Faroese language

Faroese^[a] (/ˌfɛəroʊˈiːz, ˌfær-/ ^ⓘ FAIR-oh-EEZ, FARR-;^[3] endonym: føroyskt [ˈføːɹɪst]) is a North Germanic language spoken as a first language by about 69,000 Faroe Islanders, of whom 21,000 reside mainly in Denmark and elsewhere.

Faroese
føroyskt
Pronunciation	[ˈføːɹɪst]
Native to	Faroe Islands
Ethnicity	Faroe Islanders
Native speakers	69,000 (2015)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Germanic North Germanic West Scandinavian Insular Scandinavian Faroese
Early forms	Old Norse Old West Norse Old Norwegian[2] Old Faroese
Writing system	Latin (Faroese alphabet) Faroese Braille
Official status
Official language in	Faroe Islands
Recognised minority language in	Denmark
Regulated by	Faroese Language Board Føroyska málnevndin
Language codes
ISO 639-1	fo
ISO 639-2	fao
ISO 639-3	fao
Glottolog	faro1244
Linguasphere	52-AAA-ab
Faroese is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

It is one of five languages descended from Old West Norse spoken in the Middle Ages; the others include Norwegian, Icelandic, and the extinct Norn and Greenlandic Norse. Faroese and Icelandic, its closest extant relative, are not easily mutually intelligible in speech, but the written languages resemble each other quite closely, largely owing to Faroese's etymological orthography.^[4]

History

The Sheep 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:

  Old West Norse dialect

  Old East Norse dialect

  Old Gutnish dialect

  Old English

  Crimean Gothic

  Other Germanic languages with which Old Norse still retained some mutual intelligibility

The Fámjin stone, a Faroese runestone

Proto-Germanic East Germanic languages West Germanic languages Proto-Norse → Old Norse Old West Norse Icelandic Faroese Norwegian Old East Norse Danish Swedish

Around 900 AD, the language spoken in the Faroes was Old 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 from Scandinavia, but descendants of Norse settlers in the Irish Sea region. In addition, women from Norse-occupied Ireland, the Norse–Gaelic Isles, Orkney, and Shetland often married native Scandinavian men before settling in the Faroe Islands and Iceland.^[6] As a result, the Middle Irish language has had some influence on both Faroese and Icelandic.

There is speculation about Gaelic language place names in the Faroes: for example, the names of Mykines, Stóra Dímun, Lítla Dímun and Argir have been hypothesized to contain Celtic roots.^[7] Other examples of early-introduced words of Celtic origin are: blak/blaðak (buttermilk), cf. Middle Irish bláthach; drunnur (tail-piece of an animal), cf. Middle Irish dronn; grúkur (head, headhair), cf. Middle Irish gruaig; lámur (hand, paw), cf. Middle Irish lámh; tarvur (bull), cf. Middle Irish tarbh; and ærgi (pasture in the outfield), cf. Middle Irish áirge.^[8]

Between the 9th and the 15th centuries, a distinct Faroese language evolved, although it was probably still mutually intelligible with Old West Norse, and remained similar to the Norn language of Orkney and Shetland during Norn's earlier phase.

Faroese ceased to be a written language after the Danish–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 in ballads, folktales, and everyday life. This maintained a rich spoken tradition, but for 300 years the language was not used in written form.

In 1823, the Danish Bible Society published a diglot of the Gospel of Matthew, with Faroese on the left and Danish on the right.

Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb and the Icelandic grammarian and politician Jón Sigurðsson published a written standard for Modern Faroese in 1854, which still exists.^[10] They set a standard for the orthography 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 letter ð, for example, has no specific phoneme 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 1908, Scripture Gift Mission published the Gospel of John in Faroese.

