Hvað merkir þetta orð?

Word by word:

• Hvað = what
• merkir = means
• þetta = this
• orð = word

A very literal English rendering would be What means this word?, but the natural English translation is What does this word mean?

Because Icelandic does not use a dummy auxiliary like English do/does in this kind of question.

English needs:

• What does this word mean?

Icelandic simply uses the main verb:

• Hvað merkir þetta orð?

So merkir already carries the present-tense meaning by itself.

Merkir is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb að merkja.

That matches þetta orð because this word is singular:

• þetta orð merkir ... = this word means ...

So in the question, merkir is the form you would expect with a singular subject.

Because Icelandic normally puts the finite verb in the second position.

So:

• Hvað comes first because it is the question word
• merkir comes second
• þetta orð comes after that

That gives the normal Icelandic question pattern:

• Hvað merkir þetta orð?

A version like Þetta orð merkir hvað? would sound more like an echo question or a marked, unusual phrasing.

Because orð is a neuter noun, and þetta is the neuter singular form of the demonstrative þessi.

So the demonstrative has to agree with the noun:

• þetta orð = this word

If the noun were a different gender, you would use a different form.

In this sentence, þetta orð is the subject: it is the thing that has a meaning. So it is functioning as nominative.

A detail that can confuse learners is that with many neuter singular forms in Icelandic, the nominative and accusative look exactly the same. So even if you are thinking about cases, the form would still be þetta orð here.

Because Icelandic usually does not add the suffixed definite article when a demonstrative like þetta is already present.

Compare:

• orð = word / a word
• orðið = the word
• þetta orð = this word

So þetta orð is the normal form, not þetta orðið.

Because orð is one of those Icelandic neuter nouns whose form is often the same in singular and plural.

So:

• orð can mean word
• orð can also mean words

You tell the difference from the surrounding words:

• þetta orð = this word
• þessi orð = these words

In your sentence, þetta tells you clearly that it is singular.

Yes. That is also very common, and many learners hear it a lot.

Both of these can mean What does this word mean?

• Hvað merkir þetta orð?
• Hvað þýðir þetta orð?

A useful note: þýða can also mean translate, so context matters.

Because meina is usually used for what a person means or intends, not for the dictionary meaning of a word.

Compare:

• Hvað meinarðu? = What do you mean?
• Hvað merkir þetta orð? = What does this word mean?

So meina is about someone's intention, while merkja or þýða is used for the meaning of a word, sign, expression, and so on.

These are very common pronunciation questions:

• þ is like th in thing
• ð is like th in this, though at the end of a word it can sound weaker
• hv in modern Icelandic is usually pronounced roughly like kv

So in this sentence:

• Hvað starts with a sound roughly like kv
• þetta starts with the th of thing
• orð ends with ð, which is the voiced th sound, though often softer than an English speaker expects