Rent A Car In Iceland In Multiple Languages With Hertz Iceland
One of the most important things youll need to navigate when arriving in Iceland is picking up a rental car. Your rental car is essential for getting around on your trip, and you dont want to add extra stress to your trip by not being able to understand the language when trying to communicate with the rental car company. Trying to book a rental car online is even more stressful when the website is in a different language. You could end up clicking the wrong thing, or booking the wrong vehicle or dates, leading to a mess when trying to pick it up.
The Hertz Iceland website is available in Icelandic, English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. And we are working on having even more languages available for travellers in the near future. For those wanting to rent a car long-term, such as those moving to Iceland temporarily and needing multi-month rentals, all the info is available on the Icelandic version of the website.
Preserving Language: Icelandic Language Day
When you think about the country of Iceland, the image of Vikings and the natural spa, the Blue Lagoon, immediately come to mind. But the most interesting thing about the sparsely populated island is a rare quality about its language. The Icelandic language is considered unique because of its linguistic puritysomething that isnt found in other languages. To honor the preservation of their exclusive language and its history, the country celebrates 16th as Icelandic Language Day.
What is Linguistic Purity?
Linguistic purity means a lexicon excludes foreign words and phrases from a countrys dominant language. The words borrowed from other cultures are called loanwords. For example, the English language is Germanic in origin, but as it has evolved, English began to incorporate loanwords from other cultures to name or describe things. An example of loanwords in English would be word guitar it comes from the Spanish guitarra or artisan from the Italian word artigiano.
Another reason why the Icelandic language is so different is because there are almost no dialectical differences within the language. Every word in the Icelandic vocabulary is pronounced nearly the same no matter where a person is from in the country.
Historically Speaking
Making the Old New Again
Language and Culture
Preservation is Important
Is Healthcare Free In Iceland
In Iceland, universal access to health care is enshrined in law. As a result the country has no private health insurance and the islands 290,000 residents rely on a national health servicestate-run hospitals and primary health care centersat minimal charge.
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The History Of The Icelandic National Language
As with most old, preserved languages, the Iceland language has barely been influenced over the centuries.
One of the few words that have been borrowed into the Iceland official language is the word for elephant, which is the same in Icelandic and Turkish. That word stuck because theIcelandic Vikings had no idea what this Turkish man was talking about, since elephants in Iceland are non-existent. So, they just nodded and agreed that this huge animal that allegedly exists is called fil.
The Iceland language was first put to paper in the 1100s when theIcelandic Sagas and Eddas were written down. Since then, there hasn’t been much happening in terms of development. Most Icelanders today can read and understand most of the original, ancient texts without any major difficulties. The reference is that its the equivalent of reading original Shakespeare texts.
In modern times, the Iceland language underwent a sort of a purity renaissance when the Icelanders broke away from the Danish rule in the mid-1900s. This was around the same time as they could officially form theIcelandic flag and national identity, free from any other countrys influence.
Proficiency In Other Languages
Iceland is a largely multilingual country. Most Icelanders speak English fluently as a result of having to study it in school. Many also speak a Scandinavian language competently, for the same reason. With many secondary-language study programmes also including English and/or one of the Scandinavian languages, Icelanders knowledge of both languages is excellent.
Icelandic children can also study a number of other languages in school, including German, French and Spanish.
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Curious Fact : Icelanders Rarely Have Surnames
An individualâs name in Iceland does not reflect their historical family lineage. Rather, it indicates who is the immediate father or mother.
The fatherâs first name is used as the base for the childâs last name. If Kjartan Thorirsson and Sigurbjörn Thorvalddóttir were to have two children, Hrefna and Finnur, their names would respectively be Hrefna Kjartandóttir and Finnur Kjartansson. This would translate to âdaughter of Kjartanâ and âson of Kjartanâ. The patronymic naming system is the most common form used in Iceland, as per tradition. However due to gender equality, these days there is nothing stopping Icelandic parents from naming their children after the mother.
Unlike the Western tradition of merging names when married, Icelanders keep their original names. They couldnât take their spouseâs last name, as it would indicate that they had become someone elseâs direct son or daughter, which of course wouldnât make any sense!
After having given birth, Icelanders often donât name their children straight away. Rather, they wait for a certain period of time, to see how their childâs personality develops. In the meantime, they call the child Stúlka if itâs a girl or Drengur for boy.
Curious Fact : In Icelands Schools Language Learning Takes Priority
Despite the movement to keep the Icelandic language pure, Icelanders recognise the merit in learning multiple foreign languages. This is a country that takes after my own heart!
Both English and Danish are compulsory learning during an Icelandic studentâs education. Danish is taught due to its ties with Iceland throughout history. English is the second choice, as it is seen as being the main international language.
During their education, students are given the option of learning a third language, traditionally German or French, with Spanish also becoming a choice in recent years.
