Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.06.2004, Blaðsíða 12

THE IDIOSYNCRACIES OF
LEARNING ICELANDIC
by Angela Stokes
Icelandic can be a daunting language to learn - aside from the
unusual letters and the tongue-twisting consonant-clusters. Hver-
agerði, a town in the south, is pronounced ‘kveragerthi’. The gram-
mar in particular can appear outrageously complex, especially for
those whose mother tongue grammar is simple by comparison.
The idiosyncracies of learning
Icelandic are not restricted to
the grammar - the curious habit
you may have noticed of inhaling
words or even whole sentences
to indicate something is clear, or
mutually understood, was a feature
I wasn’t keen on when I first came
to Iceland nearly three years ago.
Now this inhalation is so prevalent
in my speech that it even affects my
English, leading friends at home to
believe I’d developed some bizarre
form of asthma.
To indicate a simple lack of
comprehension, Icelanders normally
exclaim ´Ha?´ in a tone more often
reserved for confrontation in other
languages. It is another trait that
doesn’t import well to English.
One advantage of learning Icelandic
is that there are far fewer words in
the language than in English (one
estimate I recently heard suggested
English contains about a million
words compared to approximately
400,000 in Icelandic), indicating that
mastering a basic vocabulary at least
should not be too taxing.
As my understanding of Icelandic
increases, I realise the beauty of
this ancient language - who can
fail to be moved for example by the
greeting ‘komdu sæl og blessuð’
- literally ‘Come to me joyfully and
blessed’ - an everyday way of saying
‘hello’ here. I also discover words I
only wish had English equivalents
- for example, ´dugleg´ - a versatile,
common adjective for anyone
who has done a job well. It is well
known that Icelanders protect their
language fiercely, with a special
board appointed to create new words
for products like computers (tölvur)
rather than borrowing from English
like many other languages. It is also
forbidden here to give your child
a name that is not on the official
list of acceptable Icelandic names,
overseen by the Name Committee
(Mannanafnanefnd). Personally,
this strikes me as a rather fascist
and limited system, coming from
a country where people are free to
name their children at will. But, in
a world where minority languages
die out at astonishing rates,
Icelanders hold proudly to their
roots - although almost everyone you
meet here speaks excellent English
and some adverts now even appear
with English text, there is no sign
of a decline in the importance of
the native language in this isolated
community.
Icelandic is certainly a unique
challenge for the language-learner,
but with a rich heritage and a future
hopefully secured by protective
measures, it seems it’s definitely
time, for me at least, to be ´dugleg´
at learning more...
Why Iceland is Inhabitable
by Marcie Hume
This winter, I saw people walking around with no hats, sometimes no coats, while I ventured out
wrapped in endless layers of wool wearing the hood of my Gore-Tex jacket over my head. I was told I
looked like a foreigner.
Opening the door one morning, con-
sidering the idea of going on a little
walk, I stared out at the mountains
through the snow that tore through
the sky sideways and realised, for the
first time, how it really is possible for
someone to freeze to death in twenty
minutes.
Summer is here and I´m excited.
The grass is now the deepest green,
migrating birds have ended their
winter’s journeys and children play
outside late into the evening where
dusk replaces night. There´s a sense
of ease on the streets, everyone is
friendlier; a stranger might even
smile at you on the street.
.
Traditionally it was believed that
none of this would be possible
without the the Gulf Stream. The
unseen force that is responsible for
some of Western Europe’s warmer
weather, for making the winters
livable and summers more summery.
The Gulf Stream begins south of
Florida, moves up the East Coast of
America and finally much of it shim-
mies around Great Britain and the
Faeroe Islands. The warmer water at
the equator naturally moves towards
colder water further north. It is
helped on its way by the wind and
the Earth’s rotation which move the
stream in an arc, so it brushes against
our southern shores.
Recently, Gulf Stream researchers
at Columbia University discovered
that it is only part of what makes
Iceland’s climate more bearable. The
ocean retains heat throughout the
warmer months and slowly releases
it during the winter. Winds drop
down over the Rocky Mountains
in the western United States and
continue forcefully over the Atlantic
Ocean, carrying the Atlantic’s heat
with them, all the way over to us
here in Iceland. The study suggests
that this process is of much greater
influence on the climate here than
the Gulf Stream. So it is due to both
of these factors that Icelanders can
live happily through months of both
ice and sun.
Iceland is famous for its long
shimmering summer days but in
retrospect I find the winter more
perplexing, more fulfilling. It is
during these dark months when I
truly experience the grand sweep of
nature: enduring, existing, fighting
against whatever weather falls from
the sky. It is winter that is the real
heart of Iceland.
-or is it?
It looked like it was going to be a sunny day when he set off for Esjan
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