Compound Adjectives for Physical Traits
Icelandic creates compound adjectives for physical descriptions by combining two words:
Descriptive Word + Body Part Stem + -ur
The -ur suffix makes these adjectives masculine, singular, and nominative, matching nouns like strákurinn (the boy) or faðirinn (the father).
Hair (-hærður)
For hair (hár), use the stem -hærður. Attach a color like rauður (red) to create "red-haired."
| red-haired | rauðhærður |
| The child always inherits the gene if the father is red-haired. | Barnið erfir alltaf genið ef faðirinn er rauðhærður. |
The pattern also applies to length, using stutt (short) or síð (long, for hair):
| Páll is short-haired, but Jón is long-haired. | Páll er stutthærður en Jón er síðhærður. |
Eyes (-eygur)
For eyes (auga), use the stem -eygur. Combine it with blár (blue) for "blue-eyed."
| blue-eyed | bláeygur |
| The gene is rare, therefore the boy is not blue-eyed. | Genið er sjaldgæft, þess vegna er strákurinn ekki bláeygur. |
Add stór (big) to describe eye size:
| The singer is big-eyed. | Söngvarinn er stóreygur. |
Combining Traits
This pattern extends to other physical features, such as shoulders (axlir), which use the stem -axlaður. Combine it with breiður (broad) to get breiðaxlaður (broad-shouldered).
These compounds are often strung together when discussing genetics and family resemblances:
| The fisherman is broad-shouldered and dark-haired. | Sjómaðurinn er breiðaxlaður og dökkhærður. |
| Jón is brown-eyed and dark-haired like my grandfather. | Jón er brúneygur og dökkhærður eins og afi minn. |
| The boy is blonde-haired and blue-eyed like the mom. | Strákurinn er ljóshærður og bláeygur eins og mamman. |