'Faroese' (''føroyskt'' [] or []), often also spelled 'Faeroese', is a West Nordic or West Scandinavian
language spoken by 48,000 people in the
Faroe Islands and about 12,000
Faroese in
Denmark. 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.
History
At one point, 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 '') 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 place names in the Faroes: for example
Mykines and
Stóra &
Lítla Dímun have been hypothesized to contain Celtic roots.
Between the
9th and the
15th centuries, a distinct Faroese language evolved, although it was still intelligible with
Old West Norse language.
Until the
15th century, Faroese had a similar orthography to
Icelandic and
Norwegian, but after the
Reformation in
1536, 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. Furthermore, although the letter '
m' corresponds to the
bilabial nasal as it does in
English, it also corresponds to the
alveolar nasal in the
dative ending ''-um'' .
Hammershaimb's orthography met with some opposition for its complexity, and a rival system was devised by
Jakob Jakobsen. Jakobsen's orthography 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 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.
Learning Faroese
It is unusual for Faroese to be taught at universities outside the Faroes (within Scandinavian studies); however
University College London has course options in Faroese for students reading 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 about the stamp editions both in Faroese and English (or German, French and 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.
Alphabet
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,
ö in poetic language, such as ''Föroyar'' (the Faroes) (cf. Swedish-Icelandic typographic/orthographic tradition vs. Norwegian-Danish). In handwriting these dots might instantiate as short strokes forming a letter looking like
Ő,
ő.
★ Common family names on the Faroes are e.g. Joensen, Johansen, Dam, Dalsgarð or the Christian name Johannis. 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.
Phonology
Vowels
| Grapheme | Name | Short | Long |
| A, a | ''fyrra a'' ("leading a") | | |
| Á, á | ''á'' | | |
| E, e | ''e'' | | |
| I, i | ''fyrra i'' ("leading i") | | |
| Í, í | ''fyrra í'' ("leading í") | | |
| O, o | ''o'' | | |
| Ó, ó | ''ó'' | | |
| U, u | ''u'' | | |
| Ú, ú | ''ú'' | | |
| Y, y | ''seinna i'' ] ("rear i") | | |
| Ý, ý | ''seinna í'' ("rear í") | | |
| Æ, æ | ''seinna a'' ("rear a") | | |
| Ø, ø | ''ø'' | | |
| Other vowels |
| ei | - | | |
| ey | - | | |
| oy | - | | |
As in other languages, including English, stressed vowels in Faroese are long when not followed by two or more 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.
As may be seen on the table to the left, Faroese (like English) has a very atypical pronunciation of its vowels, with odd offglides and other features.
Short vowels in endings
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 for these three. Even if a short unstressed /e/ is seen in writing, it will be pronounced like /i/: ''áðrenn'' (before). Very typical are endings like ''-ur'', ''-ir'', ''-ar''. The dative is often indicated by ''-um'' which is always pronounced .
★ - ''bát'ar''' (boats), ''kall'ar''' ((you) call, (he) calls)
| Unstressed /i/ and /u/ in dialects |
| Borðoy, Kunoy, Tórshavn | Viðoy, Svínoy, Fugloy | Suðuroy | Elsewhere (''standard'') |
| ''gulur'' (yellow) | [] | [] | [] | [] |
| ''gulir'' (yellow ''pl.'') | [] | [] | [] | [] |
| ''bygdin'' (the town) | [] | [] | [] | [] |
| ''bygdum'' (the towns ''dat. pl.'') | [] | [] | [] | [] |
| Source: ''Faroese: An Overview and Reference Grammar'', 2004 (page 350) |
★ - ''gest'ir''' (guests), ''dug'ir''' ((you, he) can)
★ - ''bát'ur''' (boat), ''gent'ur''' (girls), ''renn'ur''' ((you) run, (he) runs).
In some dialects, unstressed is realized as or is reduced further to . goes under a similar reduction pattern so unstressed and can rhyme. This can cause spelling mistakes related to these two vowels. The table to the right displays the different realizations in different dialects.
