daily icelandic issue 2
TRANSCRIPT
Daily Icelandic A magazine for the language, culture, and news of Iceland.
Issue two
Above: An airplane/aeroplane (flugvél). Front: Iceland’s only train (járnbrautarlest). It’s not operational.
Back: A ship (skip).
Innihald:
Pronunciation, pg. 2 Slang and Cognates, pg. 14 Grammar (Málfræði), pg. 3 – 6 Tourist Phrases, pg. 15
Greetings, pg. 7 Textbook Reviews, pg. 15 -‐ 16 Dialogue & Exercises, pg. 8 Links to Additional Info, pg. 17
News (Fréttir) and Misc., pg. 9 -‐ 13 Credits and About Us, pg. 18
Pronunciation The letter, which makes the sound of..., when....
* An exception is when there is no vowel before the gj combination. If indeed there is a consonant instead of a vowel then the g makes the regular g sound. ** Two vowels directly next to each other will keep their regular sound even if followed by a combination that would normally make both vowels individually change sound. *** Short vowels are the vowels not listed in the row directly above this. **** This sound does not exist in English. It’s like “tl” in “settle” or like a “tchl” sound. Place your tongue as if to make the t sound and push air out to the sides. Extra: Words ending in i (ih) sound like they end in í (ee). Starting from this issue there will be less pronunciation help.
A Á (ow) Before ng and nk E Ei (ey in hey) Before ng, nk, gi, gj
I and Y Í (ee) Before ng, nk, gi, gj O Ó (oh) Before ng and nk U Ú (oo) Before ng and nk Ö Au (oi) Before ng, nk, gi, gj G J (y) Before i Gi Ee (ee) O or u before gi G Silent Before j* A Æ (eye) Before gi and gj Tt Tt in shutter Always Dd Dd in bedding Always Gg K in kitchen Always Nn Tn in catnap After æ, au, ei, ey, á, é, í, ó, ú, ý Nn Nn in running After short vowels*** Ll Tl in settle Almost always**** Hv Kv Always P F in father Before t and k F V in vest In the middle and end of words F P in pet Before l and n
Grammar: Að búa – To live, reside Here are the conjugations for the verb að búa (to live, to reside), similar to the chart previously for að vera and að heita.
1st Person 2nd Person 3rd Person Singular Ég bý
I live Þú býrð You live
Hann/Hún/Það býr He/She/It lives
Plural Við búum We live
Þið búið You guys live
Þeir/Þær/Þau búa They(m/f/mix) live
Inside a convenience store.
Cans, Tins – Dósir (doe-‐sihr) Plastic -‐ Plast Liquorice – Lakkrís (lack-‐reese) Chocolate – Súkkulaði (soo-‐kuh-‐lathy)
Pea, Bean, Lentil – Baun Lentil soup (of chickpeas) -‐ Baunir Corn – Maís Store – Verslun
Country names, “Where are you from?” Icelandic English
Hvaðan ert þú? Where are you from? (From where are you?)
Hvaðan kemur þú? Hvaðan komið þið?
Where do you come from? (From where come you?)
Ég er frá I am from Brasilíu Brazil Kanada Canada Kína China Danmörku Denmark Englandi England Finnlandi Finland Frakklandi France Þýskalandi Germany Íslandi Iceland Japan Japan Noregi Norway Rússlandi Russia Spáni Spain Svíþjóð Sweden Bandaríkjunum United States of America, The
The letters í and á are prepositions (words expressing relation, ex. on the bus, after dinner, what did you do it for?). We will only learn one of their uses at the moment, and that is the function of “in” in the phrase, “I live in (country)”. You usually use í if the country starts with a consonant, á if it starts with a vowel. All the words in the above list are that way. One exception is with Greenland, where you say “á Grænnlandi”. When saying “I am from…” you do not use í or á, just like in English. Country names are capitalized. Examples: Þær eru frá Spáni – They are from Spain. Hann er frá Finnlandi – He is from Finland. Ég bý í Danmörku – I live in Denmark. Við búum á Íslandi – We live in Iceland.
