Faroese language

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{{Infobox Language |name=Faroese |nativename=føroyskt |familycolor=Indo-European |region=Faroe Islands, Denmark |speakers=60,000 - 80,000 |fam2=Germanic |fam3=North Germanic |fam4=West Scandinavian |nation=Faroe Islands |agency=Føroyska málnevndin |iso1=fo|iso2=fao|iso3=fao |map=Image:Keyboard Layout Faroese.png}}

Faroese (føroyskt [[[Template:IPA]]]) is a West Nordic or West Scandinavian language spoken by about 80,000 people in two main groups, about 48,000 in the Faroe Islands and about 25,000 Faroese in Denmark. There are also around 5,000 speakers in Iceland. It is one of three insular Scandinavian languages descended from the Old Norse language spoken in Scandinavia in the Viking Age, the others being Icelandic and the extinct Norn, which is thought to have been mutually intelligible with Faroese.

Contents

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History

Image:Old norse, ca 900.PNG

In the beginning, the language spoken in the Faroe Islands was Old West Norse, which Norwegian settlers had brought with them during the time of the landnám that began in AD 825. However, many of the settlers weren't really Norwegians, but descendants of Norwegian settlers in the Irish Sea. In addition, native Norwegian settlers often married women from Norse Ireland, the Orkneys, or Shetlands before settling in the Faroe Islands and Iceland. As a result, Celtic languages influenced both Faroese and Icelandic. This may be why, for example, Faroese has two words for duck: dunna (from Gaelic tunnag) for a domestic duck, and ont (from Old Norse ǫnd) for a duck in general. (This example has been criticized, however, by people claiming that the word is derived from Old Norse dunna, from Proto-Germanic *dusnō.) There is also some debatable evidence of Celtic language placenames in the Faroes: for example Mykines and Stóra & Lítla Dímun have been hypothesised to contain Celtic roots.

Between the 9th and the 15th centuries, a distinct Faroese language evolved, although it was still intelligible with the languages within the realm of the Norwegian Viking Empire spanning from Norway Greenland and parts of North America.

Until the 15th century, Faroese had a similar orthography to Icelandic and Norwegian, but after the Reformation 1538, the ruling Danes outlawed its use in schools, churches and official documents. The islanders continued to use the language in ballads, folktales, and everyday life. This maintained a rich spoken tradition, but for 300 years the language was not written down.

This changed when Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb published a written standard for Modern Faroese 1854 that exists to this day. Although this would have been an opportunity to create a phonetically true orthography like that of Welsh, he produced an orthography consistent with a continuous written tradition extending back to Old Norse. The letter ð, for example, has no specific phonemes attached to it. Also, although the letter 'm' corresponds to the bilabial nasal as it does in English, it corresponds to the alveolar nasal in the Dative ending -um Template:IPA.

Hammershaimb's orthography met with some opposition for its complexity, and a rival system was devised by Jakob Jakobsen. Jakobsen's orthography (referred to as broyting) was closer to the spoken language, but was never taken up by speakers.

In 1937, Faroese replaced Danish as the official school language, 1938 as church language, and 1948 as national language by the Home Rule Act of the Faroes. However, Faroese didn't become the common language in the media and advertising until the 1980s. Today, Danish is considered as a foreign language, though around 5% of the Faroe Islanders learn it as a first language and it is a required subject for students 3rd grade and up.

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Dictionaries

Image:Hammershaimb ordsammling.jpg The pioneer of all scholars who studied the Faroese language was Jens Christian Svabo (1746-1824). His Dictionarium færoense (Faroese-Danish-Latin) was never printed in his lifetime but first issued in 1966/1970. So this was not the first printed Faroese dictionary.

Hammershaimb and Jakobsen presented the Færøsk anthologi in 1891 with volume 2 containing a glossary with 10,000 entries Faroese-Danish in Modern Faroese orthography. Mads Andrias Jacobsen and Professor Christian Matras followed with the Føroysk-donsk orðabók in 1928 and the enhanced edition in 1961, which is still useful. In 1967, Jóhannes av Skarði published the Donsk-føroysk orðabók (Danish-Faroese), which remains also the base for all newer editions up to now. Skarði also wrote the English-Faroese dictionary (Ensk-føroysk orðabók), which came out in 1985 for the first time. In the same year, G.V.C. Young presented the Faroese-English dictionary (Føroysk-ensk orðabók). In 1987, the Faroese-Norwegian dictionary (Færøysk-norsk ordbok) was issued.

