Questions & Answers about Hvaða tungumál talar hún?
Why use hvaða here instead of hvað?
Hvaða means "which" or "what" when it is directly followed by a noun. Because we are asking "what language" rather than just "what", we use hvaða tungumál. If we just wanted to ask "What does she speak?", we would use the basic word for what: Hvað talar hún?
Why is the word order talar hún (speaks she)? Where is "does"?
Icelandic doesn't use "do" or "does" to make questions. Instead, the verb usually needs to be in the second position of the sentence. The entire question phrase Hvaða tungumál (What language) takes up the first spot, so the verb talar must come right after it, followed by the subject hún.
Is tungumál related to the English word "tongue"?
Exactly! Tunga means "tongue" and mál means "language" or "speech". Put them together and you get tungumál, which is the standard Icelandic word for a spoken language.
Does the word hvaða change its ending depending on the noun?
Good news for learners: no! Unlike many words in Icelandic that change based on gender, number, or grammatical case, the question word hvaða never changes. It always stays exactly the same no matter what noun follows it.