The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Icelandic language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
See Icelandic phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Icelandic.
Consonants
IPA
Examples
English approximation
c
g ys
sk ew
cʰ
k ær
c ute
ç
hj á
h ue
ð
verð a
weath er
f
f yrir, dýp ka
f un
ɣ
lag a
(like Spanish trig o )
h
h ús
h op
ʰc
ekk i
sk ew (with an h sound before it)
ʰk
þakk a
sk y (with an h sound before it)
ʰp
tapp i
sp y (with an h sound before it)
ʰt
stutt
st y (with an h sound before it)
j
j ú, lag i
y es
k
g öng , lík a
sk y
kʰ
k oma, h ver[1]
k ite
l
l íf
l eap
l̥
stel pa, öll [2]
(voiceless, like hl )
m
m iði
m oon
m̥
lam pi
(voiceless, like hm )
n
n íu
n oon
n̥
hn ífur
(voiceless, like hn )
ɲ
len gi
cany on
ɲ̊
ban ki [ˈpauɲ̊cɪ]
(voiceless, like hny )
ŋ
ung s
sing
ŋ̊
þung t
(voiceless, like hng )
p
b öl, hjálp a, naf ni
sp y
pʰ
p áfi
p ie
r
r ós
r ing (trilled)
r̥
hr einn
(voiceless, like hr )
s
s aga
s ing
t
d agur, út , öl l,[2] sein na
st y
tʰ
t ala
t ie
θ
þ að
th ink
v
af i, v erk
v ery
x
sjúk t, sag t
Bach
xʷ
hv er[1]
wh y (without the wine –whine merger )
Vowels [3]
IPA
Examples
English approximation
Monophthongs
a
Ka rl
a rt
aː
ra ka
fa ther
ɛ
ke nna
be t
ɛː
ne ma[4]
roughly like ye s
i
fí nt, sý ndi
lea f
iː
lí f, hlý t
lea ve
ɪ
y rði
ki t
ɪː
y fir, vi ta
ki d
ɔ
lo ft [lɔft]
RP /Australian ho t
ɔː
vo n [vɔːn] [4]
roughly like wa ter
œ
dö kk [tœʰk]
Somewhat like nur se
œː
ö l [œːl] [4]
like French actue l but with lips rounded even at the end
u
u ngur
boo t
uː
nú na [ˈnuːna]
foo d
ʏ
u pp [ʏʰp]
German mü tter
ʏː
ku l [kʰʏːl]
German schö n
Diphthongs
ai
æ tla
RP righ t
aiː
æ fing
pie
au
sjá lfur
mou th
auː
pá fi
allow
ei
e ngi
pa ce
eiː
hei m
pay
ou
hó ll
goa t
ouː
kó lna
go
øi
lau st
roughly like Louie , but shorter
øiː
au ga
roughly like Louie
Other symbols
IPA
Explanation
ˈ◌
Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable),langur [ˈlauŋ̊kʏr̥]
^ a b Hver is pronounced differently depending on dialect.
^ a b Double ll is pronounced [tl̥] , as if spelled tl .
^ Vowels are usually long if they are stressed and followed by no more than one consonant double consonant. Vowel length is not phonemic .
^ a b c Long [ɛː, ɔː, œː] are most typically realized as smooth transitions from [ɪ, ʊ, ʏ] to [ɛː, ɔː, œː] . Thus, they are monophthongs phonologically and diphthongs phonetically (Árnason 2011 :60, Gussmann 2011 :71, 88).
Bibliography [ edit ]
Comparisons Introductory guides