Hvað sem stendur í orðabókinni, spyr ég samt þegar merkingin er ekki skýr.

Hvað sem is a set expression meaning something like whatever or no matter what.

So:

• Hvað sem stendur í orðabókinni = Whatever it says in the dictionary
• more literally: what(ever) that stands/is written in the dictionary

This pattern is very common in Icelandic:

• hver sem = whoever
• hvar sem = wherever
• hvenær sem = whenever

In this sentence, hvað sem introduces a concessive idea: the speaker is saying that the dictionary does not settle the matter completely.

Yes, standa literally means to stand, but Icelandic often uses standa in contexts where English would say be written, be stated, or be listed.

So here:

• stendur í orðabókinni means is written in the dictionary / is listed in the dictionary

This is a very natural Icelandic use. English learners often expect a verb like say or write, but Icelandic commonly uses standa for written information.

The preposition í can take either:

• accusative for motion into something
• dative for location in something

Here there is no movement; the meaning is in the dictionary, so Icelandic uses the dative.

That is why you get:

• orðabókinni = the dictionary in the dative singular

Compare:

• í orðabókina = into the dictionary
• í orðabókinni = in the dictionary

This is because Icelandic follows the verb-second rule in main clauses.

The first part of the sentence is a fronted clause:

• Hvað sem stendur í orðabókinni

After that, the main clause begins, and the finite verb must come early, in second position:

• spyr ég samt

So the word order is natural Icelandic:

• [Fronted clause], [verb] [subject] ...

If you said ég spyr samt, that would usually be expected when ég starts the clause:

• Ég spyr samt ...

But once another element comes first, the verb normally moves ahead of the subject.

Samt means still, anyway, or all the same.

In this sentence it shows contrast:

• Whatever the dictionary says, I still ask...

So the idea is:

• even if the dictionary gives an answer,
• the speaker still asks when the meaning is unclear.

It adds the sense of despite that or nevertheless.

Literally, þegar means when. In this sentence it introduces the situation in which the speaker asks:

• þegar merkingin er ekki skýr = when the meaning is not clear

In English, depending on context, you might naturally translate it as when or even if:

• I still ask when the meaning is unclear
• I still ask if the meaning is not clear

But the Icelandic word here is specifically þegar, not the usual word for if.

Merkingin is the noun merking (meaning) with the definite article attached, so it means the meaning.

Breakdown:

• merking = meaning
• merkingin = the meaning

Icelandic usually attaches the as an ending rather than using a separate word like English the.

Here merkingin is:

• nominative singular
• feminine

because it is the subject of er.

The adjective has to agree with the noun it describes.

Here the noun is:

• merkingin = feminine singular nominative

So the adjective must also be:

• skýr = feminine singular nominative

That is why the sentence says:

• merkingin er ekki skýr = the meaning is not clear

For comparison:

• orðið er skýrt = the word is clear
  (orð is neuter, so skýrt)
• textinn er skýr = the text is clear
  (masculine, so skýr)

Yes, spyrja often takes an object, but it can also be used more generally as ask without stating exactly whom you ask or what full question you ask.

So here:

• spyr ég samt = I still ask

The sentence leaves that object unstated because it is not important. The point is simply that the speaker asks for clarification.

A fuller sentence could be something like:

• spyr ég samt að því = I still ask about it
• spyr ég samt einhvern = I still ask someone

But Icelandic, like English, can leave that implicit.

Grammatically, yes, but in natural English that sounds too literal.

A word-for-word breakdown is roughly:

• Hvað sem = whatever
• stendur = stands / is written
• í orðabókinni = in the dictionary

So the literal sense is close to whatever stands in the dictionary, but the natural meaning is:

• whatever the dictionary says
• whatever is written in the dictionary

This is a good example of how Icelandic uses ordinary verbs in slightly different ways from English.

It has two main parts:

1. A fronted subordinate clause:

   • Hvað sem stendur í orðabókinni
   • Whatever is written in the dictionary

2. The main clause:

   • spyr ég samt þegar merkingin er ekki skýr
   • I still ask when the meaning is not clear

Inside the main clause, there is another subordinate clause:

• þegar merkingin er ekki skýr
• when the meaning is not clear

So the full structure is roughly:

• [Concessive clause], [main clause + time/situation clause]

This kind of layering is very common in Icelandic and explains the word order.