In 1993 a new Danish-Faroese dictionary was published, Donsk-føroysk orðabók, edited by Hjalmar P. Petersen. It is not a puristic dictionary as the former published, but reflects spoken Faroese of today.

The Føroysk orðabók was not published until 1998 by Professor Jóhan Hendrik Winther Poulsen (et al.) as the first monolingual dictionary with 65,700 entries of old and new words, synonyms and illustrations.

In 2004, the first Faroese-Italian dictionary came out and won the National Literature Prize of the Faroes. In December 2005, the Icelandic-Faroese dictionary (Íslensk-færeysk orðabók) followed, and a Faroese-German dictionary is expected in 2006.

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Mutual intelligibility

The former colonial language Danish has still more importance than in Iceland. The advantage of the remaining dual education in schools is responsible for the Faroese understanding all Scandinavian languages better than any other neighboring people.

An old regional variation of spoken Danish still exists, called gøtudanskt. However, this "charming accent" (as a Danish author once referred to it), is progressively being replaced by the Danish learned in school (rigsdansk). Although Danish today is purely considered a foreign language by the Faroese, this variation still colors their pronunciation of Danish and makes it easier for non-Danish Scandinavians to understand and communicate with the Faroese. Furthermore, in speaking a variety of Danish that more closely follows its written form, many Faroese school-age children are very competent in spelling Danish.

Spoken Faroese is perhaps best understood by the speakers of nynorsk dialects in Western Norway (where most of the viking settlers seem to have come from). Icelandic native speakers would not understand spoken Faroese without some training, and Danish speakers have almost no chance of understanding it without extensive studies.

Written Faroese is not much of a problem for those who can read Old Norse, Icelandic and perhaps Nynorsk, and just want to understand the sense of a text. However, to translate it, a dictionary is necessary. Too many words are different and no related words with the certain meaning to be found in the respective languages. This is also due to the fact that Faroese language policy today does not directly borrow from Icelandic, even though some neologisms are the same "by accident", i.e. from the same Old Norse heritage.

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Learning Faroese

It is unusual for Faroese to be taught at universities outside the Faroes (within Scandinavian studies). So most students are forced to learn it autodidactically by books, listening to Faroese on the radio (there is an internet live stream) and trying to correspond with Faroese people. A good opportunity for learning Faroese is also visiting the websites of Postverk Føroya and reading their stories to the stamp editions both in Faroese and English (or German, French, Danish).

However, the University of the Faroe Islands offers an annual Summer institute over 3 weeks including:

  • 50 lessons of Faroese grammar and language exercises.
  • 20 lectures on linguistic subjects, culture, society and nature. The lectures on culture include oral poetry and modern literature.
  • 2 excursions to places of historical and geographical interest.

Languages of instruction are Faroese and English. It is said to be very intensive and comprehensive.

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Alphabet

Image:Faroe islands isoglosses.png The Faroese alphabet consists of 29 letters:

A, Á, B, D, Ð, E, F, G, H, I, Í, J, K, L, M, N, O, Ó, P, R, S, T, U, Ú, V, Y, Ý, Æ, Ø

Notes:

  • Ð, ð can never come at the beginning of a word, but can occur in capital letters in logos or on maps, such as SUÐUROY (Southern Isle).
  • Ø, ø can also be written ö in poetic language, such as Föroyar (the Faroes).
  • Common family names on the Faroes are e.g. Lützen, Müller, Winther, or the Christian name Zacharias. Even x was known in Hammershaimbs orthography, such as Saxun for Saksun.
  • While the Faroese keyboard layout allows one to write in Latin, English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, etc., the Old Norse and Modern Icelandic letter þ is missing. In related Faroese words it is written as <t> or as <h>, and if an Icelandic name has to be transcribed, <th> is common.
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Phonetics

