Fjölskyldan og kerfið — family and the system

Civil status

wordmeaning
hjóninthe married couple
eiginkonanthe wife
eiginmaðurinnthe husband
sambúðincohabitation (registered partnership)

kona and maður can mean wife and husband, but eiginkonan and eiginmaðurinn are unambiguous. sambúðin — living together without marriage — is an official civil status in Iceland, common on every form.

Paperwork

lögheimilið is your legal residence — where the system thinks you live. ríkisborgararétturinn is citizenship: She got Icelandic citizenship last year.

Hún fékk íslenskan ríkisborgararétt í fyrra.

Life events

athöfnin is the ceremony — wedding, baptism, funeral. siðurinn is the custom: This is an old Icelandic custom.

Þetta er gamall íslenskur siður. ala upp is to raise children; dauðinn (death) and sorglegur (sad) belong to the vocabulary every adult needs, even in a second language.

Contributors