Master all 32 Icelandic letters — including 6 you have never seen before — to read signs, menus, and road maps across Iceland
Icelandic is the closest living descendant of Old Norse — the language spoken by the Vikings. Because Iceland is a remote island nation, the language was never heavily influenced by Latin, French, or German as other Scandinavian languages were. Most Icelanders can read 800-year-old sagas in the original manuscript without any translation — something no Norwegian, Danish, or Swedish speaker can do with their own medieval texts. The letters Þ and Ð both existed in Old English too (you may have seen "Ye Olde Shoppe" — that "Y" was originally a Þ, thorn!).
These pronunciation rules trip up almost every English-speaking traveler. Master these and you will sound dramatically more natural.
J in Icelandic is always "Y" — think of it as a Y wearing a J costume.
Two L's together sound like "tl" — practice with the word "bottle" said quickly.
Thorn (Þ) pricks your tongue — unvoiced breath between the teeth.
Eth (Ð) is the voiced version — say "the" with your tongue between your teeth.
F gets lazy in the middle of words and sounds like V.
HV is an ancient combination — always pronounce it as "kv".
G goes soft before front vowels — like the "y" in "yes".
Double-N surprises everyone — it sounds like "dn".
Need to search Google Maps for a destination? Copy these characters or learn the keyboard shortcuts.
Click any character to copy it to your clipboard. Use for Google Maps, messaging, etc.
| Character | Mac Shortcut | Copy |
|---|---|---|
| Á á | Option+E then A | |
| É é | Option+E then E | |
| Í í | Option+E then I | |
| Ó ó | Option+E then O | |
| Ú ú | Option+E then U | |
| Ö ö | Option+U then O | |
| Þ þ | No shortcut — copy/paste | |
| Ð ð | No shortcut — copy/paste | |
| Æ æ | No shortcut — copy/paste |
Test your knowledge of Icelandic sounds — 5 questions.
Common questions from travelers learning about the Icelandic alphabet.