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Vowels

Grapheme Name Short Long
A, a fyrra a Template:IPA ("leading a") Template:IPA Template:IPA
Á, á á Template:IPA Template:IPA Template:IPA
E, e e Template:IPA Template:IPA Template:IPA
I, i fyrra i Template:IPA ("leading i") Template:IPA Template:IPA
Í, í fyrra í Template:IPA ("leading í") Template:IPA Template:IPA
O, o o Template:IPA Template:IPA Template:IPA
Ó, ó ó Template:IPA Template:IPA Template:IPA
U, u u Template:IPA Template:IPA Template:IPA
Ú, ú ú Template:IPA Template:IPA Template:IPA
Y, y seinna i Template:IPA] ("rear i") Template:IPA Template:IPA
Ý, ý seinna í Template:IPA ("rear í") Template:IPA Template:IPA
Æ, æ seinna a Template:IPA ("rear a") Template:IPA Template:IPA
Ø, ø ø Template:IPA Template:IPA Template:IPA
Other vowels
ei - Template:IPA Template:IPA
ey - Template:IPA Template:IPA
oy - Template:IPA Template:IPA

As in other languages, including English, stressed vowels in Faroese are long when not followed by two or three consonants. Two consonants or a consonant cluster usually indicates a short vowel. Exceptions may be short vowels in particles, pronouns, adverbs, and prepositions in unstressed positions, consisting of just one syllable.


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Short vowels in endings

Unstressed /i/ and /u/ in dialects
Borðoy, Kunoy, Tórshavn Viðoy, Svínoy, Fugloy Suðuroy Elsewhere (standard)
gulur (yellow) [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]]
gulir (yellow pl.) [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]]
bygdin (the town) [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]]
bygdum (the towns dat. pl.) [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]]
Source: Faroese : An Overview and Reference Grammar, 2004 (page 350)

While in other languages a short /e/ is common for inflectional endings, Faroese uses /a, i, u/. This means, that there are no unstressed short vowels except of these three. Even if a short unstresed /e/ is seen in writing, it will be pronounced like /i/: áðrenn Template:IPA (before). Very typical are endings like -ur, -ir, -ar. The dative is often indicated by -um which is always pronounced Template:IPA.

In some dialects, unstressed Template:IPA is realized as Template:IPA or is reduced further to Template:IPA. Template:IPA goes under a similar reduction pattern so unstressed Template:IPA and Template:IPA can rhyme. This can cause spelling mistakes related to these two vowels. The table to the left displays the different realizations in different dialects.


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Glide Insertion

Faroese avoids having a hiatus between two vowels by inserting a glide. Orthographically, this is shown in three ways:

  1. vowel + ð + vowel
  2. vowel + g + vowel
  3. vowel + vowel

Typically, the first vowel is long and in words with two syllables always stressed, while the second vowel is short and unstressed. In Faroese, short and unstressed vowels can only be Template:IPA.

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Ð and G as glides

Glide insertion
First vowel Second vowel Examples
i [[[Template:IPA]]] u [[[Template:IPA]]] a [[[Template:IPA]]]
Grapheme Phoneme Glide
I-surrounding 1 + 2
i, y [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] sigið, siður, siga
í, ý [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] mígi, mígur, míga
ey [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] reyði, reyður, reyða
ei [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] reiði, reiður, reiða
oy [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] noyði, royður, royða
U-surrounding 2
u [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] suði, mugu, suða
ó [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] róði, róðu, Nóa
ú [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] búði, búðu, túa
I-surrounding 2, U-surrounding 2, A-surrounding 1 (regular)
a, æ [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] - ræði, æðu, glaða
á [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] - ráði, fáur, ráða
e [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] - gleði, legu, gleða
o [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] - togið, smogu, roða
ø [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] [[[Template:IPA]]] - løgin, røðu, høgan
Source: Faroese : An Overview and Reference Grammar, 2004 (page 38)

<Ð> and <G> are used in Faroese orthography to indicate one of a number of glide rather than any one phoneme. This can be:

  1. [[[Template:IPA]]]
    • "I-surrounding, type 1" - after /i, y, í, ý, ei, ey, oy/: bíða [[[Template:IPA]]] (to wait), deyður [[[Template:IPA]]] (dead), seyður [[[Template:IPA]]] (sheep)
    • "I-surrounding, type 2" - between any vowel (except "u-vowels" /ó, u, ú/) and /i/: kvæði [[[Template:IPA]]] (ballad), øði [[[Template:IPA]]] (rage).
  2. [[[Template:IPA]]] "U-surrounding, type 1" - after /ó, u, ú/: Óðin [[[Template:IPA]]] (Odin), góðan morgun! [[[Template:IPA]]] (good morning!), suður [[[Template:IPA]]] (south), slóða [[[Template:IPA]]] (to make a trace).
  3. [[[Template:IPA]]]
    • "U-surrounding, type 2" - between /a, á, e, æ, ø/ and /u/: áður [[[Template:IPA]]] (before), leður [[[Template:IPA]]] (leather), í klæðum [[[Template:IPA]]] (in clothes), í bløðum [[[Template:IPA]]] (in newspapers).
    • "A-surrounding, type 2"
      • These ar exeptions (there is also a regular pronunciation): æða [[[Template:IPA]]] (eider-duck), røða [[[Template:IPA]]] (speech).
      • The past participles have always [[[Template:IPA]]]: elskaðar [[[Template:IPA]]] (beloved, nom., acc. fem. pl.)
  4. Silent
    • "A-surrounding, type 1" - between /a, á, e, o/ and /a/ and in some words between <æ, ø> and <a>: ráða [[[Template:IPA]]] (to advise), gleða [[[Template:IPA]]] (to gladden, please), boða [[[Template:IPA]]] (to forbode), kvøða [[[Template:IPA]]] (to chant), røða [[[Template:IPA]]] (to make a speech)
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Skerping

Skerping
Written Pronunciation instead of
-ógv- [[[Template:IPA]]] *[[[Template:IPA]]]
-úgv- [[[Template:IPA]]] *[[[Template:IPA]]]
-eyggj- [[[Template:IPA]]] *[[[Template:IPA]]]
-íggj-, -ýggj- [[[Template:IPA]]] *[[[Template:IPA]]]
-eiggj- [[[Template:IPA]]] *[[[Template:IPA]]]
-oyggj- [[[Template:IPA]]] *[[[Template:IPA]]]

The so-called "skerping" (Thráinsson et al. use the term "Faroese Verschärfung" - in Faroese, skerping Template:IPA means "sharpening") is a typical phenomenon of fronting back vowels before Template:IPA and monophthongizing certain diphthongs before Template:IPA. Skerping is not indicated orthographically. These consonants occur often after /ó, ú/ (ógv, úgv) and /ey, í, ý, ei, oy/ when no other consonant is following.

  • [[[Template:IPA]]]: Jógvan [[[Template:IPA]]] (a form of the name John), Gjógv [[[Template:IPA]]] (cleft)
  • [[[Template:IPA]]]: kúgv [[[Template:IPA]]] (cow), trúgva [[[Template:IPA]]] (believe), but: trúleysur [[[Template:IPA]]] (faithless)
  • [[[Template:IPA]]]: heyggjur [[[Template:IPA]]] (high, burial mound), but heygnum [[[Template:IPA]]] (dat. sg. with suffix article)
  • [[[Template:IPA]]]: nýggjur [[[Template:IPA]]] (new m.), but nýtt [[[Template:IPA]]] (n.)
  • [[[Template:IPA]]]: beiggi [[[Template:IPA]]] (brother)
  • [[[Template:IPA]]]: oyggj [[[Template:IPA]]] (island), but oynna [[[Template:IPA]]] (acc. sg. with suffix article)
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Consonants

Labial Apical Postalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal Template:IPA Template:IPA Template:IPA
Plosive Template:IPATemplate:IPA Template:IPA
Affricate Template:IPA
Fricative Template:IPA Template:IPA Template:IPA Template:IPA
Approximant Template:IPA Template:IPA

There are several phonological processes involved in Faroese, including:

  • Voiced stops are devoiced word-finally and before voiceless consonants
  • Liquids are devoiced before voiceless consonants
  • Nasals generally assume the place of articulation and laryngeal settings of following consonants.
  • Velar stops palatalize to postalveolar affricates before Template:IPA and Template:IPA
  • /v/ becomes /f/ before voiceless consonants
  • /s/ becomes Template:IPA after Template:IPA and before /j/ and may assimilate the retroflexion of a preceding /r/ to become Template:IPA.
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Omissions in Consonant clusters

Faroese tends to omit the first or second consonant in clusters of different consonants:

