Faroese (Føroyskt)

Faroese is a North Germanic language with around 47,000 speakers in the Faroe Islands (Føroyar). Faroese is closely related to Icelandic and the dialects of western Norway, though as a result of the isolation, the Faroese language has a distinctive character of its own.

The Faroe Islands were discovered in 825 AD by Grím Kamban and were colonialized during the 9th century by Vikings from Norway and from the Norse colonies in the British Isles. The main language of the settlers was Old Norse or the Dǫnsk tunga (Danish tongue). Between 800 and 1050 AD a division began to appear between East Norse, which developed into Swedish and Danish, and West Norse, which developed into Norwegian, Faroese and Icelandic.

Faroese first appeared in writing during the 14th century mainly in the form of sagas and fables, which remain popular to this day. A standard written form for Faroese based on Icelandic was established in 1846 by Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb (1819-1909). During the late 19th century modern Faroese literature began to appear and the first Faroese newspaper, Føringatiðindi, appeared in 1890.

Faroese alphabet (føroyska stavraðið)
A a	Á á	B b	D d	Ð ð	E e	F f	G g	H h	I i
fyrra a	á	be	de	eð	e	eff	ge	há	fyrra i
Í í	J j	K k	L l	M m	N n	O o	Ó ó	P p	R r
fyrra í	joð	ká	ell	emm	enn	o	ó	pe	err
S s	T t	U u	Ú ú	V v	Y y	Ý ý	Æ æ	Ø ø
ess	te	u	ú	ve	seinna i	seinna í	seinna a	ø

Source: http://home.unilang.org/wiki3/index.php/Faroese_alphabet

Faroese pronunciation

Notes

vowels have long and short variants: the long variant (shown first) occurs before a single consonant or no consonant, e.g. hálur /hɔaːluːr/ (long) v hált /hɔlt/ (short)
consonants are devoiced in final position, e.g. lamb = [lamb̥]
doubled consonants are pronounced long, e.g. abbi = [abːɪ]
long á = [aː] in North-Eastern Faroese; short ó = [ɔ] in Suðuroy
long ó = [œu] or [ɛu] in Eastern Faroese, and [ɔu] in Southern Faroese
ei = [ai, a(i)] in Southern Faroese
c = [s] before e, i, í, y, ý or ø, [k] before a, o and u
ð is generally not pronounced, except in some words, e.g. siður = [siːjʊr], bíða = [bʊʏja], kasataði = [kasatajɪ], soðin = [soːjin], maður = [mɛavʊr], leður = [leːvʊr], Óðin = [ɔuwin], húðir = [hʉuwɪr], veðrið = [vɛgrɪ].
g = [ʤ] before e, i, y or ey, and in word-initial position (usually), [g] elsewhere
k = [ʧ] before e, i, y or ey, [k] elsewhere
n = [ŋ] before c, k, q or x, [n] elsewhere
sk = [ʃ] before e, i, y or ey
c, q, w, x and z are rarely used, and only to write foreign names, though they are often replaced by s (for z), k (for c and q), ks (for x) or v (for w) - e.g. Zimbabwe = Simbabvi, Mexico = Meksiko"

Sources: Unilang & Føroysk-Ensk orðabók Faroese-English dictionary by George Vaughan Chichester Young, Cynthia R. Clewer

Sample text

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.

A recording of this text

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Tower of Babel in Faroese | Useful phrases in Faroese