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Faeroese

Faroese
føroyskt
Pronunciation [ˈføːɹɪst]
Native to Faroe Islands, Denmark
Ethnicity Faroe Islanders
Native speakers
66,000 (2007)
Early forms
Latin (Faroese orthography)
Faroese Braille
Official status
Official language in
 Faroe Islands
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated by Faroese Language Board Føroyska málnevndin
Language codes
ISO 639-1 fo
ISO 639-2 fao
ISO 639-3
Glottolog faro1244
Linguasphere 52-AAA-ab
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Faroese/ˌfɛərˈz/ or /-ˈs/ (føroyskt, pronounced [ˈføːɹɪst]) is a North Germanic language spoken as a first language by about 66,000 people, 45,000 of whom reside on the Faroe Islands and 21,000 in other areas, mainly Denmark. It is one of five languages descended from Old West Norse spoken in the Middle Ages, the others being Norwegian, Icelandic, and the extinct Norn and Greenlandic Norse. Faroese and Icelandic, its closest extant relative, are not mutually intelligible in speech, but the written languages resemble each other quite closely, largely owing to Faroese's etymological orthography.

Around 900, 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 Ireland, Orkney, or Shetland often married native Scandinavian men before settling in the Faroe Islands and Iceland. As a result, the Irish language has had some influence on both Faroese and Icelandic. There is some debatable evidence of Irish 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. 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.


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