Help:IPA for Icelandic

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 gys skew cʰ kær cute ç hjá hue ð verða weather f fyrir, dýpka fun ɣ laga (like Spanish trigo) h hús hop ʰc ekki skew (with an h sound before it) ʰk þakka sky (with an h sound before it) ʰp tappi spy (with an h sound before it) ʰt stutt sty (with an h sound before it) j jú, lagi yes k göng, líka sky kʰ koma, hver kite l líf leap l̥ stelpa, öll (voiceless, like hl) m miði moon m̥ lampi (voiceless, like hm) n níu noon n̥ hnífur (voiceless, like hn) ɲ lengi canyon ɲ̊ banki [ˈpauɲ̊cɪ] (voiceless, like hny) ŋ ungs sing ŋ̊ þungt (voiceless, like hng) p böl, hjálpa, nafni spy pʰ páfi pie r rós ring (trilled) r̥ hreinn (voiceless, like hr) s saga sing t dagur, út, öll, seinna sty tʰ tala tie θ það think v afi, verk very x sjúkt, sagt, vaxa Bach xʷ hver why (without the wine–whine merger)

Vowels IPA Examples English approximation Monophthongs a Karl art aː raka father ɛ kenna bet ɛː nema bed i fínt, sýndi leaf iː líf, hlýt leave ɪ yrði kit ɪː yfir, vita kid ɔ loft RP/Australian hot ɔː von RP/Australian nod œ dökk Somewhat like nurse œː öl Somewhat like fur u ungur boot uː núna food ʏ upp roughly like shoe, but shorter ʏː kul roughly like shoe Diphthongs ai ætla RP right aiː æfing pie au sjálfur mouth auː páfi allow ei engi pace eiː heim pay ou hóll goat ouː kólna go øi laust roughly like Louie, but shorter øiː auga roughly like Louie Other symbols IPA Explanation ˈ◌ Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable), langur [ˈlauŋ̊kʏr̥]

Bibliography

• Árnason, Kristján (2011), The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-922931-4 
• Gussmann, Edmund (2011). "Getting your head around: the vowel system of Modern Icelandic" (PDF). Folia Scandinavica Posnaniensia. 12: 71–90. ISBN 978-83-232-2296-5. 
• Haugen, Einar (1958). "The Phonemics of Modern Icelandic". Language. 34 (1): 55–88. doi:10.2307/411276. JSTOR 411276.