Noun Quality

While English and Icelandic share similar origins as Germanic languages, the differences between them are stark. Under the influence of Norman French , English dropped nearly all of its declensional endings save forfor plurals and possessives (while written differently, they're indistinguishable in spoken language). In contrast, Icelandic is absolutely brimming with them.Several aspects of a noun that English indicates either through word order or context are indicated in Icelandic by inflectional endings. This allows the word order of Icelandic to be far more flexible than that of English. It also changes the pronunciation . Minor differences in inflectional endings have to be enunciated, even if the syllable in which they are contained is not stressed.

Gender

All Indo-European languages, including English, possess a concept of grammatical gender . English is unique in that gender in the standard dialect is assigned logically. Male persons and creatures are masculine, female persons and creatures are feminine, inanimate objects are neuter. The majority of other Indo-European languages, Icelandic included, eschew delegation according to biological gender and assign gender to inanimate things randomly. There are three genders in Icelandic; masculine feminine , and neuter . Unlike German , one can usually deduce the gender of a word just by looking at its Nominative singular form. But unlike Spanish , the cues are much more complicated. While an exhaustive list is impossible, the majority of words will have an ending among those listed below.

Masculine

Exclusively masculine:

-aður

-uður

-ingur

-ungur

-undur

-dómur

-leikur

-háttur

-skapur

-all

-ill

-ull

-ann

-inn

-ingi

-ungi

-ji

-ar ( sumar , n. - summer)

, n. - summer) -ir ( móðir - mother, dóttir - daughter, systir - sister, all feminine)

- mother, - daughter, - sister, all feminine) -ari (altari, n.)

-ur

-andi

Exclusively masculine with minor exceptions:Usually masculine:

Feminine

Exclusively feminine:

-ing



-úð

-un

-an

-yn

-und

-urð

-semd

-ja

-ynja

-sla

átta

-usta

-ka

-ska

-eskja

-fraeði

-a

Usually feminine:

Neuter

Exclusively neuter:

-al

-að

-ald

-an

-ang

-arn

-in

-erni

-elsi

-indi

-gin

-orð

Number

In this respect Icelandic is very similar to English. There are two numbers, singular and plural. They are distinguished under the same conditions as English. Inflectional endings usually distinguish number. When they do not, the situation is analogous to the English singular-plural pair: a rare, old word that often has collective connotations in any case.

Case

This should be familiar to those with knowledge of Latin German , or many of the Slavic languages. Icelandic distinguishes four cases: Nominative Dative , and Genitive . Among conjugational pardigms, the genitive singular, nominative plural, and accusative plural show the greatest varience.

Nominative

The Nominative case marks the subject of a verb phrase. As an example in English, he is a pronoun in the Nominative case.

Accusative

The Accusative case is also fairly simple. It marks the direct object of a verb phrase. Him is a pronoun in the Accusative case. In verbs that take two direct objects, like in the sentence, The town elected him mayor, both objects are in the accusative. Certain impersonal verbs have an accusative which functionally acts as their subject, the true subject left off. For example, hana vantar peninga (literally her it.needs money, actually she needs money). When used with prepositions or adverbs, it gives a sense of motion. For example, í akurinn with akur in the Accusative means into the field, whereas í akurinum with akur in the Dative means in the field.

Dative

Speaking of... the Dative case marks the indirect object of a verb phrase. An indirect object is not directly acted upon by the verb, but is rather a benificiary of the action. For instance, in Kjartan gaf henni peninga (Kjartan gave her money), the pronoun hún is in the Accusative. The sentence could also be written Kjartan gaf peninga henni (Kjartan gave money to her). Since the information is contained within the inflection, there's no need to add a preposition as in English. Icelandic word order is more flexible, so one is able to emphasize certain aspects of the sentence while still retaining coherency. Of note is that subjects of passive verbs remain in the Dative, unlike English. Henni var gifen peninga af Kjartan (She was given money by Kjartan). The dative also functions as the subject of certain verbs. These verbs usually denote mental states, responsibility, quick movement, instrumental use, and deprivation. Adjectives and adverbs with respect to an object may be juxtaposed with the object in Dative, but this is more literary language. In colloquial Icelandic a prepositional phrase is preferred. Finally, the Dative is often used with prepositions, denoting a sense of position instead of movement. See the í akurinum example above.

