upphaflegu

Upphaflegu is an inflected form of the Icelandic adjective upphaflegur, which means original or initial. In Icelandic, adjectives decline for gender, number, and case, and upphaflegu represents one of the forms that occur in this system. It is commonly described as the dative singular feminine form of upphaflegur, used when the modified feminine noun is in the dative case.

Grammatical notes about upphaflegu follow from Icelandic agreement rules for adjectives. The form appears in contexts where a feminine singular noun requires a dative ending, and it can vary with definiteness and other grammatical factors that affect adjective endings in Icelandic. Like other inflected forms of upphaflegur, upphaflegu reflects the agreement between adjective and noun rather than standing as an independent word with a separate meaning.

Etymology and related forms: upphaflegur is built from upphaf, meaning origin or beginning, plus the suffix -legur, which forms adjectives meaning “having the quality of.” Other inflected forms of the same adjective include upphaflegur (masculine nominative), upphaflegt (neuter nominative), and the feminine forms such as upphafleg (feminine nominative).

See also: Icelandic grammar, Icelandic adjectives, grammatical agreement.