The Icelandic Alphabet

Level 1

The Icelandic alphabet has 32 letters. Next to the familiar Latin letters it has ð, þ, æ, ö and six accented vowels, á é í ó ú ý.

How It Works

These are the 32 letters in dictionary 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

  • Accented vowels are separate letters. á is not a louder a. It is a different sound, and it has its own place in the alphabet right after a. See á é í ó ú ý.
  • Two letters for th. þ (thorn) is the th in thin, and ð (eth) is the th in this. No word starts with ð, so the capital Ð is only seen when a whole word is written in capitals. See ð and þ.
  • æ and ö are letters of their own. æ sounds like the English word eye. ö is a rounded vowel a bit like the u in fur. See æ au ei ey.
  • y and ý sound like i and í. They are still separate letters, and you learn which one a word uses from its spelling. See y spelling.

Letters Icelandic does not use. Ordinary Icelandic words write the k sound with k (kaffi, coffee), write the kv sound with kv or hv (kvöld, evening; hvað, what), and use v for w. The letter z was dropped from ordinary spelling in 1973, so an older beztur is now bestur (best). A foreign z usually becomes s or ts: pítsa (pizza). You still see c, q, w and z in foreign names such as Zürich or Washington.

Dictionary order. Each accented vowel follows its plain vowel, ð follows d, and þ, æ, ö close the alphabet. So þakka (to thank) is found near the end of a dictionary, after every word beginning with y or ý. When c, q, w or z does appear, as in a foreign name, it is sorted in its Latin place: c after b, q after p, w after v, and z between ý and þ.

Examples (5)

  1. Ég heiti Þórður.

    My name is Þórður.

    Word by Word: I am-called Þórður.

    The name starts with þ and has ð in the middle, and ó is a letter of its own.

  2. Hún býr í Reykjavík.

    She lives in Reykjavík.

    Word by Word: She lives in Reykjavík.

    ý and í are separate letters from y and i. The ey in Reykjavík is one vowel sound.

  3. Ég drekk kaffi á hverjum degi.

    I drink coffee every day.

    Word by Word: I drink coffee on every day.

    Icelandic writes the k sound with k, never c.

  4. Við pöntuðum pítsu.

    We ordered a pizza.

    Word by Word: We ordered pizza.

    The loanword pítsa has ts in place of the foreign zz.

  5. Börnin eru í skólanum.

    The children are at school.

    Word by Word: The-children are in the-school.

    ö is its own letter and comes last in the alphabet.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing th or d in place of þ and ð.

    Ég heiti Thordur.
    Ég heiti Þórður.

    In Icelandic text, þ and ð are always written as letters of their own. The spellings th and d are only used when Icelandic letters are not available, such as in the machine-readable line of a passport.

  • Leaving the accents off vowels.

    Hun byr i Reykjavik.
    Hún býr í Reykjavík.

    An accented vowel is a different letter with a different sound. Without the accents, hun is not an Icelandic word, and byr means a fair wind instead of she lives.

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The Icelandic AlphabetLevel 1

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