Faroese phonology: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 13:00, 7 April 2015
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Faroese has a sound system similar to closely related Icelandic, including such features as an aspiration contrast in stop consonants and a lack of vowel length constrasts rare among Germanic languages.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | ɪ | iː | ʏ | yː | ʊ | uː | ||
| Mid | ɛ | eː | œ | øː | ɔ | oː | ||
| Open | a | aː | ||||||
As with other Germanic languages, Faroese has a large number of vowels; Depending on analysis, long and short vowels may be considered separate phonemes, with 26 in total. Vowel distribution is similar to other North Germanic languages in that short vowels appear in closed syllables (those ending in consonant clusters or long consonants) and long vowels appearing in open syllables. Árnason (2011) provides the following alternations:
| Monophthongs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /i/ | linur | [ˈliːnʊɹ] | 'soft' | lint | [lɪn̥t] | 'soft (N.)' |
| /e/ | frekur | [ˈfɹeː(ʰ)kʊɹ] | 'greedy' | frekt | [fɹɛʰkt] | 'greedy (N.)' |
| /y/ | mytisk | [ˈmyːtɪsk] | 'mythological' | mystisk | [ˈmʏstɪsk] | 'mysterious' |
| /ø/ | høgur | [ˈhøːʋʊɹ~ˈhøœʋʊɹ] | 'high (M.)' | høgt | [hœkt] | 'high (N.)' |
| /u/ | gulur | [ˈkuːlʊɹ] | 'yellow' | gult | [kʊlt] | 'yellow (N.)' |
| /o/ | tola | [ˈtʰoːla] | 'to endure' | toldi | [ˈtʰɔld̥ɪ] | 'endured' |
| /a/ | Kanada | [ˈkʰaːnata] | 'Canada' | land | [lant] | 'land' |
| Diphthongs | ||||||
| /ʊi/ | hvítur | [ˈkvʊiːtʊɹ] | 'white (M.)' | hvítt | [kvʊiʰtː] | 'white (N.)' |
| /ɛi/ | deyður | [ˈteiːjʊɹ] | 'dead (M.)' | deytt | [tɛʰtː] | 'dead (N.)' |
| /ai/ | feitur | [ˈfaiːtʊɹ] | 'fat (M.)' | feitt | [faiʰtː~fɔiʰtː] | 'fat (N.)' |
| /ɔi/ | gloyma | [ˈklɔiːma] | 'to forget' | gloymdi | [ˈklɔimtɪ] | 'forgot' |
| /ɛa/ | spakur | [ˈspɛaː(ʰ)kʊɹ] | 'calm (M.)' | spakt | [spakt] | 'calm (N.)' |
| /ɔa/ | vátur | [ˈvɔaːtʊɹ] | 'wet (M.)' | vátt | [vɔʰtː] | 'wet (N.)' |
| /ʉu/ | fúlur | [ˈfʉuːlʊɹ] | 'foul (M.)' | fúlt | [fʏl̥t] | 'foul (N.)' |
| /ɔu/ | tómur | [ˈtʰɔuːmʊɹ~ˈtʰœuːmʊɹ] | 'empty (M.)' | tómt | [tʰœm̥t~tʰɔm̥t] | 'empty (N.)' |
Faroese avoids having a hiatus between two vowels by inserting a glide between them.
There is considerable variation among dialects in the pronunciation of vowels.
The only unstressed vowels in Faroese are short [a, ɪ, ʊ]; these appear in inflectional endings: áðrenn (e.g. [ˈɔaːʐɪnː] 'before'). Very typical are endings like -ur, -ir, -ar. The dative is often indicated by [ʊn].
- [a] – bátar [ˈbɔaːtaɹ] (boats), kallar [ˈkadlaɹ] ((you) call, (he) calls)
- [ɪ] – gestir [ˈdʒɛstɪɹ] (guests), dugir [ˈduːɪɹ] ((you, he) can)
- [ʊ] – bátur [ˈbɔaːtʊɹ] (boat), gentur [dʒɛntʊɹ] (girls), rennur [ˈʐenːʊɹ] ((you) run, (he) runs).
In some dialects, unstressed short `/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 following table displays the different realizations in different dialects.
