Icelandic alphabet

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The Icelandic alphabet consists of the following letters:

A Á B D Ð E É F G H I Í J K L M N O Ó P R S T U Ú V X Y Ý Þ Æ Ö

The names of the letters are:

Letter	Name	Pronunciation in IPA
Aa	a	[a]
Áá	á	[au̯]
Bb	bé	[pjɛ]
Dd	dé	[tjɛ]
Ðð	eð	[ɛð̠]
Ee	e	[ɛ]
Éé	é	[jɛ]
Ff	eff	[ɛfː]
Gg	gé	[cɛ]
Hh	há	[hau̯]
Ii	i	[ɪ]
Íí	í	[i]
Jj	joð	[jɔð̠]
Kk	ká	[kʰau̯]
Ll	ell	[ɛtl̥]
Mm	emm	[ɛmː]
Nn	enn	[ɛnː]
Oo	o	[ɔ]
Óó	ó	[ou̯]
Pp	pé	[pʰjɛ]
Rr	err	[ɛr]
Ss	ess	[ɛs]
Tt	té	[tʰjɛ]
Uu	u	[ʏ]
Úú	ú	[u]
Vv	vaff	[vafː]
Xx	ex	[ɛxs]
Yy	ufsilon y	[ʏfsɪlɔn ɪ]
Ýý	ufsilon ý	[ʏfsɪlɔn i]
Þþ	þorn	[θ̠ɔtn̥]
Ææ	æ	[ai̯]
Öö	ö	[œ]

The letters C (sé, [sjɛ]), Q (kú, [kʰu]) and W (tvöfalt vaff, [ˈtʰvœfal̥t ˌvafː]) are only used in Icelandic in words of foreign origin and some proper names. The letter Z (seta, [ˈsɛta]) was used until 1974, when it was abolished, as it was only an etymological detail. However, one of the most important newspapers in Iceland, the Morgunblaðið, still uses it sometimes (although very rarely), and a secondary school, Verzlunarskóli Íslands has it on its name. It is also found in some proper names of people. Older people, who were educated before the abolition of the z sometimes also use it.

The modern Icelandic alphabet has developed from a standard established in the 19th century, by the Danish linguist Rasmus Rask primarily. It is ultimately based heavily on an orthographic standard created in the early 12th century by a mysterious document referred to as The First Grammatical Treatise, author unknown. The standard was intended for what its author perceived to be a common language of Scandinavia, alias Old Norse. It did not have much influence, however, at the time.

The most defining characteristics of the alphabet were established in the old treatise:

Use of the acute accent (originally to signify vowel length).
Use of þ, also used in the Old English alphabet as the letter thorn, a language which the astute grammarian described as "more or less the same" as Old Norse.

The later Rasmus Rask standard was basically a re-enactment of the old treatise, with some changes to fit concurrent Germanic conventions, such as the exclusive use of k rather than c. Various old features, like ð, had actually not seen much use in the later centuries, so Rask's standard constituted a major change in practice.

Later 20th century changes are most notably the adoption of é, which had previously been written as je (reflecting the modern pronunciation), and the abolition of z in 1974.