Icelandic Grammar - Morphology

Morphology

Many German speakers find Icelandic morphology familiar. Almost every morphological category in one language is represented in the other. Nouns are declined for case, number and gender; adjectives for case, number, gender and degree; and there are two declensions for adjectives, weak and strong. The comparison with modern German, however, cannot be carried too far. Declension of nouns in German is usually realized by the marking of articles, demonstratives, and adjectives; the inflection of nouns themselves is largely vestigial. By contrast, Icelandic nouns themselves may be marked for several or all cases, depending on the declension to which the noun belongs.

Icelandic possesses only the definite article, which can stand on its own, or, as in other North Germanic languages, be attached to its modified noun. Verbs are conjugated for tense, mood, person, number and voice. There are three voices: active, passive and medial; but it may be debated whether the medial voice is a voice or simply an independent class of verbs. There are only two simple tenses, past and present, but to make up for that there are a number of auxiliary constructions, some of which may be regarded as tenses, others as aspects to varying degrees.