Glide Insertion
Faroese avoids having a
hiatus between two vowels by inserting a
glide. Orthographically, this is shown in three ways:
# vowel + ð + vowel
# vowel + g + vowel
# 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 .
Ð and G as glides
| Glide insertion |
| 'First vowel' | 'Second vowel' | 'Examples' | |||
| i [] | u [] | a [] |
| Grapheme | Phoneme | 'Glide' |
| I-surrounding 1 + 2 | ||
| i, y | [] | [] | [] | [] | ''sigið, siður, siga'' |
| í, ý | [] | [] | [] | [] | ''mígi, mígur, míga'' |
| ey | [] | [] | [] | [] | ''reyði, reyður, reyða'' |
| ei | [] | [] | [] | [] | ''reiði, reiður, reiða'' |
| oy | [] | [] | [] | [] | ''noyði, royður, royða'' |
| U-surrounding 2 |
| u | [] | [] | [] | [] | ''suði, mugu, suða'' |
| ó | [] | [] | [] | [] | ''róði, róðu, Nóa'' |
| ú | [] | [] | [] | [] | ''búði, búðu, túa'' |
| I-surrounding 2, U-surrounding 2, A-surrounding 1 (''regular'') |
| a, æ | [] | [] | [] | - | ''ræði, æðu, glaða'' |
| á | [] | [] | [] | - | ''ráði, fáur, ráða'' |
| e | [] | [] | [] | - | ''gleði, legu, gleða'' |
| o | [] | [] | [] | - | ''togið, smogu, roða'' |
| ø | [] | [] | [] | - | ''løgin, røðu, høgan'' |
| Source: ''Faroese: An Overview and Reference Grammar'', 2004 (page 38) |
<Ð> and
are used in Faroese orthography to indicate one of a number of glide rather than any one phoneme. This can be:
#[]
#
★ "I-surrounding, type 1" - after /i, y, í, ý, ei, ey, oy/: ''bíða'' [] (to wait), ''deyður'' [] (dead), ''seyður'' [] (sheep)
#
★ "I-surrounding, type 2" - between any vowel (except "u-vowels" /ó, u, ú/) and /i/: ''kvæði'' [] (ballad), ''øði'' [] (rage).
#[] "U-surrounding, type 1" - after /ó, u, ú/: ''Óðin'' [] (Odin), ''góðan morgun!'' [] (good morning!), ''suður'' [] (south), ''slóða'' [] (to make a trace).
#[]
#
★ "U-surrounding, type 2" - between /a, á, e, æ, ø/ and /u/: ''áður'' [] (before), ''leður'' [] (leather), ''í klæðum'' [] (in clothes), ''í bløðum'' [] (in newspapers).
#
★ "A-surrounding, type 2"
#
★
★ These are exceptions (''there is also a regular pronunciation''): ''æða'' [] (eider-duck), ''røða'' [] (speech).
#
★
★ The past participles have always []: ''elskaðar'' [] (beloved, ''nom., acc. fem. pl.'')
#''Silent''
#
★ "A-surrounding, type 1" - between /a, á, e, o/ and /a/ and in some words between <æ, ø> and : ''ráða'' [] (to advise), ''gleða'' [] (to gladden, please), ''boða'' [] (to forbode), ''kvøða'' [] (to chant), ''røða'' [] (to make a speech)
Skerping (sharpening)
| Skerping |
| Written | Pronunciation | instead of |
| -ógv- | [] |
★ [] |
| -úgv- | [] |
★ [] |
| -eyggj- | [] |
★ [] |
| -íggj-, -ýggj- | [] |
★ [] |
| -eiggj- | [] |
★ [] |
| -oyggj- | [] |
★ [] |
The so-called "skerping" (Thráinsson et al. use the term "Faroese Verschärfung" - in Faroese, ''skerping'' means "sharpening") is a typical phenomenon of fronting back vowels before and monophthongizing certain diphthongs before . 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.
★ []: ''Jógvan'' [] (a form of the name John), ''Gjógv'' [] (cleft)
★ []: ''kúgv'' [] (cow), ''trúgva'' [] (believe), but: ''trúleysur'' [] (faithless)
★ []: ''heyggjur'' [] (high, burial mound), but ''heygnum'' [] (''dat. sg. with suffix article'')
★ []: ''nýggjur'' [] (new ''m.''), but ''nýtt'' [] (''n.'')