Yes, no, not, and questions vs. sentences Ekki – Not Nei – No Já, Jú – Yes. Já is used with regular questions, such as “Ert þú Jón? -‐ Are you Jón?”. Jú is used with “negative” questions, meaning questions with “not” in them. Remember that isn’t, haven’t, don’t, et cetera really mean: is not, have not, do not. You would use “jú” with those. An example of this is “Ert þú ekki Jón? – Are you not Jón, Aren’t you Jón?”. You would answer yes with “jú”. Sentence structure for sentences. Subject Verb Adverb Preposition Object/Predicate Þú Ert Frá Rússlandi. You Are From Russia. Þú Ert Ekki Frá Rússlandi. You Are Not From Russia.
Sentence structure for questions. Verb Subject Adverb Preposition Object/Predicate Ert Þú Frá Rússlandi? Are You From Russia? Ert Þú Ekki Frá Rússlandi? Are You Not From Russia?
Examples: Ert þú frá Englandi? – Are you from England? Já, ég er frá Englandi – Yes, I am from England. Nei, ég er ekki frá Englandi – No, I am not from England. Ert þú ekki frá Englandi? – Are you not (aren’t you) from England? Þú ert frá Englandi, er það ekki? – You are from England, isn’t that right (Literally: You are from England, is it not)? Jú, ég er frá Englandi – Yes, I am from England.
“-‐ing” and “a” Gerunds are words with –ing endings and something you can substitute with a noun, as in “I am a cat, I like cats – I am talking, I like talking”. Gerunds are the “infinitive” form of the word with –ing added. The infinitive forms are to talk, to walk, to mail, as in “I like to talk”. Infinitives and gerunds in Icelandic are exactly the same. Infinitive forms are að (to) plus the verb.
Example: To talk, speak – Að tala I am talking – Ég er að tala Now, just now – Núna I am talking now – Ég er að tala núna I want to talk – Mig langar að tala I was talking just now – Ég var að tala núna To learn, study – Að læra I am learning – Ég er að læra I am learning Icelandic – Ég er að læra íslensku (language names are not capitalized) I want to learn Icelandic – Mig langar að læra íslensku I am not learning Icelandic – Ég er ekki að læra íslensku Are you learning Icelandic? – Ert þú að læra íslensku? The “indefinite article” is the word “a” or “an”, for example an apple, a dog. This is only implied in Icelandic, there is no real word for “a”. So in Icelandic you would just say dog, instead of a dog. Example: I am a student (Literally: I am student) -‐ Ég er nemandi I am not a student – Ég er ekki nemandi I am a student now – Ég er nemandi núna I was a student – Ég var nemandi Are you a student? – Ert þú nemandi? This is an apple (Literally: this is apple) -‐ Þetta er epli Here is an apple – Hér er epli To eat – að borða I am eating an apple – Ég er að borða epli I want to eat an apple now – Mig langar að borða epli núna
Greetings and phrases: Nice to meet you. -‐ Gleður mig að kynnast þér, Gaman að kynnast þér. Likewise. -‐ Somuleiðis.
Hi, what’s going on? -‐ Hæ, hvað er um að vera? What's new? -‐ Hvað er að frétta? What's up? (Lit: What say you good/kindly?) -‐ Hvað segir þú gott? How's it going? -‐ Hvernig gengur? What do you want? -‐ Hvað viljið þer?
Nothing much. -‐ Ekkert mikið. I don’t have a clue (Lit: I have not little idea) -‐ Ég hef ekki minnstu hugmynd. I’m fine, I’m good. – Ég segi allt gott/ágætt.
See you later! -‐ Bless á meðan, Sjáumst síðar. Bye all! -‐ Bless allir!
A window of Bónus (Bonus), the cheapest grocery store.
Grocery store, Grocery shop – Matvöruverslun, Matvörubúð Circle, Ring -‐ Baugur Pig – Grís
Shopping trolly/cart – Kerra What’s for dinner? – Hvað er í matinn?
Example dialogue: Jón: Hæ! Hvað heitir þú? Hi! What is your name? (Hi! Kvath hey-‐tihr thoo?) Sarah: Halló! Ég heiti Sarah. Ég bý í Kanada og ég er að læra íslensku. Hvaðan ert þú? Hello! My name is Sarah. I live in Canada and I am learning Icelandic. Where are you from? (Hallo! Yehg hey-‐tea Sarah. Yehg bee ee Canada aw yehg air ath lie-‐rah eese-‐len-‐skoo. Kva-‐than air-‐t thoo?)
