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Icelandic

Phylum: Indo-European

Genus: Germanic

Lat/lon: 64.0, -22.0

ISO code: isl

Consonants

Basic short series

bilabiallabio-dentaldentalalveolarpalatalvelarglottal
stopp, pʰt̪, t̪ʰc, cʰk, kʰ
trillr̥, r
fricativefθ̻, ð̺̞çxh
lateral fricativeɬ
nasalm̥, mn̪̥, n̪ɲ̥, ɲŋ̥, ŋ
approximantʋjɰ
lateral approximantl

Vowels

Basic short series

frontcentralback
closeiu
near-closeɪ, ʏ
open-midɛ, œɔ
open

Diphthongs

/ʏi̯/, /ei̯/, /øɪ̯/, /ɔi̯/, /ou̯/, /äi̯/, /äu̯/

Source: Thráinsson, Höskuldur. 1994. Icelandic. The Germanic Languages (eds.: König, Ekkehard; van der Auwera, Johan), 142-189. London: Routledge

Comments: /h/ is sometimes treated as pre-aspiration. /x/ is technically an allophone of |kʰ| (V__s,t OR #__ʋ). /j/ corresponds to two distinct underlying phonemes, one of which alternates with /ɣ̞/. Overall, velars and palatals are in a complex distribution. The interdentals are in a simple distribution (/θ̻/ only occurs word-initially and before a voiceless consonant). /m̥/, /ɲ̥/, /ŋ̥/, /ɲ/ are non-phonemic. /ŋ/ is marginally phonemic __l,s̺ as a result of a deleted /k/. /ʏi̯/, /ɔi̯/ are non-phonemic. Vowel length is almost always predictable (there are two or three exceptions). /ɫ/, /ɫ̥/, /ʔ/ might be included in certain analyses.

Contributed by: André Nikulin (andre.n.guzman@gmail.com)