Faroese language conflict
Encyclopedia
The Faroese language conflict is a phase in the history of the Faroe Islands
in the first half of the 20th century (approx. 1908 to 1938). It was the political and cultural argument between the requirements of the Faroese language
in general use, and the Danish language
as the official language of the Faroe Islands
.
At the beginning of the 20th century the position was as follows:
The language of the church, public education, the government, and the law was Danish. But Faroese was the language of the people; the orthography
of Faroese had been set out by Venceslaus Hammershaimb
in the middle of the 19th century, and the language had aroused Faroese nationalism since the Jólafundurin
('the Christmas Meeting') of 1888.
The conflict was chiefly not a struggle between the Faroese people
and the Danes, but rather among the Faroese people themselves, and the positions were evolving with time.
, which they accused Sjálvstyri of wanting.
Samband had two major arguments for the use of Danish in education: they said that advanced education was only possible if the Faroese students understood Danish well enough to be able to study in Denmark; and moreover, there were too few Faroese-language school books for the people of the small islands.
They had a sound argument for Faroese as the language of instruction: in the other parts of the Danish kingdom education was conducted in the native language: Icelandic
in Iceland
, Kalaallisut
in Greenland, and English
in the Danish West Indies
(from 1917 the United States Virgin Islands
). It was thus a question of equal treatment for all areas under the Danish crown.
in Tórshavn
(the capital) petitioned the school administration to be allowed to use Faroese in teaching. The administration responded with a partial refusal: Faroese could be used only as an aid, in order to explain certain things. Jákup Dahl
, who later became the Provost
, was opposed to the administration's ruling and refused to teach in Danish; from then on he taught in Faroese. The school administration referred the issue to the Danish education ministry, which referred it to the Løgting
, the Faroese parliament
, who could not agree on the issue and in 1910 split into two sides, a majority opinion and a minority opinion. The majority opinion was represented by Samband: Danish was more important as a foreign language than others such as German and English, and the pupils were to hear and speak Danish in all subjects. An important argument for this was that Danish was a key to the higher education in Denmark, and thus was important for the young people's vocational progress.
The Sjálvstyri maintained their previous position, that it was natural and understandable that a people should be taught in their native language. But they did not dispute that there were no appropriate teaching materials in Faroese. So they proposed that it should be left to each teacher in which language he taught.
As a compromise, it was planned that Faroese was to be used as the language of instruction for the younger children. For the older students, fundamental instruction would be in Danish with Faroese permitted as an aid to instruction. On January 16, 1912, this regulation was passed by the Danish government as §7 of the Faroese school regulations.
Although it could be rated as a partial success of Sjálvstyri, their demands remained on the agenda of the party after passage of the §7 regulation. Louis Zachariasen in Velbastaður
was the first teacher to oppose the regulation openly, and he refused to teach further on Danish. This contravened the regulation that "Faroese was only to be used as an auxiliary language." Zachariasen quit publicly as a teacher and became one of the "separatist martyrs".
The language conflict entered a new phase in 1918, when the question was raised of why Faroese spelling was still not a compulsory subject in the schools. In the above mentioned school regulations of 1912, this question had been deliberately ignored, since many Faroese teachers did not have sufficient knowledge of the orthography of their native language. However there were already efforts under way to address this problem, as summer vacation courses in Faroese orthography were being conducted. As the time seemed ripe, the Løgting requested the Danish government to introduce Faroese spelling as a compulsory subject. The Danish education ministry immediately agreed, but §7 remained unchanged.
The language conflict became more abstract and it became a matter of a finding suitable formulation for instruction. Efforts were made to find a good way to teach Faroese, while still guaranteeing that the students would have an appropriate knowledge of Danish to further their higher education. The Ministry of Education in Copenhagen
suggested in 1925 that Faroese should become the language of general instruction, but Danish should be the language of instruction in geography
and history
. At that time the party of the Samband rebelled because they believed that the new rules went too far in separating the Faroese from the Danish. As a result the majority in the Løgting rejected the new regulations.
In the Løgting elections of 1936, Javnaðarflokkurin (the Social Democratic Party) substantially increased its representation at the expense of the Samband. Together with Sjálvstyri the Social Democrats changed the law to replace the Danish language with Faroese. On December 13, 1938 the Danish government agreed.
in the 16th century, Danish had been the exclusive liturgical language in the Faroese archipelago
. Only Danish was used in the People's Church
, and this was one of the main reasons why no written tradition in Faroese developed.
In 1903 Faroese became permitted under certain conditions for use in the church: the communion
must take place in Danish, and Faroese could be used to preach only if all church authorities, the Provost and local council agreed. From 1912 the communion service could be held in Faroese, but only if the bishop
gave his consent beforehand.
