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Icelandic (/ aɪ s ˈ l æ n d ɪ k / ⓘ eyess-LAN-dik; endonym: íslenska, pronounced [ˈistlɛnska] ⓘ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language.
Icelandic is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Since it is a West Scandinavian language, it is most closely related to Faroese, western Norwegian dialects, and the extinct language Norn.
Icelandic is not only the national language, but is now “the official language in Iceland” by virtue of Act No 61/2011, adopted by parliament in 2011. Icelandic Sign Language was also officially recognised by law in 2011 as a minority language with constitutional rights and the first language of the Icelandic deaf community.
The North Germanic languages are national languages in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, whereas the non-Germanic Finnish is spoken by the majority in Finland. In inter-Nordic contexts, texts are today often presented in three versions: Finnish, Icelandic, and one of the three languages Danish, Norwegian and Swedish.
Icelandic is the language spoken by the people of Iceland. It is a Germanic language. It comes from the Old Norse language, the language spoken by the Vikings. Because Iceland is far away from other countries, the language has not changed much. Icelandic people can still read words from hundreds of years ago.
Old Icelandic, usually called Old Norse, is the language in which the Edda s, sagas, and skaldic poems were written in the Middle Ages. By the time these works were written, several dialectal characteristics that differentiate Icelandic from Norwegian had emerged.
It was a North Germanic language, spoken in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and, of course, Iceland until the 14th century. Many of today's Nordic languages, with the notable exceptions of languages such as Finnish and Sami, can trace their origins back to Old Norse. So, how do we get from Old Norse to modern Icelandic?
