Umlaut

As we have noted in previous lessons, sometimes the vowels in the stems of words change.

Example 1: Saga -> Sögu
Example 2: Að telja -> Taldi

This phenomenon is known as umlaut!

What Is Umlaut

Umlauts are phenomena in Germanic languages (e.g., German, English, Icelandic) whereby vowels in unstressed syllables influence or influenced the vowels in stressed syllables in order to make words easier to pronounce.

Note: Umlaut does not traverse word boundaries, such as with compounds (e.g, "gangnamunni", not "gangnömunni" or "göngnumunni").

Understanding umlaut beyond a surface level requires us to known a little bit of historical linguistics because umlauts are rooted in historical developments. For example, i-umlaut emerged around 500 AD and impacted words across various Germanic languages of that era. Because Icelandic evolved from a Germanic language of that era, its effects endure within modern Icelandic.

There are two main types of umlaut to be familiar with in Icelandic: u-umlaut and i-umlaut.

U-umlaut

U-umlaut is the much more simple of the two.

Rule: An "a" in the stem mutates into an "ö" when the next syllable contains a "u". If there are two "a"s in the stem, the first becomes an "ö", and the second becomes a "u".

Example 1: Að baka -> Við bökum
Example 2: Mamma -> Mömmu
Example 3: Brandari -> Bröndurum

Tricky Situations

There are two tricky situations whereby the logic of u-umlaut seems to break, and both of them have to do with Old Norse.

The first situation is when u-umlaut doesn't happen when it seemingly should.

Example: Maður

Following our rule, this word should be realized as möður, but it is not. The reason for this is that this word was spelled maðr when u-umlaut occcured. Since there was no u at that time, nothing caused the a to shift. Hundreds of years later, Old Norse underwent a spelling reform, changing the -r ending to a -ur. Since that u came after the u-umlaut shift finished, the a in the stem remains. This is extremely common, and happens in many adjectives as well.

The second situation is when u-umlaut happens when it seemingly should not.

Example: Glöð

There is no u anywhere in the form, so why is umlaut occuring? The reason is the opposite of the previous reason. When umlaut was happening, there actually was a u in the form, glaðu. Later, that u was dropped, leaving the modern langauge with glöð.

Note: While U-umlaut is no longer an active linguistical shift, many new words introduced to the language often adhere to the pattern through analogy.

Where Is U-umlaut Common

Any time you see an a in a stem, you should be aware of u-umlaut.

As we touched upon in previous lessons, u-umlaut is very common in weak feminine words.

Example 1: Panda -> Pöndu
Example 2: Mamma -> Mömmu
Example 2: Anna -> Önnu

U-umlaut is very common in verbs in the first-person plural.

Example 1: Að tala -> Við tölum
Example 2: Að baka -> Við bökum

U-umlaut is very common in the dative plurals of nouns because of the -um ending. We have not touched much on plurals yet, but it is still good to be aware of this happening.

Example 1: Brandari -> Bröndurum
Example 2: Mamma -> Mömmum

I-umlaut

I-umlaut is much more complicated than u-umlaut and concerns many more vowels.

The rules are as follows:

a -> e
au -> ey
á -> æ
e -> i
jú and jó -> ý
o -> e
ó -> æ
u -> y

In contrast to u-umlaut, where most of the original us that triggered the umlaut still exist, most of the letter is that caused i-umlaut have vanished. These i"s were present in the Proto-Germanic endings, but they are gone in modern Icelandic. Even though they are no longer present, their historical presence still causes changes in the world.

Below, see the declension table for the word bok (book).

	Sing.	Plur.
Nom.	bók	bækur
Acc.	bók	bækur
Dat.	bók	bókum
Gen.	bókar	bóka

Within this declension, it is easy to see that the nominative and accusative plural forms changed their vowels from ó to æ, aligning with the i-umlaut rules. However, this transformation is not mirrored in the remaining forms.

These forms experienced i-umlaut because they contained the letter i in their endings (*Bōkiz) in Proto-Germanic at the time that i-umlaut was an active change, while the other forms did not. As you can see by the rules, ō, which is now ó, changed to æ.

Where Is I-umlaut Common

While it is ultimately impossible and unproductive to know if a word had an i in the ending when Germanic Umlaut was active or if the forms changed by analogy, knowing some of the common places it occurs can be very helpful.

I-umlaut is very common in the past tense of weak j-verbs (a verb type covered in later lessons).

Example 1: Að telja -> Ég taldi\

I-umlaut is very common in the conjugation of strong verbs (a verb type covered in later lessons), but only in the singular. It never occurs in the plural.

Example 1: Að fara -> Ég fer
Example 2: Að fara -> Þið farið

I-umlaut is very common in the nominative and accusative plural of feminine nouns (we will cover plural nouns in later lessons).

Example: Bók -> Bækur

Both Umlauts Together

Do not make the mistake of thinking that a word can only experience one type of umlaut. Some words can experience both!

Below, see the declension table for að fara, a strong verb.

Pres. fara	Sing.	Plur.
1st.	fer	förum
2nd.	ferð	farið
3rd.	fer	fara

Notice how the singular forms underwent i-umlaut, and the first person plural form underwent u-umlaut.