Jón: Ég heiti Jón. Ég er frá Íslandi. Ég er að læra ensku. My name is Jón. I am from Iceland. I am learning English. (Yehg hey-‐tea Yo-‐hn. Yehg air frow Ees-‐landy. Yehg air ath lie-‐rah ehn-‐skoo.) Sarah: Gaman að kynnast þér. Nice to meet you. (Gah-‐mahn ath kin-‐nahst th-‐yer.) Jón: Somuleiðis! Likewise! (Soo-‐muh-‐lay-‐this!) Exercises: (Fill in the blank) _____________________________ He is from Germany Við __________________________ Íslandi We live in Iceland Hann ________________________ Noregi He lives in Norway Þær _________________________ They live in Russia _____________________________ You all are from England (Translate to Icelandic then convert sentences to questions and vice-‐versa) Example: You are from France. Aren’t you from France? Isn’t he from Sweden? _____________________________ He is a student _____________________________ Don’t they (m) live in Finland? ___________________________ We live in the United States. _____________________________ You guys are from Iceland, aren’t you? ________________________ Don’t you all live in Spain? ______________________________ He is learning Icelandic now _____________________________
Fairly Recent News: The Prime Minister of Iceland, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, married Jónína Leósdóttir in June 2010. They had previously been in a civil union together but this makes them “officially” wife and wife.
The civil unions that were previously available had the exact same rights as marriage for straight couples, it was just a different name.
Vocabulary: Couple, married couple – Hjón Marriage – Hjónaband Marital law -‐ Hjúskaparlög Prime Minister/Premier -‐ Forsætisráðherra My time will come! -‐ Minn tími mun koma! Are the beds in the two-‐person rooms separate? -‐ Eru rúmin í tveggja manna herbergjunum aðskilin
“Te & Kaffi” is a shop that also sells sweets/candy.
Tea -‐ Te Coffee -‐ Kaffi Automobile -‐ Bíll
Excellent Cup -‐ Framúrskarandi bolli Website – Vefsetur And – Og
History:
People used to throw soap in geysers to get them to erupt. This was especially popular with the soldiers during WWII out of sheer boredom. You could also cook your food in hot springs (like eggs) or in the heat of a geyser.
There were no real roads in Iceland until the Danish royalty came, then they made a single one to cater to their sensitive-‐rulers-‐who-‐never-‐
visited. This was for the most part the only real road until the American occupation in WWII, where the soldiers made a bunch.
Vocabulary:
Soap – Sápa Street, road – Stræti Coach, Carriage, Vehicle – Vagn Meet, Hit – Hitta Damn Dane fool -‐ Helvítis andskotans danafífl
Witches:
When there were witch burnings taking place in various countries, Iceland also participated. However unlike most countries, Iceland burned mostly men. Despite this the first person to be burned alive was a woman, and it was for treason. (Disclaimer: This was from memory, the facts may not be accurate.)
Vocabulary: Hag, Vixen, Witch -‐ Skass Witch – Norn To burn, be on fire – Að brenna Betrayal, Treachery, Fraud – Svik High treason – Landráð Woman -‐ Kona Man – Karlmaðu
Pufflings -‐
In summer the inhabitants of Heimaey take to the streets at night to find fledgling puffins (pufflings) that land in the city during their first migration. Atlantic Puffins use the moon to navigate when they migrate and the streetlights disrupt inexperienced pufflings’ flights.
The birds are captured, placed in boxes, and kept until morning. Then they’re taken to the beach and thrown into the air by the children.
The pufflings fly out into the ocean after they’re thrown. Finding the pufflings is a popular thing for children to do and without their help, the little birds would be mauled and/or eaten by cats and dogs.
Vocabulary: Puffling -‐ Lundapysja In the night, At night – Að nóttu til To flee, escape – Að flýja To throw – Að kasta Kids -‐ Krakkar
Weather in Iceland (Reykjavík)
Although Iceland is only two degrees south of the article circle it is relatively warm in climate due to being near the Gulf Stream. The average temperature is around 0°C/32°F in winter and 10 to 15/50 to 59° in summer, however Reykjavík is very windy and you need to take that wind chill factor into effect. The countryside, depending on where you go, can be colder or warmer than the capital.
Due to the “midnight sun” effect there is almost constant daylight in the middle of summer and almost no daylight in the middle of winter.
