Script guide › Latin
Icelandic vs Norwegian
Icelandic and Norwegian sit in the same corner of the writing-system map — Grafle's Latin group — and players mix them up constantly. Here's the fastest way to tell them apart.
The tell
Icelandic keeps the ancient letters þ (thorn) and ð (eth); Norwegian never uses them.
Side by side
Icelandic
Allir menn eru bornir frjálsir og jafnir að virðingu.
Halló, hvernig hefur þú það?
Þetta reddast alltaf einhvern veginn.
Icelandic's own tells
- Þ (thorn) and ð (eth) — only Icelandic still uses both (Faroese kept just the ð). Either one is an instant giveaway.
On signs in:
- Iceland
Norwegian
Alle mennesker er født frie og like i verdighet.
Hei, hyggelig å møte deg! Hvordan går det?
Det er typisk norsk å være god.
Norwegian's own tells
- Uses æ, ø, å — if you see ä or ö instead, it's Swedish.
- Near-twin of Danish: Norwegian writes 'av' where Danish writes 'af', so lean on context.
On signs in:
- Norway