This is a quick cheat sheet for the sounds found in Icelandic.
There are at least 3 i sounds in Icelandic. In terms of all possible i sounds, there is the basic most common i sound, the secondary i sound, and the tertiary i sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
i | i | Like "ee" sound. | i |
I | I | Like "ih" in "pit". | ɪ |
i5 | i$ | German i sound. | y ɨ ʏ |
There is at least 1 e sound in Icelandic. In terms of all possible e sounds, there is the basic most common e sound, the secondary e sound, and the tertiary e sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
E | E | Like "eh" in "pet". | ɛ |
There are at least 2 a sounds in Icelandic. In terms of all possible a sounds, there is the basic most common a sound, the secondary a sound, and the tertiary a sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
a | a | Like "ah" in father sound. | a ɑ ä |
a5 | a$ | Danish a sound. | œ |
There is at least 1 o sound in Icelandic. In terms of all possible o sounds, there is the basic most common o sound, the secondary o sound, and the tertiary o sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
1 | o$ | British oah sound. | ɔ |
There is at least 1 u sound in Icelandic. In terms of all possible u sounds, there is the basic most common u sound, the secondary u sound, and the tertiary u sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
u | u | Like "oo" in "you" sound. | u |
There is at least 1 m sound in Icelandic. Notice the English m and mm have a similar shape.
m | m | Regular m | m |
There is at least 1 n sound in Icelandic. Notice the English n and nn have a similar shape.
n | n | Regular n | n |
There is at least 1 q sound in Icelandic.
q | q | Regular ng | ŋ ɴ |
There are at least 2 p sounds in Icelandic.
p | p | Regular p | p |
p% | ph~ | Aspirated p | pʰ |
There are at least 2 t sounds in Icelandic.
t | t | Regular t | t |
t^ | th~ | Aspirated t | tʰ |
There are at least 2 k sounds in Icelandic.
k | k | Regular k | k |
k% | kh~ | Aspirated k | kʰ |
There is at least 1 h sound in Icelandic.
h | h | Regular h | h |
There is at least 1 y sound in Icelandic. Notice the English y and yy have a similar shape, although the Tone yy is like a Tone OO with a tail.
y | y | Regular y | j |
There is at least 1 v sound in Icelandic.
v | v | Regular v | v |
There is at least 1 f sound in Icelandic.
f | f | Regular f | f |
There is at least 1 l sound in Icelandic.
l | l | Regular l | l |
There is at least 1 s sound in Icelandic.
s | s | Regular s | s |
There is at least 1 r sound in Icelandic.
G | G | Velar r like the French r sound | ɣ ʁ |
There are at least 2 th sounds in Icelandic.
c | c | Voiceless th (like English "think") | θ |
C | C | Voiced th (like English "the") | ð |