Breakdown of Meirihlutinn kaus konuna en minnihlutinn kaus karlmanninn.
en
but
konan
the woman
kjósa
to elect
meirihlutinn
the majority
karlmaðurinn
the male
minnihlutinn
the minority
Questions & Answers about Meirihlutinn kaus konuna en minnihlutinn kaus karlmanninn.
Why doesn't kaus (voted) take a preposition here, like "for" in English?
In Icelandic, the verb kjósa takes a direct object in the accusative case when you are voting for a person or a specific option. You don't need a preposition like in English; you literally "vote the woman" (kjósa konuna).
How are the words meirihlutinn and minnihlutinn constructed?
They are highly literal compound words. Meirihlutinn is made of meiri (greater/more) + hluti (part) + the definite article -nn. Minnihlutinn simply swaps in minni (smaller/less) for the first half.
Why does the sentence use karlmanninn instead of just manninn?
While maður is the default word for "man", it also broadly means "person" or "human". When directly contrasting a male with a female (konuna), Icelandic prefers the specific compound karlmaður (male person) to avoid ambiguity. Here it is in the accusative definite form.
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