Genitive

The last case, the Genitive, denotes possession. It substitutes for both the English Genitive inflection, 's, and the preposition of. Indeed the Icelandic inflection is often exactly the same as in English. There are significant differences, however. In English we tend to separate active possession from passive possession, the former being indicated by inflectional while the latter by prepositional phrase. Icelandic makes no such distinction, using the Genitive in both cases. The word order is also different, Icelandic usually has the possessor follow the thing it possesses. This holds for possessive pronouns as well. Like the Dative case, the Genitive stands as the direct object of certain verbs. Also like the Dative, the Genitive is used in prepositional phrases, generally with a meaning of relative location or abstract association.

Declension

Icelandic declension is not regular. At all. It does, however, follow patterns, some of which are more common than others. One can find a parallel in English verbs. The majority follow the pattern of, but there are also irregular groups likeor. It's the vast amount of these patterns in Icelandic that causes problems. As an illustration, Latin , a famously declension-happy language, has twenty declension patterns including irregular nouns. Icelandic has seventy-three. So much for that. One item of solace is that in all patterns theorof plural Dative and theof plural Genitive remains the same.

Noun declensions are sorted into two broad types, called strong and weak. Just like with strong and weak verbs in English, the strong category contains all the irregulars. These two categories are further divided among the three genders. Finally, they are sorted into classes according to their Nominative plural and Genitive singular case endings.

Strong Declension

Masculine

Common Umlaut Monosyllabic Mono/Bisyllabic Nom.| pískur | hattur | skór | karl Acc.| písk | hatt | skó | karl Dat.| píski | hatti | skó | karl Gen.| písks | hatts | skós | karls Nom.| pískar | hattar | skóar | karlar Acc.| píska | hatta | skóa | karla Dat.| pískum | höttum | skóum | karlum Gen.| píska | hatta | skóa | karla Monosyllabic Suffixed Nom.| bíll | jökull | Acc.| bíl | jökul | Dat.| bíli | jökli | Gen.| bíls | jökuls | Nom.| bílar | jöklar | Acc.| bíla | jökla | Dat.| bílum | jöklum | Gen.| bíla | jökla |

Uncommon Umlaut Final Stop Nom.| smiður | dalur | leikur Acc.| smið | dal | leik Dat.| smið | dal | leik Gen.| smiðs | dals | leiks Nom.| smiðir | dalir | leikir Acc.| smiði | dali | leiki Dat.| smiðum | dölum | leikjum Gen.| smiða | dala | leikja

Common Umlaut Nom.| hlutur | spónn Acc.| hlut | spón Dat.| hlut | spæni Gen.| hlutar | spóns Nom.| hlutir | spænir Acc.| hluti | spæni Dat.| hlutum | spónum Gen.| hluta | spóna

Nom.| bróðir | faðir | fingur | fótur | vetur | maður Acc.| bróður | föður | fingur | fót | vetur | mann Dat.| bróður | föður | fingri | fæti | vetri | manni Gen.| bróðurs | föðurs | fingurs | fótar | vetrar | manns Nom.| bræður | feður | fingur | fætur | vetur | menn Acc.| bræður | feður | fingur | fætur | vetur | menn Dat.| bræðrum | feðrum | fingrum | fótum | vetrum | mönnum Gen.| bræðra | feðra | fingra | fóta | vetra | manna

Feminine

Common Suffixed False Stem Nom.| kinn | hreyfing | lifur | stó Acc.| kinn | hreyfingu | lifur | stó Dat.| kinn | hreyfingu | lifur | stó Gen.| kinnar | hreyfingar| lifar | stór Nom.| kinnar | hreyfingar| lifar | stór Acc.| kinnar | hreyfingar| lifar | stór Dat.| kinnum | hreyfingum| lifum | stóm Gen.| kinna | hreyfinga | lifa | stóa

