Faroese, the language of the
Faroe Islands, is a
Germanic/
Scandinavian language derived from
Old Norse, and is closely related to
Icelandic and some Norwegian dialects.
In 1890 it was standardised in its written form as Forøskyt. This written form was made official, and was given equal status in the Faroes
with Danish in public and government affairs.
In most cases, Faroese words are stressed on the first syllable. Its grammar and orthography are incredibly
similar to Icelandic, yet its pronounciation is quite different, due to a mix of Icelandic, Danish and Gaelic (Gaidhlíg) influences. For example,
the name of Eiði village is pronounced "OY-yeh", the nearby village Gjógv "Jagv", yet Tórshavn, the capital, is
pronounced in a more-or-less Danish way, "TORSH-hown".
Faroese uses the special characters þ ("thorn"), ð ("edh"), á, é, í, ó, ö, ú, ý, and æ, as does Icelandic.