Íslenzka [latest: 12. Vowels]

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Valosken
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by Valosken »

Do you know where I could get an Icelandic dictionary online? I'd love to steal some words for my lexicon.
First, I learned English.
Dann lernte ich Deutsch.
Y ahora aprendo Español.
Prinsessa
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by Prinsessa »

Wiktionary has lots of stuff.
nzk13
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by nzk13 »

Just wondering, how do I pronounce these words? Could you please include a phonology, Sko-ele?
Skribajon mean vi esas lektant, kar amiki.
Native: American English. Knows: some Hebrew/Judaeo-Aramaic, some Ido, bit of La Esperanton, a couple of Yiddish words, and bits and pieces of others.
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Ceresz
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by Ceresz »

Skógvur wrote:Wiktionary has lots of stuff.
Indeed. You can also use this. It includes links to the Icelandic Wiktionary as well, so that's nice.

Oh, and this might also be of interest to people. Just search for a word and it'll give you the declension/conjugation. I guess, if anything, it's a nice reference.
nzk13 wrote:Just wondering, how do I pronounce these words? Could you please include a phonology, Sko-ele?
For starters you could take a look at these pages: What you're looking for is probably the latter. It may not be perfect, but it helped me, so I guess it's as good a start as any [:)].
I just wanted to add that I think these lessons are nicely structured. Good job, Skógvur.

Takk fyrir að þú kennir okkur íslensku [:)].
Prinsessa
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by Prinsessa »

Ceresz wrote:*links*
Thanks for those! Perhaps I should make a list of links in the first post or something.
Ceresz wrote:I just wanted to add that I think these lessons are nicely structured. Good job, Skógvur.

Takk fyrir að þú kennir okkur íslensku [:)].
Ekkert að þakka!

I'm sure that your formulation might be good and would occur, but this is the one I tend to see and have gotten used to:

Takk fyrir að kenna okkur íslensku!

So just an infinitive instead of a personally inflected form.
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DesEsseintes
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by DesEsseintes »

Skógvur's instincts are correct. One would never say Takk fyrir að þú kennir okkur íslensku.
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Ceresz
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by Ceresz »

Thanks. My Icelandic is basic at its best, so I'm still relying heavily on my knowledge of Swedish. It's probably gonna take a while for me to shake that off.
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by Prinsessa »

All right, folks. Here we go.

11. Basics of pronunciation

Stress in Icelandic is always word-initial.

I will not deal with all details of pronunciation and orthographic correspondence today, but the most important concepts will be looked upon. One core feature of Icelandic is the fact that it does not have any voiced stops, unlike most of the better known mainland Scandinavian varieties. Instead, the distinction between, say, <t> and <d>, does not lie in voicing (they're both generally /t/), but in suprasegmental features such as aspiration and preaspiration, and voicing or devoicing of adjacent consonants.

One could in general say that Icelandic contrasts an aspirated series /pʰ tʰ kʰ cʰ/ with a non-aspirated one /p t k c/, and this does seem to be the most common analysis, but I would personally prefer a more low-level one that actually distinguishes no more than /p t k/ versus /b d g/ due to the way the sounds actually manifest themselves in their realisations and according to the patterns through which they do so, and the fact that aspirates only occur initially in separable stems. Potential */c ɟ/ would be disregarded as phonemes and viewed as palatalised allophones of their velar counterparts. My analysis would remove */ð/ as a separate phoneme and instead treat all such instances as /d/ with a realisation [ð], as no clashes are possible. Likewise, */ɣ/ would be treated as /g/ [ɣ] when this sound occurs.

I will probably try to stick to a more standardised analysis in this text, but try to explain it by help of my own one when it seems helpful to do so. I still feel that my etymological analysis makes the orthography make lots of sense. It would still be necessary to differentiate between underlying analysis, which I will denote as */word/, the canon pronunciation that will probably still differ somewhat from the actual spoken language as /word/, and broad transcription, if necessary, as [word].

11.1. Differentiating between the two stop series word-initially

Let us take four pairs of words that begin with each of the plosives.

