Editing Faroese language (section)

== Dialects ==
[[File:Faroese Dialects and Subdialects.svg|thumb|451x451px|Major dialects and subdialects of Faroese as described by Petersen.<ref name=":1" />

{{legend|#b7eabc|Northwest Dialect}}{{legend|#c8e4f8|Northern Dialect}}{{legend|#f2f6b7|Central Dialect}}{{legend|#f9d2d2|Southern Dialect}}]]
Faroese is a highly variable language with many dialects actively used across the islands’ approximately 120 communities. While the dialect of [[Tórshavn]] is the most prominent due to the city's outstanding size, there is no official spoken standard variety, and little evidence that the Tórshavn dialect has developed [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige]] status. Faroese speech communities are tightly knit and the use of dialectal speech is widely encouraged.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 2018 |title=Attitudes to variation in spoken Faroese |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josl.12283 |journal=Journal of Sociolinguistics |language=en |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=312–330 |doi=10.1111/josl.12283 |issn=1360-6441 |last1=Bugge |first1=Edit |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The study of Faroese dialectology began hundreds of years ago, with the scholar [[Lucas Debes]] noting a north–south distinction as early as 1673. In the 18th century linguist [[Jens Christian Svabo]] made further distinctions, such as identifying the Tórshavn dialect, though his categorization lacked thorough justification. In 1891 [[Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb]] would write a more definitive study of the language's variation, noting distinguishing characteristics of the north–south divide such as the northern aspiration of unvoiced plosives after long vowels and the pronunciation of {{grapheme|ó}} as {{IPAslink|œ}} in most of the north compared to {{IPAslink|ɔ}} in the south.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last= Jacobsen |first=Jógvan í Lon |date=2023 |title=Faroese Dialect Classifications |url=http://www.publicacions.ub.edu/revistes/dialectologiaSP2023/documentos/1939.pdf |journal=Dialectologia |language=en |issue=2023.2023 |doi=10.1344/Dialectologia2023.2023.4}}</ref>

The most recent and detailed classification by Hjalmar P. Petersen divides the language into four major varieties including North-Western Faroese, Central Faroese, Northern Faroese, and Southern Faroese. Additional sub-dialects of particular islands and villages have also been identified. Most of the analysis by Petersen and earlier authors is based on phonological evidence.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Petersen |first=Hjalmar Páll |date=2022 |title=Evidence for the modification of dialect classification of modern Faroese |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/ejss-2021-2060/html |journal=European Journal of Scandinavian Studies |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=43–58 |doi=10.1515/ejss-2021-2060 |via=Walter de Gruyter GmbH|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The southern variety of Faroese is very distinct, possibly due to geographic distance exacerbated by the lack of underwater tunnels which have connected most other islands north of [[Sandur, Faroe Islands|Sandur]]. The dialect of these islands is characterized by a unique form of certain personal pronouns, alongside phonological features such as the intervocalic voicing of non-[[geminate]] stops.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Knooihuizen |first=Remco |date=May 2014 |title=Variation in Faroese and the development of a spoken standard: In search of corpus evidence |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nordic-journal-of-linguistics/article/variation-in-faroese-and-the-development-of-a-spoken-standard-in-search-of-corpus-evidence/4C4BD0A03B4360181E59D4CB66CDB619 |journal=Nordic Journal of Linguistics |language=en |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=87–105 |doi=10.1017/S0332586514000079 |issn=0332-5865}}</ref> The [[Fortis and lenis|fortis]] consonants {{IPAslink|p}}, {{IPAslink|t}}, and {{IPAslink|k}} are aspirated following long vowels.

The central dialect area centered around [[Suðurstreymoy]] features a merging of {{grapheme|i}} and {{grapheme|u}} in unstressed ending syllables. The fortis consonants are neither aspirated nor weakened. The island of [[Nólsoy]] is a notable transitional area due to its unique realization of long {{grapheme|ó}} as {{IPA|[au:]}} and short {{grapheme|ó}} as {{IPA|[ɔ]}} compared to the {{IPA|[ɔu:]}} and {{IPA|[œ]}} found in Tórshavn and elsewhere.

The northern dialect is characterized by weakened fortis consonants and a monophthongal pronunciation of {{grapheme|á}} in ending syllables, i.e., {{IPAslink|aː}}. The realization of {{grapheme|ei}} as {{IPA|[ɔi:]}} dominates in this region, although small parts of the central and northwestern regions use this pronunciation as well.

The northwestern dialect features aspirated fortis consonants after long vowels. The {{grapheme|i}} and {{grapheme|u}} vowels remain unmerged in unstressed ending syllables. Long {{grapheme|ó}} is pronounced {{IPA|[ɔu]}} and short {{grapheme|ó}} is pronounced {{IPA|[œ]}}.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />