- Official language in
- Faroe Islands
- Script
- Latin
Where it's spoken
Faroese is recognized as the principal language of the Faroe Islands, but Danish may also be used in public affairs there. Under the same law, the Faroe Islands constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark.
Sources
Script & pronunciation
Faroese is written in its own version of the Latin alphabet, made up of 29 letters. It does not use the letters c, q, w, x, or z except in loanwords and personal names, and it adds several letters to the ones familiar from English: the accented vowels á, í, ó, ú, and ý, and the letters æ, ø, and ð. An accent over a vowel marks a diphthong rather than a plain long vowel, and the letter ð is often silent: one of this app's cards notes that because ð is not pronounced, the coach's command drekkið sounds close to drekki. Alongside the native spelling, this app's cards add their own pronunciation guide, for example Hey-sawn for Heysán.
Sources
Grammar essentials
Faroese's basic word order is subject–verb–object, and this order applies in subordinate ("that") clauses as well as main clauses. Faroese is also a verb-second language: whatever part of the sentence is moved to the front, the finite verb still comes second. Negation is made with the word ikki, placed directly after the finite verb in a main clause, as in this app's cards Eg skilji ikki ("I do not understand") and Eg kann ikki tosa føroyskt ("I can't speak Faroese"), where ikki follows the finite verb skilji or the modal kann. Adjectives are normally placed in front of the noun they describe, as in this app's card Hava tit ein matsedil við stórum bókstavum? ("Do you have large-print menus?"), where stórum ("big") comes before bókstavum ("letters").
Sources
- Petersen, Hjálmar P.; Adams, Jonathan (2009). "Faroese: A Language Course for Beginners — Grammar." Stiðin, Tórshavn — §9.4 Clausal adverbs (negation); §11.1 Basic word order; §11.2.1 Verb second; §11.5 Position of adjectives
Politeness & etiquette
Faroese personal pronouns include an informal singular tú ("you"), a plural tit ("you all"), and a separate polite tygum. A grammar of Faroese describes tygum as not much used any more in spoken Faroese, though it is still found in the written language, such as letters, and can still be heard addressing an older person the speaker does not know. This app's card for booking an appointment, Eg vil gjarnan bóka tíð hjá tygum ("I would gladly like to book an appointment with you"), uses tygum this way, while a card asking about a restaurant's large-print menu, Hava tit ein matsedil við stórum bókstavum?, addresses the staff with the plural tit. Another card notes that Faroese uses tú even with strangers.