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Icelandic and Faroese do have some words in common with the three other Scandinavian languages, but it is not common for Scandinavians to be able to understand Icelandic and Faroese, except for certain Norwegians who have a similar dialect (Norwegian nynorsk).
The language is more conservative than most other Germanic languages. It is not mutually intelligible with the continental Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish) and is more distinct from the most widely spoken Germanic languages, English and German, than are those three.
Can Swedish speakers understand 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. Speaking is another matter, however: the pronunciation differs significantly, and the two languages are not mutually intelligible without study …
Can Norwegian understand Icelandic?
Norwegians don’t understand Icelandic at all. One problem for other Scandinavians is the fact that Icelanders as a general rule convert imported words from foreign languages to Icelandic . In Norwegian the English/French word communication is kommunikasjon, the Swedes spell it kommunikation.
The three mainland Scandinavian languages (Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian) are mutually intelligible to varying degrees, but are sufficiently removed from Icelandic that functional intelligibility isn’t possible.
Did the Dano-Norwegian rule of Iceland affect its language evolution?
The Dano-Norwegian, then later Danish rule of Iceland from 1536 to 1918 had little effect on the evolution of Icelandic (in contrast to the Norwegian language), which remained in daily use among the general population.
What is the origin of the Icelandic language?
The Icelandic language was brought to the then-uninhabited island of Iceland by western Norwegians in the eighth century. In those days, it was still known as norrœnt mál “Norse language” or even dǫnsk tunga “Danish tongue”.
How many Icelandic speakers are there in Denmark?
The vast majority of Icelandic speakers—about 320,000—live in Iceland. More than 8,000 Icelandic speakers live in Denmark, of whom approximately 3,000 are students.