Faroese orthography

Faroese orthographyis the method employed to write theFaroese language,using a 29-letter Latin Alpha bet, although it does not include the letters C, Q, W, X and Z.

Alphabet

An example of Faroeseő.The usual orthography would beFuglafjørður.

The FaroeseAlpha betconsists of 29 letters derived from theLatin script:

Majuscule forms(also called uppercase or capital 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
Minuscule forms(also called lowercase or small 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

Names of letters

Letter	Name	IPA
Aa	fyrra a( "leading a" )	[ˈfɪɹːaɛaː]
Áá	á	[ɔaː]
Bb	be	[peː]
Dd	de	[teː]
Ðð	edd	[ɛtː]
Ee	e	[eː]
Ff	eff	[ɛfː]
Gg	ge	[keː]
Hh	há	[hɔaː]
Ii	fyrra i( "leading i" )	[ˈfɪɹːaiː]
Íí	fyrra í( "leading í" )	[ˈfɪɹːaʊiː]
Jj	jodd	[jɔtː]
Kk	ká	[kʰɔaː]
Ll	ell	[ɛlː]
Mm	emm	[ɛmː]
Nn	enn	[ɛnː]
Oo	o	[oː]
Óó	ó	[ɔuː]
Pp	pe	[pʰeː]
Rr	err	[ɛɹː]
Ss	ess	[ɛsː]
Tt	te	[tʰeː]
Uu	u	[uː]
Úú	ú	[ʉuː]
Vv	ve	[veː]
Yy	seinna i( "latter i" )	[ˈsaiːtnaiː]
Ýý	seinna í( "latter í" )	[ˈsaiːtnaʊiː]
Ææ	seinna a( "latter a" )	[ˈsaiːtnaɛaː]
Øø	ø	[øː]
Obsolete letters
Xx	eks	[ɛʰks]

• Eth⟨ð⟩(Faroeseedd) never appears at the beginning of a word, which means its majuscule form⟨Ð⟩rarely occurs except in situations where all-capital letters are used, such as on maps.
• ⟨Ø⟩can also be written⟨ö⟩in poetic language, such asFöroyar('the Faroes'). This has to do with different orthographic traditions (Danish–Norwegianfor⟨ø⟩and Icelandic for⟨ö⟩). Originally, both forms were used, depending on the historical form of the word;⟨ø⟩was used when the vowel resulted from I-mutation of/o/while⟨ö⟩was used when the vowel resulted from U-mutation of/a/.In handwriting,⟨ő⟩is sometimes used.
• While⟨c⟩,⟨q⟩,⟨w⟩,⟨x⟩,and⟨z⟩are not found in the Faroese language,⟨x⟩was known in earlier versions of Hammershaimb's orthography, such as⟨Saxun⟩forSaksun.
• 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 either⟨t⟩or⟨h⟩.If an Icelandic name has to be transcribed,⟨th⟩is common.

Spelling system

Faroesekeyboard layout

Vowels

Grapheme	Short	Long
A,a	/a/	/ɛaː/
Á,á	/ɔ/	/ɔaː/
E,e	/ɛ/	/eː/
I,i	/ɪ/	/iː/
Í,í	/ʊi/	/ʊiː/
O,o	/ɔ/	/oː/
Ó,ó	/œ/	/ɔuː/
U,u	/ʊ/	/uː/
Ú,ú	/ʏ/	/ʉuː/
Y,y	/ɪ/	/iː/
Ý,ý	/ʊi/	/ʊiː/
Æ,æ	/a/	/ɛaː/
Ø,ø	/œ/	/øː/
EI,ei	/ai/	/aiː/
EY,ey	/ɛi/	/ɛiː/
OY,oy	/ɔi/	/ɔiː/