:isl: para */para/ → /pʰaːra/ :eng: to pair[ up]
:isl: bara */bara/ → /paːra/ :eng: only

:isl: teygja */tɛigja/ → /tʰɛiːja/ :eng: to stretch
:isl: deyja */dɛija/ → /tɛiːja/ :eng: to die

:isl: kulna */kʏlna/ → /kʰʏlna/ :eng: to burn out; to turn to coal
:isl: gulna */gʏlna/ → /kʏlna/ :eng: to turn yellow

:isl: kjósa */kjɔusa/ → /cʰɔuːsa/ :eng: to choose
:isl: gjósa */gjɔusa/ → /cɔuːsa/ :eng: to erupt

As you can see, initial <p t k k(j)*> are realised as aspirated voiceless plosives, and <b d g g(j)*> in the same position are non-aspirated, but also voiceless, in the same position.

* The <j> is only written before 'hard' vowels. Before the 'soft' vowels <e (é) i í y ý æ>, however, this palatalisation is always in effect, and thus, for example, there is :isl: gefa */gɛfa/ → /cɛːva/ :eng: to give; it is not possible for /kʰ k/ to occur before soft vowels - they are always /cʰ c/ in this position.

11.1. Between vowels

In intervocalic position, it no longer makes sense, if we're to follow standard analysis, to call all of these stops or plosives, because some of them cease to be realised as such here. Even more motivation to use my personal analysis, which allows us to keep using the same terminology.

See, in this position between vowels, the sounds */d g/ turn into fricatives /ð ɣ/*. */b/ does not occur between vowels**. The */p t k/ series come out as non-aspirates in this position, just like */b d g/ did initially.

* /ɣ/ in turn becomes /j/ or /Ø/ in some positions.
** Correct me if I'm wrong, but I am positive that any */b/ doesn't occur in this position at all, due to having merged with /f/ (→ /v/ / #V__V). I can't think of a single word with it, even in my native, closely related language Swedish. Well, except for a few loanwords, like :isl: rabarbari :eng: rhubarb, in which case it comes out as /p/ (in corresponding cases, Swedish does have /b/, actually).

:isl: rópa */rɔupa/ → /rɔuːpa/ :eng: to shout; to call
( :isl: rófa */rɔufa/ → /rɔuːva/ :eng: tail; swede [fem.] )

:isl: ljótur */ljɔutʏr/ → /ljɔuːtʏr/ :eng: ugly [adj.]
:isl: ljóður */ljɔudʏr/ → /ljɔuːðʏr/ :eng: flaw [masc.]

:isl: aka */aka/ → /aːka/ :eng: to drive; to go
:isl: aga */aga/ → /aːɣa/ :eng: to discipline

:isl: þekja */θɛkja/ → /θɛːca/ :eng: to cover
:isl: þegja */θɛgja/ → /θɛiːja/ :eng: to be silent

We've now covered intervocalic instances of single letters. When they're doubled, the situation changes. */p t k/ become preaspirated, and */b d g/ retain their word-initial realisation.

:isl: pappír */papːir/ → /pʰahpiːr/ :eng: paper [masc.]
:isl: pabbi */pabːɪ/ → /pʰapːɪ/ :eng: dad [masc.]

:isl: bíttu */bitːʏ/ → /pihtʏ/ :eng: bite [2SG imperative of bíta]
:isl: bíddu */bidːʏ/ → /pitːʏ/ :eng: wait [2SG imperative of bíða]

:isl: hakka */hakːa/ → /hahka/ :eng: to mince; to grind
:isl: hagga */hagːa/ → /hakːa/ :eng: to budge

:isl: bakki */bakːɪ/ → /pahcɪ/ :eng: riverbank; tray [masc.]
:isl: baggi */bagːɪ/ → /pacːɪ/ :eng: bundle; bale [masc.]

That's it for this time. Can't really think of any exercises on something like this. Read and learn this well, and more shall come.
Prinsessa
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by Prinsessa »

Was it too technical? I came here now, considering writing up a continuation, but everyone who has shown any interest so far seems to have fled after this last post, so...

What sort of information do you want?
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Ceresz
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by Ceresz »

No, it was great. There's just nothing to add other than flattery [:P].
Prinsessa
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Re: Íslenzka

Post by Prinsessa »

All right. [<3] Well, I've come up with a followup that tackles some fun allophony. However, that's for next time, because I just realised that it's better to start with the vowels.

