Information about Faroese Language

Faroese føroyskt
Spoken in:	Faroe Islands, Denmark
Total speakers:	60,000 - 80,000
Language family:	}}}  Germanic   North Germanic    West Scandinavian     Faroese}}}
Official status
Official language of:	Faroe Islands
Regulated by:	Føroyska málnevndin
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	fo
ISO 639-2:	fao
ISO 639-3:	fao
Faroese keyboard layout

Faroese (føroyskt [ˈføːɹɪst] or [ˈføːɹɪʂt]), 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 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 place names in the Faroes: for example Mykines and Stóra & Lítla Dímun have been hypothesized to contain Celtic roots. Faroese is a replica language with Danish as the model language.

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 ğ, 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 [ʊn].

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, Ğ, E, F, G, H, I, Í, J, K, L, M, N, O, Ó, P, R, S, T, U, Ú, V, Y, İ, Æ, Ø

Notes:

• Ğ, ğ can never come at the beginning of a word, but can occur in capital letters in logos or on maps, such as SUĞUROY (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, Dalsgarğ 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 ş 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 [ˈfɪɹːa ɛaː] ("leading a")	/a/	/ɛaː/
Á, á	á [ɔaː]	/ɔ/	/ɔaː/
E, e	e [eː]	/ɛ/	/eː/
I, i	fyrra i [ˈfɪɹːa iː] ("leading i")	/ɪ/	/iː/
Í, í	fyrra í [ˈfɪɹːa ʊiː] ("leading í")	/ʊi/	/ʊiː/
O, o	o [oː]	/ɔ/	/oː/
Ó, ó	ó [ɔuː]	/œ/	/ɔuː/
U, u	u [uː]	/ʊ/	/uː/
Ú, ú	ú [ʉuː]	/ʏ/	/ʉuː/
Y, y	seinna i [ˈsaiːdna iː]] ("rear i")	/ɪ/	/iː/
İ, ı	seinna í [ˈsaiːdna ʊiː] ("rear í")	/ʊi/	/ʊiː/
Æ, æ	seinna a [ˈsaiːdna ɛaː] ("rear a")	/a/	/ɛaː/
Ø, ø	ø [øː]	/œ/	/øː/
Other vowels
ei	-	/ai/	/aiː/
ey	-	/ɛ/	/ɛiː/
oy	-	/ɔi/	/ɔiː/

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. For example, long a and æ are pronounced like Middle English ea, and long á like ME oa. Long í and ı sound almost like a long Hiberno-English i, and long ó like an American English long o.

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/: áğrenn [ˈɔaːɹɪnː] (before). Very typical are endings like -ur, -ir, -ar. The dative is often indicated by -um which is always pronounced [ʊn].

• [a] - bátar [ˈbɔaːtaɹ] (boats), kallar [ˈkadlaɹ] ((you) call, (he) calls)

Unstressed /i/ and /u/ in dialects
	Borğoy, Kunoy, Tórshavn	Viğoy, Svínoy, Fugloy	Suğuroy	Elsewhere (standard)
gulur (yellow)	[ˈg̊uːləɹ]	[ˈg̊uːləɹ]	[ˈg̊uːløɹ]	[ˈg̊uːlʊɹ]
gulir (yellow pl.)	[ˈg̊uːləɹ]	[ˈg̊uːləɹ]	[ˈg̊uːløɹ]	[ˈg̊uːlɪɹ]
bygdin (the town)	[ˈb̥ɪg̊d̥ɪn]	[ˈb̥ɪg̊d̥ən]	[ˈb̥ɪg̊d̥øn]	[ˈb̥ɪg̊d̥ɪn]
bygdum (the towns dat. pl.)	[ˈb̥ɪg̊d̥ʊn]	[ˈb̥ɪg̊d̥ən]	[ˈb̥ɪg̊d̥øn]	[ˈb̥ɪg̊dʊn]
Source: Faroese: An Overview and Reference Grammar, 2004 (page 350)

• [ɪ] - gestir [ˈʤɛstɪɹ] (guests), dugir [ˈduːjɪɹ] ((you, he) can)
• [ʊ] - bátur [ˈbɔaːtʊɹ] (boat), gentur [ʤɛntʊɹ] (girls), rennur [ˈɹenːʊɹ] ((you) run, (he) runs).

In some dialects, unstressed /ʊ/ is realized as [ø] or is reduced further to [ə]. /ɪ/ goes under a similar reduction pattern so unstressed /ʊ/ and /ɪ/ 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:

1. vowel + ğ + 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 /a/, /i/, /u/.

