26 The Linguist Vol/59 No/5 2020
thelinguist.uberflip.com
FEATURES
Q Why is it important to spread awareness
of your language and culture in the UK?
A We are very proud of our ancient, archaic
mother tongue, and we go to considerable
lengths to preserve it. One could argue that
we pursue linguistic purism: we try to
safeguard our language by replacing
loanwords, often from Latin or English, with
new words or by resuscitating words from
Old Icelandic. For example, the word
'telephone' translates as sími, which means
'thread' or 'wire' in old Norse.
The Icelandic Government supports this
ideology through the Árni Magnússon
Institute for Icelandic Studies, the Icelandic
Language Technology Fund and Icelandic
Language Day (16 November). Citizens can
read and understand 12th-century texts such
as the Icelandic sagas. Icelanders also publish
more books per capita than the people of
any other nation in the world.
Q Where can I learn Icelandic in the UK?
A The University of Edinburgh offers a
beginners course for undergraduate and
postgraduate students, supported by the
Icelandic Ministry of Education, Science and
Culture. UCL has a four-year Icelandic BA,
which is the only degree programme of its
kind outside Iceland.
Q What is your favourite Icelandic word?
A Ljósmóðir ('midwife'), meaning literally
'mother of light'. It evokes the lightness and
happiness that comes with childbirth.
Another rather peculiar word, which can
mean a lot of things or hardly anything, is
Iceland's Ambassador to the UK, HE Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson, talks
to Romana Sustar about promoting Icelandic culture and language
jæja. Often the closest meaning would be
'well… then' or 'well, well, well…' It is a
unique word.
Q If there was one thing you could take
from British culture, what would it be?
A I like how the British use the word
'please' to ask nicely and add an extra layer
of nice-ness when asking for something or
accepting an offer etc. It has a bit of magic
dust to it, which you can sprinkle over a reply
or a request.
HE Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson is the
Appointed Chief Negotiator for Iceland's
accession to the EU. He has been
Ambassador to the UK since 2017.
Twitter @stefanhaukurj @IcelandinUK.
Council member Romana Sustar MCIL CL is
a marketing manager and language tutor.
Twitter @RomanaSustar
350,000 people speak Icelandic. Iceland
has been chosen multiple times as the
best place to live as a woman, and has
been number one on the WEF Gender
Gap index for 11 consecutive years.
Almost all of its electricity consumption
is from renewable sources (hydro and
geothermal) and about 85% of its
houses use geothermal energy. Citizens
can use the Íslendingabók website to
trace their heritage back to the Vikings.
FACT FILE: ICELAND
ART SCENE
Olafur Eliasson's show at Tate Modern reflected
the Icelandic landscape (main image); and
(inset) HE Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson
Embassy insights
