Category: Icelandic (Íslenska)

Star sailors and children of the sky

By Simon

A sailing ship in space

Did you know that the word astronaut means “star sailor”?

This is something I learnt from an interesting Allusionist podcast on Technobabble.

Astronaut comes from the Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron – star) and ναύτης (naútēs – sailor). It first appeared as the name of a space craft in Across the Zodiac, a story written by Percy Greg in the 1880. It was used in the 1920s in writing about the possiblity of space travel, and in the U.S. space program from the 1960s [source].

Some other space-related words have a nautical roots as well, including (space)ship, mast, batton and sail.

Other words for star sailors include:

– cosmonaut, from the Russian космона́вт (kosmonávt), from the Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos – universe) &+ -naut [source]
– taikonaut, from the Chinese 太空 (tàikōng – space) +‎ -naut [source]
– spationaut, from spatio (space) + -naut [source]

Many other languages use one or other of these words. Here are some exceptions:

– In Chinese an astronaut is either 太空人 (tài​kōng​rén – “space person”), 航天員 (háng​tiān​yuán – “boat sky personnel”), or 宇航员 [宇航員] (yǔhángyuán – “universe boat personnel”) [source].

– In Icelandic an astronaut is a geimfari, from geimur (space) + -fari (traveler) [source].

– In Welsh an astronaut is a gofodwr, from gofod (space) + gŵr (man).

– In Swahili an astronaut is a mwanaanga, from mwana (child) +‎ anga (sky) [source]

Are there interesting words for astronauts in other languages?

Project-based learning

By Simon

When learning languages I use a variety of tools. At the moment I’m using Duolingo and Memrise, and also Colloquial Icelandic. I like the way Duolingo puts words in different contexts and tests you in different ways. I like the way Memrise gives you the option to create your own memory hooks, and the conversations and grammar notes in Colloquial courses are useful.

To practise my speaking and writing, I find projects helpful. For example, I might decide to write a blog post, conversation, story, song or poem in a language I’m learning, or to write about some aspect of that language – words, idioms, grammar, etc. The process of doing this helps me learn new vocabulary and grammar, and it tends to stick if I find it interesting and/or amusing.

So today I will write about the Swedish word snart, which means ‘soon, shortly, any time soon, anon’. Here are some examples of use:

– så snart som möjligt = as quickly as possible
– det snart är jul = the run-up to Christmas
– för snart ett år = nearly a year ago
– vi måste göra det snart = we have to do it soon; we must act quickly

Related expressions include:

– snar = early, ready, quick, swift
– inom kort = shortly, before long
– om en stund = in a while
– strax = soon, close, directly

Snart comes from the Old Norse snart (quickly). Danish and Norwegian have the same word with the same meanings, and in Icelandic there are snar (quick, swift, fast) and snarlega (quickly, fast).

Sources: bab.la, Wiktionary and The Old Norse World

Do you set yourself projects or tasks when learning languages, or other things?

Do you find it useful?

A Telling Chat

By Simon

In interesting word I learnt recently in Icelandic is spjall [ˈspjatl̥], which means chat, converstation, talk or gossip.

It comes from the Old Norse spjall [ˈspjɑlː] (saying, tale, words, tales, tidings); from Proto-Germanic *spellą (news, message, tale, story), from the Proto-Indo-European *spel- (to tell).

A related word is spjalla, which means ‘to converse, to chat’. You could use it like this, I think,

– Ég er að spjalla á íslensku = I am chatting in Icelandic.

The Proto-Indo-European *spel- is also the root of the English word spell, the German -spiel in Beispiel (example – literally “by talk”) There were similar words in Old English: bīspel (proverb, pattern, example), and Scots: byspel (byword, rarety, outcast).

The German word spielen comes from a different root: the Proto-Germanic *spilōną (to play, to dance, to move), from *spilą (game, play, dance).

Icelandic words with related meanings include:

– tal = speech, conversation
– tala = to talk, to speak
– talmál = spoken language
– talsháttur = phrase, idiom
– talsmaður = advocte, spokesperson
– talsmát = manner of speaking, expression
– ræða = speech, address; to speak, talk, discuss
– ræðinn = talkative

Sources: Wiktionary, Íslensk – ensk orðabók / Concise Icelandic – English Dictionary

Orkar du?

By Simon

A useful Swedish expression I learnt recently is Orkar du?, which can mean “Do you have the energy?”, “Can you be bothered?” or similar.

It doesn’t mean “Are you a killer whale (orca)?”, as I thought it did when I first heard it.

Orkar is the present tense of orka [ˈɔrˌka], which means to manage, to be able to, to cope with, or can. It is used in Icelandic and Faroese as well. It comes from the Old Norse orka, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (to work, to make), from Proto-Indo-European *wṛǵ- (to make), which is also the root of the English word work.

Here are a few examples of how it’s used:

– så mycket de orkar bära = as much as they can bear
– ät-så-mycket-du-orkar = all-you-can-eat
– Jag orkar inte = I can’t be bothered
– Jag orkar inte med tanken på att förlora de små skatterna = I can’t stand the thought of losing my little treasures.
– Hur ofta hör vi inte att människor inte orkar bry sig? = How often do we hear that people just don’t care?
– Jag orkar inte med detta längre. = I can’t take this anymore

A related word is ork, which means energy.

Sources: Linguee, bab.la and Wiktionary

Joyful and blessed

By Simon

I have now been learning Icelandic for a couple of weeks, and am still on Lesson 1 in Colloquial Icelandic. I’m in no hurry, and just want to learn the basics, at least at first, so my lack of progress doesn’t worry me.

There seem to be quite a few ways to greet people in Icelandic. These include:

– Halló
– Góðan dag(inn) = Good day
– Komdu sæll og blessaður (>m) = “Come joyful and blesed”
– Komdu sæl og blessað (>f) = “Come joyful and blessed”
– Komdu sæll (>m), Komdu sæl (>f)
– Sæll (>m), Sæl (>f)
– Sæll vertu (>m), Sæl vertu (>f)
– Blessaður (>m), Blessað (>f)

Goodbyes include:

– Vertu blessaður (>m), Vertu blessuð (>f) = “Be blessed”
– Vertu sæll (>m), Vertu sæl (>f) = “Be joyful”
– Bless á meðan = “Bye as long as”
– Bless bless = Bye bye
– Bless = Bye
– Við sjáumst = “We (will) see each other again”
– Sjáumst síðar = See you later

>m = said to males, >f = said to females

You can hear recordings of some of these on my Icelandic phrases page.

Are these all commonly-used?

Do other languages have gender-specific greetings?