Islandic and Faroese languages
Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:06 amThe Icelandic language (about 230 00 speakers)
Icelandic is the official language of Iceland. It is an Indo-European language, belonging to the sub-group of North Germanic languages. It is closely related to Norwegian and Faroese, although there are slight traces of Celtic influence in ancient Icelandic literature.
Icelandic is an insular language, and as such, has not been influenced greatly by other languages. As a result, the language has changed very little from when the country was settled in the ninth and tenth centuries. It did not become makedly different from Norwegian until the 14th century, when Norwegian became increasingly influenced by its neighbouring languages, Swedish and Danish. Because of this resistance to change, text from the 12th century are still understandable to Icelandic schoolchildren.
The Icelandic language is considered one of the cornerstones of the Icelandic culture, in large part due to a strong literary heritage. Since the 18th century, when the Icelandic language was under threat from Danish influence, a movement of language purism rose, and has since been the dominant linguistic policy in the country. Icelandic does not usually adopt foreign words for new concepts, opting instead to coin new words, or give old words new meaning, to keep the langauge free of outside influence.
The Faroese language (about 66 000 speakers)
In the twentieth century Faroese became the official language in the Faroe Islands, and is used in all matters - also within business, administration, political and cultural life.
Danish is the second language and practically everyone can speak and write Danish. Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish are understood and spoken in many places, and most people are capable of communicating in English too.
Faroese derives from Old Norse and is closely related to Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. Speakers of the above Nordic languages will notice many familiar words and grammatical structures in Faroese. The closest language to Faroese is Icelandic and when Faroese and Icelanders speak to each other in their native tongues there is a good degree of mutual comprehension.
Nice day to you
Maarit
Icelandic is the official language of Iceland. It is an Indo-European language, belonging to the sub-group of North Germanic languages. It is closely related to Norwegian and Faroese, although there are slight traces of Celtic influence in ancient Icelandic literature.
Icelandic is an insular language, and as such, has not been influenced greatly by other languages. As a result, the language has changed very little from when the country was settled in the ninth and tenth centuries. It did not become makedly different from Norwegian until the 14th century, when Norwegian became increasingly influenced by its neighbouring languages, Swedish and Danish. Because of this resistance to change, text from the 12th century are still understandable to Icelandic schoolchildren.
The Icelandic language is considered one of the cornerstones of the Icelandic culture, in large part due to a strong literary heritage. Since the 18th century, when the Icelandic language was under threat from Danish influence, a movement of language purism rose, and has since been the dominant linguistic policy in the country. Icelandic does not usually adopt foreign words for new concepts, opting instead to coin new words, or give old words new meaning, to keep the langauge free of outside influence.
The Faroese language (about 66 000 speakers)
In the twentieth century Faroese became the official language in the Faroe Islands, and is used in all matters - also within business, administration, political and cultural life.
Danish is the second language and practically everyone can speak and write Danish. Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish are understood and spoken in many places, and most people are capable of communicating in English too.
Faroese derives from Old Norse and is closely related to Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. Speakers of the above Nordic languages will notice many familiar words and grammatical structures in Faroese. The closest language to Faroese is Icelandic and when Faroese and Icelanders speak to each other in their native tongues there is a good degree of mutual comprehension.
Nice day to you
Maarit