Breakdown of Tölvuþrjóturinn skrifaði skilaboðin í dulmáli.
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
skrifa
to write
skilaboðin
the message
tölvuþrjóturinn
the hacker
Questions & Answers about Tölvuþrjóturinn skrifaði skilaboðin í dulmáli.
The word tölvuþrjóturinn is a great compound. What exactly does the -þrjótur part mean?
It translates to a villain, thug, or scoundrel. So a hacker is literally a "computer villain" in Icelandic! The word is a masculine noun, and the -inn at the end is the attached definite article ("the").
The English translation says "messages". How do we know skilaboðin is plural here, rather than singular?
Skilaboð is a neuter noun, and neuter nouns that don't have an ending in the nominative singular look exactly the same in the nominative plural. However, the attached definite article reveals the number here: the singular "the message" would be skilaboðið, while the plural "the messages" is skilaboðin.
How is the word dulmáli constructed?
It is a compound of the prefix dul- (meaning hidden, secret, or concealed) and mál (language or speech). So í dulmáli literally translates to "in hidden language," which is the standard way to say "in a cipher" or "in code." It takes the dative case here because of the preposition í.
Since this lesson is about the prefixes auð- and tor-, how could we use them to describe these encrypted messages?