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Questions & Answers about Við fögnum nýju ári.
What does fögnum mean and why is it not fagna?
fögnum is the 1st person plural present tense of fagna (“to celebrate/welcome”). Icelandic verbs change according to person and number:
- ég fagna (I celebrate)
- þú fagnar (you celebrate)
- hann/hún fagnar (he/she celebrates)
- við fögnum (we celebrate)
- þið fagnið (you pl. celebrate)
- þeir fagna (they celebrate)
Why is ári in the dative case instead of the accusative?
Some Icelandic verbs govern the dative rather than the accusative. fagna always takes a dative object, so “the new year” becomes ári (dative singular of ár) instead of an accusative form.
Why does ný become nýju before ári?
Adjectives in Icelandic agree with their noun in case, number and gender. Here ári is neuter, singular, dative. The indefinite weak inflection of ný in that slot is -ju, giving nýju ári.
Can you leave out við and just say fögnum nýju ári?
Yes, technically you can omit við because the verb ending -um unambiguously marks 1st person plural. However, including við is more natural for clarity or emphasis: Við fögnum nýju ári.
Why isn’t there an article (“the”) before nýju ári?
This phrase is indefinite (“a new year”). In Icelandic indefinite nouns do not take a separate article. If you wanted “the new year” you’d use the definite dative árinu and weak adjective nýja, as in Við fögnum nýja árinu.
How do you pronounce ö in fögnum?
The letter ö represents a rounded front vowel [œ] or [ø], similar to the French “œu” in sœur or the German “ö” in schön. Your lips round while your tongue stays in a front position.
Is the word order always Subject–Verb–Object in Icelandic, as in Við fögnum nýju ári?
Basic word order in Icelandic is SVO, but it’s somewhat flexible for emphasis. Placing the object first (O–V–S) or adding adverbs can shift the focus:
- Nýju ári fögnum við (We, we celebrate the new year!)