Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1961, Page 102

108
Um herðingarveiku sjálvljóðini i og u
The main part of the article is a presentation of the result of a
phonemic investigation made in 1961. Faroese school teachers asked
people in 34 villages about their pronunciation and filled out a question*
naire, containing a large number of words with the most common
endings, =ir, *ur, =in, =um, 41, =ul, 4, and =u. There was no need to
describe the finer shades of sound used for i and u of the written
language; the only important point was to decide, whether the vowel
pronunced was to be interpreted as an íssound or an u=sound.
In three different areas weaksstressed i and u are pronounced alike
in most endings. These areas are: 1) Tórshavn and the neighbouring
villages; 2) the villages in Viðoy and Borðoy; perhaps should also a
few other villages in the Norðuroyar be included here; 3) Suðuroy.
In these areas as a rule no difference in pronunciation is made between
4r and *ur, 41 and >u/, etc. In areas 1) and 2) a weakstressed i or u is
usually pronounced as a kind of issound, in area 3) as a kind of
Uísound.
In the main part of the Faroe Isles the letters i and u in »levis«
are treated as different phonemes. However, the dialects do not maintain
the same distribution of isendings and mendings as the written lang=
uage, the spelling of which is based on historical principles. Thus, for
instance, the endings 4rl<ur are pronounced 4r in the plural of nouns,
but sur in the present tense of verbs in the dialects of Sandoy and
Vágar.
In totally unstressed syllables (»levissimus«) no difference in pro=
nunciation is made between i and u in the dialects. Forms like hestinum
and hestunum are pronounced alike, and it is only from the context
that we can conclude, whether the word is in the singular or in the
plural.
BÓKMENTIR
1. Hammershaimb, V. U.: Færóisk Sproglære. Annaler for nordisk
Oldkyndighed og Historie 1854. Kjóbenhavn 1854.
2. — Færðsk Anthologi I (F. A. I). Khn. 1891.
3. Hægstad, Marius: Vestnorske maalfóre fyre 1350, II, 2, andre bolken,
Fseróymaal. Kria. 1917.
4. Jakobsen, Jakob: Lydskriftprøver, í: V. U. Hammershaimb: Færósk
Anthologi. Kbh. 1891.
5. — Diplomatarium Færoense. Tórsh. og Khn. 1907.
6. — Greinir og ritgerðir, inngangur eftir Chr. Matras. Tórshavn 1957.
7. LoAwood, W. B.: Notes on the Faroese Language To=day. Trans=
actions of the Philological Society. London 1950.
8. — An Introduction to Modern Faroese. Færoensia, Vol. IV'
Hafniae 1955.