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How Is Iceland Culture Formed
Icelandic culture has been in the act of forming, growing, and adapting from the moment that the Norsemen stepped on Icelandic shores and decided to settle there in 870 AD. Since then, Icelandic people have been shaped by the extreme geography, the will to survive and thrive, and the cold climate typical in the country.
Some Rules In Icelandic Travelers Need To Know
The purpose and the focus of learning Icelandic can vary among tourists, expats, and immigrants. In this section, we are only going to talk about the Icelandic must-knows for visitors.
First, lets cover how Icelanders structure location names since its one of the most important things for tourists to know.
Like English, Icelandic also has prefixes and suffixes. These letter groups can help identify the types of locations and where they are. Lets use the location names in Reykjavik as an example.
The last three letters in Reykjavik mean bay. You can see why they named the charming little town on the South Coast of Iceland Vik it is situated on a large bay. Reykjavik means a smoking bay, because when the early settlers arrived, they saw the bay area was filled with steam coming up from the ground.
Here is a list of letter groups signifying the types of locations:
- Á, sometimes ár, means a river or a stream. Example: Hvítá , a river where you can go river rafting along its beautiful streams. Jökulsárlón , the lake with floating blue icebergs.
- Bær means a town or a municipality. There are seven municipalities in the Capital Region of Iceland in which two of them have it in their names: Mosfellsbær and Garðabær.
- Brú means a bridge, as seen in Skeiðarárbrú, Icelands longest bridge, and Borgarfjarðarbrú, the second-longest bridge in Iceland.
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What Is The Prominence Of Artworks In Iceland Culture
Even though Iceland doesnt have a substantial population, it has still made moves in the art world, many recognized worldwide. No matter what facet of the arts, there have been Icelanders who have committed their lifetimes to produce stunning and memorable pieces. Here are some lists of the most modern famous or beloved works of art in their categories.
Here are the essential songs in Iceland culture.
Here are the essential movies in Iceland culture.
Here are the essential poems in Icelandic culture.
Here are the essential novels in Iceland culture.
Kathleen M, 1 night trip, Jun 24, 2021 Verified Hotels. It is believed by Marsh that other members of legislators are interested in the possibility of gaming in the state. Video poker was one of the first games to make the leap from the felted casino table to the digital realm and it remains a wildly popular form of online gambling . Its safe to say that the newly released slots and other casino games are mobile-ready.
Are There Icelandic Songs
Yes, there are Iceland Songs. The oldest Icelandic song still sung is Heyr himna smiður, composed in 1208 by Kolbeinn Tumason. Another popular song is Icelands national anthem called Lofsöngur or Ó Guðs Vors Lands, composed by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson and adopted in 1944. Other popular Icelandic songs include Lokbrá, Dágóða Stund, Sólskríkjan, Ein á klúbb, Harlem Reykjavik, Fjara, Gleipnir, etc.
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The Origin Of The Icelandic Language
Icelanders are very proud of their language as its commonly perceived to be the purest language in the world. The reason for that is the language hasnt been majorly influenced by other languages or modernization.
Modern Icelanders can read ancient Icelandic text without too much effort as the language has been well-preserved over the last millennium. One could say that the Viking language is still here today!
In the 9th century, the Vikings, who were mostly Norwegian, and a small population of Swedes and Irish began settling in Iceland. The Norwegian Vikings brought a dialect of Old Norse to the island, which was isolated from the rest of the world. The dialect became the prototype of the Icelandic language we speak today.
In the 12th century, the early settlers of Iceland found that Icelands long, dark winters were the best time for being creative, so they started to write. They created famous Icelandic literature and Icelandic sagas including poems, stories, nature records, and detailed memoirs.
Is Icelandic And English Similar To Each Other
Yes, as surprising as it sounds, Icelandic is similar to English. The two languages have the same origin as they are both members of the Germanic group of languages. Also, they share many words. Icelandic and English are archaic languages surviving modern changes. However, there are still some differences between the two languages. For example, Icelandic has a much more complex grammar than English.
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Different Foreign Languages Spoken In Iceland
Icelandic has survived for many years. As a Gaelic language, it retained its linguistic homogeny for a long time. However, due to the prevalence of Northern trade routes, the linguistic environment is changing a little bit.
The merchants, traders, and clergymen came up with German, Dutch, French, English, and Basque in Iceland. Swedish and Danish are not considered foreign languages as they are geographically spoken near Eastern Scandinavia.
Iceland is an inhabitant of around 332,529 people. Approximately 93.2% of that population speaks Icelandic. Apart from language purism in the country, Icelanders understand the importance of global and foreign languages.
You will be amazed to know that different Scandinavian languages and English are mandatory in the Icelandic education system. Danish is spoken in Iceland because of its historical ties with Iceland.
Therefore, at present, there are 0.31% of the total population that speaks Danish. English is given importance because of its global importance. Approximately 0.39% of Icelandic inhabitants speak English.