★ []: ''beiggi'' [] (brother)
★ []: ''oyggj'' [] (island), but ''oynna'' [] (''acc. sg. with suffix article'')
Consonants
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 and
★ becomes before voiceless consonants
★ becomes after and before and may assimilate the retroflexion of a preceding to become .
Omissions in consonant clusters
Faroese tends to omit the first or second consonant in clusters of different consonants:
★ ''fjals'' [] (mountain's ''gen.'') instead of
★ [] from [] (''nom.''). Other examples for genitives are: ''barns'' [] (children's), ''vatns'' [] (lake's, water's).
★ ''hjálpti'' [] (helped) ''past sg.'' instead of
★ [] from ''hjálpa'' []. Other examples for past forms are: ''sigldi'' [] (sailed), ''yrkti'' [] (wrote poetry).
★ homophone are ''fylgdi'' (followed) and ''fygldi'' (caught birds with net): [].
★ 'skt' will be:
★ #[] in words of more than one syllable: ''føroyskt'' [] (Faroese ''n. sg.''; also []) ''russiskt'' [] (Russian ''n. sg.''), ''íslendskt'' [] (Icelandic ''n. sg.'').
★ #[] in monosyllables: ''enskt'' [] (English ''n. sg.''), ''danskt'' [] (Danish ''n. sg.''), ''franskt'' [] (French ''n. sg.''), ''spanskt'' [] (Spanish ''n. sg.''), ''svenskt'' [] (Swedish ''n. sg.''), ''týskt'' [] (German ''n. sg.'').
★ #
★ However [] in: ''írskt'' [] (Irish ''n. sg.''), ''norskt'' [] (Norwegian ''n. sg.)
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).
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. But in modern faroese genitive has a very limited use.
Read:
★ ''hvør, hvat?'' interrogative pronoun "who, what?"
★ ''ein'' indefinite article "a"
★ ''stórur'' adjective "big"
★ ''bátur'' noun "boat"
★ 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 stór'ur' bát'ur' | hvør? | ein vøkur gent'a' | hvat? | eitt gott barn |
| Accusative | hvønn? | ein stór'an' bát | hvørja? | eina vakr'a' gent'u' | hvat? | eitt gott barn |
| Dative | hvørjum? | einum stór'um' bát'i' | hvørj(ar)i? | einari vak'ari' gent'u' | hvørjum? | einum góð'um' barn'i' |
| Genitive | hvørs? | eins stór's' bát's' | hvørjar? | einar vakr'ar' gent'u' | hvørs? | eins góð's' barn's' |
|
| 'Plural' | ? | Masculine | ? | Feminine | ? | Neuter |
| Nominative | hvørjir? | tveir stór'ir' bát'ar' | hvørjar? | tvær vakr'ar' gent'ur' | hvørji? | tvey góð børn |
| Accusative | hvørjar? | tveir stór'ar' bát'ar' | hvørjar? | tvær vakr'ar' gent'ur' | hvørji? | tvey góð børn |
| Dative | hvørjum? | tveimum stór'um' bát'um' | hvørjum? | tveimum vøkr'um' gent'um' | hvørjum? | tveimum góð'um' børn'um' |
| Genitive | hvørja? | tveggja stór'a' bát'a' | hvørja? | tveggja vakr'a' gent'a' | hvørja? | tveggja góð'a' barn'a' |
If the noun is definite, the adjective 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 stóri báturin - the big boat-the
★ tann vakra gentan - the beautiful girl-the
★ tað góða barnið - the good child-the
| Definite phrases |
| 'Singular' | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nominative | tann stór'i' bátur'in' | tann vakr'a' gent'an' | tað góð'a' barn'ið' |
| Accusative | tann stór'a' bát'in' | ta vøkr'u' gentu'na' | tað góð'a' barn'ið' |
| Dative | tí stór'a' báti'num' | tí vøkr'u' gentu'ni' | tí góð'a' barni'num' |
| Genitive | tess stór'a' báts'ins' | teirrar vøkr'u' gentu'nnar' | tess góð'a' barns'ins' |
|
| 'Plural' | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nominative | teir stór'u' bátar'nir' | tær vøkr'u' gentur'nar' | tey góð'u' børn'ini' |
| Accusative | teir stór'u' bátar'nar' | tær vøkr'u' gentur'nar' | tey góð'u' børn'ini' |
| Dative | teimum stór'u' bátu'num' | teimum vøkr'u' gentu'num' | teimum góð'u' børnu'num' |
| Genitive | teirra stór'u' báta'nna' | teirra vøkr'u' gentu'nna' | teirra góð'u' barna'nna' |
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'' [] - I, ''meg'' [] - me (''acc.''), ''mær'' [] - me (''dat.''), ''mín'' [] - my
★ 2nd person: ''tú'' [] - you, ''teg'' [] - you (''acc.''), ''tær'' [] - you (''dat.''), ''tín'' [] - your (''gen.'')
