Breakdown of Skurðlæknirinn skoðar hjörtun og lungun.
og
and
skoða
to look at
hjartað
the heart
lungað
the lung
skurðlæknirinn
the surgeon
Questions & Answers about Skurðlæknirinn skoðar hjörtun og lungun.
Why are the objects spelled hjörtun and lungun here instead of their base forms?
These are the definite plural forms of hjarta (heart) and lunga (lung). These four weak neuter body parts (auga, eyra, hjarta, lunga) are unique: they end in -a in all singular cases, but take -u in the nominative and accusative plural. Adding the plural neuter definite article to hjörtu and lungu gives us hjörtun and lungun.
Why does the root vowel in hjarta change to an 'ö' in hjörtun?
This is caused by the U-shift (u-hljóðvarp). Because the plural form takes a -u ending (hjörtu), the root vowel a shifts to ö. You don't see a shift in lungun because its root vowel is already a u.
What case do hjörtun and lungun take in this sentence?
They are in the accusative case because they are the direct objects of the verb skoða (to examine). For these specific weak neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative plural forms are identical, so they look exactly the same as if they were the subjects of the sentence.
How is the word skurðlæknirinn formed?
It is a compound of skurður (a cut, incision, or surgery) and læknir (doctor), followed by the masculine definite article -inn. Literally meaning 'the cut-doctor', it is the standard Icelandic word for surgeon.
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