12. Vowels

Icelandic has in its alphabet a one-to-one correspondence between every vocalic phoneme and a corresponding grapheme. However, a few allophonic rules apply here and there. Even so, vowels in Icelandic are probably the least quirky part of its orthography, and they should be very easy to get right.

Icelandic has a fair amount of monophthongs, like any Germanic language, but also a bunch of diphthongs, to a much higher degree than some of its sister tongues. English, of course, is not a stranger to such an abundance of these sounds, but lacks some of the front rounded vowels, and with them, front rounded vowel diphthong(s), that Icelandic has.

12.1. Phonemes

Every vowel, be it a monophthong or diphthong, can be short or long. There is no orthographic differentiation between these that is marked on the vowel itself, but it is usually easily determined by the openness of the syllable in which the sound occurs, and helped by the fact that most word-final, or unstressed, vowels are never long. I will not mark length in the correspondence list below. The quality of a vowel does not change by its length in Icelandic.

Code: Select all

<a>     /a/
<á>     /au/
<e>     /ɛ/
<é>     /jɛ/
<i y>   /ɪ/
<í ý>   /i/
<o>     /ɔ/
<ó>     /ɔu/
<u>     /ʏ/
<ú>     /u/
<æ>     /ai/
<ö>     /œ/
<au>    /øi/
<ei ey> /ɛi/
As you can see, /ɪ i/ have two letters each to write them. This is historical. They used to be distinct in Old Norse, as they still are in Scandinavian, although this innovation is shared by Faroese.

If you are versed in some other Germanic languages, you may have a chance of getting these right with a varying degree of ease – English is not very helpful, but Scandinavian will allow you to get this right almost every time. Otherwise, you will just have to learn which spelling is the correct one, but at least it will offer you some excellent help if you later wish to study Old Norse or Scandinavian.

The same goes for /ɛi/, where the version with a <y> in it used to be pronounced differently; in Scandinavian, <ei> is usually reflected by <e(i)>, while <ey> is usually <ø(y) ~ ö>.

12.2. Allophones

The most striking allophonic rule is probably that which diphthongises or otherwise modifies <a e i/y u ö> (i.e. the vowels that used to be short in Old Norse) before the clusters */ng nk/ (one may think, that I could rather have said before the velar nasal, but this is not the actual realisation of the n in these clusters in every case, as we shall see).

Before these clusters, there is a change that makes <a e i/y u ö> become pronounced as though they were really spelled <á ei í/ý ú au>; i.e. */a ɛ ɪ ʏ œ/ become /au ɛi i u øi/ here. The shorter spelling remains, however.

:isl: langur */langʏr/ → /lauŋkʏr/ :eng: long [adj.]
:isl: lengri */lɛngrɪ/ → /lɛiŋkrɪ/ :eng: longer [adj., comparative]
:isl: þing */θɪnɡ/ → /θiŋk/ :eng: assembly; meeting; council; parliament [neut.]
:isl: þyngri */θɪnɡrɪ/ → /θiŋkrɪ/ :eng: heavier [adj., comparative]
:isl: þungur */θʏnɡʏr/ → /θuŋkʏr/ :eng: heavy [adj.]
:isl: löng */lœng/ → /løiŋk/ :eng: long [adj., fem.]

Thus, had these words been spelled <lángur leingri þíng þýngri þúngur laung>, respectively, the pronunciation would have been exactly the same. Not to worry, though; as far as I am aware, this spelling never occurs, and you will always place a safe bet by choosing the shorter spelling. Likewise, I know of no exceptions to this sound change rule.

As for what I meant, when I said that the nasal is not always velar in these clusters, it was merely that before */gj kj/ → /c/, the nasal instead has a palatal realisation.

:isl: lengja */lɛnɡja/ → /lɛiɲca/ :eng: lengthen [verb]
:isl: þyngja */θɪnɡja/ → /θiɲca/ :eng: make heavier [verb]

Look at that. You even got to learn that -j-, accompanied with i-umlaut of the stem vowel, may often function as a causative.

12.3. Length

Like I said, the length of the vowel is generally just a matter of the openness, and stress, of the syllables. Syllables are generally considered closed if there are two or more consonants after the vowel. Unstressed vowels are usually short no matter what. On the rare occasion that a pair of consonants merge (such as */gj/ / V__V → /j/), the syllable opens correspondingly, and thus a word like <beygja> has a long diphthong.

