The Dynamic Use of a Small Language like Icelandic

Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to North Germanic language family, and is the main language of Iceland. Historically speaking, Icelandic was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the colonisation of the Americas.The vast majority of Icelandic speakers live in Iceland. There are about 8,165 speakers of Icelandic living in Denmark; it is spoken as well in the U.S.A and Canada. Icelandic is the mother tongue of people in Iceland; however, in some communities outside Iceland the use of the Icelandic language is declining. It may also appear interesting that the Icelandic constitution does not mention the language as the official language of the country.Iceland is a member of the Nordic Council; however, the Council uses only Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish. Interestingly, the council does publish material in Icelandic, though. In addition, under the Nordic Language convention since 1987, the Icelandic people have the opportunity and right to use Icelandic when interacting with other Nordic countries without being liable for any interpretation and translation costs.What is the importance of the Icelandic language anyway? Why would you need an Icelandic translation?When we try to estimate the importance of the Icelandic language we have to realize that information and knowledge has become an important and integrated feature of almost every Icelander.  Icelandic is necessary in information technology, because, if we don’t use and give significance the language of the community, there will be completely new situation that would be difficult for everybody. In addition, there is the question of  how not having your own language would be affecting the communication of the community.The vital importance of every language to every community cannot be measured. Though the Icelandic language is spoken only by Icelandic people, they always wish to protect and preserve their own mother tongue. In addition, foreign communities should not force the Icelandic speakers to use a foreign language in their everyday lives; and in fact, they have the right to be able to choose their native language to use during communication.The dynamic use of a certain language in their community cannot simply just be disconnected from its origins. Thus, just like other languages, Icelandic should be protected by its native speakers and given respect by foreign communities. In doing so, when needing to have an effective and interactive Icelandic communication, it is necessary to use professional language translation and interpreting services; otherwise, aside from the fact that you will just oppress the Icelandic community, language barriers may present an obstacle for mutual understanding between two cultures.