages – http://community.livejournal.com/pidginpost/ Conjugation and d eclinations (type into the search box, ex. heita) -‐ http://bin.arnastofnun.is/ Eymundsson (book store) -‐ http://www.eymundsson.is/ Icelandic Saga Database (in Icelandic, Old Norse, English) -‐ http://www.sagadb.org/ Learning Nordic Languages Forum -‐ http://learningnordic.yuku.com/ Music Lyrics: -‐ http://www.gitargrip.is/ Vísir (news in Icelandic) -‐ http://www.visir.is Weather -‐ http://www.vedur.is/ Learning Icelandic in Iceland: Eighty-‐hour intensive summer course in Iceland. http://www.arnastofnun.is Icelandic classes both online and in Iceland http://www.netskoli.is/ Multiple p rograms and program lengths for learning Icelandic. Some for credit/degrees and some not. http://hi.is/
Credits & About Us: Extritio – Beta and Icelander Bridge – Beta and Writer JP – Writer and Photographer
Pyrr – Beta and Writer Snu – Photographer and Icelander X – Beta and Writer
Table -‐ Borð Chair -‐ Stóll Folder -‐ Mappa Shelf -‐ Hilla Lamps -‐ Lampar
Sloping ceiling -‐ Súð Glass -‐ Gler Cabinet -‐ Skápur Ornaments – Skart Wood, Timber, Lumber -‐ Timbur
More issues available in the future from www.lulu.com. The print forms are black and white compilations of the PDFs, which a re in colour. If you have suggestions, questions, etc. Email [email protected].