IC1 - an Icelandic male voice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notation Pre-aspiration is marked with an 'h' frakki = _ f r a h J- I _ Post-aspiration isn't marked in the same way: b, d, g, J- are unaspirated, p, t, k, c are aspirated. Unvoicing of nasals and liquids is marked by adding a 0 (zero). n (nýta, _ n i: t a _) vs n0 (hnýta, _ n0 i: t a _). Consonant length is not marked, only length of vowels. Note the difference between "kyssa" and "kisa" below. The qualitative difference between long and short vowels was nowhere near as great as anticipated, so in many cases they may be interchangable. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vowels Phoneme Examples Transcription English translation i ísland i s d l a n d iceland i: vísa v i: s a poem I kyssa c I s a kiss I: kisa c I: s a pussycat E tefla t E b l a play chess E: gefa J- E: v a give a malt m a l0 d malt a: fara f a: r a leave O boppa b O h b a bounce O: holur h O: l Y r0 hollow Y burt b Y r0 d away Y: fura f Y: r a fir tree 9 börn b 9 d n0 children 9: fölur f 9: l Y r0 pale u rússi r u s I russian u: snúa s d n u: a turn ei seint s ei n0 d late ei: breyta b r ei: t a change ai sætta s ai h d a settle ai: læti l ai: t I ruckus ou flótti f l ou h d I escape ou: bót b ou: d patch au sáttur s au h d Y r0 content au: látinn l au: t I n deceased 9y snautt s d n 9y h d impoverished 9y: auga 9y: G a eye Yi hugi h Yi j I mind Oi bogi b Oi j I bow -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consonants b björn b j 9 d n0 bear p pera p E: r a pear d dreki d r E: c I dragon t teppi t E h b I carpet g garður g a r D Y r0 garden k karl k a d l0 (old) man c kerling c E d l i N g (old) woman J- gjald J- a l d fee C hjól C ou: l0 wheel h hattur h a h d Y r0 hat G saga s a: G a story x vigta v I x d a weigh n nef n E: f nose n0 hnútur n0 u: t Y r0 knot N hringur r0 i N g Y r0 ring N0 þröngt T r 9y N0 d tight J engi ei J J- I field J0 pinkill p i J0 J- I d l0 package m mark m a r0 g goal m0 pumpa p Y m0 b a pump T þurs T Y r0 s ogre D aðall a: D a d l0 nobility s siður s I: D Y r0 tradition v vagn v a g n0 wagon f fífill f i: v I d l0 dandelion r reykur r ei: k Y r0 smoke r0 hrista r0 I s d a shake l lög l 9: x law l0 hlaup l0 9y: b jelly j jörð j 9 r T earth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diphthongs Apart from the "hard-coded" diphthongs above, there are quite a few vowel pairs that can appear together although they're not "proper" diphthongs. Just be aware that in some cases a 'j' must be inserted between them. The 'j' sometimes appears in print but not always flýja = f l i: j a kría = k r i: j a This also occurs with certain dipthongs ææ = ai j ai -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Björn Kristinsson, Faculty of Icelandic, University of Iceland, bjorbjorn@hotmail.com