In 1937, Faroese replaced Danish 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 on Google Translate.^[17]

Old Faroese

Old Faroese (miðaldarføroyskt, ca. mid-14th to mid-16th centuries) is a form of Old Norse spoken in medieval times in the Faroe Islands. The most crucial aspects of the development of Faroese are diphthongisation and palatalisation.^[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 and ǫ́ merged as /ɔː/; later on at the beginning of the 14th century, delabialization took place: y, øy, au > /i, ɔi, ɛi/; í and ý merged in addition to i and y, but in the case of í and ý, it appears that labialisation took place instead as is documented by later development to /ʊi/. Further, the language underwent a palatalisation of k, g and sk before Old Norse e, i, y, ø, au > /kʲ, ɡʲ, skʲ/ > /cᶜ̧, ɟᶨ, ɕcᶜ̧/ > /tʃʰ, tʃ, ʃ/. Before the palatalisation é and ǽ merged as /ɛː/ and approximately in the same period epenthetic u is inserted into word-final /Cr/ and /CrC/ clusters.

A massive quantity shift also operated in Middle Faroese. In the case of skerping, it took place after delabialization but before loss of post-vocalic ð and g /ɣ/. The shift of hv /hw/ to /kw/, the deletion of /h/ in (remaining) word-initial /h/–sonorant clusters (hr, hl, hn > r, l, n), and the dissolution of þ (þ > t; þ > h in demonstrative pronouns and adverbs)^[19] appeared before the end of the 13th century. Another undated change is the merger of ǫ, ø and ǿ into /ø/; pre-nasal ǫ, ǫ́ > o, ó. enk, eng probably became eing, eink in the 14th century; the development of a to /ɛ/ before ng, nk appeared after the palatalisation of k, g, and sk had been completed, such a change is quite a recent development, as well as change Cve > Cvø.

Development of vowels from Old Norse to Modern Faroese^[20]

9th century (Old Norse)				up to 14th century (Early Faroese)	14th–16th centuries (Old Faroese)		17th century (Late Old Faroese)				20th century (New Faroese)
					North	South	North		South		North		South
							long	short	long	short	long	short	long	short
i and y				/i/	/iː/		/iː/	/ɪ/	/iː/	/ɪ/	[iː]	[ɪ]	[iː]	[ɪ]	i, y
e and æ				/e/	/eː/		/eː/	/ɛ/	/e/	/ɛ/	[eː]	[ɛ]	[eː]	[ɛ]	e
ø				/ø/	/øː/	/ø/	/øː/	/œ/	/øː/	/œ/	[øː]	[œ]	[øː]	[ʏ]	ø
ǫ				/ɔ͔/	/ɔ͔ː/										ø
u				/u/	/uː/		/uː/	/ʊ/	/uː/	/ʊ/	[uː]	[ʊ]	[uː]	[ʊ]	u
o				/o/	/oː/	/o/	/oː/	/ɔ/	/oː/	/ɔ/	[oː]	[ɔ]	[oː]	[ɔ]	o
a				/a/	/ɛː/		/ɛː/	/æ/	/ɛː/	/æ/	[ɛa]	[a]	[ɛa]	[a]	a
Long vowel -> Diphthong
í and ý				/yː/	/ʊi/		/ʊi/	/ʊi/	/ʊi/	/ʊi/	[ui]	[ʊi]	[ui]	[ʊi]	í, ý
é and ǽ				/ɛː/	/ɛː/	/eː/	/ɛəː/	/ɛə/	/eː/	/ɛ/	[ɛa]	[a]	[eː]	[ɛ]	æ
ǿ				/œː/	/œː/		/øː/	/œ/	/øː/	/œ/	[øː]	[œ]	[øː]	[ʏ]	ø
ú				/uː/	/ʉu/		/ʉu/	/ʉʏ/	/ʉu/	/ʉʏ/	[ʉu]	[ʏ]	[ʉu]		ú
ó				/oː/	/ɜu/	/ɔu/	/ɜu/	/ɜ/	/ɔu/	/ɔ/	[œu, ɛu]	[œ]	[ɔu]	[ɔ]	ó
á and ǫ́				/ɔː/	/ɔː/		/ɔː/	/ɔ/	/ɔː/	/ɔ/	[ɔa]	[ɔ]	[ɔa]		á
True diphthongs
au				/ɶu/	/ɛi/						[ɛi]	[ɛ]	[ɛi]	[ɛ]	ey
øy				/œy/	/ɔi/						[ɔi]	[ɔ]	[ɔi]	[ɔ]	oy
ei				/æi/	/ai/								[ai]	[ai]	ei