  • fjalls [[[Template:IPA]]] (mountain's gen.) instead of *[[[Template:IPA]]] from [[[Template:IPA]]] (nom.). Other examples for genitives are: barns [[[Template:IPA]]] (children's), vatns [[[Template:IPA]]] (lake's, water's).
  • hjálpti [[[Template:IPA]]] (helped) past sg. instead of *[[[Template:IPA]]] from hjálpa [[[Template:IPA]]]. Other examples for past forms are: sigldi [[[Template:IPA]]] (sailed), yrkti [[[Template:IPA]]] (wrote poetry).
  • homophone are fylgdi (followed) and fygldi (caught birds with net): [[[Template:IPA]]].
  • skt will be:
    1. [[[Template:IPA]]] in words of more than one syllable: føroyskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (Faroese n. sg.) russiskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (Russian n. sg.), íslendskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (Icelandic n. sg.).
    2. [[[Template:IPA]]] in monosyllables: enskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (English n. sg.), danskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (Danish n. sg.), franskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (French n. sg.), spanskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (Spanish n. sg.), svenskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (Swedish n. sg.), týskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (German n. sg.).
      • However [[[Template:IPA]]] in: írskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (Irish n. sg.), norskt [[[Template:IPA]]] (Norwegian n. sg.)
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Grammar

Not surprisingly, Faroese grammar is quite similar to the Icelandic and Old Norse. Below in the literature section, you'll find a comprehensive grammar to download (chapter 3 of the standardwork Faroese by Thráinsson et al. 2004).

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Nominal inflection

Below is a representation of three grammatical genders, two numbers and four cases in the nominal inflection. This is just an overview to give a general idea of how the grammar works. Faroese actually has even more declensions.

Read:

  • ein stórur bátur - a big boat (m.)
  • ein vøkur genta - a beautiful girl (f.)
  • eitt gott barn - a good child (n.)

In the plural you will see that even the numeral tvey (2) is inflected.

Indefinite phrases
Singular  ? Masculine  ? Feminine  ? Neuter
Nominative hvør? ein stórur bátur hvør? ein vøkur genta hvat? eitt gott barn
Accusative hvønn? ein stóran bát hvørja? eina vakra gentu hvat? eitt gott barn
Dative hvørjum? einum stórum báti hvørj(ar)i? einari vakari gentu hvørjum? einum góðum barni
Genitive hvørs? eins stórs báts hvørjar? einar vakrar gentu hvørs? eins góðs barns
Plural  ? Masculine  ? Feminine  ? Neuter
Nominative hvørjir? tveir stórir bátar hvørjar? tvær vakrar gentur hvørji? tvey góð børn
Accusative hvørjar? tveir stórar bátar hvørjar? tvær vakrar gentur hvørji? tvey góð børn
Dative hvørjum? tveimum stórum bátum hvørjum? tveimum vøkrum gentum hvørjum? tveimum góðum børnum
Genitive hvørja? tveggja stóra báta hvørja? tveggja vakra genta hvørja? tveggja góða barna

If the noun is definite, the verb inflects weak, and the noun gets a suffix article as in any Scandinavian language (except for Old Norse).

The interrogative pronoun is the same as above. In the plural, the plural form of the definite article is used.

Read:

  • tann stóru báturin - the big boat-the
  • tann vakra gentan - the beautiful girl-the
  • tað góða barn - the good child-the
Definite phrases
Singular Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative tann stóri báturin tann vakra gentan tað góða barnið
Accusative tann stóra bátin ta vøkru gentuna tað góða barnið
Dative tí stóra bátinum tí vøkru gentuni tí góða barninum
Genitive tess stóra bátsins teirrar vøkru gentunnar tess góða barnsins
Plural Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative teir stóru bátarnir tær vøkru genturnar tey góðu børnini
Accusative teir stóru bátarnar tær vøkru genturnar tey góðu børnini
Dative teimum stóru bátunum teimum vøkru gentunum teimum góðu børnunum
Genitive teirra stóru bátanna teirra vøkru gentunna teirra góðu barnanna
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Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns of Faroese are:

Personal pronouns
Singular 1. 2. 3. m 3. f 3. n
Nominative eg tú hann hon tað
Accusative meg teg hana
Dative mær tær honum henni tí
Genitive mín tín hansara hennara tess
Plural 1. 2. 3. m 3. f 3. n
Nominative vit tit teir tær tey
Accusative okkum tykkum
Dative teimum
Genitive okkara tykkara teirra