It was the Faroese people
themselves who achieved a general penetration of their mother tongue as the church language. Most of the faithful conservatively associated the Danish language firmly with the liturgy
, with the hymn
s, and not least with the Bible
. Even today certain Faroese church songs are still sung gladly in the old Danish. In Tórshavn
an opinion poll was taken, and the majority of the churchgoers expressed a desire for the retention of Danish in church.
Nevertheless, the question was discussed several times in the Løgting, and some Samband politicians argued pragmatically for the retention of Danish: many of the priest
s were Danes, and if each priest could choose in which language he preaches, this would lead to general confusion, e.g. if a community was accustomed to a church service in Faroese but then got a Danish pastor.
As with education, the penetration of the native language into the church was only a matter of time and depended on the availability of literature. As early as 1823 the Gospel of Matthew
appeared in Faroese, but it met with no broad approval by the people because of the uncertainty of the Faroese orthography that prevailed before Hammershaimb
's time. In 1908 the Gospel of John
in Faroese was published, but only because the minister Jákup Dahl
assisted the revival of Faroese as the church language; he presented a Faroese hymn book in 1921 and completed a translation of the New Testament
in 1937. Up to his death in 1944 Dahl continued to work on a translation of the Old Testament
, which was completed by Kristian Osvald Viderø
in 1961.
The Evangelical-Lutheran
national church authorized each of Dahl's works immediately after it appeared. Dahl also translated the catechism
and a religious history. Dahl's collection of sermons in book form became important for the Faroese. In the remote areas of the islands it was normal for a pastor to be in charge of up to six churches, which he visited in sequence. When the pastor could not be present the services
in the churches were conducted by laymen
, who used sermons from Dahl’s printed collection.
March 13, 1939, is the day on which Faroese became fully authorized as a church language. Today the native clergy use Faroese almost exclusively.
, that applies now in court
, whereas previously it applied only to written legal documents. On April 11, 1924, a regulation came into force in the Faroes which laid down that the legal language was Danish, but that Faroese-speaking judges may hold their proceedings in Faroese if the parties to the legal action speak Faroese. The legal documents could also be drawn up in Faroese, providing that a certified translation into Danish was also made, if prescribed by law, or required by the defence. These Danish documents were important if proceedings were to take place in Denmark.
In 1931 further demands were made to expand the use of Faroese in legal proceedings. These were resisted by the Samband who said that Danish documents were indispensable for further hearings in Danish courts.
On January 4, 1944 the Løgting legislated the full equality of Faroese in legal proceedings. That happened because of the special situation of the Faroe Islands in World War II
, when Denmark was occupied by Germany
and all connections with the government in Copenhagen
were severed. However this law remained in force after the war.
, and starting in 1927 the minutes
of the Løgting
were recorded in Faroese.
With the autonomy
(home-rule) law of 1948, Faroese was finally the language used in all affairs, with the proviso that Danish should always be taught in school so that all can use Danish to communicate with other Scandinavia
ns.
and Faroese writers such as J.H.O. Djurhuus, Hans Andrias Djurhuus, Heðin Brú
, and Jóannes Patursson
.
History of the Faroe Islands
-Pre-Norse history:The early details of Faroese history are rather nebulous. It is possible that Saint Brendan, an Irish monk sailed past the islands during his North Atlantic voyage in the 6th century...
in the first half of the 20th century (approx. 1908 to 1938). It was the political and cultural argument between the requirements of the Faroese language
Faroese language
Faroese , is an Insular Nordic language spoken by 48,000 people in the Faroe Islands and about 25,000 Faroese people in Denmark and elsewhere...
in general use, and the Danish language
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
as the official language of the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
.
At the beginning of the 20th century the position was as follows:
The language of the church, public education, the government, and the law was Danish. But Faroese was the language of the people; the orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
of Faroese had been set out by Venceslaus Hammershaimb
Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb
Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb was a Faroese Lutheran minister who established the modern orthography of Faroese, the language of the Faroe Islands, based on the Icelandic language, which like Faroese derives from Old Norse.-Background:Hammershaimb was born in Sandavágur on the island of Vágar in...
in the middle of the 19th century, and the language had aroused Faroese nationalism since the Jólafundurin
The Christmas Meeting 1888
The Christmas Meeting 1888 is considered as the official start of the Faroese National Movement.On December 22, 1888 the only newspaper at that time in the Faroe Islands, Dimmalætting, carried the following notice:...
('the Christmas Meeting') of 1888.
