Einfaldri

Einfaldri is a word found in Icelandic that appears as a comparative form of the adjective einfaldur, meaning simple or plain. In contemporary standard Icelandic, the normal comparative form is einfaldari. The form einfaldri is less common in everyday speech and is primarily attested in dialectal use, older texts, or poetic contexts.

Etymology and form

Einfaldri shares its root with einfaldur, and both derive from the same basic meaning of simplicity. The variant einfaldri is understood as a historical or dialectal alternative to the standard einfaldari, rather than a separate lexical item. Dictionaries typically mark einfaldri as archaic or dialectal, noting its limited but recognizable presence in certain registers of Icelandic.

Usage

When expressing that something is more simple than another thing in modern Icelandic, most speakers would use einfaldari: “Þetta er einfaldari lausn en sú.” The form einfaldri may appear in older literature or in regional speech where traditional inflection patterns persist. In such cases, it functions syntactically as a comparative adjective, shifting to agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun it modifies, though its occurrences are comparatively rare.

Relation to related terms

Einfaldri is closely tied to einfaldur (the base adjective) and einfaldari (the normative modern comparative). The study of einfaldri helps illustrate how Icelandic preserves multiple historical or dialectal variants within its adjective inflection system.

See also

einfaldur, einfaldari, Icelandic grammar, Icelandic dialects.