Common Umlaut Suffixed Nom.| sveit | sök | pöntun Acc.| sveit | sök | pöntun Dat.| sveit | sök | pöntun Gen.| sveitar | sakar | pöntunar Nom.| sveitir | sakir | pantanir Acc.| sveitir | sakir | pantanir Dat.| sveitum | sökum | pöntunum Gen.| sveita | saka | pantana

Neuter

Common Umlaut Drop Nom.| líf | land | sumar Acc.| líf | land | sumar Dat.| lífi | landi | sumri Gen.| lífs | lands | sumars Nom.| líf | lönd | sumur Acc.| líf | lönd | sumur Dat.| lífum | löndum | sumrum Gen.| lífa | landa | sumra

Weak Declension

Masculine

Common Umlaut Infixed Nom.| sviði | vani | bakari Acc.| sviða | vana | bakara Dat.| sviða | vana | bakara Gen.| sviða | vana | bakara Nom.| sviðar | vanar | bakarar Acc.| sviða | vana | bakara Dat.| sviðum | vönum | bökurum Gen.| sviða | vana | bakara

Nom.| bóndi Acc.| bónda Dat.| bónda Gen.| bónda Nom.| bændur Acc.| bændur Dat.| bændum Gen.| bænda

Feminine

Infixed Non-Infixed Nom.| saga | lilja Acc.| sögu | lilju Dat.| sögu | lilju Gen.| sögu | lilju Nom.| sögur | liljur Acc.| sögur | liljur Dat.| sögum | liljum Gen.| sagna | lilja

Nom.| gleði Acc.| gleði Dat.| gleði Gen.| gleði

Neuter

Common Umlaut Nom.| lunga | hjarta Acc.| lunga | hjarta Dat.| lunga | hjarta Gen.| lunga | hjarta Nom.| lungu | hjörtu Acc.| lungu | hjörtu Dat.| lungum | hjörtum Gen.| lungna | hjartna

The strong declension is characterized by by a Genitive singular that always ends in a consonant, eitheror. It also exhibits far more variance than the weak declension, which is why it is called strong. Words within it tend to buck regular declension patterns. Besides case ending variation, there are also mutations to the root word within certain cases. This is called, and came about because certain vowels following a syllable caused a sound change to come about in that syllable.Marked by a Genitive singular ofand Nominative plural of. Singular charts come above plural charts, and an example word of each paradigm within the class is labeled and declined.Marked by Genitive singular ofand Nominative plural of. Final stop words of Class 2 may sometimes have a Genitive singular ofto be memorized. Many words in this class have noin the Nominative singular, such as the all-important(God).Marked by Genitive singular ofand Nominative plural ofInconsistent Genitive, Nominative plural of. Mostly a unique class for common words, which sadistically undergo very strange and inconsistent umlauts during declension. The six normal ones are listed without labels, any others in this class have fallen out of even literary usage.Marked by Genitive singular oforand Nominative plural of. This class holds the trend-subverting feminine nouns that end infor their Nominative singular.Marked by Genitive singular ofand Nominative plural of. This class is extremely common for feminine nouns. The infixed and umlauted category can sometimes coincide in one word, in which case two of its syllables will change in vowel. A word of that sort is declined in the infixed category to illustrate the dual change.Marked by a Genitive singular of, orand a Nominative plural ofor. There are only a few words in this class, and they're all frustratingly irregular. To explain the class thoroughly would be to decline every word in it. Thus it is better just to memorize the declensions of Class 3 feminine words, especially since they're infuriatingly common words like(book),(cow), and(mother).Only one class in this gender, marked by a Genitive singular and no ending for the Nominative plural.All nouns of the weak declension have singular endings in a short vowel:, or. While there is far less variance in this declension, there are still a few subdivided classes.Marked by a Genitive singular ofand a Nominative plural of. There are once again two common umlaut transformations in this class, both of which sometimes occur in the same word such as in the example withMarked by a Genitive singular ofand a Nominative plural of. These are universally present participle s of verbs which have become nouns. They are few and function exactly like Class 1 except withfor the plural Nominative and Accusative. Umlaut is sometimes undergone for the entire plural declension because of contraction from the original noun.Marked by a singular Genitive ofand a Nominative plural of. Divided into two types, those with an infix in the Genitive plural and those without. Normal umlaut of the a-stem occurs in both, as illustrated throughout nearly every other declensional table above.Marked by a singular Genitive ofand no plural. Its declension is... er... rather simple. This class is composed almost entirely of abstract noun s formed from adjectives, for which a plural would not make cognitive sense. There are also a few irregular nouns with plurals in need of memorization.Only a few words which decline regularly, mostly body parts. Theinfix of weak feminine nouns is observed universally.

