TheSheep letter (Faroese:Seyðabrævið) is the oldest surviving document of the Faroe Islands. Written in 1298 in Old Norse, it contains some words and expressions believed to be especially Faroese.[5] The approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages in the early 10th century:
Around 900 AD, the language spoken in the Faroes wasOld Norse, which Norse settlers had brought with them during the time of the settlement of Faroe Islands (landnám) that began in 825. However, many of the settlers were not fromScandinavia, but descendants of Norse settlers in theIrish Sea region. In addition, women from Norse-occupied Ireland, theNorse–Gaelic Isles,Orkney, andShetland often married native Scandinavian men before settling in the Faroe Islands and Iceland.[6] As a result, theMiddle Irish language has had some influence on both Faroese andIcelandic.
Between the 9th and the 15th centuries, a distinct Faroese language evolved, although it was probably still mutually intelligible withOld West Norse, and remained similar to theNorn language ofOrkney and Shetland during Norn's earlier phase.
Faroese ceased to be a written language after theDanish–Norwegian Reformation of the early 16th century, with Danish replacing Faroese as the language of administration and education.[9] The islanders continued to use the language inballads,folktales, and everyday life. This maintained a richspoken tradition, but for 300 years the language was not used in written form.
In 1823, the Danish Bible Society published adiglot of theGospel of Matthew, with Faroese on the left and Danish on the right.
Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb and the Icelandic grammarian and politicianJón Sigurðsson published a written standard for Modern Faroese in 1854, which still exists.[10] They set a standard for theorthography of the language, based on its Old Norse roots and similar to that of Icelandic. The main purpose of this was for the spelling to represent the diverse dialects of Faroese in equal measure. Additionally, it had the advantages of being etymologically clear and keeping the kinship with the Icelandic written language. The actual pronunciation, however, often differs considerably from the written rendering. The letterð, for example, has no specificphoneme attached to it.
Jakob Jakobsen devised a rival system of orthography, based on his wish for a phonetic spelling, but this system was never taken up by the speakers.[11]
In 1937, Faroese replacedDanish as the official school language, in 1938, as the church language,[12] and in 1948, as the national language by the Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands. The first complete translation of the Bible was completed in 1948.[13]
Up until the 1980s, public radio broadcasts were primarily conducted in Norwegian and Danish. This helps to explain why older generations can speak Norwegian in addition to Danish and Faroese. Faroese broadcasts quickly replaced earlier programs and now all radio content is transmitted in the language, alongside all local newspapers.[14] Today, Danish is considered a foreign language, although around 5% of residents on the Faroes learn it as a first language.[15] Both Danish and English are obligatory at the primary and secondary school levels, with fluency in English becoming increasingly valued particularly among the younger generations. Films and television are frequently shown in English with Danish subtitles.[16]
In 2017, the tourist board Visit Faroe Islands launched a website entitled Faroe Islands Translate. Text can be entered in thirteen languages, including English, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Instead of an instant machine translation being given, the text goes to a volunteer who will provide a live video translation, or else a recorded one later. The aim of this project was to get Faroese featured onGoogle Translate.[17]
Old Faroese (miðaldarføroyskt, ca. mid-14th to mid-16th centuries) is a form ofOld Norse spoken in medieval times in the Faroe Islands. The most crucial aspects of the development of Faroese arediphthongisation andpalatalisation.[18]
There is not enough data available to establish an accurate chronology of Faroese, but a rough one may be developed through comparison to the chronologies of Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian. In the 12th/13th centuries,á andǫ́ merged as/ɔː/; later on at the beginning of the 14th century, delabialization took place:y,øy,au >/i,ɔi,ɛi/;í andý merged in addition toi andy, but in the case ofí andý, it appears that labialisation took place instead as is documented by later development to/ʊi/. Further, the language underwent a palatalisation ofk,g andsk beforeOld Norsee,i,y,ø,au >/kʲ,ɡʲ,skʲ/ >/cᶜ̧,ɟᶨ,ɕcᶜ̧/ >/tʃʰ,tʃ,ʃ/. Before the palatalisationé andǽ merged as/ɛː/ and approximately in the same periodepentheticu is inserted into word-final/Cr/ and/CrC/ clusters.
