Icelandic: Nú

Discussion in 'Nordic Languages' started by ShakeyX, Jul 13, 2013.

  1. ShakeyX Senior Member

    British English
    On the Icelandic Online website it has a newspaper article reading...

    Nú er líf og fjör í Djúpavík.

    Was just wondering what a normal translation of this sentence is, and is Nú an adverb? I can't find any examples on the dictionary site that make sense and I can't make sense of it.
  2. ShakeyX Senior Member

    British English
    P.S. same article, next sentence infact... síldin er komin og hér vinnur margt ungt fólk...

    This is another thing where I know it's technical use but can't think of the english translation... Herring is came? herring has arrived? herring is here, herring is back? I get what the word is but what message is it trying to convey, much like nú
  3. Alxmrphi Senior Member

    Reykjavík, Ísland
    UK English
    With , yes, it is an adverb.
    I'd probably try to translate that first sentence as "It's now (quite) lively and upbeat in Djúpavík."
    Literally: Now (there) is life and fun in Djúpavík.

    I'd go for this one. I had that in my mind before I saw your options.
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2013
  4. NoMoreMrIceGuy Senior Member

    Without context I think I would always interpret it as the herring has arrived. I'm not sure what gives the impression that it was back again.

    Another example:

    Sendingin er komin í búðir og nú flykkist fólk þangað í hrönnum.

    You would never get the impression that the shipment is arriving 'back' there.
  5. Alxmrphi Senior Member

    Reykjavík, Ísland
    UK English
    Hey NMMIG,
    I think in my mind I see sometimes that fishing seasons come and go on a seasonal basis in Iceland (like news articles when people catch the first salmon of the season) and I guess I had the impression that at specific parts of the year there would be a time when you see different types of marine life. I know that in summers or winter, marine life moves north and south based on temperatures etc. and I guessed that when the season for fishing opened again, that there was suddenly an abundance of potential fishing so in this case it would be that herring was back (on its yearly cycle). I don't fish, know next to nothing about fishing and this was a guess, but that's the logic behind why I think I had that in my mind.

    In the same vein, without context I am not sure how I would arrive at herring had arrived, from never being there before? I imagined a long winter, no fishing, no life in Djúpavík, when season starts (and it's back) then fisherman come back and it's full of life. As I said, I could be totally wrong but that's what went through my head, when cycles of migration are involved. So, that's why there is some chance for it to mean that, while shipments/deliveries don't have this sort of thing and it'd be weird to put the 'back' meaning to that case, but to seasonal fishing activity in geographic areas... it seemed plausible.

    Does it seem kind of plausible with that sort of thought process behind it, maybe?
  6. NoMoreMrIceGuy Senior Member

    Well, in order to come/arrive somewhere, you (or whatever) have had not to have been there before (in the context of the event described; you very well might have been there previously in time). While síldin er komin does not exclude the possibility that it is returning, it does not explicitly state it. Thus, it has simply arrived. Your guess that there are seasons for the herring is right though, although there have been dry periods where it simply doesn't show up, but what I'm getting at is that that's externally arrived at, not directly from the sentance.

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