The conflict was chiefly not a struggle between the Faroese people
Faroese people
The Faroese or Faroe Islanders are a Germanic ethnic group native to the Faeroe Islands. The Faroese are of mixed Norse and Gaelic origins.About 21,000 Faroese live in neighbouring countries, particularly in Denmark, Iceland and Norway....
and the Danes, but rather among the Faroese people themselves, and the positions were evolving with time.
Political camps
The two political parties staking out positions on the language conflict were the Sambandsflokkurin (Samband) (Unionist Party), which wanted continued union with Denmark; and the Sjálvstýrisflokkurin (Sjálvstyri) (Separatist Party or Home Rule Party), which desired independence from Denmark.Position of the Samband
The view of the Samband (unionists) was that the Faroese language should be developed and used in the literary field. However, the Danish language should continue to be the official language of education, which all Faroese should speak and understand. The unionists also opposed the comprehensive introduction of Faroese for the catechismCatechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
, which they accused Sjálvstyri of wanting.
Samband had two major arguments for the use of Danish in education: they said that advanced education was only possible if the Faroese students understood Danish well enough to be able to study in Denmark; and moreover, there were too few Faroese-language school books for the people of the small islands.
Position of the Sjálvstyri
The Sjálvstyri (separatists) had national sentiment on their side. They regarded it as untenable that the official language could be other than the native language. The party program formulated a core demand that the Faroese language should become the language of instruction in all subjects. At the same time the party tried to use the language conflict to further its separatist goals.They had a sound argument for Faroese as the language of instruction: in the other parts of the Danish kingdom education was conducted in the native language: Icelandic
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Kalaallisut
Kalaallisut language
Greenlandic is an Eskimo–Aleut language spoken by about 57,000 people in Greenland. It is closely related to the Inuit languages in Canada, such as Inuktitut...
in Greenland, and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
in the Danish West Indies
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies or "Danish Antilles", were a colony of Denmark-Norway and later Denmark in the Caribbean. They were sold to the United States in 1916 in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies and became the United States Virgin Islands in 1917...
(from 1917 the United States Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
). It was thus a question of equal treatment for all areas under the Danish crown.
Revival as the language of instruction
History worked for the demands of Sjálvstyri. 1908 is considered to be the start of the conflict, which persisted until 1938. In 1908 the teachers of the sixth-form high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Tórshavn
Tórshavn
Tórshavn is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the high Kirkjubøreyn...
(the capital) petitioned the school administration to be allowed to use Faroese in teaching. The administration responded with a partial refusal: Faroese could be used only as an aid, in order to explain certain things. Jákup Dahl
Jákup Dahl
Jákup Dahl was a Faroese Provost and Bible translator. In 1908 he became known as a linguist with the first Faroese grammar lessons for school students.- Life and work :...
, who later became the Provost
Provost (education)
A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
, was opposed to the administration's ruling and refused to teach in Danish; from then on he taught in Faroese. The school administration referred the issue to the Danish education ministry, which referred it to the Løgting
Løgting
Løgting is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, a self-ruling dependency of Denmark.The name literally means "Law Thing" - that is, a law assembly - and derives from Old Norse lǫgþing, which was a name given to ancient assemblies. A ting or Þing has existed on the Faroe Islands for over...
, the Faroese parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
, who could not agree on the issue and in 1910 split into two sides, a majority opinion and a minority opinion. The majority opinion was represented by Samband: Danish was more important as a foreign language than others such as German and English, and the pupils were to hear and speak Danish in all subjects. An important argument for this was that Danish was a key to the higher education in Denmark, and thus was important for the young people's vocational progress.
The Sjálvstyri maintained their previous position, that it was natural and understandable that a people should be taught in their native language. But they did not dispute that there were no appropriate teaching materials in Faroese. So they proposed that it should be left to each teacher in which language he taught.
As a compromise, it was planned that Faroese was to be used as the language of instruction for the younger children. For the older students, fundamental instruction would be in Danish with Faroese permitted as an aid to instruction. On January 16, 1912, this regulation was passed by the Danish government as §7 of the Faroese school regulations.
Although it could be rated as a partial success of Sjálvstyri, their demands remained on the agenda of the party after passage of the §7 regulation. Louis Zachariasen in Velbastaður
Velbastaður
Velbastaður is a village on the island of Streymoy in the Faroe Islands.*Population: 164*Postal code : FO 176*Location: *Municipality: Torshavnar...
was the first teacher to oppose the regulation openly, and he refused to teach further on Danish. This contravened the regulation that "Faroese was only to be used as an auxiliary language." Zachariasen quit publicly as a teacher and became one of the "separatist martyrs".
