Tungumálum

Tungumálum is the dative plural form of the Icelandic noun tungumál, which means “language” or “tongue” in English. In Icelandic grammar, tungumál refers to a language, and tungumálum is the form used when the dative case is required for multiple languages. This form appears in sentences where the dative case governs the noun, such as after certain prepositions or verbs that take the dative.

As a grammatical form, tungumálum is not a separate concept from tungumál; it is a case-based inflection used for plural references to languages. Its use is determined by the syntactic role the noun plays in a sentence, rather than by any distinct meaning of the word itself. In standard writing, you would encounter tungumálum in contexts describing location, direction, possession with certain verbs, or other relations that call for the dative plural.

Etymology-wise, tungumál is a compound of Old Norse elements meaning “tongue” (tunga) and “speech” or “language” (mál). The form tungumálum inherits the historical pattern of Icelandic case inflection for plural nouns and is part of ordinary noun grammar rather than a separate lexical item. In modern Icelandic usage, tungumálum appears primarily in written text when the sentence requires the dative plural.

See also: tungumál, Icelandic noun inflection, Icelandic grammar, Old Norse etymology.