The national

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

of 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 ...

is Faroese. The Faroese language is a

Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, Engli ...

which is descended from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

. Danish is the official second language. Faroese is similar in grammar to Icelandic and

, but closer in pronunciation to

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

. In the twentieth century Faroese became the official language and, because the Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of Denmark, metropolitan ...

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

is taught in Faroese schools.

Historically

The first recorded settlers of the Faroe Islands were Irish monks (

papar The Papar (; from Latin ''papa'', via Old Irish, meaning "father" or "pope") were, according to early Icelandic sagas, Irish monks who took eremitic residence in parts of what is now Iceland before that island's habitation by the Norsemen of S ...

), so it is possible to assume, that one of the first languages in the islands was some form of

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

. Neighbouring

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

was inhabited from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

, and was

Pictish Pictish is the extinct language, extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited num ...

speaking when the Norse arrived. Norse settlers arrived in the middle of the 9th century, bringing their West Norse language (from which the Faroese language evolved). Other groups are known to have lived in the Faroes as well. These include Norwegian peoples, and this is evident in certain Faroese places names, such as

Signabøur Signabøur ( da, Signebø) is a village on the east coast of the Faroese island Streymoy in Tórshavn Municipality. The 2015 population was 133. Its postal code is FO 416. Whaling station In 1903 Hans Albert Grøn built the whaling station Ve ...

(Bø of 'Sygnir') and

Øravík Øravík (also spelled Ørðavík, da, Ørdevig) is a village on the east coast of the island of Suðuroy in the Faroe Islands. The village is located in the center of the island on a crossroad where the road to Fámjin goes towards west over ...

(bay of 'Hörðir'). People from

Suðuroy Suðuroy (literally South Island, da, Suderø) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 square kilometres (63.2 sq mi). In 2018 the population was 4,601. Suðuroy region (sýsla) comprises this island and Lítla ...

also refer to 'Frísarnir í Akrabergi' (The

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...

Akraberg Akraberg is the southern tip of Suðuroy, 5 km south from the village of Sumba, in the Faroe Islands. The name Akraberg derives from ''akur'' (cereal field). Five kilometres south of Akraberg is the southernmost point of The Faroe Islands, ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

are sometimes used for the purposes of tourism. Norwegian is occasionally heard too, due to the islands' geographical proximity to Norway.

References

Faroese language Languages of Denmark {{Faroes-stub