Ğ and G as glides

Glide insertion
First vowel		Second vowel			Examples
		i [ɪ]	u [ʊ]	a [a]
Grapheme	Phoneme	Glide
I-surrounding 1 + 2
i, y	[iː]	[j]	[j]	[j]	sigiğ, siğur, siga
í, ı	[ʊiː]	[j]	[j]	[j]	mígi, mígur, míga
ey	[ɛiː]	[j]	[j]	[j]	reyği, reyğur, reyğa
ei	[aiː]	[j]	[j]	[j]	reiği, reiğur, reiğa
oy	[ɔiː]	[j]	[j]	[j]	noyği, royğur, royğa
U-surrounding 2
u	[uː]	[w]	[w]	[w]	suği, mugu, suğa
ó	[ɔuː]	[w]	[w]	[w]	róği, róğu, Nóa
ú	[ʉuː]	[w]	[w]	[w]	búği, búğu, túa
I-surrounding 2, U-surrounding 2, A-surrounding 1 (regular)
a, æ	[ɛaː]	[j]	[v]	-	ræği, æğu, glağa
á	[ɔaː]	[j]	[v]	-	ráği, fáur, ráğa
e	[eː]	[j]	[v]	-	gleği, legu, gleğa
o	[oː]	[j]	[v]	-	togiğ, smogu, roğa
ø	[øː]	[j]	[v]	-	løgin, røğu, høgan
Source: Faroese: An Overview and Reference Grammar, 2004 (page 38)

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

1. [j]
2. *"I-surrounding, type 1" - after /i, y, í, ı, ei, ey, oy/: bíğa [ˈbʊija] (to wait), deyğur [ˈdɛijʊɹ] (dead), seyğur [ˈsɛijʊɹ] (sheep)
3. *"I-surrounding, type 2" - between any vowel (except "u-vowels" /ó, u, ú/) and /i/: kvæği [ˈkvɛajɪ] (ballad), øği [ˈøːjɪ] (rage).
4. [w] "U-surrounding, type 1" - after /ó, u, ú/: Óğin [ˈɔuwɪn] (Odin), góğan morgun! [ˌgɔuwan ˈmɔɹgʊn] (good morning!), suğur [ˈsuːwʊɹ] (south), slóğa [ˈslɔuwa] (to make a trace).
5. [v]
6. *"U-surrounding, type 2" - between /a, á, e, æ, ø/ and /u/: áğur [ˈɔavʊɹ] (before), leğur [ˈleːvʊɹ] (leather), í klæğum [ɪˈklɛavʊn] (in clothes), í bløğum [ɪˈbløːvʊn] (in newspapers).
7. *"A-surrounding, type 2"
8. **These are exceptions (there is also a regular pronunciation): æğa [ˈɛava] (eider-duck), røğa [ˈɹøːva] (speech).
9. **The past participles have always [v]: elskağar [ˈɛlskavaɹ] (beloved, nom., acc. fem. pl.)
10. Silent
11. *"A-surrounding, type 1" - between /a, á, e, o/ and /a/ and in some words between <æ, ø> and : ráğa [ˈɹɔːa] (to advise), gleğa [ˈg̊leːa] (to gladden, please), boğa [ˈboːa] (to forbode), kvøğa [ˈkvøːa] (to chant), røğa [ˈɹøːa] (to make a speech)

Skerping (sharpening)

Skerping
Written	Pronunciation	instead of
-ógv-	[ɛgv]	*[ɔugv]
-úgv-	[ɪgv]	*[ʉugv]
-eyggj-	[ɛʤː]	*[ɛiʤː]
-íggj-, -ıggj-	[ʊʤː]	*[ʊiʤː]
-eiggj-	[aʤː]	*[aiʤː]
-oyggj-	[ɔʤː]	*[ɔiʤː]

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

• [ɛgv]: Jógvan [ˈjɛgvan] (a form of the name John), Gjógv [ʤɛgv] (cleft)
• [ɪgv]: kúgv [kɪgv] (cow), trúgva [ˈtɹɪgva] (believe), but: trúleysur [ˈtɹʉuːlɛisʊɹ] (faithless)
• [ɛʤː]: heyggjur [ˈhɛʤːʊɹ] (high, burial mound), but heygnum [ˈhɛiːnʊn] (dat. sg. with suffix article)
• [ʊʤː]: nıggjur [ˈnʊʤːʊɹ] (new m.), but nıtt [nʊiʰtː] (n.)
• [aʤː]: beiggi [ˈbaʤːɪ] (brother)
• [ɔʤː]: oyggj [ɔʤː] (island), but oynna [ˈɔinːa] (acc. sg. with suffix article)

Consonants

	Labial	Apical	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p b	t d			k g
Affricate			ʧ ʤ
Fricative	f v	s	ʃ			h
Nasal	m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Approximant	w	l	ɹ	j

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 /j/ /e/ /ɪ/ /y/ and /ɛi/
• /v/ becomes /f/ before voiceless consonants
• /s/ becomes /ʃ/ after /ɛi, ai, ɔi/ and before /j/ and may assimilate the retroflexion of a preceding /r/ to become [ʂ].