Dialects

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 of Tórshavn 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 developed prestige 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 scholar Lucas Debes noting a north–south distinction as early as 1673. In the 18th century linguist Jens Christian Svabo made further distinctions, such as identifying the Tórshavn dialect, though his categorization lacked thorough justification. In 1891 Venceslaus 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 of Sandur. 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] The fortis consonants /p/, /t/, and /k/ are aspirated following long vowels.

The central dialect area centered around Suðurstreymoy features a merging of ⟨i⟩ and ⟨u⟩ in unstressed ending syllables. The fortis consonants are neither aspirated nor weakened. The island of Nólsoy 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]

Alphabet

Main article: Faroese orthography

The Faroese alphabet consists of 29 letters derived from the Latin script:

Majuscule forms (also called uppercase or capital 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

Minuscule forms (also called lowercase or small 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

Phonology

Main article: Faroese phonology

Vowels

Faroese vowels

	Front				Central		Back
	unrounded		rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	ɪ	iː	ʏ	yː			ʊ	uː
Mid	ɛ	eː	œ	øː			ɔ	oː
Open					a	aː

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 vowel alternations^[25]

Monophthongs
Long vowel				Short vowel
/i/	linur	[ˈliːnʊɹ]	'soft'	lint	[lɪn̥t]	'soft (N.)'
/e/	frekur	[ˈfɹeː(ʰ)kʊɹ]	'greedy'	frekt	[fɹɛʰkt]	'greedy (N.)'
/y/	mytisk	[ˈmyːtɪsk]	'mythological'	mystisk	[ˈmʏstɪsk]	'mysterious'
/ø/	høgur	[ˈhøːʋʊɹ~ˈhøœʋʊɹ]	'high (M.)'	høgt	[hœkt]	'high (N.)'
/u/	gulur	[ˈkuːlʊɹ]	'yellow'	gult	[kʊl̥t]	'yellow (N.)'
/o/	tola	[ˈtʰoːla]	'to endure'	toldi	[ˈtʰɔltɪ]	'endured'
/a/	Kanada	[ˈkʰaːnata]	'Canada'	land	[lant]	'land'
Diphthongs
Long vowel				Short vowel
/ʊi/	hvítur	[ˈkvʊiːtʊɹ]	'white (M.)'	hvítt	[kvʊiʰtː]	'white (N.)'
/ɛi/	deyður	[ˈteiːjʊɹ]	'dead (M.)'	deytt	[tɛʰtː]	'dead (N.)'
/ai/	feitur	[ˈfaiːtʊɹ]	'fat (M.)'	feitt	[faiʰtː~fɔiʰtː]	'fat (N.)'
/ɔi/	gloyma	[ˈklɔiːma]	'to forget'	gloymdi	[ˈklɔimtɪ]	'forgot'
/ɛa/	spakur	[ˈspɛaː(ʰ)kʊɹ]	'calm (M.)'	spakt	[spakt]	'calm (N.)'
/ɔa/	vátur	[ˈvɔaːtʊɹ]	'wet (M.)'	vátt	[vɔʰtː]	'wet (N.)'
/ʉu/	fúlur	[ˈfʉuːlʊɹ]	'foul (M.)'	fúlt	[fʏl̥t]	'foul (N.)'
/ɔu/	tómur	[ˈtʰɔuːmʊɹ~ˈtʰœuːmʊɹ]	'empty (M.)'	tómt	[tʰœm̥t~tʰɔm̥t]	'empty (N.)'

