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The Icelandic alphabet consists of the following letters:- A Á B ( C) D Ð E É F G H I Í J K LL is the twelfth letter of the Latin alphabet. History The letter L is derived ultimately from the Semitic Lamed which stood for the phonetic value l as did the Greek letter Lambda Λ (upper case) or λ (lower case), as well as the equivalent MM is the thirteenth letter of the Latin alphabet. History The letter M represents the bilabial nasal consonant sound [m] in Classical languages as well as the modern languages. It derives its shape from the Greek Μ or μ. Semitic Mem originally pictu NN is the fourteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet. Semitic Nun was probably the picture of a snake; the sound value of the letter was /n/ as in Greek, Etruscan, Latin and all modern languages. Greek name: N, Ny. November represents the letter N in t OO is the fifteenth letter of the Latin alphabet. In Greek (Omikron), Etruscan and Latin O stood for the vowel /o/. Although Semitic 'Ajin was used in some alphabets to transcribe [o], the sound value was usually consonantic: [?/] (as the Arabic letter cal Ó PP is the 16th letter of the Latin alphabet. Semitic Pe (mouth) as well as Greek Π or π ( Pi) and the Etruscan and Latin letters that developed from the former alphabet all symbolized /p/, a plosive, unvoiced consonant. Those who speak Arabic usually ( QQ is the 17th letter of the Latin alphabet. The Semitic sound value of Qop was /q/. In Greek this sign (called Qoppa in Greek) probably came to represent several labial plosives, among them /k_w/ and /k_w_h/. These sounds changed to /p/ and /p_h/ respecti) RR is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet. Semitic ReS (the head) developed into Greek (Ro). The sound value /r/ however was maintained in Greek as well as Etruscan and Latin. The finishing stroke was added to the Greek Rho to distinguish it from a S T U Ú V ( W) X Y Ý ( Z) Þ Æ Ö
The modern Icelandic alphabet has developed from a standard established in the 19th century, by the Danish linguist Rasmus Rask primarily. It is ultimately based heavily on an orthographic standard created in the early 12th century by a mysterious document referred to as The First Grammatical Treatise , author unknown. The standard was intended for what its author perceived to be a common language of Scandinavia, alias Old Norse. It did not have much influence, however, at the time.
The most defining characteristics of the alphabet were established in the old treatise:
- Use of the acute accent (originally to signify vowel length).
- Use of þ, borrowed from the Old English alphabet letter thorn, a language which the astute grammarian described as "more or less the same" as Old Norse.
The later Rasmus Rask standard was basically a re-enactment of the old treatise, with some changes to fit concurrent Germanic conventions, such as the exclusive use of k rather than c. Various old features, like ð, had actually not seen much use in the later centuries, so Rask's standard constituted a major change in practice.
Later 20th century changes are most notably the adoption of é, which had previously been written as je (reflecting the modern pronunciation), and the abolition of z, which had long been a mere etymological detail.
Recently most people have begun pronouncing Y and I in the same way as well as Ý and Í. As there is no difference in the pronunciation of those letters, they might be a candidate for future deprecation in the alphabet.
Latin-derived alphabets Icelandic language