Consonants

Grapheme	IPA
B,b	/p/
D,d	/t/
>dj	/tʃ/
Ð,ð	/j/,/w/,/v/,Ø
F,f	/f/
G,g	/k/,/tʃ/,/j/,/w/,/v/,Ø
>gj	/tʃ/
H,h	/h/
>hj	/tʃʰ/,/j/
>hv	/kv/
J,j	/j/
K,k	/kʰ/,/tʃʰ/
>kj	/tʃʰ/
>kk	/kː/[ʰkː]
L,l	/l/,[l],[ɬ]
>ll	/tl/[tɬ],/lː/
M,m	/m/
N,n	/n/
>ng	/nk/[ŋk],/ntʃ/[ɲtʃ]
>nk	/nkʰ/[ŋ̊kʰ],/ntʃʰ/[ɲ̊tʃʰ]
>nj	/ɲ/,/nj/
>nn	/tn/,/nː/
P,p	/pʰ/
>pp	/pː/[ʰpː]
R,r	/ɹ/[ɹ],[ɻ]
S,s	/s/,/ʃ/
>sj	/ʃ/
>sk	/sk/,/ʃ/
>skj	/ʃ/
>stj	/ʃ/
T,t	/tʰ/
>tj	/tʃʰ/
>tt	/tː/[ʰtː]
V,v	/v/[v],[ʋ],[f]

Glide insertion

Faroese avoids having ahiatusbetween two vowels by inserting aglide.Orthographically, this is shown in three ways:

1. vowel +⟨ð⟩+ 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, shortandunstressed vowels can only be/a,i,u/.

Glide insertion

First vowel	Second vowel			Examples
	i[ɪ]	u[ʊ]	a[a]
i, y[iː]	[j]	[j]	[j]	sigið, siður, siga
í, ý[ʊiː]	[j]	[j]	[j]	mígi, mígur, míga
ey[ɛiː]	[j]	[j]	[j]	reyði, reyður, reyða
ei[aiː]	[j]	[j]	[j]	reiði, reiður, reiða
oy[ɔiː]	[j]	[j]	[j]	noyði, royður, royða
u[uː]	[w]	[w]	[w]	suði, mugu, suða
ó[ɔuː]	[w]	[w]	[w]	róði, róðu, Nóa
ú[ʉuː]	[w]	[w]	[w]	búði, búðu, túa
a, æ[ɛaː]	[j]	[v]	∅	ræði, æðu, glaða
á[ɔaː]	[j]	[v]	∅	ráði, fáur, ráða
e[eː]	[j]	[v]	∅	gleði, legu, gleða
o[oː]	[j]	[v]	∅	togið, smogu, roða
ø[øː]	[j]	[v]	∅	løgin, røðu, høgan

The value of the glide is determined by the surrounding vowels:

1. [j]
   • "I-surrounding, type 1" – after⟨i, y, í, ý, ei, ey, oy⟩:bíða[ˈbʊija](to wait),deyður[ˈdɛijʊɹ](dead),seyður[ˈsɛijʊɹ](sheep)
   • "I-surrounding, type 2" – between any vowel (except "u-vowels"⟨ó, u, ú⟩) and⟨i⟩:kvæði[ˈkvɛaje](ballad),øði[ˈøːjɪ](rage).
2. [w]
   • "U-surrounding, type 1" – after⟨ó, u, ú⟩:Óðin[ˈɔʊwɪn](Odin),góðan morgun,suður[ˈsuːwʊɹ](south),slóða[ˈslɔʊwa](to make a trace).
3. [v]
   • "U-surrounding, type 2" – between⟨a, á, e, o, æ, ø⟩and⟨u⟩:áður[ˈɔavʊɹ](before),leður[ˈleːvʊɹ](leather),í klæðum[ʊɪˈklɛavʊn](in clothes),í bløðum[ʊɪˈbløːvʊn](in newspapers).
   • "A-surrounding, type 2"
     • These are exceptions (there is also a regular pronunciation):æða[ˈɛava](eider-duck).
     • Thepast participlesalways have[j]:elskaðar[ˈɛlskajaɹ](beloved,nom., acc. fem. pl.)
4. Silent
   • "A-surrounding, type 1" – between⟨a, á, e, o⟩and⟨a⟩and in some words between⟨æ, ø⟩and⟨a⟩:ráða[ˈɹɔːa](to advise),gleða[ˈɡ̊leːa](to gladden, please),boða[ˈboːa](to forebode),kvøða[ˈkvøːa](to chant),røða[ˈɹøːa](to make a speech)

See also

• Faroese language
• Faroese Braille
• Icelandic orthography
• Danish orthography
• Norwegian orthography

Bibliography

• Þráinsson, Höskuldur (2004),Faroese: An Overview and Reference Grammar,Føroya Fróðskaparfelag,ISBN978-99918-41-85-4