| Word | Borðoy Kunoy Tórshavn |
Viðoy Svínoy Fugloy |
Suðuroy | Elsewhere (standard) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gulur (yellow) | [ˈɡ̊uːləɹ] | [ˈɡ̊uːləɹ] | [ˈɡ̊uːløɹ] | [ˈɡ̊uːlʊɹ] |
| gulir (yellow pl.) | [ˈɡ̊uːləɹ] | [ˈɡ̊uːləɹ] | [ˈɡ̊uːløɹ] | [ˈɡ̊uːlɪɹ] |
| bygdin (town) | [ˈb̥ɪɡ̊d̥ɪn] | [ˈb̥ɪɡ̊d̥ən] | [ˈb̥ɪɡ̊d̥øn] | [ˈb̥ɪɡ̊d̥ɪn] |
| bygdum (towns dat. pl.) | [ˈb̥ɪɡ̊d̥ʊn] | [ˈb̥ɪɡ̊d̥ən] | [ˈb̥ɪɡ̊d̥øn] | [ˈb̥ɪɡ̊dʊn] |
Skerping
| Written | Pronunciation | instead of |
|---|---|---|
| -ógv- | [ɛɡv] | *[ɔuɡv] |
| -úgv- | [ɪɡv] | *[ʉuɡv] |
| -eyggj- | [ɛtʃː] | *[ɛitʃː] |
| -íggj-, -ýggj- | [ʊtʃː] | *[ʊitʃː] |
| -eiggj- | [atʃː] | *[aitʃː] |
| -oyggj- | [ɔtʃː] | *[ɔitʃː] |
The so-called "skerping" ([ʃɛʂpɪŋk] 'sharpening')[3] is a typical phenomenon of fronting back vowels before [ɡv] and monophthongizing certain diphthongs before long [dʒː]. Skerping is not indicated orthographically.
- [ɛɡv]: Jógvan [ˈjɛɡvan] (a form of the name John), Gjógv [tʃɛɡv] ('cleft')
- [ɪɡv]: kúgv [kɪɡv] ('cow'), trúgva [ˈtʂɪɡva] ('believe'), but: trúleysur [ˈtʂʉuːlɛisʊɹ] ('faithless')
- [ɛtʃː]: heyggjur [ˈhɛtʃːʊɹ] ('high'), but heygnum [ˈhɛiːnʊn] ('high [dat. sg.]')
- [ʊtʃː]: nýggjur [ˈnʊtʃːʊɹ] ('new [M.]'), but nýtt [nʊiʰtː] ('New [Nn.]')
- [atʃː]: beiggi [ˈbatʃːɪ] ('brother')
- [ɔtʃː]: oyggj [ɔtʃː] ('island'), but oynna [ˈɔidnːa] ('island [acc. sg.]')
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||
| Stop | p pʰ |
t tʰ |
tʃ tʃʰ |
k kʰ |
||||||
| Fricative (Lateral) |
f | s | ʂ | ʐ | ʃ | h | ||||
| ɬ | ||||||||||
| Approximant (Lateral) |
v | ɹ | j | w | ||||||
| l | ||||||||||
There are several phonological processes involved in Faroese, including:
- 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/ /ɛ/ /i/ /ɪ/ and /ɛi/
- /v/ becomes /f/ before voiceless consonants
- /sk/ becomes /ʃ/ after /ɛi, ai, ɔi/ and before /j/
- /ɹ/ retroflexes itself as well as following consonants in consonant clusters, yielding the allophones [ʂ ɭ ʈ ɳ] while /ɹ/ itself becomes [ɻ], example: ⟨rd⟩ [ɻʈ]; preaspirated consonats devoice the rhotic: example: ⟨rt⟩ [ɻ̊ʈ]
- Pre-occlusion of original ⟨ll⟩ to [dl] and ⟨nn⟩ to [dn].
- Intervocalically the aspirated consonants become pre-aspirated unless followed by a closed vowel. In clusters, the preaspiration merges with a preceding nasal or apical approximant, rendering them voiceless, example: ⟨nt⟩ [n̥t]
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] (child's), vatns [van̥s] (lake's, water's).
- hjálpti [jɔɬtɛ] (helped) past sg. instead of *[ˈjɔɬpta] from hjálpa [ˈjɔɬpa]. Other examples for past forms are: sigldi [ˈsɪldɛ] (sailed), yrkti [ˈɪʂtɛ] (wrote poetry).
- homophone are fylgdi (followed) and fygldi (caught birds with net): [ˈfɪldɛ].
- skt will be:
- [st] in words of more than one syllable: føroyskt [ˈføːʐɪst] (Faroese n. sg.;) russiskt [ˈʐʊsːɪst] (Russian n. sg.), íslendskt [ˈʊʃlɛŋ̊st] (Icelandic n. sg.).
- [kst] in monosyllables: enskt [ɛŋ̊kst] (English n. sg.), danskt [daŋ̊kst] (Danish n. sg.), franskt [fʂaŋ̊kst] (French n. sg.), spanskt [spaŋ̊kst] (Spanish n. sg.), svenskt [svɛŋ̊kst] (Swedish n. sg.), týskt [tʊkst] (German n. sg.).
- However [ʂt] in: írskt [ʊʂt] (Irish n. sg.), norskt [nɔʂt] (Norwegian n. sg.)
References
- ^ Árnason (2011:68)
- ^ Þráinsson (2004:350)
- ^ Þráinsson et al. use the term "Faroese Verschärfung"
Bibliography
- Árnason, Kristján (2011). The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199229317.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Þráinsson, Höskuldur (2004). Faroese: An Overview and Reference Grammar. Føroya Fróðskaparfelag. ISBN 978-9991841854.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)