★ 3rd person masculine: ''hann'' [] - he, him (''nom., acc.''), ''honum'' [] - him (''dat.''), ''hansara'' [] - his (''gen.'')
★ 3rd person feminine: ''hon'' [] - she, ''hana'' [] - her (''acc.''), ''henni'' [] - her (''dat.''), ''hennara'' [] - her (''gen.'')
★ 3rd person neuter: ''tað'' [] - it (''nom., acc.''), ''tí'' [] - it (''dat.''), ''tess'' [] - its (''gen.'')
'Plural'
★ 1st person: ''vit'' [] - we, ''okkum'' [] - us (''acc., dat.''), ''okkara'' [] - our (''gen.'')
★ 2nd person: ''tit'' [] - you (''pl.''), ''tykkum'' [] - you (''acc., dat. pl.'') ''tykkara'' [] - your (''gen. pl.'')
★ 3rd person masculine: ''teir'' []/[] - they, them (''m. nom., acc.''), ''teimum'' []/[] - them (''dat.''), ''teirra'' []/[] - their (''gen.'')
★ 3rd person feminine: ''tær'' [] - they, them (''f. nom., acc.'')
★ 3rd person neuter: ''tey'' [] - 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'')
Verbs
Weak Inflection
There are 4 classes of weak inflection of verbs (with some underclasses). E.g.:
#stem-final '-a', 2-3.pers.sg. '-r' - kall'a!' (imperative), tú/hann kalla-r (you/he call(s))
#2-3.pers.sg. '-ur' - tú/hann sel'ur' (you/he sell(s))
#2-3.pers.sg. '-ir' - tú/hann døm'ir' (you/he judge(s))
#2. pers.sg. '-rt' - tú rø'rt' (you row). There occurs a Verschärfung in certain surroundings: ''eg rógvi'' [], I row; vs. ''eg róði'' [], I rowed.
