|
 Icelandic Alphabet The Icelandic alphabet is a combination of the Roman alphabet (without the c, q, and w) and a few Runic characters. Each vowel can be normal or have an acute accent over it. In addition, the O can have an umlaut over it. The characters in alphabetic order in upper and lower case are: Aa Áá Bb Dd Ðð Ee Éé Ff Gg Hh Ii Íí Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Óó Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu Úú Vv Xx Yy Ýý Zz Þþ Ææ Öö Translation and Pronunciation The normal Roman characters are pronounced about as they are in English. The letter j is pronounced like the y in yes. The letter r is trilled. The following table shows how the special characters are usually translated into English and how they are pronounced.
How to enter Icelandic characters Entering the special characters in the Icelandic alphabet can be a problem for those without an Icelandic keyboard. In Microsoft Word you can use the Insert Symbol menu item to insert special symbols. There are shortcut strokes provided for most characters. They are listed at the bottom of the insert window when you select a character. Thus you can insert á by entering Ctrl+',A. That is press ' while holding down the Ctrl key, then press A. For other programs, you can always use the PC hex codes listed below. Just press the ALT key and enter the numbers using the numeric keypad instead of the number keys above the letters.
Hálfdan Helgason - Reykjavík - Iceland halfdan@itn.is |
back