Free Definite Article

Masc Fem Neut Nom.| hinn | hin | hið Acc.| hinn | hina | hið Dat.| hinum | hinni | hinu Gen.| hins | hinnar | hins Nom.| hinir | hinar | hin Acc.| hina | hinar | hin Dat.| hinum | hinum | hinum Gen.| hinna | hinna | hinna

Suffixed Definite Article

Icelandic possesses a definite article like the English, although no indefinite article . It is used in exactly the same manner, but somewhat less commonly than in English. It is not used with many collective nouns, occupation nouns, place names that could be proper nouns, and general state nouns like(farmer) and(girls). Definite articles decline just like nouns according to gender, number, and case. They can either precede the noun as in English, or be added as a suffix to the noun.The free definite article can only be used if an adjective separates it from the noun it modifies. For example, one can write, but not. Even then, the free definite article is only used in literary style, where it is also sometimes written without an. Colloquial speech nearly always suffixes the definite article. The free definite article declines thus:The suffixed definite article functions somewhat like a separate system of declension. As it is attached to the end of words in each case, it often changes the ending that comes before it. The variations of the suffixed definite article are, thankfully, far fewer than those of the actual declensions. Certain changes are common to all suffixed nouns. Theof the Dative plural is always lost. Theof the Genitive plural is lost if it would be preceded by an accented vowel. False masculine nouns ending inlose thein all suffixes. Theof the suffix itself is lost in nouns of the weak declension and after the stem vowel

Masculine

S. Class 1 S. Class 2 Monosyllabic Weak Nom.| pískurinn | smiðurinn | skórinn | vaninn Acc.| pískinn | smiðinn | skóinn | vanann Dat.| pískinum | smiðnum | skónum | vananum Gen.| písksins | smiðarins | skóins | vanans Nom.| pískarnir | smiðirnir | skórnir | vanarnir Acc.| pískana | smiðina | skóna | vanana Dat.| pískunum | smiðunum | skónum | vönunum Gen.| pískanna | smiðanna | skónna | vananna

Common Stem False Weak Nom.| kinnin | stóin | lifrin | sagan Acc.| kinnina | stóna | lifrina | söguna Dat.| kinninni | stónni | lifrinni | sögunni Gen.| kinnarinnar| stórinnar| lifrarinnar| sögunnar Nom.| kinnarnar | stórnar | lifrarnar | sögurnar Acc.| kinnarnar | stórnar | lifrarnar | sögurnar Dat.| kinnunum | stónum | lifrunum | sögunum Gen.| kinnanna | stónna | lifranna | saganna

Common Stem-É Drop Weak Nom.| landið | tréð | sumrið | lungað Acc.| landið | tréð | sumrið | lungað Dat.| landinu | trénu | sumrinu | lunganu Gen.| landsins | trésins | sumursins | lungans Nom.| löndin | trén | sumrin | lungun Acc.| löndin | trén | sumrin | lungun Dat.| löndunum | trjanum | sumrunum | lungunum Gen.| landanna | trjanna | sumranna | lungnanna

Sources used:



Einarsson, Stefán., Icelandic. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1945

Neijmann, Daisy L., Colloquial Icelandic. London: Routledge, 2001.