A massive quantity shift also operated in Middle Faroese. In the case ofskerping, it took place after delabialization but before loss of post-vocalicð andg/ɣ/. The shift ofhv/hw/ to/kw/, the deletion of/h/ in (remaining) word-initial/h/–sonorant clusters (hr,hl,hn >r,l,n), and the dissolution ofþ (þ >t;þ >h in demonstrative pronouns and adverbs)[19] appeared before the end of the 13th century. Another undated change is the merger ofǫ,ø andǿ into/ø/; pre-nasalǫ,ǫ́ >o,ó.enk,eng probably becameeing,eink in the 14th century; the development ofa to/ɛ/ beforeng,nk appeared after the palatalisation ofk,g, andsk had been completed, such a change is quite a recent development, as well as changeCve >Cvø.
Development of vowels from Old Norse to Modern Faroese[20]
Major dialects and subdialects of Faroese as described by Petersen:[21]
Northwest Dialect
Northern Dialect
Central Dialect
Southern Dialect
Faroese is a highly variable language with many dialects actively used across the islands’ approximately 120 communities. While the dialect ofTórshavn is the most prominent due to the city's outstanding size, there is no official spoken standard variety, and little evidence that the Tórshavn dialect has developedprestige status. Faroese speech communities are tightly knit and the use of dialectal speech is widely encouraged.[22]
The study of Faroese dialectology began hundreds of years ago, with the scholarLucas Debes noting a north–south distinction as early as 1673. In the 18th century linguistJens Christian Svabo made further distinctions, such as identifying the Tórshavn dialect, though his categorization lacked thorough justification. In 1891Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb would write a more definitive study of the language's variation, noting distinguishing characteristics of the north–south divide such as the northern aspiration of unvoiced plosives after long vowels and the pronunciation of⟨ó⟩ as/œ/ in most of the north compared to/ɔ/ in the south.[23]
The most recent and detailed classification by Hjalmar P. Petersen divides the language into four major varieties including North-Western Faroese, Central Faroese, Northern Faroese, and Southern Faroese. Additional sub-dialects of particular islands and villages have also been identified. Most of the analysis by Petersen and earlier authors is based on phonological evidence.[21]
The southern variety of Faroese is very distinct, possibly due to geographic distance exacerbated by the lack of underwater tunnels which have connected most other islands north ofSandur. The dialect of these islands is characterized by a unique form of certain personal pronouns, alongside phonological features such as the intervocalic voicing of non-geminate stops.[24] Thefortis consonants/p/,/t/, and/k/ are aspirated following long vowels.
The central dialect area centered aroundSuðurstreymoy features a merging of⟨i⟩ and⟨u⟩ in unstressed ending syllables. The fortis consonants are neither aspirated nor weakened. The island ofNólsoy is a notable transitional area due to its unique realization of long⟨ó⟩ as[au:] and short⟨ó⟩ as[ɔ] compared to the[ɔu:] and[œ] found in Tórshavn and elsewhere.
The northern dialect is characterized by weakened fortis consonants and a monophthongal pronunciation of⟨á⟩ in ending syllables, i.e.,/aː/. The realization of⟨ei⟩ as[ɔi:] dominates in this region, although small parts of the central and northwestern regions use this pronunciation as well.
The northwestern dialect features aspirated fortis consonants after long vowels. The⟨i⟩ and⟨u⟩ vowels remain unmerged in unstressed ending syllables. Long⟨ó⟩ is pronounced[ɔu] and short⟨ó⟩ is pronounced[œ].[21][23]
As with most other Germanic languages, Faroese has a large number of vowels, with 26 in total. Vowel distribution is similar to other North Germanic languages in that short vowels appear in closed syllables (those ending in consonant clusters or long consonants) and long vowels appearing in open syllables.