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.

Consonants

		Labial	Coronal			Dorsal		Glottal
			Dental / Alveolar	Retro- flex	Palatal		Velar
Plosive / Affricate	Fortis	pʰ	tʰ	(ʈʰ)	tʃʰ		kʰ	(ʔ)
	Lenis	p	t	(ʈ)	tʃ		k
Continuant	Fortis	f	s	(ʂ)	ʃ			h
	Lenis	v		ɹ (ɻ̊)	j		(w)
Sonorant
	Nasal	m (m̥)	n (n̥)	(ɳ)	ɲ (ɲ̊)		ŋ (ŋ̊)
	Lateral		l (ɬ)	(ɭ)	(ʎ ʎ̥)

(Non-phonemic phones are between parentheses)

There are several phonological 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 [ʂ ɭ ʈ ɳ] 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 [ʰp ʰt ʰk ʰtʃ] 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 [ʰpː ʰtː ʰkː ʰtʃː].

Grammar

Main article: Faroese grammar

Faroese grammar is related and very similar to that of modern Icelandic and Old Norse. Faroese is an inflected language with three grammatical genders and four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.

Faroese Words and Phrases in comparison to other Germanic languages

Faroese	Icelandic	Norwegian (nynorsk)	Norwegian (bokmål)	Danish	Swedish	German	Dutch	West Frisian	English
Vælkomin	Velkomin	Velkomen	Velkommen	Velkommen	Välkommen	Willkommen	Welkom	Wolkom	Welcome
Farvæl	Far vel; Farðu heill	Farvel, Far vel	Farvel	Farvel	Farväl	Lebwohl	Vaarwel	Farwol	Farewell
Hvussu eitur tú?	Hvað heitir þú?	Kva (kvat) heiter du?	Hva heter du?	Hvad hedder du?	Vad heter du?	Wie heißt du?	Hoe heet je?	Hoe hjitsto?	What is your name?
Hvussu gongur?	Hvernig gengur?	Korleis gjeng / går det?	Hvordan går det?	Hvordan går det?	Hur går det?	Wie geht's?	Hoe gaat het?	Hoe giet it?	How is it going? (How goes it?)
Hvussu gamal (m) / gomul (f) ert tú?	Hversu gamall (m) / gömul (f) ert þú?	Kor gamal er du?	Hvor gammel er du?	Hvor gammel er du?	Hur gammal är du?	Wie alt bist du?	Hoe oud ben je?	Hoe âld bisto?	How old are you?
Reyður / reyð / reytt	Rauður / rauð / rautt	Raud(t)	Rød(t)	Rød(t)	Rött / Röd	Rot	Rood / Rode	Read(e)	Red
Bláur / blá / blátt	Blár / blá / blátt	Blå(tt)	Blå(tt)	Blå(t)	Blå(tt)	Blau	Blauw(e)	Blau(e)	Blue
Hvítur / hvít / hvítt	Hvítur / hvít / hvítt	Kvit(t)	Hvit(t)	Hvid(t)	Vit(t)	Weiß	Wit(te)	Wyt / wite	White

Example text

SUB:Subjunctive mood IMP:Imperative mood PRS:Present tense PST:Past tense 2PS:second person, singular 3PS:third person, singular DF:Definite IDF:Indefinite N:Nominative case A:Accusative case D:Dative case G:Genitive case MA:Masculine gender FE:Feminine gender NT:Neuter gender CMPA:Comparative SPER:Superlative

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The following is a sample text of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The first line is the orthographic version;^[26] the second is the International Phonetic Alphabet transciption; the third is the gloss. A recording is available on the UDHR audio project's website.^[27]

Grein 1:

ˈfɪsːt-a ˈkɹaiːn-∅ ||

First-FE.N.SG article-N.SG.IDF :

Øll

ˈʔœtˑl

All\NT.N.PL

menniskju

ˈmɛnːɪʃ-ʊ^[b]

human-N.PL.IDF

eru

(ʔ)ɛɹ-ʊ

be\IND.PRS-3PL

fødd

ˌfœtˑ-∅

born-NT.N.PL

fræls

ˈfɹalːs-∅ (|)

free-NT.N.PL

og

ʔɔ

and

jøvn

ˈjøːn |

equal\NT.N.PL

til

tʰɪl

in terms of

virðingar

ˈviːɹ.ɪŋk-aɹ (|)

respec.t-G.IDF

og

ʔɔ

and

mannarættindi.