The language conflict entered a new phase in 1918, when the question was raised of why Faroese spelling was still not a compulsory subject in the schools. In the above mentioned school regulations of 1912, this question had been deliberately ignored, since many Faroese teachers did not have sufficient knowledge of the orthography of their native language. However there were already efforts under way to address this problem, as summer vacation courses in Faroese orthography were being conducted. As the time seemed ripe, the Løgting requested the Danish government to introduce Faroese spelling as a compulsory subject. The Danish education ministry immediately agreed, but §7 remained unchanged.
The language conflict became more abstract and it became a matter of a finding suitable formulation for instruction. Efforts were made to find a good way to teach Faroese, while still guaranteeing that the students would have an appropriate knowledge of Danish to further their higher education. The Ministry of Education in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
suggested in 1925 that Faroese should become the language of general instruction, but Danish should be the language of instruction in geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. At that time the party of the Samband rebelled because they believed that the new rules went too far in separating the Faroese from the Danish. As a result the majority in the Løgting rejected the new regulations.
In the Løgting elections of 1936, Javnaðarflokkurin (the Social Democratic Party) substantially increased its representation at the expense of the Samband. Together with Sjálvstyri the Social Democrats changed the law to replace the Danish language with Faroese. On December 13, 1938 the Danish government agreed.
Revival as church language
Since the ReformationReformation in Denmark
The Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein was the transition from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism in the realms ruled by the Copenhagen-based House of Oldenburg in the first half of the sixteenth century...
in the 16th century, Danish had been the exclusive liturgical language in the Faroese archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
. Only Danish was used in the People's Church
Church of Denmark
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, Church of Denmark or Danish National Church, is the state church and largest denomination in Denmark and Greenland...
, and this was one of the main reasons why no written tradition in Faroese developed.
In 1903 Faroese became permitted under certain conditions for use in the church: the communion
Communion (Christian)
The term communion is derived from Latin communio . The corresponding term in Greek is κοινωνία, which is often translated as "fellowship". In Christianity, the basic meaning of the term communion is an especially close relationship of Christians, as individuals or as a Church, with God and with...
must take place in Danish, and Faroese could be used to preach only if all church authorities, the Provost and local council agreed. From 1912 the communion service could be held in Faroese, but only if the bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
gave his consent beforehand.
It was the Faroese people
Faroese people
The Faroese or Faroe Islanders are a Germanic ethnic group native to the Faeroe Islands. The Faroese are of mixed Norse and Gaelic origins.About 21,000 Faroese live in neighbouring countries, particularly in Denmark, Iceland and Norway....
themselves who achieved a general penetration of their mother tongue as the church language. Most of the faithful conservatively associated the Danish language firmly with the liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
, with the hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s, and not least with the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Even today certain Faroese church songs are still sung gladly in the old Danish. In Tórshavn
Tórshavn
Tórshavn is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the high Kirkjubøreyn...
an opinion poll was taken, and the majority of the churchgoers expressed a desire for the retention of Danish in church.
Nevertheless, the question was discussed several times in the Løgting, and some Samband politicians argued pragmatically for the retention of Danish: many of the priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
s were Danes, and if each priest could choose in which language he preaches, this would lead to general confusion, e.g. if a community was accustomed to a church service in Faroese but then got a Danish pastor.
As with education, the penetration of the native language into the church was only a matter of time and depended on the availability of literature. As early as 1823 the Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
appeared in Faroese, but it met with no broad approval by the people because of the uncertainty of the Faroese orthography that prevailed before Hammershaimb
Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb
Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb was a Faroese Lutheran minister who established the modern orthography of Faroese, the language of the Faroe Islands, based on the Icelandic language, which like Faroese derives from Old Norse.-Background:Hammershaimb was born in Sandavágur on the island of Vágar in...
's time. In 1908 the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
in Faroese was published, but only because the minister Jákup Dahl
Jákup Dahl
Jákup Dahl was a Faroese Provost and Bible translator. In 1908 he became known as a linguist with the first Faroese grammar lessons for school students.- Life and work :...
assisted the revival of Faroese as the church language; he presented a Faroese hymn book in 1921 and completed a translation of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
in 1937. Up to his death in 1944 Dahl continued to work on a translation of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, which was completed by Kristian Osvald Viderø
Kristian Osvald Viderø
Kristian Osvald Viderø was a Faroese clergyman, poet and Bible translator. After theological studies in Denmark, he oversaw the completion of a translation of the Old Testament into the Faroese language, which Jákup Dahl had worked on until his death in 1944. He was the parish priest of Hattarvík...
in 1961.
