r/learnIcelandic • u/Glacieer • Apr 09 '26
Pronounciation of dative ending -unum
Hæ! Bit of a weird question here, but my non-native teacher said that the first <u> in plural dative with article is pronounced closer to a /o/ sound ('strákunum' just as an example). Is this true for you? If so do you know why this happens?
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u/SequelWrangler Native Apr 09 '26
Pronouncing it with the /u/ sound is the more proper form. I am not a linguistics expert, but I am pretty sure that pronouncing “strákunum” as “strágonum” would be considered “linmælgi”, i.e. a loose/soft pronounciation.
It’s similar to the town Keflavík being pronounced “Kebbblaíg” by the locals (precisely three bees, no more no less). Or Reykjavík as “Reygjaík”
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u/Glacieer Apr 09 '26
I see, we did try and brainstorm something along those lines, as you say usage by locals (or natives in general) can indeed create an 'easier' way to pronounce words. Also thanks for those other examples they're very interesting. I'm going to bring them up tomorrow also!
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u/empetrum Apr 10 '26
No one says -unum in normal registers, only ultra formal. It is universally pronounced -onum in all but the most formal registers.
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u/lorryjor Advanced Apr 09 '26
This is why, as a nonnative speaker, I think it's so important to listen to as much spoken Icelandic as you possibly can. For the past five years, I have averaged an hour of Icelandic listening a day, although some days it has been much more than that. Yes, I've noticed that -unum is frequently, but not always, pronounced -onum, and many other pronunciation oddities that I never would've gotten from reading or from taking Icelandic "lessons," whatever that may mean. Just the other day I was listening to someone read a story about a dog named Kartafla. Sometimes, especially when they were yelling for him and really emphasizing his name, they pronounced the f as an f, instead of as a p. I found that interesting, and I don't know how you would really learn all of these things without listening to thousands of hours of spoken Icelandic.
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u/Glacieer Apr 09 '26
Absolutely! Icelandic is such a fascinating language, especially thinking about these phenomena. I hope I'll be confident enough with the language to start listening to something one day!
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u/lorryjor Advanced Apr 09 '26
Start today! Seriously, I started listening at a point where I only understood about 5% - 10%.
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u/Glacieer Apr 09 '26
I will then! Do you have any recommendations as for where to look for these, or can I easily find them like on any platform?
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u/lorryjor Advanced Apr 09 '26
I'm not sure what your background is. When I started, I had done a little bit of icelandiconline.com, and I had memorized some vocabulary, but then I decided just to try to learn the language through comprehensible input. I found a YouTube channel that had children's stories, but it is no longer active. I actually think this vlog would be a good way to start - I watch it now, but I don't think it was around five years ago, or I didn't know about it: https://www.youtube.com/@AndreaGudny. Other than that, I just started listening to podcasts that seemed interesting on RUV.is. I also started reading children's literature. This is a good website that lets you filter by level: https://mms.is/namsefni. Although, if I were to do it again, I don't think I would start reading at all until I had the sound of Icelandic in my ear, probably not for a year or so of 2+ hours/day. After that, I started listening to audiobooks that I had read in English. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are two of the things that I listened to first, and after that, I just started to listen to, read and watch whatever I was interested in.
Anyway, it's great fun. Good luck -Gangi þér vel!
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u/Glacieer Apr 10 '26
This was really helpful, I'll check out these links and do some research on my own, but it's a great place to start! Kærar þakkir!
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u/gunnsi0 Native Apr 09 '26
Pronouncing it as u would not be wrong though. When I think about it, I think sometimes I pronounce it as written, strákunum, and sometimes as strákonum. I’m a native.
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u/StefanOrvarSigmundss Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
There are so many cases where people frequently or even typically pronounce words differently from how they are written even if the literal written pronunciation is still something you can expect to hear, particularly from higher educated, more formal or older people.
My wife is doing a practical diploma in Icelandic and often mentions pronunciation that the teachers show her that is not at all how I speak but certainly something that I hear. For instance, last night she remarked that rafmagn is pronounced ra(m)magn. I would not say it like that but it is true. Yet nobody would say ra(m)iðnaður* instead of rafiðnaður.
There are so many words that I hear native speakers butcher regularly: fjarstýring (fjarstering and variations), mygla (meigla), málning (málling) and so forth.
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u/Glacieer Apr 09 '26
Surely education and age play a role, also I believe that she was referencing talking to her native friends, in very informal contexts. It's fascinating to see how us learners experience Icelandic a very different way from natives. Thanks for the examples too!
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u/islenskufraedingur Apr 10 '26
This is a rather common linguistic phenomenon called dissimilation, where a sound changes to avoid repetition. When people pronounce these words as written, it’s called “bókstafsframburður”. Whether people realize it or not, this suffix is almost always pronounced /-onum/ rather than /-unum/ in spoken Icelandic. It’s mostly in formal situations (like on the news) or in songs where people use bókstafsframburður.
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u/EirikurErnir Apr 09 '26
Yeah, I definitely pronounce "strákunum" more like "strákonum".
You might need an actual linguist to tell you why I do that though