Omissions in consonant clusters

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

• fjals [fjals] (mountain's gen.) instead of *[fjadls] from [fjadl] (nom.). Other examples for genitives are: barns [ˈbans] (children's), vatns [van̥s] (lake's, water's).
• hjálpti [jɔl̥tɪ] (helped) past sg. instead of *[ˈjɔlpta] from hjálpa [ˈjɔlpa]. Other examples for past forms are: sigldi [ˈsɪldɪ] (sailed), yrkti [ˈɪɹ̥tɪ] (wrote poetry).
• homophone are fylgdi (followed) and fygldi (caught birds with net): [ˈfɪldɪ].
• skt will be:
• [st] in words of more than one syllable: føroyskt [ˈføːɹɪst] (Faroese n. sg.; also [ˈføːɹɪʂt]) russiskt [ˈɹʊsːɪst] (Russian n. sg.), íslendskt [ˈʊʃlɛŋ̊st] (Icelandic n. sg.).
• [kst] in monosyllables: enskt [ɛŋ̊kst] (English n. sg.), danskt [daŋ̊kst] (Danish n. sg.), franskt [fɹaŋ̊kst] (French n. sg.), spanskt [spaŋ̊kst] (Spanish n. sg.), svenskt [svɛŋ̊kst] (Swedish n. sg.), tıskt [tʊkst] (German n. sg.).
• *However [ʂt] in: írskt [ʊʂt] (Irish n. sg.), norskt [nɔʂt] (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 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 góğum barni
Genitive	hvørs?	eins stórs báts	hvørjar?	einar vakrar gentu	hvørs?	eins góğs barns
Plural	?	Masculine	?	Feminine	?	Neuter
Nominative	hvørjir?	tveir stórir bátar	hvørjar?	tvær vakrar gentur	hvørji?	tvey góğ børn
Accusative	hvørjar?	tveir stórar bátar	hvørjar?	tvær vakrar gentur	hvørji?	tvey góğ børn
Dative	hvørjum?	tveimum stórum bátum	hvørjum?	tveimum vøkrum gentum	hvørjum?	tveimum góğum børnum
Genitive	hvørja?	tveggja stóra báta	hvørja?	tveggja vakra genta	hvørja?	tveggja góğa barna

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
• tağ góğa barniğ - the good child-the

Definite phrases
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	tann stóri báturin	tann vakra gentan	tağ góğa barniğ
Accusative	tann stóra bátin	ta vøkru gentuna	tağ góğa barniğ
Dative	tí stóra bátinum	tí vøkru gentuni	tí góğa barninum
Genitive	tess stóra bátsins	teirrar vøkru gentunnar	tess góğa barnsins
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	teir stóru bátarnir	tær vøkru genturnar	tey góğu børnini
Accusative	teir stóru bátarnar	tær vøkru genturnar	tey góğu børnini
Dative	teimum stóru bátunum	teimum vøkru gentunum	teimum góğu børnunum
Genitive	teirra stóru bátanna	teirra vøkru gentunna	teirra góğu barnanna

Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns of Faroese are:

Personal pronouns
Singular	1.	2.	3. m	3. f	3. n
Nominative	eg	tú	hann	hon	tağ
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 [eː] - I, meg [meː] - me (acc.), mær [mɛaɹ] - me (dat.), mín [mʊin] - my
• 2nd person: tú [tʉu] - you, teg [teː] - you (acc.), tær [tɛaɹ] - you (dat.), tín [tʊin] - your (gen.)
• 3rd person masculine: hann [hanː] - he, him (nom., acc.), honum [ˈhoːnʊn] - him (dat.), hansara [ˈhansaɹa] - his (gen.)
• 3rd person feminine: hon [hoːn] - she, hana [ˈhɛana] - her (acc.), henni [hɛnːɪ] - her (dat.), hennara [ˈhɛnːaɹa] - her (gen.)
• 3rd person neuter: tağ [tɛa] - it (nom., acc.), tí [tʊi] - it (dat.), tess [tɛsː] - its (gen.)

