Icelandic

[Zaarin]

Okay, this is my first post here so I guess I'll start by saying (briefly) a little bit about myself. I've been "conlanging" for years, if you can call my early creations that. Like many, I was initially inspired by Tolkien; later I learned more about linguistics (especially from Mark's languages and language construction kit [the web version and now the book version]) and started creating better languages. I don't really have anything to show just yet on that count, though. Yet.

Anyway, I've recently taken a semi-whimsical interest in Icelandic and I want to learn it. Problem is, Iceland is a somewhat obscure country (only 320,000 people according to Wikipedia), there's no Rosetta Stone for Icelandic, I have no plans of going to Iceland anytime soon, and I don't happen to know any Icelanders. Any suggestions?

On that note, does anyone know where one might find future projects of Rosetta Stone. Searching high and low has done nothing for me.

[finlay]

a "Teach Yourself" book? A friend had one like that and I read a bit of it aloud – apparently I had quite a wide grin on my face.

And listen to Sigur Rós.

Oh and may i offer you some pickles and tea

[rickardspaghetti]

You should talk to Skomakar'n or Vecfaranti. You're more likely to run into Skomakar'n and he's probably more likely to share his (somewhat perverse) interest in Icelandic, but Vecfaranti is native.

[Zaarin]

Thanks for the tips. I've been listening to Disney songs in Icelandic on YouTube. So far I've picked up já "yes," nei "no," and ást "love."

[Aszev]

Colloquial Icelandic is supposed to be pretty good

[Zaarin]

Colloquial Icelandic is supposed to be pretty good

Thanks, I'll look into that.

[tiramisu]

I've never actually found a good resource for studying Icelandic. They're all crappy for one reason or another.

I would suggest, however, the Hippocrene dictionary and Teach Yourself Icelandic (the one by PJ Glendenning). The latter has been highly criticized, but I've actually found that if you go through it and make some organized notes (I was able to condense all my notes into a useful 2 pages front-and-back, in fact), it's a great grammar resource. Other notes from the book are online at www.samkoma.com/mimir/mimir.htm if you're hurting for money, but I would suggest you obtain a copy for yourself -- Mímir leaves out a lot of explanation and irregularities.

http://icelandic.hi.is is also decent, but I've never personally gotten too far in it. Probably because it's more practical if you're planning on going to Iceland than if you're planning to read Icelandic.

But here's the thing -- Icelandic is pretty easy to practice. For some reason, Icelanders are all over the internet, and Iceland is famous for its incredible output of culture (Björk, Sigur Rós, Lazytown, etc., among the fact that Iceland publishes more per capita than any other country). They are very worldly too. I first met Icelanders while in the West Bank last summer.

[Skomakar'n]

You should talk to Skomakar'n or Vecfaranti. You're more likely to run into Skomakar'n and he's probably more likely to share his (somewhat perverse) interest in Icelandic, but Vecfaranti is native.

Here I am. If you want me to PM you my Skype or MSN address, just ask me.

[Zaarin]

I've never actually found a good resource for studying Icelandic. They're all crappy for one reason or another.

I would suggest, however, the Hippocrene dictionary and Teach Yourself Icelandic (the one by PJ Glendenning). The latter has been highly criticized, but I've actually found that if you go through it and make some organized notes (I was able to condense all my notes into a useful 2 pages front-and-back, in fact), it's a great grammar resource. Other notes from the book are online at www.samkoma.com/mimir/mimir.htm if you're hurting for money, but I would suggest you obtain a copy for yourself -- Mímir leaves out a lot of explanation and irregularities.

http://icelandic.hi.is is also decent, but I've never personally gotten too far in it. Probably because it's more practical if you're planning on going to Iceland than if you're planning to read Icelandic.

But here's the thing -- Icelandic is pretty easy to practice. For some reason, Icelanders are all over the internet, and Iceland is famous for its incredible output of culture (Björk, Sigur Rós, Lazytown, etc., among the fact that Iceland publishes more per capita than any other country). They are very worldly too. I first met Icelanders while in the West Bank last summer.

Thanks for the links and the suggestions. So basically once I actually learn the language I should have no trouble practicing? Well, that makes it better than my previous choice of Irish: I could Rosetta Stone but actually finding someone with more than school-level proficiency (I actually have friends in Ireland) would be the challenge.

You should talk to Skomakar'n or Vecfaranti. You're more likely to run into Skomakar'n and he's probably more likely to share his (somewhat perverse) interest in Icelandic, but Vecfaranti is native.

Here I am. If you want me to PM you my Skype or MSN address, just ask me.

Thanks. I don't currently use messenger, but I'll let you know if that changes.

[finlay]

(Björk, Sigur Rós, Lazytown, etc., among the fact that Iceland publishes more per capita than any other country)

presumably because it has such a small population....

[Åge Kruger]

The classic text is Einarsson's Icelandic: Grammar, Text and Glossary. The book is an absolute gem if you're a linguist, and a hellish, impractical nightmare if you're not. I find (found) it ideal for my requirements, but you might have different needs.

[Echobeats]

Colloquial Icelandic is supposed to be pretty good

+1. I love the Routledge Colloquial series, because while remaining practically orientated, they don't treat grammar as a dirty word.

Also, here is a very good online Icelandic dictionary from the University of Wisconsin. Use "headword only" for Icelandic to English and "entire entry" for English to Icelandic.

I highly recommend going on holiday to Iceland as soon as you can save up enough money. It's an incredible country, and not as expensive as it used to be since their currency collapsed.

Gangi þér vel!

[ayyub]

If I recall correctly, you can find both versions (the old, much more grammar focused, and the newer version mentioned above) of Teach Yourself Icelandic on uz-translations.net. If you can't find them, send me a message, I'll send them to you.

