Due to its geographic isolation, many people wonder, “What language do they speak in Iceland?” The official language, íslenska (Icelandic), preserves a longstanding history of an unchanging linguistic perseverance, which provides a clear glimpse into the past of Germanic languages. Discover the most-spoken languages in Iceland, along with what makes the common tongue of this land unique.
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Icelandic is Iceland’s only official language
Iceland’s official language is called íslenska, or “Icelandic” in English, and it’s considered one of the country’s two Indigenous languages (the other is Icelandic Sign Language). Despite over a thousand years of tradition, Icelandic was only recently declared the official language of Iceland in 2011 by its parliament. It is a language of North Germanic origin with about 370,000 native speakers in Iceland and 600 native speakers in Greenland (WorldData.info).
Though native-born Icelanders grow up speaking íslenska as their first language, English is commonly taught as a second language, and most Icelanders speak multiple languages.
Why Iceland had no official language until 2011
For most of its modern history, Iceland simply had no need to legally declare its official language. Since its settlement in the 9th century, Icelandic dominated communication in literature, religion, and education. Even during centuries of rule under Denmark, Icelandic remained the language of the people of Iceland.
The situation changed in the 21st century with the rise of globalization. As English becomes an increasingly standard language for business, higher education, and technology, the parliament of Iceland only recently felt the need to pass legislation safeguarding its language rights.
Other languages spoken in Iceland
Though Icelandic is the official language of Iceland, there are, of course, small sections of the population that speak a foreign language as their first tongue. Roughly 3% of all citizens consider their mother tongue to be a language other than Icelandic.
| Language | Percentage of Native Speakers |
| Polish | 2.71% |
| Lithuanian | 0.43% |
| English | 0.32% |
| Danish | 0.31% |
| German | 0.31% |
| Portuguese | 0.28% |
| Filipino | 0.24% |
| Thai | 0.17% |
| Latvian | 0.14% |
*Data from WorldAtlas, 2017
Why Pólska (Polish) is Iceland’s second-largest native language
Though a small portion of the overall Icelandic population, over 23,000 people of Polish origin call Iceland home. This number rose in 2004 following the nation’s initial involvement in the European Economic Area, and Polish immigrants arrived in Iceland largely to work in the local fishing industry. Today, Polish citizens represent the largest immigrant group in Iceland to the point that news media in the country offer content in Polish.
Enska (English) is Iceland’s most common second language
Though a small portion of Icelanders speak English as their native language, English is commonplace. According to The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers, schools in Iceland begin teaching English as a second language as early as fourth grade. This helps make English the most common second language in Iceland.
Danska (Danish) is Iceland’s most common third language
Did you know that Iceland was under the rule of Denmark for over 500 years? These historic roots make the Danish-speaking community in Iceland native by past events, rather than recent immigration trends. Because of this, Danish is taught as a third language in Iceland, starting around seventh grade in public schools (The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers).
Unique history of the Icelandic language
The Norse settlers in the 9th and 10th centuries brought their Northern Germanic dialects to Iceland. Regional linguistic differences brought about by isolation transformed the original Old Norse dialect into Old Icelandic. Since then, little has changed about the Icelandic language, allowing modern Icelanders to read literature written by their ancestors over a thousand years ago with clarity.
This was far from accidental. The geographic position of Iceland, as a lone island between Greenland and Norway, helped isolate Icelandic from the influence of other languages, but the people worked to “purify” Icelandic as well. Since 1780, Iceland has adopted a policy of keeping foreign loanwords out of the Icelandic language in an effort to preserve it.
Standardization leads to a lack of Icelandic dialects
Iceland boasts a stunning 99% literacy rating, meaning all native-born Icelanders learned the language in school. Because of this, the Icelandic language is highly standardized, and any regional differences in pronunciation or terminology are considered so small as to be largely negligible. Language is a point of great pride in Iceland, creating a stark lack of sub-dialects within the nation. Once you learn Icelandic, you’re good to go anywhere in the country and be able to perfectly understand native citizens.
What does Icelandic sound like?
Icelandic sounds crisp and slightly melodic, carrying a steady cadence that mimics the sing-song tones of nearby Scandinavian languages. Dense inflections are focused on the first syllable of spoken words in Icelandic, but in colloquial speech, words are often merged and shortened together.
The difficult-to-pronounce language recently put out a song called The Hardest Karaoke Song in the World, showcasing some of the tougher terms to say in Icelandic.
| Icelandic Term | Pronunciation | English Translation |
| bless | blehss | goodbye |
| ég heiti… | yeh hay-ti | my name is… |
| fyrirgefðu | FEER-ir-geh-thuh | excuse me/sorry |
| halló | ha-loh | hello |
| hvar finn ég… | kvahr finn yeh… | where can I find… |
| já | yau | yes |
| nei | nay | no |
| takk fyrir | tahk fe-reer | thank you very much |
| það var ekkert | thah vahr ehk-kert | you’re welcome |
| vinsamlegast | VIN-sahm-leh-gast | please |
Unique history of Icelandic Sign Language
As proud as Iceland is of its native language, it now shares the same sentiments for its version of sign language. Before 1910, when Icelandic Sign Language became official, Iceland had no system of communication for the hearing-impaired. So, these students were sent to school in Denmark, where they could learn their system of sign language. Now, members of the deaf community in Iceland learn Icelandic Sign Language as their first language and standard Icelandic for their second language of writing.
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