Plural

• 1st person: vit [viːt] - we, okkum [ɔʰkːʊn] - us (acc., dat.), okkara [ˈɔʰkːaɹa] - our (gen.)
• 2nd person: tit [tiːt] - you (pl.), tykkum [ˈtɪʰkːʊn] - you (acc., dat. pl.) tykkara [ˈtɪʰkːaɹa] - your (gen. pl.)
• 3rd person masculine: teir [taiɹ]/[tɔiɹ] - they, them (m. nom., acc.), teimum [ˈtaimʊn]/[ˈtɔimʊn] - them (dat.), teirra [ˈtaiɹːa]/[ˈtɔiɹːa] - their (gen.)
• 3rd person feminine: tær [tɛaɹ] - they, them (f. nom., acc.)
• 3rd person neuter: tey [tɛi] - 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.:

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 [eː ɹɛgvɪ], I row; vs. eg róği [eː ɹɔuwɪ], 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	kallaği	selji	seldi	dømi	dømdi	rógvi	róği
2nd pers.	kallar	kallaği	selur	seldi	dømir	dømdi	rørt	róği
3rd pers.	kallar	kallaği	selur	seldi	dømir	dømdi	rør	róği
Plural	Present	Past	Present	Past	Present	Past	Present	Past
1st, 2nd, 3rd pers.	kalla	kallağu	selja	seldu	døma	dømdu	rógva	róğu
Supine	kallağ		selt		dømt		róğ

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 bitiğ (bite)
2. ó/ú- ey - u- o; - at bróta - eg breyt - vit brutu - vit hava brotiğ (break)
3. e/i/ø - a- u- o/u; - at svimja - eg svam - vit svumu - vit hava svomiğ (swim)
4. e/o - a - ó - o; - at bera - eg bar - vit bóru - vit hava boriğ (bear)
5. *o - o - o - o; - at koma - eg kom - vit komu - vit hava komiğ (come)
6. e/i - a/á - ó - i; - at liggja - eg lá - vit lógu - vit hava ligiğ (lie)
7. a - ó - ó - a; - at fara - eg fór - vit fóru - vit hava fariğ (go)
8. a/á - e - i - i; - at fáa - eg fekk - vit fingu - vit hava fingiğ (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

brıtur

breytst

svimur

svamst

kemur

komst

liggur

lást

fert

fórt

fært

fekst

3rd pers.

bítur

beit

brıtur

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

bitiğ

brotiğ

svomiğ

komiğ

ligiğ

fariğ

fingiğ

Auxiliary verbs

The auxiliary verbs in Faroese are:

• at vera - to be
• at hava - to have
• at verğa - to be, become
• at blíva - to be, become

Auxiliary verbs
Infinitive	1. vera		2. hava		3. verğa		4. blíva
Singular	Present	Past	Present	Past	Present	Past	Present	Past
1st pers.	eri	var	havi	hevği	verği	varğ	blívi	bleiv
2nd pers.	ert	vart	hevur	hevği	verğur	varğst	blívur	bleivst
3rd pers.	er	var	hevur	hevği	verğur	varğ	blívur	bleiv
Plural	Present	Past	Present	Past	Present	Past	Present	Past
1st, 2nd, 3rd pers.	eru	vóru	hava	høvdu	verğa	vórğu	blíva	blivu
Supine	veriğ		havt		verğiğ		bliviğ

Note, that vera and verğa 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

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

kunnağ

munnağ

megağ

skulağ

vitağ

viljağ

Adjectives

Most adjectives inflect for gender, number and case, and for positive, comparative and superlative.

Adverbs

Adverbs do not inflect.

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 orğabók. 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 orğabók. Tórshavn, 1987 (no ISBN, 388 p.) (Faroese-Norwegian dictionary)
• Tórğur Jóansson: English loanwords in Faroese. Tórshavn, 1997. (243 pages) ISBN 99918-49-14-9
• Johan Hendrik W. Poulsen: Føroysk orğabók. Tórshavn, 1998. (1483 pages) ISBN 99918-41-52-0 (in Faroese)
• Annfinnur í Skála: Donsk-føroysk orğabók. 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 (Şráinsson), 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 orğabók. Tórshavn, 2004. (627 p.) ISBN 99918-41-58-X (Faroese-Italian dictionary)
• Hjalmar Petersen, Marius Staksberg: Donsk-Føroysk orğabók. Tórshavn, 2005. (879 p.) ISBN 99918-41-51-2 (Danish-Faroese dictionary)

External links

• OBG.fo - Føroysk orğabók (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
• A short English - Faroese - Japanese phrasebook incl. sound file

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