Iceland’s language guardians: how linguistic purism shapes modern Icelandic

The Icelandic approach to preserving language is distinctive in the modern world. Rather than allowing a stream of foreign words to enter Icelandic unchecked, the prevailing philosophy has been to build new vocabulary from the language’s own ancient roots. This policy, often referred to as “linguistic purism” or hreintungustefna, is considered central to Icelandic cultural identity.

An old language, a living tradition

Efforts to tend to the Icelandic tongue can be traced to the mid-12th century, when an early treatise sought to give Icelandic its own alphabet, even proposing unique letters to represent sounds not found in Latin. By the 16th century, defenders of the language, like Arngrímur Jónsson, warned against the influence of Danish and German, calling for Icelanders to cling to the “purity” of their tongue. He advocated for looking to older Icelandic manuscripts to replace foreign terms with what he considered more authentic native words.

During the 18th century, Eggert Ólafsson became a vocal proponent of purism. In poetic and scholarly works, he mourned the proliferation of foreign words and urged Icelanders to recover the richness of their own language. This concern was echoed by societies of Icelandic students in Copenhagen, who looked to Old Icelandic as a key marker of national identity.

The 19th century saw a flowering of this approach. Writers and scholars led by Jónas Hallgrímsson began actively inventing new Icelandic words for contemporary scientific, technical and cultural concepts. Terms like “aðdráttarafl” (gravity) and “sjónauki” (telescope) were created from Icelandic roots. Many of these neologisms remain in everyday use.

Institutional support and modern regulation

With sovereignty in 1918, regulation of the Icelandic language became a formal part of government policy. The twentieth century saw the establishment of official bodies for language oversight, such as the Icelandic Language Council and the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies. Their remit includes advising on language usage and developing new Icelandic words to keep the language current in all areas of society, from media and government to education and science.

Legislation now touches many parts of daily life. Laws ensure that Icelandic is used in courts, advertising and schools. Since 2011, a dedicated law has committed public authorities to actively promote and use “well-formed Icelandic as a means of expression in all circumstances.” Icelandic speakers, not just language professionals, have long contributed to the creation of new vocabulary, particularly in rapidly developing fields such as technology and engineering.

The intent behind these efforts is not simply conservatism. Icelanders see their language as a container of centuries-old stories, beliefs and customs. Linguists and cultural commentators have argued that language, in this context, is a foundation of Icelandic identity and a marker of nationhood, sometimes equated with national existence itself.

TopicsÁrni Magnússon InstituteIcelandic identityIcelandic languagelanguage policylinguistic purism