The volcanic eruption in Iceland has resulted in all flights being grounded in Western Europe airspace, and London. The air transport hub is getting the worse of it. Since it is such a big deal, you will expect at least to be told the name of the volcano right? Well, I guess you are out of luck. But you are not alone. Most English news channels and media broadcasters are finding it hard to pronounce the name Eyjafjallajökull.

Why is Iceland Volcano so hard to pronounce?

There is an explanation and that is simply a difference in language. The Icelandic language is an Indo-European language that belongs to the North Germanic branch. Although the writing system looks similar to English, it actually uses additional characters such as "æ" and "ö". These additional characters have their own distinctive pronunciations in the Icelandic language. English speakers would not have learnt how to pronounce these additional characters, so it is natural for them to pronounce many Icelandic words inaccurately. However, the reverse is also true. You will be surprised that many Icelandic speakers find it hard to pronounce English words such as "Pneumonia" or "Leicester Square". Hence, it might be wise to get a professional translation company to take care of your business translation or interpretation the next time you come across the Icelandic language.

The Actual Pronunciation of Eyjafjallajökull

So coming back to our volcano, how do you actually pronounce it? Many newscasters have given up, and they simply refer to it as "The Volcano", or "The Iceland Volcano". Some American news channels went even further to shorten the name, by referring to it as the E-15. The capital E for the name of the volcano, while 15 stands for the 15 letters that come after it. This was not the case for the pronunciation of ‘Ache’, the Indonesian territory that was affected by the massive tsunami in 2005.

So, we contacted our Icelandic interpreter and she has given us a helpful breakdown on the pronunciation. Now, try this "AY-yah-FYET-lah-YOH-koot". To make it easier to remember, "Eyja" means island, "Fjalla" is mountain, "Jökull" means glacier, and so altogether is Island Mountain Glacier. I am sure you can do better than the CNN or BBC newscasters can.

Although the English language is quite versatile and quick to adopt new foreign words, such as Clique (French origin), Tortilla (Spanish), and Ghetto (Italian), it is still doubtful whether the 1.5 billion English speakers in the world will one day be able to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull fluently. However, if the volcanic eruption goes on for prolong period, the word Eyjafjallajökull is likely to be incorporated into the English dictionary.

Travellers Beware - Another Iceland Volcano Soon To Erupt

The good news is that the United Kingdom has reopened its air space after 6 days since the eruption. However, there are fears that another, bigger volcano nearby will erupt soon. About 25km from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, is the much bigger sub glacial volcano, Katla. If it was to erupt, the massive plumes of ash in the sky will certainly bring the UK flight industry to its knees. Volcano scientists have discovered that the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (in year 920, 1612, and 1822) has always led to the eruption of the Katla Volcano. These two volcanoes erupt almost every 100 years, and geologists have been concerned about the instability of Katla Volcano since 1999.

At least, from the English speaker’s point of view, if Katla goes bang, the good news is that people will have very little problem in pronouncing that name.