Faroese shares with Icelandic and Danish the feature of maintaining a contrast between stops based exclusively on aspiration, not voicing. Geminated stops may be pre-aspirated in intervocalic and word-final position. Intervocalically the aspirated consonants become pre-aspirated unless followed by a closed vowel. In clusters, the preaspiration merges with a preceding nasal or apical approximant, rendering them voiceless.
There are severalphonological processes involved in Faroese, including:
Nasals generally assume the place of articulation and laryngeal settings of following consonants.
Velar stops palatalize to postalveolar affricates before/j//eː//ɛ//iː//ɪ/ and/ɛi/
/v/ becomes[f] before voiceless consonants
/sk/ becomes[ʃ] after/ɛi,ai,ɔi/ and before/j/
/ɹ/ becomes retroflex before consonants in consonant clusters, yielding the allophones[ʂɭʈɳ] while/ɹ/ itself becomes[ɻ], example:/rt/ is realized as[ɻ̊ʈ].
Pre-occlusion of original/ll/ to[tl] and/nn/ to[tn].
Pre-aspiration of original voiceless stops[ʰpʰtʰkʰtʃ] after non-high long vowels and diphthongs/ɛaː//ɔaː//eː//oː//øː/ or when a voiceless stop is followed by/n,l,r/. All long voiceless stops are pre-aspirated when doubled or in clusters[ʰpːʰtːʰkːʰtʃː].
{Grein 1:} Øll menniskju eru fødd fræls og jøvn til virðingar og mannarættindi. Tey hava skil og samvitsku og eiga {at fara} hvørt um annað í bróðuranda.
{First-FE.N.SG article-N.SG.IDF :} All\NT.N.PL human-N.PL.IDF be\IND.PRS-3PL born-NT.N.PL free-NT.N.PL and equal\NT.N.PL {in terms of} respec.t-G.IDF and {human.rights-A.IDF[c] .} They\N have-IND.PRS.3PL reason-A.IDF and con.science-A.IDF and ought-IND.PRS.3PL {to behave-INF} each-A.SG around (an)other-MA.A.SG in {brother.hood-A.SG.IDF .}
1st article: All humans are born free and equal in terms of respect and rights. They [all] have conscience and reason and ought to behave brotherly each around another.
The following is a sample text of theLord's Prayer in Faroese. The first line is the orthographic version;[30] the second is theInternational Phonetic Alphabet transciption; the third is the gloss. Arecording posted under the @teknmal767 channel is available onYouTube, it contains two performances of the prayer spoken and signed.[31]
Faðir vár, Tú, sum ert í Himli. Heilagt verði navn Títt. Komi ríki Títt. Verði vilji Tín, sum í Himli, so á jørð. Gev okkum {í dag} okkara dagliga breyð. Og fyrigev okkum syndir okkara, {so sum} vit eisini fyrigeva teimum, ið móti okkum synda. [Og] Leið okkum ikki í fre[i]stingar, men frels okkum frá {tí illa}. Tí at [T]ítt er ríkið, valdið og heiðurin um allar ævir. Amen.