| Weak Inflection |
| Infinitive | 1. 'kalla' | 2. 'selja' | 3. 'døma' | 4. 'rógva' | ||||
| |
| 'Singular' | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st pers. | kall'i' | kalla'ði' | selj'i' | sel'di' | døm'i' | døm'di' | rógv'i' | ró'ði' |
| 2nd pers. | kalla'r' | kalla'ði' | sel'ur' | sel'di' | døm'ir' | døm'di' | rø'rt' | ró'ði' |
| 3rd pers. | kalla'r' | kalla'ði' | sel'ur' | sel'di' | døm'ir' | døm'di' | rø'r' | ró'ði' |
|
| 'Plural' | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. | kall'a' | kalla'ðu' | selj'a' | sel'du' | døm'a' | døm'du' | rógv'a' | ró'ðu' |
|
| Supine | kalla'ð' | sel't' | døm't' | ró'ð' | ||||
Strong Inflection
These verbs are also referred to as regular. There are 7 classes (with underclasses), distinguished by the variations of the stem-vowel:
#'í - ei - i- i;' - at b'í'ta - eg b'ei't - vit b'i'tu - vit hava b'i'tið (bite)
#'ó/ú- ey - u- o;' - at br'ó'ta - eg br'ey't - vit br'u'tu - vit hava br'o'tið (break)
#'e/i/ø - a- u- o/u;' - at sv'i'mja - eg sv'a'm - vit sv'u'mu - vit hava sv'o'mið (swim)
#'e/o - a - ó - o;' - at b'e'ra - eg b'a'r - vit b'ó'ru - vit hava b'o'rið (bear)
#
★ 'o - o - o - o;' - at k'o'ma - eg k'o'm - vit k'o'mu - vit hava k'o'mið (come)
#'e/i - a/á - ó - i;' - at l'i'ggja - eg l'á' - vit l'ó'gu - vit hava l'i'gið (lie)
#'a - ó - ó - a;' - at f'a'ra - eg f'ó'r - vit f'ó'ru - vit hava f'a'rið (go)
#'a/á - e - i - i;' - at f'á'a - eg f'e'kk - vit f'i'ngu - vit hava f'i'ngið (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. | bít'i' | beit | brót'i' | breyt | svimj'i' | svam | kom'i' | kom | ligg'i' | lá | far'i' | fór | fá'i' | fekk |
| 2nd pers. | bít'ur' | beit'st' | brýt'ur' | breyt'st' | svim'ur' | svam'st' | kem'ur' | kom'st' | ligg'ur' | lá'st' | fer't' | fór't' | fær't' | fek'st' |
| 3rd pers. | bít'ur' | beit | brýt'ur' | breyt | svim'ur' | svam | kem'ur' | kom | ligg'ur' | lá | fer | fór | fær | fekk |
|
| 'Plural' | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. | bít'a' | bit'u' | brót'a' | brut'u' | svimj'a' | svum'u' | kom'a' | kom'u' | liggj'a' | lóg'u' | far'a' | fór'u' | fá'a' | fingu |
|
| Supine | bit'ið' | brot'ið' | svom'ið' | kom'ið' | lig'ið' | far'ið' | fing'ið' | |||||||
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. | er'i' | var | hav'i' | hev'ði' | verð'i' | varð | blív'i' | bleiv |
| 2nd pers. | er't' | var't' | hev'ur' | hev'ði' | verð'ur' | varð'st' | blív'ur' | bleiv'st' |
| 3rd pers. | er | var | hev'ur' | hev'ði' | verð'ur' | varð | blív'ur' | bleiv |
|
| 'Plural' | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. | er'u' | vór'u' | hav'a' | høv'du' | verð'a' | vórð'u' | blív'a' | bliv'u' |
|
| Supine | ver'ið' | hav't' | verð'ið' | bliv'ið' | ||||
Note, that ''vera'' and ''verða'' are homonyms.
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 | kun'di' | man | mun'di' | má | má'tti' | skal | skul'di' | veit | vis'ti' | vil | vil'di' |
| 2nd pers. | kan'st' | kun'di' | man'st' | mun'di' | má'st' | má'tti' | skal't' | skul'di' | veit'st' | vis'ti' | vil't' | vil'di' |
| 3rd pers. | kann | kun'di' | man | mun'di' | má | má'tti' | skal | skul'di' | veit | vis'ti' | vil | vil'di' |
|
| 'Plural' | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past | Present | Past |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd pers. | kunn'u'/
kunn'a' | kund'u' | munn'u'/
munn'a' | mund'u' | mug'u'/
meg'a' | má'ttu' | skul'u'/
skul'a' | skul'du' | vit'a' | vist'u' | vilj'a' | vil'du' |
|
| Supine | kunn'að' | munn'að' | meg'að' | skul'að' | vit'að' | vilj'að' | ||||||
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 99918-42-22-5 (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
★ 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)
External links
★ OBG.fo - Føroysk orðabók (the Faroese-Faroese dictionary of 1998 online)
★ FMN.fo - Faroese Language Committee (Official site with further links)
★ Faeroese - English Dictionary from Webster's Online Dictionary - the Rosetta Edition.
★ Ethnologue report on Faroese
★ Free Faroese Tutorial at ielanguages.com
★ A short English - Faroese - Japanese phrasebook incl. sound file
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