[Pthagnar]

If I recall correctly, you can find both versions (the old, much more grammar focused, and the newer version mentioned above) of Teach Yourself Icelandic on uz-translations.net. If you can't find them, send me a message, I'll send them to you.

Plus http://gigapedia.com/ has lots about Icelandic. If it annoys you, I am increasingly of the opinion that the interface is *purposefully* annoying, so consider it a challenge.

NE: including a 576 pp. book about syntax alone:

http://rapidshare.com/files/199617201/T ... landic.zip
The Syntax of Icelandic (Cambridge Syntax Guides)
By Höskuldur Thráinsson

Icelandic is a syntactically interesting language, with aspects of its word order, clause structure, agreement patterns and case system arousing much theoretical interest and debate in recent years. This is an informative and accessible guide to the structure of Icelandic, focusing in particular on those characteristics that have contributed greatly to syntactic research. Each chapter is divided into two main sections - providing both a descriptive overview and a discussion of the theoretical and comparative issues involved - and a wide range of topics are covered, including case, agreement, grammatical relations, thematic roles, word order, clause structure, fronting, extraposition, complement, adjuncts, pronouns, and inflection. Also explored in detail are the similarities and differences between Icelandic and other related languages. Presupposing only a basic knowledge of syntax and complete with an extensive bibliography, this comprehensive survey will be an important tool for all those working on the structure of Scandinavian and Germanic languages.

[Zaarin]

The classic text is Einarsson's Icelandic: Grammar, Text and Glossary. The book is an absolute gem if you're a linguist, and a hellish, impractical nightmare if you're not. I find (found) it ideal for my requirements, but you might have different needs.

I have a pretty good grasp of linguistics (though admittedly my focus has been historical and phonetic; some of my syntactic and grammatical terms are a bit rusty); I'll look into that one too.

Colloquial Icelandic is supposed to be pretty good

+1. I love the Routledge Colloquial series, because while remaining practically orientated, they don't treat grammar as a dirty word.

Also, here is a very good online Icelandic dictionary from the University of Wisconsin. Use "headword only" for Icelandic to English and "entire entry" for English to Icelandic.

I highly recommend going on holiday to Iceland as soon as you can save up enough money. It's an incredible country, and not as expensive as it used to be since their currency collapsed.

Gangi þér vel!

Bookmarked the dictionary. I'd love to go to Iceland, but my next out-of-country excursion is already set for Egypt (a lifelong dream of mine) and the one after that will very likely be Ireland. Iceland's definitely on my to-do list, though.

If I recall correctly, you can find both versions (the old, much more grammar focused, and the newer version mentioned above) of Teach Yourself Icelandic on uz-translations.net. If you can't find them, send me a message, I'll send them to you.

Plus http://gigapedia.com/ has lots about Icelandic. If it annoys you, I am increasingly of the opinion that the interface is *purposefully* annoying, so consider it a challenge.

NE: including a 576 pp. book about syntax alone:

http://rapidshare.com/files/199617201/T ... landic.zip
The Syntax of Icelandic (Cambridge Syntax Guides)
By Höskuldur Thráinsson

Icelandic is a syntactically interesting language, with aspects of its word order, clause structure, agreement patterns and case system arousing much theoretical interest and debate in recent years. This is an informative and accessible guide to the structure of Icelandic, focusing in particular on those characteristics that have contributed greatly to syntactic research. Each chapter is divided into two main sections - providing both a descriptive overview and a discussion of the theoretical and comparative issues involved - and a wide range of topics are covered, including case, agreement, grammatical relations, thematic roles, word order, clause structure, fronting, extraposition, complement, adjuncts, pronouns, and inflection. Also explored in detail are the similarities and differences between Icelandic and other related languages. Presupposing only a basic knowledge of syntax and complete with an extensive bibliography, this comprehensive survey will be an important tool for all those working on the structure of Scandinavian and Germanic languages.

Just another reminder I need to be more thorough on my conlangs' syntaxes. Yep, I think that sight does try to be annoying.

[Yng]

Welcome to the ZBB!

I can't help you much on the Icelandic front other than recommending Colloquial Icelandic - that series of books is really rather good, in my experience.

[Zaarin]

Welcome to the ZBB!

I can't help you much on the Icelandic front other than recommending Colloquial Icelandic - that series of books is really rather good, in my experience.

Thanks! I've received enough recommendations on that book that I'm almost certainly going to get it--not sure when, though. I've been reading some other sources, working at it slowly right now.

[Simmalti]

A good friend of mine from The Hague sent me a copy of "Icelandic: Grammar, Text and Glossary" by Stefan Einarsson. I've only read a few pages so far, but I've found it quite detailed.

[Zaarin]

A good friend of mine from The Hague sent me a copy of "Icelandic: Grammar, Text and Glossary" by Stefan Einarsson. I've only read a few pages so far, but I've found it quite detailed.

Yep, I'm currently reading that one--but he uses a very strange version IPA; I'm having a hard time figuring out what he's trying to say about phonetics.

[Åge Kruger]

A good friend of mine from The Hague sent me a copy of "Icelandic: Grammar, Text and Glossary" by Stefan Einarsson. I've only read a few pages so far, but I've found it quite detailed.

Yep, I'm currently reading that one--but he uses a very strange version IPA; I'm having a hard time figuring out what he's trying to say about phonetics.

IIRC (I don't have the book to hand), it's an older version of the IPA. Fortunately, the tables are readily available online.

[Abi]

I can't stand Icelandic: Grammar, Text and Glossary's layout. It's a great reference for grammar, but acutally using it to teach yourself the language would be brutal. It's basically "read 50 pages of grammar, alright now translate this 3 page story; rinse repeat".