# Icelandic: Gender of gangbrautarljós



## Alxmrphi

Hi all,

I was looking up words that have the 'gang' stem (usually street/walking related things) anyway, I saw in the dictionary that this term was feminine plural...

gangbrautarljós @ Icelandic Online

Ok this says feminine plural, but on this other website it says it is a neuter word..

gangbrautarljós

I know how the structure of words work so that the end word always keeps the gender, like I know gangbraut is feminine and means 'pedestrian crossing', but adding 'lights' to it means it becomes 'traffic lights'..
I think it is a neuter word because I know ljós is a neuter word, and judging by the way other words work I would assume it was neuter..

But the dictionary still says feminine and I wanted to check, the correct gender of nouns is very important as it affects a lot of other stuff in the sentence..


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## thegooseking

It's neuter. Well, probably. Google returns results for *gangbrautarljósin* but not *gangbrautarljósnar*, which would make it neuter assuming it's plural (though *gangbrautarljósin* could of course also _singular_ feminine).

Apparently it's not always plural, though, as there are also results for *gangbrautarljósið *(and *gangbrautarljósinu*). Which are singular neuter... and no results for the feminine *gangbrautarljósina* or *gangbrautarljósinni*.


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## Alxmrphi

Ahh good thinking Batman! 
I did see in the beyging that it also existed in the singular (but would you ever need to say _traffic light_  ?)

Takk fyrir


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## Wilma_Sweden

Alex_Murphy said:


> but would you ever need to say _traffic light_


I don't understand your comment. Are you suggesting that traffic lights should always be in the plural? At least in Swedish, we tend to regard traffic lights as singular in many circumstances, so whe can refer to a particular set of traffic lights in a specified street intersection as the traffic light, unless it's a huge intersection with many streets going in different directions, such as Piccadilly Circus.

/Wilma


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## Alxmrphi

Yeah it's always plural in English...
The 3 of them make it plural, like if you stop the car and there is one poll of traffic lights, you would say..

We're at the (traffic) lights now

let's say there is one set of traffic lights on a road, and you're trying to say that the hotel is close to them you'd say "Can you see the traffic lights over there? It's next to there"..

I thought because it was plural in my dictionary (Icelandic) that it was used the same way as English, but that had the wrong gender so maybe it's not used in the plural after all...

Like you said you use it in the singular to refer to one set, we just have to use other words and say "_that one.. next to <>_", like I mentioned before the fact there are 3 lights makes even one poll with the lights, a plural word.

So in Icelandic....

This would be *gangbrautarljósin (neuter plural, the traffic lights (pl in Eng))*
This would be *gangbrautarljósið (neuter singular, the traffic lights (pl in Eng))*

*??*


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## Wilma_Sweden

Alex_Murphy said:


> So in Icelandic....
> 
> This would be *gangbrautarljósin (neuter plural, the traffic lights (pl in Eng))*
> This would be *gangbrautarljósið (neuter singular, the traffic lights (pl in Eng))*
> 
> *??*


Of course I couldn't say for certain about Icelandic, but certainly your second image would usually be considered as singular in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, i.e. a single poll with a single set of lights. A Swedish route description could typically tell you to turn right at the second traffic light, even if it's a big crossroads with multiple polls. However, there is usually only one that applies to you as a driver when passing the junction. I also found a singular Danish traffic light which was a joke that almost translates well to English: What did the traffic light(s) say to the pedestrian? ??? Close your eyes, I'm changing! 

Your first image would give people of any nationality a serious headache!  

/Wilma


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## Alxmrphi

Hahah I agree, it was a crazy image
But speaking on behalf of the English language we use it in the plural

I did a search on the Italian-English and did 'semaforo' (they also use the singular) and it translates *semaforo *(sng) as *traffic lights* (pl)


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## Alxmrphi

Hmm... this Spanish question contradicts me, I find this very odd.. (not being contradicted, but what is being said, but they are AE speakers)

Ok I decided to do a little research:

*Traffic Lights (Traffic) light : In CIC British texts the plural is 7.8 times more frequent than the singular; in American texts the plural is also more frequent, but only by 1.4 times. The American plurals, however, generally refer to multiple sets of traffic lights at different intersections, wheras the British plurals generally refer to the lights of one set <... at the bottom of the road there was a lorry waiting at the traffic lights.. > 1998 Sayers & Walsh*.


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## butra

You would usually talk about traffic lights in plural in Icelandic but it can be grammatically correct to use it in singular in exceptional circumstances. And the gender is definitely neuter.


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## Alxmrphi

Thanks butra, I take it it's like the same thing as in English then

So, just to make sure I have understood...
If you look at this picture, is it correct to say...

*Barnið er hjá gangbrautarljósunum*.

?


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## butra

Alex_Murphy said:


> *Barnið er hjá gangbrautarljósunum*.
> 
> ?


 
Correct.


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