Iceland and Language
The official language of Iceland is
known as Icelandic, which has its origins in Northern Germanic languages. Modern
Icelandic is very similar to the Norwegian and Faroese languages, as both originated
from the Old Norse language and have evolved overtime to their respective
languages. Icelandic is spoken by approximately 300,000 people, most of who
reside in Iceland. Icelandic has evolved very little from Old Norse, and
Icelandic speakers are able to read Old Norse with great ease, although
pronunciation has changed. There are no dialects that exist within the language
or by their speakers. (EBSCO).
To those who
do not speak Icelandic, they use English as a Lingua Franca. Lingua Franca is
defined as “a language or mixture of languages used as a medium of
communication by people whose native languages are different”. (ThoughtCo). English
is actually taught as a second language in Iceland, and most, if not all
Icelanders can speak and understand English fluently. (EBSCO). If you were to
travel to Iceland, you would likely be able to communicate to anyone there with
great ease, so communication would be therefore effective between yourself and
the Icelanders. Students in Iceland are also required to study Danish alongside
English, which would also be considered a Lingua Franca, if you were able to
speak and understand Danish. (EBSCO).
How do you say this in Icelandic?
These translations and
pronunciations are provided by Guide to Iceland, Island Hotel, and Google
Translate
§ Hello translates to Halló (ha-loh)
§ Yes translates to Já (yow)
§ No translates to Nei (nay)
§ Please translates to Vinsamlegast (vin-saam-leh-gast)
§ Thank you translates to Takk fyrir (tahk
fe-reer)
§ “Can you help me?” translates to “Geturðu
hjálpað mér.?” (geh-tür-thü hyaul-path myair?)
§ “I don’t understand.” translates to
“Ég skil ekki.” ("Yeh skeel eh-kih")
§ “I don’t speak Icelandic.”
translates to “Ég tala ekki íslensku” (yeh tah-la eh-ki ees-lensku)
§ “My name is (your name).”
translates to “Ég heiti ….” (yeh hay-ti)
Learning
these terms before traveling to Iceland can be very helpful, as they are simple
terms, but are important terms that many of us use in everyday life. We tend to
greet people daily, so by learning how to say hello or a simple greeting can be
helpful. Also learning the terms for yes or no are probably one of the most
important bits of language you can learn, as you are likely going to need to
respond to a question, and by a simple yes or no, you are able to communicate
effectively. The most difficult of these words to pronounce is likely the words/terms
above is probably íslensku, which is the native term for Icelandic. While you
probably don’t necessarily need to know how to say this word, it is still
helpful in times you may be visiting Iceland.
Using Google Translate to translate
Icelandic
I have taken a paragraph from the
Icelandic Travel Website that discusses the geology of Iceland, written
originally in Icelandic. I took a paragraph from the article and translated it
via Google Translate. Here are the results:
Original
Paragraph in Icelandic:
Litla
ísöld: Árið 2012 komu fram niðurstöður rannsókna setlaga í Hvítárvatni, sem
benda til fjögurra stórra eldgosa á árabilinu 1275-1300, sem ollu verulegri
kólnun langt fram á 19. öld. Íslenzkir og bandarískir vísindamenn voru þarna að
verki og þeir álíta að þessi setlög geri þeim kleift að tímasetja litlu
ísöldina nokkuð nákvæmlega (Áslaug Geirsdóttir, prófessor við jarðvísindadeild
H.Í.; skv. fréttum 1. febrúar 2012). (Íslenski ferðavefurinn).
The
same paragraph, translated by Google Translate:
Little Ice
Age: In 2012, results of sediment studies in Hvítárvatn were published,
indicating four major volcanic eruptions between 1275 and 1300, which caused
significant cooling well into the 19th century. Icelandic and American
scientists were working there, and they believe that these sediments allow them
to date the Little Ice Age quite precisely (Áslaug Geirsdóttir, professor at
the Faculty of Earth Sciences, H.Í; according to news reports on February 1,
2012). (The Icelandic Travel Website).
By
analyzing the paragraphs, both in Icelandic and in English, they seem to
actually translate very easily. As mentioned above, Icelandic speakers also do
learn English in schools, so translation and understanding what Icelandic
speakers are saying seems to be relatively straightforward, and there seem to
be little to no issues by using translation technology in order to understand
the Icelandic language.
“Language influences our view of
reality”
“Language
influences the view of our reality”. This phrase means that the words, the
structure, and the vocabulary of our language help and influence the way that
we perceive, categorize, and how we interpret the world. This is also known as
the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, or linguistic relativity. (EBSCO). Essentially, the
native language that one speaks tends to influence one’s thought processes, and
the way they perceive the world. I tend to think that this makes sense for how
many of us perceive the world. You can use gender language and terms as an
example, where many languages tend to have a term for inanimate objects and are
then assigned a gender. Mother Earth is a great example in the English language.
In turn, this then can cause the speakers to describe these objects with either
masculine and feminine terms. This is just one example of many of linguistic
relativity, and how it tends to influence our perceptions on the world.
References and Sources
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/language-and-linguistics/icelandic-language
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-lingua-franca-1691237
https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/the-difficult-icelandic-language
https://www.islandshotel.is/explore-iceland/blog/icelandic-phrases/
https://translate.google.com/?sl=is&tl=en&op=translate
https://is.nat.is/jardfraedi-islands/
Image Sourced from: A Smart Translator's Reunion