ˈman(ː)a.ˌɹaʰtːɪnt-ɪ ||

human.rights-A.IDF^[c] .

Tey

tʰɛi

They\N

hava

‿(h)av-a

have-IND.PRS.3PL

skil

ˈʃiːl (|)

reason-A.IDF

og

ʔɔ

and

samvitsku

ˌsaɱː‿.vɪsk-ˈʊˑ |

con.science-A.IDF

og

ʔɔ

and

eiga

ˈʔaiː-(a)‿

ought-IND.PRS.3PL

at fara

a(t) faɹ-a (|)

to behave-INF

hvørt

ˈkʰvœɻ̊ː-ʈ

each-A.SG

um

ʊm

around

annað

ˌanːa-∅^[b]

(an)other-MA.A.SG

í

(ʔ)ʊi

in

bróðuranda.

ˈpɹɔuːvʊɹ.ˌanːt-a

brother.hood-A.SG.IDF .

{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.

{ˈfɪsːt-a ˈkɹaiːn-∅ ||} ˈʔœtˑl ˈmɛnːɪʃ-ʊ^[b] (ʔ)ɛɹ-ʊ ˌfœtˑ-∅ {ˈfɹalːs-∅ (|)} ʔɔ {ˈjøːn |} tʰɪl {ˈviːɹ.ɪŋk-aɹ (|)} ʔɔ {ˈman(ː)a.ˌɹaʰtːɪnt-ɪ ||} tʰɛi ‿(h)av-a {ˈʃiːl (|)} ʔɔ {ˌsaɱː‿.vɪsk-ˈʊˑ |} ʔɔ ˈʔaiː-(a)‿ {a(t) faɹ-a (|)} ˈkʰvœɻ̊ː-ʈ ʊm ˌanːa-∅^[b] (ʔ)ʊi ˈpɹɔuːvʊɹ.ˌanːt-a

{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.

Lord's Prayer

The following is a sample text of the Lord's Prayer in Faroese. The first line is the orthographic version;^[30] the second is the International Phonetic Alphabet transciption; the third is the gloss. A recording posted under the @teknmal767 channel is available on YouTube, it contains two performances of the prayer spoken and signed.^[31]

Faðir

ˈfɛaː-jɪɹ

Father-N.SG.IDF

vár,

ˈvɔaːɹ-∅ |

our-N.SG

Tú,

ˈtʰʉuː

you\N.SG

sum

sʊm

REL

ert

ˌ(ʔ)ɛɻ̊ː-ʈ

be\PRS.IND-2PS

í

(ʊ)i

in

Himli.

ˈhɪmːl-ɪ ||

Heaven-D.SG.IDF .

Heilagt

ˈhaiːlaʰ-t (|)

Holy-NT.N

verði

(ˈ)ve(ː)ɹ-ɪ

become-SUB.PRS.3PS

navn

ˌnauːn-∅

name-N.IDF

Títt.

ˈtʰʊi-ʰtː |

Your-NT.N.SG .

Komi

ˈkʰoːm-ɪ

Come-SUB.PRS.3PS

ríki

ˌɹʊiːt͡ʃ-ɪ

reign-N.IDF

Títt.

ˈtʰʊi-ʰtː ||

Your-NT.N.SG .

