as other people have pointed out - it is not horrific, and
i find it quite sad to apply such descriptions to any language.
i think what makes languages like icelandic, old
nores or also german look a bit suspicious to learners from a native
english background is the fact that they are flecting languages with lots of
different forms appearing in verbs, nouns and adjectives, and lots of patterns
you simply have to learn by heart. but on a more abstract level, all germanic
languages have a lot in common in general structure, so every native speaker of
a germanic language should soon get a feeling for another germanic language you
are learning. sure i can understand, as a native german speaker, that some
concepts in icelandic or old norse, like the case endings in nouns, the strong
and weak adjectives, etc might look a bit alien at first to native speakers of
english with no previous experience in learning a language with lot of flexion
elements before. but on the other hand - ever learned a celtic language? or
finnish? there are languages around which are quite a bit more "out of the
world" for a native speaker of a germanic language than old norse or icelandic.
with a germanic language you start to learn at least you get the lucky fact
that the vocabulary shows *lots* of similarities, and there are lots of other
general patterns which are quite similar.
so, good luck + success with learning!
mona
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, April 11, 2004 2:28
AM
Subject: Re: [norse_course] Newbie with
QUESTIONS
your right (as you have probably heard from dozens of people) Icelandic
would be you're choice. Modern Icelandin is relatively unchanged from Old
Norse. Good luck - the grammar is horrific!!!!!