Chapter XVIII: Appendix: Icelandic Pronunciation

Accent:—The _stress_ is always on the first syllable.

Vowels:—The vowel sounds vary considerably from the modern English and much resemble the old Anglo-Saxon. Some changes have taken place in these sounds since the classical period of the Icelandic literature which was in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

The following key will assist the reader to pronounce the Icelandic terms in this volume.

a is pronounced like A in far.
á ” ” OU ” loud.
e ” ” E ” let.
é ” ” YE ” yellow.
i ” ” EE ” meek.
í ” ” I ” pit.
o ” ” OA ” road.
ö ” ” U ” murmur.
ý ” ” EE ” meet.
ae ” ” I ” prize.
au ” ” OI ” coin.
ey ” ” AY ” hay.
ei ” ” AY ” hay.

Consonants:—The alphabet was taken from the Latin with the addition of two characters Þ _thorn_ and ð _ith_. The two have the sound of TH in _thin_; the first is initial and the second may be in any syllable if it is not initial, as ð in _Seyðisfjörðr_, pronounced say-this-fur-thur.

The consonants have practically the same values as in English except the following, which should be noted:—

f _before_ L or N has the sound of B, thus,—

Krafla is pronounced as if spelled _Krabla_.

Hrafn, (raven,) is pronounced as if spelled _Hrabn_.

h is given its breathing sound.

h _before_ VI has the sound of Q, thus,—

Hvitá is pronounced as if spelled _Quee-tow_, O like O in cow.

ll when L is doubled the first L has the sound of T, thus, _fell_ is pronounced _fetl_.

ð is sounded like TH in _thin_.

There is a tendency among the uneducated people to lisp or to smother their words behind closed lips. When spoken by an educated person the language is musical and pleasing.

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Page 82,—_Family Names_:—The system of nomenclature given in Chapter VII is the prevailing one, still there are a _few_ family names in Iceland. This is due to settlers from foreign lands, who have kept their family names and bequeathed them to their children. As an illustration I mention the _Zoëga_ family, which, if my informant is correct, came from Italy many years ago.

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Page 84,—_Kárastaðir_:—Possibly a more probable derivation of this name lies in the fact that in the early days of the settlement of this portion of the country one of the settlers bore this name, _Kára_. Thus it should be translated, the stead or the farm of _Kára_.

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Page 89,—_Öxerá_:—It was not till the summer of 1913, a year after