--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "ericprice1986"
<ericprice1986@...> wrote:

>
> ek heiti Erikr.
> i am here to be corrected on my gramar and find answers to questions i
> may have throughout my learning process.lol. i am new to the language.
> my first question is how is o with 2 dots ontop sounded out? or the 0/d
> with the x ontop.

Heill þú nú Eiríkr!

To hear how these sounds are pronounced nowadays in Iceland, have a
listen to the first paragraph of this recording of The Saga of Eirik
the Red, Chapter 8 [
http://www.skolavefurinn.is/_opid/islenska/bokmenntir/isl_sogur/tegund/sagas/sogur/eirikssaga_rauda/kaflar/08/index_8.htm
]. In Modern Icelandic, the o with two dots above, ö, is a short
vowel in words like 'töfl' and 'höfð' where it's followed by more than
one consonant, otherwise its pronounced long as in 'mjög'. Some books
on Old Norse print these words with a different letter -- an o with a
hook under it [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogonek ] -- which was
sometimes used in medieval manuscripts. Up until the early 13th
century, the vowel in these words is thought to have sounded like the
'o' in the Modern Icelandic pronunciation of 'Snorri' (which you can
also hear in that first paragraph).

The 'd' with the curved, crossed stem, ð, is pronounced more or less
like the 'th' in the English word 'weather'.

LN