Verði

ˈveːɹ-ɪ

Be-SUB.PRS.3PS

vilji

ˌvɪlːj-ɪ

will-N.IDF

Tín,

ˈtʰʊiːn-∅ |

Your-MA.N.SG ,

sum

sʊm

as:CONJ

í

(ʊ)i

in

Himli,

ˈhɪmːl-ɪ (|)

Heaven-D.SG.IDF

so

so

as:ADV

á

ʔ(ɔ)a

on

jørð.

ˈjøːɹ-∅ ||

earth-D.SG.IDF .

Gev

ˈt͡ʃeːv-∅

Give-IMP.2PS

okkum

ɔʰkˑ-ʊn

us-D.PL

í dag

(ʊ)iˈtɛaː

today

okkara

ɔʰkˑ-aɹa

our

dagliga

ˌtak.lij-a

daily-FE.A.SG

breyð.

ˈpɹɛiː-∅ ||

bread-A.SG.IDF .

Og

ʔɔ

And

fyrigev

ˈfiˑɹɪ.ˌt͡ʃeːv-∅

forgive-IMP.2PS

okkum

ɔʰkˑ-ʊn

us-D.PL

syndir

ˈsɪnːt-ɪɹ

sin-A.PL.IDF

okkara,

ɔʰkˑ-aɹa ||

our ,

so sum

soˑ sʊɱ‿

just as

vit

ˈviˑt-∅

we-N

eisini

ˈʔaiːsɪnɪ

also

fyrigeva

ˈfiˑɹɪ.ˌt͡ʃɛv-a

forgive-IND.PRS.3PS

teimum,

ˈtʰaiː-mʊn |

those-D.PL

ið

ʔʊi

REL

móti

ˈmœuːtɪ

against

okkum

ɔʰkˑ-ʊn

us-D.PL

synda.

ˈsɪnːt-a ||

sin-INF .

[Og]

ʔɔ

And

Leið

ˈlaiː-∅

lead-IMP.2PS

okkum

ɔʰkˑ-ʊn

us-D.PL

ikki

ɪʰt͡ʃˑ‿

not

í

(ʊ)i

into

fre[i]stingar,

ˈfɹaisːt.ɪŋk-aɹ |

temptation-A.PL.IDF ,

men

mɛn

but

frels

ˈfɹɛɬːs-∅

deliver-IMP.2PS

okkum

ɔʰkˑ-ʊn^[b]

us-D.PL

frá

ˌfɹɔaː

from

tí illa.

tʰ(ʊ)iˈʔɪtˑla ||

evil [lit: it\D.SG badly] .

Tí

tʰ(ʊ)i

For:CONJ

at

at

to

[T]ítt

ˈtʰʊi-ʰtː

you-NT.A.SG

er

ɛɹ-∅

be\PRS.IND-3PS

ríkið,

‿ˈʊiːt͡ʃ-ɪ |

realm-N.SG.DF ,

valdið

ˈvalːt-ɪ (|)

power-N.SG.DF

og

ʔɔ

and

heiðurin

ˈhaiː-(ʊ)ɹɪn |

glory-N.SG.DF

um

ʔʊm

through

allar

ˈʔatˑl-aɹ

all-A.PL

ævir.

ˈʔɛaːv-ɪɹ ||

eternity-A.PL.IDF .

Amen.

ˈʔamːˌɛn

Amen .

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.