:isl: baka /paːka/ :eng: bake [verb]
:isl: bakka /pahka/ :eng: back [verb]

:isl: át /auːt/ :eng: ate [verb, preterite]
:isl: átta /auhta/ :eng: eight [numeral]

:isl: /ɛːð/ :eng: eth (Icelandic letter) [noun.]
:isl: edda /ɛtːa/ :eng: edda [fem.]

:isl: éta /jɛːta/ :eng: eat (of animals) [verb]
:isl: flétta /fljɛhta/ :eng: plait; weave [verb]

:isl: sigur /sɪːɣʏr/ :eng: victory [fem.]
:isl: Siggi /sɪcːɪ/ :eng: (a nickname) [masc.]

:isl: fín /fiːn/ :eng: fine; nice [adj., fem.]
:isl: fínn /fitn/ :eng: fine; nice [adj.]

:isl: vor /vɔːr/ :eng: spring (season) [neut.]
:isl: vorra /vɔrːa/ :eng: of our (archaic) [poss.pron., gen., pl.]

:isl: mót /mɔuːt/ :eng: meeting [neut.]
:isl: ótti /ɔuhtɪ/ :eng: fear [masc.]

:isl: Guð /kʏːð/ :eng: God [masc.]
:isl: upp /ʏhp/ :eng: up (motion) [adv.]

:isl: súr /suːr/ :eng: sour [adj.]
:isl: súrra /surːa/ :eng: of sour [adj., gen., pl.]

:isl: hylur /hɪːlʏr/ :eng: stream pool [masc.]
:isl: fylla /fɪtla/ :eng: fill [verb]

:isl: nýr /niːr/ :eng: new [adj.]
:isl: nýtt /niht/ :eng: new [adj., neut.]

:isl: skæra /scaiːra/ :eng: the bright [adj., strong, various forms]
:isl: skærra /scairːa/ :eng: of bright [adj., gen., pl.]

:isl: möt /mœːt/ :eng: evaluations [neut., pl.]
:isl: mött /mœht/ :eng: matte [adj., fem.]

:isl: rauður /røiːðʏr/ :eng: red [adj.]
:isl: rautt /røiht/ :eng: red [adj., neut.]

:isl: reiður /rɛiːðʏr/ :eng: angry [adj.]
:isl: reitt /rɛiht/ :eng: angry [adj., neut.]

:isl: eyða /ɛiːða/ :eng: destroy [verb.]
:isl: eyddi /ɛitːɪ/ :eng: destroyed [verb, preterite]
Last edited by Prinsessa on 12 Jan 2014 04:12, edited 2 times in total.
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kanejam
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Re: Íslenzka [latest: 12. Vowels]

Post by kanejam »

I love that Icelandic has phonemic /ɪ/ that can be long or short! Just a note that you have <ó> for /ɔ/ in the table of code which seems like it should be /ɔu/. And the spelling <au> is a bit weird although I can sort of see it if the short /u/ fronted.

Thanks for these lessons, as Ceresz says, they are awesome.
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Click
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Re: Íslenzka [latest: 12. Vowels]

Post by Click »

Is au considered to be the long counterpart of ö?
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Re: Íslenzka [latest: 12. Vowels]

Post by Prinsessa »

kanejam wrote:Just a note that you have <ó> for /ɔ/ in the table of code which seems like it should be /ɔu/.
Oops! Indeed. Fixed. Thanks.
kanejam wrote:Thanks for these lessons, as Ceresz says, they are awesome.
Thank you!
Click wrote:Is au considered to be the long counterpart of ö?
Like I said, every vowel can be short or long. However, if you mean whether au is considered to be to ö what ó is to o, I guess I kind of have that perception of it myself, at least, yeah, but that's not really how it works; while ó was the long version of o in Old Norse, where their quality was otherwise identical, these are two distinct vowels in Icelandic today, which, like every other modern North Germanic variety that I know of, has reänalysed the length system entirely, creating new sounds in the process. Historically, a lot of the æ's were originally œ's, which was the true long front rounded vowel.
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