The Evangelical-Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
national church authorized each of Dahl's works immediately after it appeared. Dahl also translated the catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
and a religious history. Dahl's collection of sermons in book form became important for the Faroese. In the remote areas of the islands it was normal for a pastor to be in charge of up to six churches, which he visited in sequence. When the pastor could not be present the services
Church service
In Christianity, a church service is a term used to describe a formalized period of communal worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism. The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be...
in the churches were conducted by laymen
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
, who used sermons from Dahl’s printed collection.
March 13, 1939, is the day on which Faroese became fully authorized as a church language. Today the native clergy use Faroese almost exclusively.
Equality in legal proceedings
In 1920 the issue of the use of Faroese in legal proceedings was raised. That resulted from a reform in DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, that applies now in court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
, whereas previously it applied only to written legal documents. On April 11, 1924, a regulation came into force in the Faroes which laid down that the legal language was Danish, but that Faroese-speaking judges may hold their proceedings in Faroese if the parties to the legal action speak Faroese. The legal documents could also be drawn up in Faroese, providing that a certified translation into Danish was also made, if prescribed by law, or required by the defence. These Danish documents were important if proceedings were to take place in Denmark.
In 1931 further demands were made to expand the use of Faroese in legal proceedings. These were resisted by the Samband who said that Danish documents were indispensable for further hearings in Danish courts.
On January 4, 1944 the Løgting legislated the full equality of Faroese in legal proceedings. That happened because of the special situation of the Faroe Islands in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when Denmark was occupied by Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and all connections with the government in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
were severed. However this law remained in force after the war.
Faroese in other areas
The introduction of Faroese as the business language took place over a longer period of time. Starting in 1920 the Faroese telephone directory appeared in the national language. Starting in 1925 it was the secondary language in the postal servicePostverk Føroya
Posta is the postal service of the Faroe Islands and was founded on 1 April 1976 under the Home Rule of the Faroe Islands. On 16 December 2005, it became a public joint stock company under the name P/F Postverk Føroya ....
, and starting in 1927 the minutes
Minutes
Minutes, also known as protocols, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting, starting with a list of attendees, a statement of the issues considered by the participants, and related responses or decisions for the issues.Minutes may be...
of the Løgting
Løgting
Løgting is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, a self-ruling dependency of Denmark.The name literally means "Law Thing" - that is, a law assembly - and derives from Old Norse lǫgþing, which was a name given to ancient assemblies. A ting or Þing has existed on the Faroe Islands for over...
were recorded in Faroese.
With the autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
(home-rule) law of 1948, Faroese was finally the language used in all affairs, with the proviso that Danish should always be taught in school so that all can use Danish to communicate with other Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
ns.
Summary
In summary, the gradual supersession of Danish by the Faroese language resulted less from the political activity of the Sjálvstyri than as a result of the extraordinary achievements of the Bible translator Jákup DahlJákup Dahl
Jákup Dahl was a Faroese Provost and Bible translator. In 1908 he became known as a linguist with the first Faroese grammar lessons for school students.- Life and work :...
and Faroese writers such as J.H.O. Djurhuus, Hans Andrias Djurhuus, Heðin Brú
Heðin Brú
Heðin Brú was the penname of Hans Jacob Jacobsen, a Faroese novelist and translator.Heðin Brú is considered to be the most important Faroese writer of his generation and is known for his fresh and ironic style...
, and Jóannes Patursson
Jóannes Patursson
Jóannes Patursson was a Faroese nationalist leader and poet.He was the great-grandson of the Faroese national hero Nólsoyar Páll. His brother Sverre Patursson was an important writer and his sister Susanna Helena Patursson the first feminist of the Faroe Islands.-Background:Jóannes was born in...
.
Literature
- Jóansson, Tórður. English Loanwords in Faroese. [Tórshavn, Faroe Islands]: Fannir, 1997. ISBN 9991849149
- Nauerby, Tom. No Nation Is an Island Language, Culture and National Identity in the Faroe Islands. North Atlantic monographs, 3. Arhus, Denmark: SNAI-North Atlantic Publications, 1996. ISBN 8798342452
- West, John F.: Faroe. Emergence of a Nation, 1972
- Petersen, Hjalmar P.: The Dynamics of Faroese-Danish Language: Winter, 2010. Heidelberg.'
- Petersen, Hjalmar P. 2010 Jakobsen’s Faroese orthography from 1889. In Turið Sigurðard. & Brian Smith (ritstj.). Jakob Jakobsen in Shetland and the Faroes. Shetland Amenity Trust/University of Tórshavn: Lerwick/Tórshavn.