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The phonology of Faroese has an inventory similar to the closely related Icelandic language, but markedly different processes differentiate the two. Similarities include an aspiration contrast in stop consonants, the retention of front rounded vowels and vowel quality changes instead of vowel length distinctions.
| 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 vowel phonemes; by one 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.
| Monophthongs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long vowel | Short vowel | |||||
| /i/ | linur | [ˈliːnʊɹ] | 'soft' | lint | [lɪn̥t] | 'soft (N.)' |
| /e/ | frekur | [ˈfɹeː(ʰ)kʊɹ~ˈfɹeεːkʊɹ] | 'greedy' | frekt | [fɹɛʰkt] | 'greedy (N.)' |
| /y/ | mytisk | [ˈmyːtɪsk] | 'mythological' | mystisk | [ˈmʏstɪsk] | 'mysterious' |
| /ø/ | høgur | [ˈhøːʋʊɹ~ˈhøœːʋʊɹ] | 'high (M.)' | høgt | [hœkt] | 'high (N.)' |
| /u/ | gulur | [ˈkuːlʊɹ] | 'yellow' | gult | [kʊl̥t] | 'yellow (N.)' |
| /o/ | tola | [ˈtʰoːla~ˈtʰoɔːla] | 'to endure' | toldi | [ˈtʰɔltɪ] | 'endured' |
| /a/ | Kanada | [ˈkʰaːnata] | 'Canada' | land | [lant] | 'land' |
| Diphthongs | ||||||
| Long vowel | Short vowel | |||||
| /ʊi/ | hvítur | [ˈkfʊiːtʊɹ] | 'white (M.)' | hvítt | [kfʊiʰtː] | '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. [ˈɔaːɹɪnː] 'before'). Very typical are endings like -ur, -ir, -ar. The dative is often indicated by [ʊn].
In some dialects, unstressed short /ʊ/ is realized as [ø] or is reduced further to [ə]. /ɪ/ goes under a similar reduction pattern as it varies between [ɪ ~ ɛ ~ ə] 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') | [ˈkuːləɹ] | [ˈkuːləɹ] | [ˈkuːløɹ] | [ˈkuːlʊɹ] |
| gulir ('yellow' PL) | [ˈkuːləɹ] | [ˈkuːləɹ] | [ˈkuːløɹ] | [ˈkuːlɪɹ] |
| bygdin ('town') | [ˈpɪktɪn] | [ˈpɪktən] | [ˈpɪktøn] | [ˈpɪktɪn] |
| bygdum ('towns' DAT.PL) | [ˈpɪktʊn] | [ˈpɪktən] | [ˈpɪktøn] | [ˈpɪktʊn] |
| Written | Pronunciation | instead of |
|---|---|---|
| -ógv- | [ɛkv] | *[ɔu̯kv] (expected fronting: *[œy̯kv]) |
| -úgv- | [ɪkv] | *[ʉu̯kv] (expected fronting: *[yy̯kv] → *[yːkv]) |
| -eyggj- | [ɛtʃː] | *[ɛi̯tʃː] |
| -íggj-, -ýggj- | [ʊtʃː] | *[ʊitʃː] |
| -eiggj- | [atʃː] | *[aitʃː] |
| -oyggj- | [ɔtʃː] | *[ɔitʃː] |
The so-called "skerping" ([ʃɛʂpɪŋk] 'sharpening') [4] is a typical phenomenon of fronting back vowels before [kv] and monophthongizing certain diphthongs before long [tʃː]. Skerping is not indicated orthographically.
| Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar/ Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Plosive / Affricate | plain | p | t | tʃ | k | ||
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | tʃʰ | kʰ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ɬ | ʂ | ʃ | h |
| voiced | v | ||||||
| Approximant | ɹ | l | j | ||||
There are several phonological processes involved in Faroese, including:
Faroese tends to omit the first or second consonant in clusters of different consonants:
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