máls

Máls is a term used in Icelandic linguistics to refer to the genitive singular form of the neuter noun mál, which translates roughly as language or speech. The base mál denotes language as a system of communication, as well as matters relating to speech in general, and it features prominently in discussions of linguistics, language policy, and cultural studies in Icelandic texts.

Grammatically, mál is neuter. The form máls marks a possessive or associative relation, commonly translated as “of language” or “belonging to a language.” It appears in scholarly prose and formal discourse when describing linguistic phenomena, language families, or language-related disciplines. In everyday Icelandic, mál is more often encountered in compounds and in relatively abstract or technical discussions than in casual speech, where tungumál is more typical for simply “language.”

Etymology traces mál to Old Norse mál, a cognate of related Germanic words for speech and language. The term has influenced a range of Icelandic expressions and forms, including related words such as málfræði (grammar) and málnotkun (language use). See also tungumál, málfræði, málnotkun.