Wikipedia key to pronunciation of Icelandic
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Icelandic language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters .
See Icelandic phonology and Icelandic orthography § Function of symbols 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
cː bagg i, seggj a
American ckg ammon
ç hj á
h ue
ð veð ur
weath er
f f yrir, dýp ka
f un
fː kaff i
offf ield
ɣ lag a
Spanish g 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
k ite
kː hrygg ur
stockg irl
l l íf
l eap
l̥ stel pa, jökull
same as above but voiceless, like hl
lː boll a
Italian ll a
m m iði
m oon
m̥ lam pi
same as above but voiceless, like hm
mː hlemm ur
roomm ate
n n íu
n oon
n̥ hn ífur
same as above but voiceless, like hn
nː brenn a
unkn own
ɲ len gi
cany on
ɲ̊ ban ki
same as above but voiceless, like hny
ŋ ung s
sing
ŋ̊ þung t
same as above but voiceless, like hng
p b öl, hjálp a, naf ni
sp y
pʰ p áfi
p ie
pː kobb i
flipb ook
r r ós
r ing, but trilled
r̥ hr einn
same as above but voiceless, like hr
rː marr a
Italian rr a
s s aga
between s ip and sh ip (retracted )
sː mess a
between this s ip and trash sh ip (retracted)
t d agur, út , jökul l
st y
tʰ t ala
t ie
tː odd ur
outd o
θ þ að
th ink
v v erk, af i
v ery
x sjúk t, sag t
Scottish ch
xʷ hv er[ note 1] wh y (without the wine –whine merger
Vowels [ note 2]
IPA
Examples
English approximation
Monophthongs
a ka rl
a rt
aː ra ka
fa ther
ɛ ke nna
be t
ɛː ne ma[ note 3]
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
RP or Australian o t
ɔː vo n[ note 3]
roughly like wa ter
œ dö kk
nu rse
œː ö l[ note 3] French ue l, but with lips rounded from start to end
u fu ll
pu ll
uː nú na
foo l
ʏ u pp
German ü tter; like ki t with lips rounded
ʏː ku l
German schö n; like ki d with lips rounded
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
ɔi bo gi
choi ce
ou hó ll
goa l (short)
ouː kó pur
goa l (long)
œy lau st
Scottish or Canadian i te
œyː au ga
ʏi hu gi
No English equivalent, similar to gooey
Other symbols
IPA Explanation
ˈ◌ primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable, e.g. lan gur[ˈlauŋkʏr̥] )
ˌ◌ secondary stress (placed before the stressed syllable, e.g. afmælisda gur [ˈamailɪsˌtaːɣʏr̥] )
^ Hver is usually pronounced as if spelled kver . [xʷ] is a part of a dialect from the Southern Region and is rare nowadays.^ Vowels are usually long if they are stressed and followed by no more than one consonant, double consonants counting as more than one. 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).
Comparisons Introductory guides
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