Icelandic has 32 letters, in this order: a á b d ð e é f g h i í j k l m n o ó p r s t u ú v x y ý þ æ ö. Þ, æ and ö come last, after y and ý.
| Letter | Name | Letter | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a | N n | enn |
| Á á | á | O o | o |
| B b | bé | Ó ó | ó |
| D d | dé | P p | pé |
| Ð ð | eð | R r | err |
| E e | e | S s | ess |
| É é | é | T t | té |
| F f | eff | U u | u |
| G g | ge | Ú ú | ú |
| H h | há | V v | vaff |
| I i | i | X x | ex |
| Í í | í | Y y | ufsilon y |
| J j | joð | Ý ý | ufsilon ý |
| K k | ká | Þ þ | þorn |
| L l | ell | Æ æ | æ |
| M m | emm | Ö ö | ö |
An accent mark turns a vowel into a different letter with a different sound. It doesn't make the vowel louder.
| Plain | Sounds Like | With the Mark | Sounds Like |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | the a in father | á | the ow in cow |
| e | the e in bed | é | the ye in yes |
| i | the i in sit | í | the ee in see |
| o | the o in for | ó | the o in go |
| u | the i in sit, with rounded lips | ú | the oo in food |
| y | the same as i | ý | the same as í |
Y and ý sound like i and í, so you learn their spellings word by word.
| Spelling | Sounds Like | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| j | the y in yes | já | yes |
| hv | kv | hvalur | whale |
| ll | tl | fjall | mountain |
| f before n or l | p | nafn | name |
| pp, tt, kk | a short h first | takk | thanks |
| ei, ey | the ay in day | eyja | island |
| au | ö, then a quick í | auga | eye |
Most words are stressed on the first syllable, as in Ísland and Reykjavík. Our guide to þ, ð and æ shows how þ, ð, æ and ö sound and how to type the first three.
Icelandic uses c, q, w and z only in foreign names and borrowed words. Z was dropped by the Ministry of Education in September 1973, so an older spelling like verzlun (shop) is now verslun.
Free Icelandic Alphabet Course
- Audio for Every Word
- Real Example Words
0 of 3 Chapters Complete
Chapter 1 of the Icelandic Alphabet course covers þ, ð, æ and ö. Chapter 2 covers the vowels with accent marks, plus au, ei and ey. Chapter 3 covers j, hv, ll, f before n or l, pp, tt and kk, and stress.
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Sources
- Unicode CLDR, Icelandic locale data (the 32 letters in alphabet order; c, q, w and z only as extra letters)
- Wikipedia, Icelandic orthography (32 letters; the names of the letters; z dropped in 1973, so verzlun became verslun)
- Eiríkur Rögnvaldsson, University of Iceland, Stafsetning og greinarmerkjasetning (z was removed from written Icelandic by a Ministry of Education notice in September 1973; in Icelandic)
- Wiktionary, verslun (Icelandic noun: shop, store; older spelling verzlun)
- Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, Ritreglur (the official Icelandic spelling rules)
- Bubblegum: Icelandic Alphabet course (the sound of each plain and accented vowel, au, ei and ey, j, hv, ll, f before n or l, pp, tt and kk, and stress on the first syllable)
