Icelandic

From WikiMD's Food, Medicine & Wellness Encyclopedia

Icelandic is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Iceland. It is closely related to Norwegian and Faroese, although there are slight traces of Celtic influence in ancient Icelandic literature.

History[edit | edit source]

Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. It was brought to Iceland by the country's Norsemen settlers in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Characteristics[edit | edit source]

Icelandic has preserved more grammatical cases than most other modern Germanic languages. It has four cases: nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive.

Modern Icelandic[edit | edit source]

Modern Icelandic is still a highly inflected language. Changes in syntax and vocabulary have been minor compared to other Germanic languages. This means that Icelandic, in its written form, has changed relatively little since the 13th century.

Icelandic Alphabet[edit | edit source]

The Icelandic alphabet consists of 32 letters. The letters a, á, e, é, i, í, o, ó, u, ú, y, ý, æ and ö are considered vowels, and the remaining 18 letters are consonants.

Learning Icelandic[edit | edit source]

Icelandic is considered one of the more challenging languages for English speakers to learn due to its complex grammar and pronunciation.

See Also[edit | edit source]

Icelandic Resources
Doctor showing form.jpg
Wiki.png

Navigation: Wellness - Encyclopedia - Health topics - Disease Index‏‎ - Drugs - World Directory - Gray's Anatomy - Keto diet - Recipes

Search WikiMD


Ad.Tired of being Overweight? Try W8MD's physician weight loss program.
Semaglutide (Ozempic / Wegovy and Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) available.
Advertise on WikiMD

WikiMD is not a substitute for professional medical advice. See full disclaimer.

Credits:Most images are courtesy of Wikimedia commons, and templates Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY SA or similar.


Contributors: Prab R. Tumpati, MD