Vocabulary:
The Arctic Circle – Norðurheimskautsbaugurinn Climate -‐ Loftslag Winter -‐ Vetur Summer -‐ Sumar Daylight -‐ Dagsbirta Darkness -‐ Myrkur Precipitation -‐ Úrkoma
The view outside Café.
Meet House -‐ Hitt Húsið
Red -‐ Rauður
Pedestrian -‐ Fótgangandi
He said he would come -‐ Hann sagðist ætla að koma
Music:
Erla Þorsteinsdóttir’s voice is very clear and you can follow along with her songs and hear the different syllables in her words easily. Her songs are very good for listening practice and learning new vocabulary. However, her music is older and it might be difficult to find CDs and lyrics.
Áramótaskaupið:
“The New Year’s Comedy” is an annual television special shown before midnight on New Year’s. The show receives some of the highest ratings in the world and it consists of satirical skits that poke fun at the events that happened in the past year, for example how the government has acted. Most Icelanders watch the show and sometimes the skits are subtitled. You can watch the show online after it has aired if you missed it.
Things to visit and do:
In Reykjavík: -‐ Visit Eymundsson. It’s a book store where you can buy things in Icelandic, English, and other major languages. There are multiple floors
and a café is up a few flights of stairs.
-‐ See a movie. You can find show times in the local paper or wander to the theatre and catch something random. They show a lot of foreign films and most likely you’ll see some of the same English-‐language ones you can find at home, but the Icelandic movie theatre experience is slightly unique.
If you’re lucky, you’re in Iceland when the foreign film festival is happening. Most or all of the movies are subtitled in English and if you want to see a lot of them you can buy all your tickets at once for a discount. Since not all of the movies take place in the same building you can see inside various places you might not have traveled to otherwise. Last year you could buy tickets at Eymundsson.
-‐ See a protest or hazing. Protests are more common these days, and hazing is a very popular thing to do to new students of all ages. If you’re in the right spot at the right time you might manage to catch one or both of these things – chances are you’ll have no clue what’s going on, but there will be music and people.
A scene in a James Bond movie was filmed here.
Glacier -‐ Jökull Beach -‐ Strönd Black -‐ Svartur
Sand – Sandur Tourist – Ferðamaður Boat -‐ Bátur
Fish Pancakes (Fisklummur):
Leftover, cooked fish (fisk) 1 small laukur 3 msk. mjöl 2 kartöflur
Garlic (hvítlaukur) 1 msk. Kartöflumjöl 1 egg Milk (mjólk)
Remove the bones (bein) from the fish and flake with a fork. Mince the cooked potatoes, chop the onion, add garlic for taste. Add the flours, beaten egg, and thin with milk until it is like thin porridge or pancake dough. Fry as with pancakes on medium heat.
Traits of Icelanders: Icelanders eat most things with knives and forks. This can include pizza, chips/French fries, and hamburgers.
When driving they act as if they’re the only ones on the road, make abrupt U-‐turns, and run red lights. Occasionally one person will run a red light, and so will the car behind them. But don’t worry, driving in Iceland is just as safe as in your
home country -‐ possibly even safer, because there is a low population in Iceland which makes traffic light.
Vocabulary: Knife – Hnífur Fork – Gaffall Pizza – Pitsa Chips/Fries -‐ Franskar Kartöflur Hamburger -‐ Hamborgari It’ll be alright, It’ll turn out fine -‐ Þetta reddast
Slang, Cognates, Et Cetera: Box, boxing – Box Book – Bók House – Hús Mother – Móðir Father – Faðir Brother – Bróðir
Sister – Systir Step(mother) – Stjúp(móðir) Yoghurt – Jógúrt Broccoli – Brokkolí, Spergilkál Sour milk (type of yoghurt) -‐ Súrmjólk
The truth sounds more like a lie (Fact is stranger than fiction) -‐ Sannleikurinn er lyginni líkastur.
To talk nineteen to the dozen (often used sarcastically to comment that someone is being quiet or unresponsive) -‐ Samkjafta ekki. Similar pays visit to similar (It takes one to know one) -‐ Líkur sækir líkan heim.
It’s like you ate a mad man’s shit (“Used to describe someone acting like a crazy bitch.”) -‐ Það er eins og þú hafir étið óðs manns skit.
