Icelandic Alphabet - Letter Names

Letter Names

The names of the letters are:

Letter Name IPA Typical sound value
Aa a between English 'father' and 'cat'
Áá á the "ow" in "cow"
Bb bé 'p' with no puff of air.
Dd dé 't' with no puff of air.
Ðð eð the "th" in "the" (always medially, not initially).
Ee e "eh" like the "e" in "end"
Éé é a shorter sounding "yeah"
Ff eff (same as in English sometimes, see notes)
Gg gé (same as in English sometimes, see notes)
Hh há (same as English)
Ii i the "i" in "win"
Íí í the "e" in "we"
Jj joð said as a "y" or an aspirated "y" (see notes)
Kk ká 'k' with a puff of air.
Ll ell (same as in English)
Mm emm (same as in English)
Nn enn (same as in English)
Oo o the "our" in "four" (British English)
Óó ó "oh"
Pp pé 'p' with a puff of air.
Rr err rolled, as in Spanish, but slightly more delicately
Ss ess always an unvoiced "s" never a voiced "z" sound
Tt té 't' with a puff of air.
Uu u 'i' in 'in' but rounded.
Úú ú like the "ou" in "you"
Vv vaff similar to English 'v'
Xx ex like the hard German "ch" followed by an s
Yy ypsilon y same as 'i'
Ýý ypsilon ý same as 'í'
Þþ þorn "th" as in "thing" (commonly initially, with some exceptions)
Ææ æ "eye"
Öö ö "e" in "end" but rounded, from the middle of the mouth

Read more about this topic:  Icelandic Alphabet

Famous quotes containing the words letter and/or names:

    “For each letter received from a creditor, write fifty lines on an extraterrestrial subject and you will be saved.”
    —Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)

    “We rarely quote nowadays to appeal to authority ... though we quote sometimes to display our sapience and erudition. Some authors we quote against. Some we quote not at all, offering them our scrupulous avoidance, and so make them part of our “white mythology.” Other authors we constantly invoke, chanting their names in cerebral rituals of propitiation or ancestor worship.”
    —Ihab Hassan (b. 1925)