Singular

  • 1st person: eg [[[Template:IPA]]] - I, meg [[[Template:IPA]]] - me (acc.), mær [[[Template:IPA]]] - me (dat.), mín [[[Template:IPA]]] - my
  • 2nd person: tú [[[Template:IPA]]] - you, teg [[[Template:IPA]]] - you (acc.), tær [[[Template:IPA]]] - you (dat.), tín [[[Template:IPA]]] - your (gen.)
  • 3rd person masculine: hann [[[Template:IPA]]] - he, him (nom., acc.), honum [[[Template:IPA]]] - him (dat.), hansara [[[Template:IPA]]] - his (gen.)
  • 3rd person feminine: hon [[[Template:IPA]]] - she, hana [[[Template:IPA]]] - her (acc.), henni [[[Template:IPA]]] - her (dat.), hennara [[[Template:IPA]]] - her (gen.)
  • 3rd person neuter: tað [[[Template:IPA]]] - it (nom., acc.), tí [[[Template:IPA]]] - it (dat.), tess [[[Template:IPA]]] - its (gen.)

Plural

  • 1st person: vit [[[Template:IPA]]] - we, okkum [[[Template:IPA]]] - us (acc., dat.), okkara [[[Template:IPA]]] - our (gen.)
  • 2nd person: tit [[[Template:IPA]]] - you (pl.), tykkum [[[Template:IPA]]] - you (acc., dat. pl.) tykkara [[[Template:IPA]]] - your (gen. pl.)
  • 3rd person masculine: teir [[[Template:IPA]]] - they, them (m. nom., acc.), teimum [[[Template:IPA]]] - them (dat.), teirra [[[Template:IPA]]] - their (gen.)
  • 3rd person feminine: tær [[[Template:IPA]]] - they, them (f. nom., acc.)
  • 3rd person neuter: tey [[[Template:IPA]]] - they, them (n. nom., acc.)

The 3rd person plural neuter tey will be used in all cases when both genders are meant, as in:

  • teir eru onglendingar - they are Englishmen (about males)
  • tær eru føroyingar - they are Faroese (about females)
  • tey eru fólk úr Evropa - they are people from Europe (both sexes)
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Verbs

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Weak Inflection

There are 4 classes of weak inflection of verbs (with some underclasses). E.g.:

  1. stem-final -a, 2-3.pers.sg. -r - kalla! (imperative), tú/hann kalla-r (you/he call(s))
  2. 2-3.pers.sg. -ur - tú/hann selur (you/he sell(s))
  3. 2-3.pers.sg. -ir - tú/hann dømir (you/he judge(s))
  4. 2. pers.sg. -rt - tú rørt (you row). There occurs a Verschärfung in certain surroundings: eg rógvi [[[Template:IPA]]], I row; vs. eg róði [[[Template:IPA]]], I rowed.
Weak Inflection
Infinitive 1. kalla 2. selja 3. døma 4. rógva
Singular Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past
1st pers. kalli kallaði selji seldi dømi dømdi rógvi róði
2nd pers. kallar kallaði selur seldi dømir dømdi rørt róði
3rd pers. kallar kallaði selur seldi dømir dømdi rør róði
Plural Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past
1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. kalla kallaðu selja seldu døma dømdu rógva róðu
Supine kallað selt dømt róð
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Strong Inflection

These verbs are also referred to as regular. There are 7 classes (with underclasses), distinguished by the variations of the stem-vowel:

  1. í - ei - i- i; - at bíta - eg beit - vit bitu - vit hava bitið (bite)
  2. ó/ú- ey - u- o; - at bróta - eg breyt - vit brutu - vit hava brotið (break)
  3. e/i/ø - a- u- o/u; - at svimja - eg svam - vit svumu - vit hava svomið (swim)
  4. e/o - a - ó - o; - at bera - eg bar - vit bóru - vit hava borið (bear)
    • o - o - o - o; - at koma - eg kom - vit komu - vit hava komið (come)
  5. e/i - a/á - ó - i; - at liggja - eg lá - vit lógu - vit hava ligið (lie)
  6. a - ó - ó - a; - at fara - eg fór - vit fóru - vit hava farið (go)
  7. a/á - e - i - i; - at fáa - eg fekk - vit fingu - vit hava fingið (get)
Strong Inflection
Infinitive 1. bíta 2. bróta 3. svimja 4. bera 5. koma 6. fara 7. fáa
Singular Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past
1st pers. bíti beit bróti breyt svimji svam komi kom liggi lá fari fór fái fekk
2nd pers. bítur beitst brýtur breytst svimur svamst kemur komst liggur lást fert fórt fært fekst
3rd pers. bítur beit brýtur breyt svimur svam kemur kom liggur lá fer fór fær fekk
Plural Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past
1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. bíta bitu bróta brutu svimja svumu koma komu liggja lógu fara fóru fáa fingu
Supine bitið brotið svomið komið ligið farið fingið
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Auxiliary verbs

