Originele tekst - IJslands - Ái á Á, á á í á.

Hi ellasevia

Ái á Á, á á í á.

Ái -> ancestor -> or from "afi" -> grandfather
á -> on, in, at
Á -> river, water, stream, (or Á is the name of a farm)
á -> present indicative of eiga -> own
á -> accusative and dative of "ær" -> ewe (female sheep)
í -> in, on
á -> river, water, stream.

"grandfather at the river ownes a ewe on the river"

If "Á" is the name of a farm:

"grandfather at Á ownes a ewe on the river"

To make understandable:

"my grandfather who lives at Á farm ownes a ewe on the river"

the English is a bit strange, and the Icelandic as well, but as you said, it is a tongue-twister.

Thanks. Is it possible for my request to be deleted? I couldn't find the "delete request" button.

Here is a question about the translation from my grandfather, a linguist:

Why did you choose to translate i as 'on' rather than 'in'?
Does this have to do with the semantics of eiga, or with the greater plausibility of the sheep being 'on' (i.e. at) the river than 'in' the river?
Of course meaning often has to be suspended in order to obtain a striking tongue twister. Another example of that is the Czech tongue-twister 'strč prst skrz krk', which means 'stick (the) finger through (the) neck' not possible or likely, but it makes a pretty phrase!

Hi Bamsa,

Why didn't you submit this line as a translation?
You can copy that explanation you posted above, under the translation (message field), OK?

CC: Bamsa

You are right ellasevia, it is better to say "in the water"