Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Islandica, Vol. 12: An Annual Relating to Iceland and the Fiske Icelandic Collection, in Cornell University Library; Modern Icelandic
Having lost their political independence the Icelanders al lowed commerce gradually to pass out of their hands, and they became dependent upon foreign merchants. And matters went from bad to worse when the trade monopoly was intro duced in 1602, placing the inhabitants at the mercy of Danish tradesmen who with their agents and clerks understood little of the Icelandic tongue and cared less for it. The corruption of the language in the mouths of these foreigners defies any description, and their presence within the country was bound to have bad effect upon the natives who came into contact with them and in particular upon those who lived in the immediate neighborhood of the trading stations. The latter were eager to talk Danish and prided themselves upon interspersing their speech with foreign words and phrases; and probably the saying Aublccrb er ill danska owes its origin to their e?orts and feeble achievements in this line. The intercourse with these foreigners had a corrupting in?uence upon colloquial Icelandic and it has proved very di?i cult to get rid of its effects; they are still noticeable at the present time, as will be pointed out further on.
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