Faroese orthography is the method employed to write the Faroese language, using a 29-letter Latin alphabet, although it does not include the letters C, Q, W, X and Z.
The Faroese alphabet consists of 29 letters derived from the Latin 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 |
Letter | Name | IPA |
---|---|---|
Aa | fyrra a ("leading a") | [ˈfɪɹːa ɛaː] |
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") | [ˈfɪɹːa iː] |
Íí | fyrra í ("leading í") | [ˈfɪɹːa ʊiː] |
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") | [ˈsaiːtna iː] |
Ýý | seinna í ("latter í") | [ˈsaiːtna ʊiː] |
Ææ | seinna a ("latter a") | [ˈsaiːtna ɛaː] |
Øø | ø | [øː] |
Obsolete letters | ||
Xx | eks | [ɛʰks] |
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/ |
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] |
Faroese avoids having a hiatus between two vowels by inserting a glide. Orthographically, this is shown in three ways:
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/.
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: