tontonton

Icelandic Sounds

This is a quick cheat sheet for the sounds found in Icelandic.

The i sound

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.

iiLike "ee" sound.i
IILike "ih" in "pit".ɪ
i5i$German i sound.y ɨ ʏ

The e sound

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.

EELike "eh" in "pet".ɛ

The a sound

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.

aaLike "ah" in father sound.a ɑ ä
a5a$Danish a sound.œ

The o sound

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.

1o$British oah sound.ɔ

The u sound

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.

uuLike "oo" in "you" sound.u

The m sound

There is at least 1 m sound in Icelandic. Notice the English m and mmm have a similar shape.

mmRegular mm

The n sound

There is at least 1 n sound in Icelandic. Notice the English n and nnn have a similar shape.

nnRegular nn

The q sound

There is at least 1 q sound in Icelandic.

qqRegular ngŋ ɴ

The p sound

There are at least 2 p sounds in Icelandic.

ppRegular pp
p%ph~Aspirated p

The t sound

There are at least 2 t sounds in Icelandic.

ttRegular tt
t^th~Aspirated t

The k sound

There are at least 2 k sounds in Icelandic.

kkRegular kk
k%kh~Aspirated k

The h sound

There is at least 1 h sound in Icelandic.

hhRegular hh

The y sound

There is at least 1 y sound in Icelandic. Notice the English y and yyy have a similar shape, although the Tone yyy is like a Tone OOO with a tail.

yyRegular yj

The v sound

There is at least 1 v sound in Icelandic.

vvRegular vv

The f sound

There is at least 1 f sound in Icelandic.

ffRegular ff

The l sound

There is at least 1 l sound in Icelandic.

llRegular ll

The s sound

There is at least 1 s sound in Icelandic.

ssRegular ss

The r sound

There is at least 1 r sound in Icelandic.

GGVelar r like the French r soundɣ ʁ

The th sound

There are at least 2 th sounds in Icelandic.

ccVoiceless th (like English "think")θ
CCVoiced th (like English "the")ð