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:
“I consider, then, the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one state, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“The instincts of merry England lingered on here with exceptional vitality, and the symbolic customs which tradition has attached to each season of the year were yet a reality on Egdon. Indeed, the impulses of all such outlandish hamlets are pagan still: in these spots homage to nature, self-adoration, frantic gaieties, fragments of Teutonic rites to divinities whose names are forgotten, seem in some way or other to have survived mediaeval doctrine.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)