I come completely from the mountains (I have no idea what you’re talking about / what’s going on) -‐ Ég kem alveg af fjöllum.
Tourist Vocabulary and Phrases:
What do you call this in Icelandic?
Hvað heitir þetta á íslensku?
What is this? Hvað er þetta? Do you want… Viltu… Do you want the receipt? Viltu miðann/kvittun/strimilinn? May I offer you a receipt? Má bjóða þér miðann/kvittun/strimilinn? That is 8767 crowns. Það eru/gera 8767 krónur. Anything else? (Var það) eitthvað fleira? Do you want a bag? Viltu poka? May I offer you a bag? Má bjóða þér poka?
All you need to understand is “fleira”, “poka”, “kvittun”, “miðann”, and “strimilinn”. Then reply with já/nei, takk. Always say “takk – thanks”. In Iceland you almost always bag your own groceries, so make sure to do this yourself.
Ordering more: Fleiri – more (a greater number) Meira – more (in quantity) You'd say fleiri blýantar (more pencils) but meira kaffi (more coffee). You can't say "fleira kaffi" because kaffi can't be counted in numbers.
Learning Resource Reviews: 1.) The Icelandic Online website is poorly laid out and difficult to use in the beginning. The grammar explanations are mostly just charts. There’s little way of checking your mistakes for the example dialogue and reading passages. The mini activities tell you how much you got wrong or right, but not exactly which answers were correct or incorrect. Icelandic Online also only
provides the minimum amount of Icelandic needed to pass the exam in order to get into the bachelor’s degree program for Icelandic as a second language at the University of Iceland. However, the site does contain a lot of learning materials and once one is acquainted with the basics of Icelandic, it is easy to figure out most learning objects. From then on the site is very helpful.
2.) Lærum Íslensku contains a lot of vocabulary and useful conjugation charts as well as grammar. However, the textbook is very thick and the grammar is spread out between many pages of vocabulary charts. This makes the textbook overwhelming with the amount of memorization required between moving onto new lessons and makes it very tedious to go through. The lessons are also very wordy and difficult to read even while containing good information.
3.) Beginner's Icelandic consists of fourteen chapters, each with grammar, dialogue, and exercises. Two audio CDs are included with
the book. They do a good job of breaking down the grammar and teaching it simply, while also teaching some phrases or expressions not found in other textbooks. They have more realistic dialogues than some other textbooks. However the book has typos in its Icelandic and the audio CDs fall out of their slots if you don't tape them closed (they don't close on their own). The typos make me wary about the accuracy of the book overall.
One of the many tourist destinations. Nature -‐ Náttúra Rocks -‐ Grjót Mountain – Fjall Gravel bed -‐ Melur Gravel bank -‐ Malarkambur
Links:
Community for practicing languages – http://community.livejournal.com/pidginpost/
Conjugation and declinations (type into the search box, ex. heita) -‐ http://bin.arnastofnun.is/
Eymundsson (book store) -‐ http://www.eymundsson.is/
Icelandic Saga Database (in Icelandic, Old Norse, English) -‐ http://www.sagadb.org/
Learning Nordic Languages Forum -‐ http://learningnordic.yuku.com/ Music Lyrics: -‐ http://www.gitargrip.is/ Vísir (news in Icelandic) -‐ http://www.visir.is
Weather -‐ http://www.vedur.is/
Learning Icelandic in Iceland:
Eighty-‐hour intensive summer course in Iceland. http://www.arnastofnun.is Icelandic classes both online and in Iceland http://www.netskoli.is/ Multiple programs and program lengths for learning Icelandic. Some for credit/degrees and some not. http://hi.is/
Credits & About Us:Extritio – Beta and Icelander Bridge – Beta and Writer JP – Writer and Photographer
Pyrr – Beta and Writer Snu – Photographer and Icelander X – Beta and Writer
Table -‐ Borð Chair -‐ Stóll Folder -‐ Mappa Shelf -‐ Hilla Lamps -‐ Lampar
Sloping ceiling -‐ Súð Glass -‐ Gler Cabinet -‐ Skápur Ornaments – Skart Wood, Timber, Lumber -‐ Timbur
More issues available in the future from www.lulu.com. The print forms are black and white compilations of the PDFs, which are in colour. If you have suggestions, questions, etc. Email [email protected].
