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
g ys
sk ew
cʰ
k ær
c ute
ʰc
ekk i
sk ew (with an h sound before it)
ç
hj á
h ue
ð
verð a
weath er
f
dýp ka, f ló
f un
ɣ
lag a
(like Spanish trig o)
h
h ús
h op
j
j ú, lag i
y es
k
g öng
sk y
kʰ
h ver[1] , k rakki
k ite
ʰk
þakk a
sk y (with an h sound before it)
l
l íf
l eap
l̥
stel pa
(voiceless, like hl )
m
m iði
m oon
m̥
lam pi
(voiceless, like hm )
n
n íu
n oon
n̥
hn ífur
(voiceless, like hn )
ɲ
len gi
cany on
ɲ̊
ban ki [ˈpauɲ̊cɪ]
(voiceless, like hny )
ŋ
ung s
sing
ŋ̊
þung t
(voiceless, like hng )
p
b öl, naf ni
sp y
pʰ
p áfi
p ie
ʰp
tapp i
sp y (with an h sound before it)
r
r ós
r ing (trilled)
r̥
hr einn
(voiceless, like hr )
s
s aga
s ing
t
d agur, gal li, sein na
st y
tʰ
t vær
t ie
ʰt
stutt
st y (with an h sound before it)
θ
þ að
th ink
v
af i, v erk
v ery
x
sjúk t, sag t
Bach
xʷ
hv er[1]
wh y
Vowels [2]
IPA
Examples
English approximation
Monophthongs
a
Ka rl
a rt
aː
ra ka
fa ther
ɛ
ke nna
be t
ɛː
ne ma
be d
i
fí nt
lea f
iː
lí f
lea ve
ɪ
nýy rði
ki t
ɪː
y fir, vi ta
ki d
ɔ
lo ft
RP /Australian ho t
ɔː
vo n
RP/Australian no d
œ
dö kk
Somewhat like nur se
œː
ö l
Somewhat like fur
u
u ngur
boo t
uː
nú na
foo d
ʏ
u pp
roughly like shoe , but shorter
ʏː
ku l
roughly like shoe
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
ou
hó ll
goa t
ouː
kó lna
go
øi
lau st
roughly like Louie , but shorter
øiː
au ga
roughly like Louie
Other symbols used in transcription of Icelandic pronunciation
IPA
Explanation
ˈ
Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable),
langur [ˈlauŋkʏr̥]
Notes
^ a b The word "hver" (everyone) is realised differently across dialects.
^ Vowels are long when stressed and followed by no more than one consonant double consonant, although exceptions abound. The vowel length is not phonemic .
Bibliography