Learn Icelandic: Viðskiptavinurinn spyr af hverju við afbókum ekki fundinn. - The customer asks why we do not cancel the meeting.

In English, we put the negative before the main verb by using a helper verb ("we do not cancel"). In Icelandic, the word order in a subordinate clause (like the one starting with af hverju) usually keeps the same structure as a normal sentence: Subject + Verb + ekki. So við afbókum ekki literally reads as "we cancel not".

What is the literal translation of viðskiptavinurinn?

It literally translates to "the business friend"! It is a compound word made up of viðskipti (business) and vinur (friend), topped off with the masculine definite article -inn (the) attached to the end.

Why is the meeting fundinn here instead of the dictionary form fundurinn?

Because the meeting is the direct object receiving the action of being canceled, it must be in the accusative case. The masculine noun fundur drops its "-ur" ending to become fund in the accusative. When you attach the definite article meaning "the", you get fundinn.

Why does the word for "why" look like it means "of what" (af hverju)?