Here are the names of some of the countries of (mostly Western)
Europe, an inhabitant (íbúi) of the country, and the
adjective used to describe his/her nationality (þjóðerni).
While some of these are very similar (or identical) to the English, others are quite surprising.
Land
Íbúi
Þjóðerni Enskt
--------------------------------------------------------------
Austurríki Austurríkismaður
austurrískur Austria
Belgía Belgi
belgískur Belgium
Danmörk Dani
danskur Denmark
Eistland Eistlendingur
eistneskur Estonia
England Englendingur
enskur England
Finnland Finni
finnskur Finnland
Frakkland Frakki
franskur France
Færeyjar Færeyjingur
færeyskur Faeroe Islands
Grikkland Grikki
grískur Greece
Grænland Grænlendingur
grænlenskur Greenland
Írland Íri
írskur Ireland
Ísland Íslendingur
íslenskur Iceland
Ítalía
Ítali
ítalskur Italy
Lettland Letti
lettneskur Latvia
Litháen Lithái
litháískur Lithuania
Niðurlönd Niðurlendingur
niðurlenskur Netherlands
Noregur Norðmaður
norskur Norway
Portúgal Portúgali
portúgalskur Portugal
Rúmenía
Rúmeni
rúmenskur Rumania
Spánn
Spánverji spænskur
Spain
Svíðjóð
Svíi
sænskur Sweden
Sviss Svisslendingur
svissneskur Switzerland
Ungverjaland Ungverji
ungverskur Hungary
Þýskaland Þjóðverji
þýskur Germany
To Bob, asking for the best way to learn: it's hard to say what's "best"
for you. Rod posts daily phrases, which are great for just memorizing or
dissecting for grammar. I post pseudo-daily vocbaulary lists, and the words
are nice to know but aren't real useful without some grammar. I learn best
by staring at declension tables and scribbling sentences... For some people,
this works. Others would much rather talk one-on-one with a teacher or
native speaker. I think when you're just
starting out -- if you want to really know a language, and not just
know *about* it -- you need to take a structured approach from a book or
a teacher. Even if you're an experienced linguist, you need to learn the
basics for normal conversation.
Just my kr. 0,02.
Jon