Jens Christian Svabo (1746 – 1824) was a pioneering Faroese

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, scholar, and

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

. Svabo was born in

Miðvágur Miðvágur ( da, Midvåg), is a village in the Faroe Islands on Vágar. It has been a municipality until 1 January 2009 when it fused with Sandavágur into Vága kommuna. Located on the south coast of the island of Vágar, Miðvágur is the ...

Vágar Vágar ( da, Vågø) is one of the 18 islands in the archipelago of the Faroe Islands and the most westerly of the ''large islands''. With a size of , it ranks number three, behind Streymoy and Eysturoy. Vágar region also comprises the island ...

, the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

to a minister and his wife. Svabo studied history, music, and theology in Miðvágur and later in

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

. Between 1765 and 1800 he lived in Denmark and studied music there, especially the violin. In 1800, he returned to Tórshavn and lived in a house known as the Pætursarstova: it was in the attic of this home that in 1928 a book of songs written by Svabo was found. This manuscript is now part of the collection of the Føroya Landsbókasavn (Faroese National Library). Svabo's work as a songwriter is of merit and indeed, his songs are still played and recorded by groups interested in traditional Faroese and Celtic music. However, it is Svabo's work on the Faroese language and its tradition of oral folktales that has brought him the greatest attention. Svabo's travels around Vágar and later the areas around Tórshavn were at their time unmatched and his efforts to write down oral legends and tales were the first real impetus to the serious study of Faroese oral history. He also wrote a dictionary (republished in the 1960s as: ''Dictionarium færoense''. København: Munksgaard) and worked to standardize the Faroese written language in terms of spelling and grammar to match the traditional spoken language (see Svabo's ''Om den færøske marsviin-fangst''). His efforts to examine distinct dialects of Faroese (especially that of his native Vágar) were the first efforts in this area of regional linguistics of Faroese, also. The Føroya Landsbókasavn has a number of items and exhibits related to Svabo's diverse career.

Works

* Christian Matras (ed.): - "Svabo's Notes of the Faroese Culture" ** * Ders.: '' Dictionarium Færoense - færøsk-dansk-latinsk ordbog''. Munksgaard, Copenhagen 1966–70, 2 vols. (Færoensia, Textus & investigationes, 7–8) - "Faroese Dictionary - Faroese-Danish-Latin Dictionary" * ''Indberetninger fra en Reise i Færøe 1781 og 1782''. C.A. Reitzels Boghandel, Copenhagen 1976, 497 pp. (unaltered reprint) - "Travel report from the Faroes 1781-1782"

External links

Føroya Landsbókasavn
1746 births 1824 deaths Linguists from Denmark Linguists from the Faroe Islands 18th-century Faroese people 19th-century Faroese people {{Denmark-linguist-stub