The auxiliary verbs in Faroese are:

  • at vera - to be
  • at hava - to have
  • at verða - to be, become
  • at blíva - to be, become
Auxiliary verbs
Infinitive 1. vera 2. hava 3. verða 4. blíva
Singular Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past
1st pers. eri var havi hevði verði varð blívi bleiv
2nd pers. ert varst hevur hevði verður varðst blívur bleivst
3rd pers. er var hevur hevði verður varð blívur bleiv
Plural Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past
1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. eru vóru hava høvdu verða vórðu blíva blivu
Supine verið havt - blivið

Note, that vera and verða are homonyms.

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Preterite-present verbs

The preterite-present verbs in Faroese are the following:

  • at kunna - to be able to
  • at munna - to want
  • at mega - to be allowed to
  • at skula - shall
  • at vita - to know
  • at vilja - to want
Preterite-present verbs
Infinitive 1. kunna 2. munna 3. mega 4. skula 5. vita 6. vilja
Singular Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past
1st pers. kann kundi man mundi má mátti skal skuldi veit visti vil vildi
2nd pers. kanst kundi manst mundi mást mátti skalt skuldi veitst visti vilt vildi
3rd pers. kann kundi man mundi má mátti skal skuldi veit visti vil vildi
Plural Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past Present Past
1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. kunnu/
kunna 		kundu munnu/
munna 		mundu mugu/
mega 		máttu skulu/
skula 		skuldu vita vistu vilja vildu
Supine kunnað munnað ? skulað vitað viljað
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Further reading

This is a chronological list of books about Faroese still available. Unfortunately, the English-Faroese and Faroese-English dictionaries are sold out.

  • V.U. Hammershaimb: Færøsk Anthologi. Copenhagen 1891 (no ISBN, 2 volumes, 4th printing, Tórshavn 1991) (in Danish)
  • M.A. Jacobsen, Chr. Matras: Føroysk - donsk orðabók. Tórshavn, 1961. (no ISBN, 521 pages, Faroese-Danish dictionary)
  • W.B. Lockwood: An Introduction to Modern Faroese. Tórshavn, 1977. (no ISBN, 244 pages, 4th printing 2002)
  • Eigil Lehmann: Føroysk-norsk orðabók. Tórshavn, 1987 (no ISBN, 388 p.) (Faroese-Norwegian dictionary)
  • Tórður Jóansson: English loanwords in Faroese. Tórshavn, 1997. (243 pages) ISBN 99918-49-14-9
  • Johan Hendrik W. Poulsen: Føroysk orðabók. Tórshavn, 1998. (1483 pages) ISBN 99918-41-52-0 (in Faroese)
  • Annfinnur í Skála: Donsk-føroysk orðabók. Tórshavn 1998. (1369 pages) ISBN 9991842225 (Danish-Faroese dictionary)
  • Michael Barnes: Faroese Language Studies Studia Nordica 5, Supplementum 30. Tórshavn, 2002. (239 pages) ISBN 99918-41-30-X
  • Höskuldur Thráinsson (Þráinsson), Hjalmar P. Petersen, Jógvan í Lon Jacobsen, Zakaris Svabo Hansen: Faroese. An Overview and Reference Grammar. Tórshavn, 2004. (500 pages) ISBN 99918-41-85-7 (Chapter 3 - "Inflectional Morphology, Grammatical Categories and Word Classes" as PDF download, 167 p.)
  • Richard Kölbl: Färöisch Wort für Wort. Bielefeld 2004 (in German)
  • Gianfranco Contri: Dizionario faroese-italiano = Føroysk-italsk orðabók. Tórshavn, 2004. (627 p.) ISBN 99918-41-58-X (Faroese-Italian dictionary)
  • Hjalmar Petersen, Marius Staksberg: Donsk-Føroysk orðabók. Tórshavn, 2005. (879 p.) ISBN 99918-41-51-2 (Danish-Faroese dictionary)
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External links

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