Icelandic and its closest relatives

Icelandic is a North Germanic language currently (2007) spoken by some 300,000 people. It is thus most closely related to the other Nordic languages, that is, Faroese, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish (see, e.g., Haugen 1976, 1982; Braunmüller 1991; Höskuldur Thráinsson 1994a; Vikør 1995; Torp 1998). It is often maintained that it has changed less than the other Germanic languages, presumably largely due to its geographical isolation. From roughly 1870 to 1915 some 20,000 Icelanders emigrated to North America, and Icelandic was spoken by these emigrants for some decades, for example, in Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia and North Dakota. There are still some relics of this Western Icelandic in North America, although it is about to disappear (see, e.g., Haraldur Bessason 1967, 1971; Clausing 1986; Birna Arnbjörnsdóttir 1990, 1997).

Modern Icelandic is closer to Faroese than to the other Nordic languages, both morphologically and syntactically. Hence there are numerous references to Faroese in this book, especially in the comparative sections at the end of each chapter. In addition, these sections contain comparative material from the other Nordic languages, although it is more anecdotal.

Nominal inflection and agreement

Some knowledge of Icelandic morphology is necessary for anyone who wants to understand the morphosyntax of the language. In the following overview the main emphasis is on those aspects of inflectional morphology that figure in various case and agreement phenomena. For further details the reader is referred to Stefán Einarsson 1945 and Höskuldur Thráinsson 1994a.