German is the third most spoken language in Iceland. The largest minority community in Iceland is the Polish community. Around 2.71% of people in Iceland speak Polish
Is English Spoken In Iceland
Icelandic isn’t the only language spoken in Iceland.
People in Iceland speak English extremely well. In fact, the only people you’ll find who don’t really speak English are part of the older generation. English has become the global lingua franca, which means many children are required to study it as part of their compulsory schooling. Iceland is no exception, and English studies are mandatory for students as part of their curriculum.
Additionally, TV shows and movies are shown in English with Icelandic subtitles rather than being dubbed. This helps Icelanders not only have a pretty good ear for the language but also have easily understandable accents.
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Which Languages Are Most Closely Related To Icelandic
A
Icelandic is an Indo-European language, belonging to the group of North Germanic languages, to be specific. This group also includes Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Faroese. Of those languages, Norwegian and Faroese are the most closely related to Icelandic.
Icelanders and Faroese people may be able to understand each others languages on the page, as their writing systems and spelling are quite similar. Speaking is another matter, however: the pronunciation differs significantly, and the two languages are not mutually intelligible without study.
Icelanders receive some help from their schooling when it comes to understanding the other North Germanic languages. Danish is a compulsory subject in schools, and learning it helps with the comprehension of Norwegian and Swedish as well.
Is Icelandic One Of The Hardest Languages In The World
For English speakers, Icelandic can seem incredibly difficult, but its not as hard as it looks. And there are definitely much harder languages out there when comparing them for difficulty. One of the reasons that Icelandic can seem hard is because of the alphabet. In English, there is a basic alphabet of 26 letters, with no accents or special characters. One look at the alphabet, and you might be confused simply by the way it looks. But the United States Foreign Service Institute has categorized all the worlds top languages in terms of their difficulty to learn for English speakers. Icelandic falls into category 3, which is hard. While it may not be as easy to learn as French or Spanish, its about as difficult as learning Hungarian, Polish, Russian or Finnish.
Because of Icelands isolation, the vocabulary is entirely unique, even from other Scandinavian languages. Where you might find Spanish or Portuguese words resembling English words, you wont find that in Icelandic, meaning you essentially need to learn everything from scratch. The grammar of Icelandic can also be challenging to understand at first. That said, as Icelandic is phonetic, its easy to sound out the words once you know what each letter sounds like. The best way to learn some Icelandic is to ask the locals! Most Icelanders speak English and are very friendly, so I would be happy to help you learn a few new words.
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Who Regulated The Icelandic Language
The Icelandic language is considered to be a survivor among the old languages. Interestingly, the archaic Icelandic seems to be resilient to modern changes. With so many modern words being absent from the Icelandic dictionary, Icelanders have two options, either to take words from other languages or coin new ones. More often than not, they choose the second option.
Is Icelandic recognized by the Nordic Council?
Yes, Icelandic is recognized by the Nordic Council. Formed in 1952, the Nordic Council is an official body that regulates inter-parliamentary co-operations. Today, the Nordic Council has 87 members from Iceland, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Greenland, Faroe Islands, and Aland.
Is Iceland Like English
But Icelandic is not all that different from English. For starters, its a Germanic language, like English. It is not the most closely related language to English, among Germanic language .Only a few Icelandic sounds would an English speaker have trouble pronouncing.
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What Is Linguistic Purism
Are you wondering what is linguistic purism? It is a part of linguistic study that is not familiar to the scholars but also to laypeople. It supports the ordinary speakers that support the many mother tongues that didnt have taken training in linguistics. Lets find out about linguistic purism in Iceland.
Icelandic is an isolated language that has not developed with the help of other languages and it has no relation to other languages. The Icelandic language remained proactive and concerted to maintain its purity.
Language purism in Iceland started in the 18th century. This is because Iceland remained under the control of the Danish till 1380. Moreover, it remained under Norwegian possession until 1841. It because an issue of concern among the Iceland population because they want their language to remain with its true essence and roots.
When Iceland gained independence then it gave more importance to linguistic purism. The linguistic purism made Iceland recognize Icelandic sign language for the deaf community in 2011.
At present, the purism movements can be viewed by how we treat loanwords. The Icelandic linguistic policy mitigates the use of foreign words and emphases using the equivalent Icelandic words.
The new words that have developed from old Icelandic and Old Norse roots are the integrated words that are derived from English and Danish origin.
Icelandic Proficiency On Your Iceland Trip
Before you go on a trip to Iceland, you dont have to be fluent or even have any significant proficiency in the Iceland language. Icelanders generally speak English very well and are not shy to talk to happy visitors on their island.
If you want to have some background on what some things in the country mean, and maybe make an Icelander extra happy, you should start with learning some of the useful words we listed above. If you are renting a car in Iceland, for example, its always nice to end the transaction with a polite takk or bless-bless as you are leaving the dealership.
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