misjafn

Misjafn is a linguistic term used in descriptions of Icelandic grammar to denote a mismatch or lack of concord within a noun phrase. The word literally means "not equal" or "unequal" in Icelandic (from mis- 'not' and jafn 'equal'). In standard Icelandic, determiners, numerals, adjectives and nouns agree in gender and number. Misjafn describes cases where that agreement is imperfect or nonuniform, typically observed in certain dialects, older stages of the language, or sociolinguistic varieties. Examples include a numeral or determiner appearing with a noun of a different gender, or adjectives taking nonstandard endings that do not align with the noun's gender or number. The phenomenon is used by grammarians to describe irregular inflection patterns and to trace historical changes in agreement systems. In modern Icelandic, such forms are generally considered nonstandard, but they may be encountered in dialectal speech, literary archaisms, or as part of language contact with neighboring Scandinavian languages. The term is primarily of interest to linguists studying syntax and morphology, rather than a productive category in everyday speech. See also Icelandic grammar, grammatical gender, agreement, dialectology.