Father-N.SG.IDF our-N.SG you\N.SG REL be\PRS.IND-2PS in {Heaven-D.SG.IDF .} Holy-NT.N become-SUB.PRS.3PS name-N.IDF {Your-NT.N.SG .} Come-SUB.PRS.3PS reign-N.IDF {Your-NT.N.SG .} Be-SUB.PRS.3PS will-N.IDF {Your-MA.N.SG ,} as:CONJ in Heaven-D.SG.IDF as:ADV on {earth-D.SG.IDF .} Give-IMP.2PS us-D.PL today our daily-FE.A.SG {bread-A.SG.IDF .} And forgive-IMP.2PS us-D.PL sin-A.PL.IDF {our ,} {just as} we-N also forgive-IND.PRS.3PS those-D.PL REL against us-D.PL {sin-INF .} And lead-IMP.2PS us-D.PL not into {temptation-A.PL.IDF ,} but deliver-IMP.2PS us-D.PL from {evil [lit: it\D.SG badly] .} For:CONJ to you-NT.A.SG be\PRS.IND-3PS {realm-N.SG.DF ,} power-N.SG.DF and glory-N.SG.DF through all-A.PL {eternity-A.PL.IDF .} {Amen .}
Our Father, You, who stand in Heaven. Hallowed be Your name, may Your kingdom come, may Your will be done, on earth as [is] in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our offenses, just as we also forgive those who offended us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the realm, the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Adams, Jonathan & Hjalmar P. Petersen.Faroese: A Language Course for beginners Grammar & Textbook. Tórshavn, 2009: Stiðin (704 p.)ISBN978-99918-42-54-7
W. B. Lockwood:An Introduction to Modern Faroese. Tórshavn, 1977. (no ISBN, 244 pages, 4th printing 2002)
Michael Barnes:Faroese Language Studies Studia Nordica 5, Supplementum 30. Tórshavn, 2002. (239 pages)ISBN99918-41-30-X
Höskuldur Thráinsson (Þráinsson), Hjalmar P. Petersen, Jógvan í Lon Jacobsen, Zakaris Svabo Hansen:Faroese. An Overview and Reference Grammar. Tórshavn, 2004. (500 pages)ISBN99918-41-85-7
Richard Kölbl:Färöisch Wort für Wort. Bielefeld 2004 (in German)
V.U. Hammershaimb:Færøsk Anthologi. Copenhagen 1891 (no ISBN, 2 volumes, 4th printing, Tórshavn 1991) (editorial comments in Danish)
Tórður Jóansson:English loanwords in Faroese. Tórshavn, 1997. (243 pages)ISBN99918-49-14-9
Petersen, Hjalmar P. 2009.Gender Assignment in Modern Faroese. Hamborg. Kovac
Petersen, Hjalmar P. 2010.The Dynamics of Faroese-Danish Language Contact. Heidelberg. Winter
Faroese/German anthology "From Djurhuus to Poulsen – Faroese Poetry during 100 Years", academic advice:Turið Sigurðardóttir, linear translation: Inga Meincke (2007), ed. byPaul Alfred Kleinert
Barnes, Michael P.; Weyhe, Eivind (2013) [First published 1994], "7 Faroese", in van der Auwera, Johan; König, Ekkehard (eds.),The Germanic Languages, Routledge, pp. 190–218,ISBN978-0-415-05768-4
^While the spellingFaeroese is also seen,Faroese is the spelling used in grammars, textbooks, scientific articles and dictionaries between Faroese and English.
^abcSandhi phenomena (nasal assimilation,h- and final vowel deletion) are sensitive to phrase boundaries.[28][failed verification]
^Faroese's genitive case is on its way to obsolenscence (cf.German undergoing a similar process). Outside some fixed combination, preposition mostly govern the accusative instead.[citation needed] Possesion marking is then assured bypossessive pronouns or the couplehjá'with'/á'on' (and marginally byat'to'). E.g,hendin á mér'my hand [lit: hand on me]',tölvan hjá mér'my computer [lit: computer with me]' (existing besidehendin mín, tölvan mín).[29]
^Sandøy, H., Frå tre dialektar til tre språk. In: Gunnstein Akselberg og Edit Bugge (red.), Vestnordisk språkkontakt gjennom 1200 år. Tórshavn, Fróðskapur, 2011, pp. 19-38.[1]
^Linn, Andrew Robert; Bermel, Neil; Ferguson, Gibson, eds. (2015).Attitudes towards English in Europe. Volume 1: English in Europe. Language and social life. Berlin ; Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.ISBN978-1-61451-735-1.
^According to Hjalmar Petersen in: Tórður Jóansson:English loanwords in Faroese. Tórshavn: Fannir 1997, S. 45 (in red: later corrections, 21. July 2008). In green: corrections of German Wikipedia articlede:Färöische Sprache