ˈfɛaː-jɪɹ {ˈvɔaːɹ-∅ |} ˈtʰʉuː sʊm ˌ(ʔ)ɛɻ̊ː-ʈ (ʊ)i {ˈhɪmːl-ɪ ||} {ˈhaiːlaʰ-t (|)} (ˈ)ve(ː)ɹ-ɪ ˌnauːn-∅ {ˈtʰʊi-ʰtː |} ˈkʰoːm-ɪ ˌɹʊiːt͡ʃ-ɪ {ˈtʰʊi-ʰtː ||} ˈveːɹ-ɪ ˌvɪlːj-ɪ {ˈtʰʊiːn-∅ |} sʊm (ʊ)i {ˈhɪmːl-ɪ (|)} so ʔ(ɔ)a {ˈjøːɹ-∅ ||} ˈt͡ʃeːv-∅ ɔʰkˑ-ʊn (ʊ)iˈtɛaː ɔʰkˑ-aɹa ˌtak.lij-a {ˈpɹɛiː-∅ ||} ʔɔ ˈfiˑɹɪ.ˌt͡ʃeːv-∅ ɔʰkˑ-ʊn ˈsɪnːt-ɪɹ {ɔʰkˑ-aɹa ||} {soˑ sʊɱ‿} ˈviˑt-∅ ˈʔaiːsɪnɪ ˈfiˑɹɪ.ˌt͡ʃɛv-a {ˈtʰaiː-mʊn |} ʔʊi ˈmœuːtɪ ɔʰkˑ-ʊn {ˈsɪnːt-a ||} ʔɔ ˈlaiː-∅ ɔʰkˑ-ʊn ɪʰt͡ʃˑ‿ (ʊ)i {ˈfɹaisːt.ɪŋk-aɹ |} mɛn ˈfɹɛɬːs-∅ ɔʰkˑ-ʊn^[b] ˌfɹɔaː {tʰ(ʊ)iˈʔɪtˑla ||} tʰ(ʊ)i at ˈtʰʊi-ʰtː ɛɹ-∅ {‿ˈʊiːt͡ʃ-ɪ |} {ˈvalːt-ɪ (|)} ʔɔ {ˈhaiː-(ʊ)ɹɪn |} ʔʊm ˈʔatˑl-aɹ {ˈʔɛaːv-ɪɹ ||} ˈʔamːˌɛn

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.

See also

• Faroese language conflict
• Goidelic languages
• Gøtudanskt accent
• Old Norwegian

Further reading

To learn Faroese as a language

• Adams, Jonathan & Hjalmar P. Petersen. Faroese: A Language Course for beginners Grammar & Textbook. Tórshavn, 2009: Stiðin (704 p.) ISBN 978-99918-42-54-7
• 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) 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
• Richard Kölbl: Färöisch Wort für Wort. Bielefeld 2004 (in German)
• Faroeseonline.com

Dictionaries

• Johan Hendrik W. Poulsen: Føroysk orðabók. Tórshavn, 1998. (1483 pages) ISBN 99918-41-52-0 (in Faroese)
• Annfinnur í Skála / Jonhard Mikkelsen: Føroyskt / enskt – enskt / føroyskt, Vestmanna: Sprotin 2008. (Faroese–English / English–Faroese dictionary, 2 volumes)
• Annfinnur í Skála: Donsk-føroysk orðabók. Tórshavn 1998. (1369 pages) ISBN 99918-42-22-5 (Danish–Faroese dictionary)
• M.A. Jacobsen, Chr. Matras: Føroysk–donsk orðabók. Tórshavn, 1961. (no ISBN, 521 pages, Faroese–Danish dictionary)
• Hjalmar Petersen, Marius Staksberg: Donsk–Føroysk orðabók. Tórshavn, 1995. (879 p.) ISBN 99918-41-51-2 (Danish–Faroese dictionary)
• Eigil Lehmann: Føroysk–norsk orðabók. Tórshavn, 1987 (no ISBN, 388 p.) (Faroese–Norwegian dictionary)
• Jón Hilmar Magnússon: Íslensk-færeysk orðabók. Reykjavík, 2005. (877 p.) ISBN 9979-66-179-8 (Icelandic–Faroese dictionary)
• Gianfranco Contri: Dizionario faroese-italiano = Føroysk-italsk orðabók. Tórshavn, 2004. (627 p.) ISBN 99918-41-58-X (Faroese–Italian dictionary)

Faroese literature and research

• 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) ISBN 99918-49-14-9
• 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. by Paul Alfred Kleinert

Other

• 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, ISBN 978-0-415-05768-4