Papers by Hjalmar Petersen
European Journal of Scandinavian Studies
In this article, a revised classification of Faroese dialects is presented. Unlike previous class... more In this article, a revised classification of Faroese dialects is presented. Unlike previous classifications, this one takes into account the development and synchronic distribution of unstressed -i’s and -u’s, which has given rise to changes in the inflectional system. In addition to this, it looks both at stressed vowels and aspirated vs. non-aspirated -p, -t, -k after long vowels. As a result of this evidence, necessary changes to the generally accepted classification system are proposed, with four general dialect areas including transition areas.
The Nordic Languages, Part 2, 2017
The topic of this paper is convergence in an asymmetrical bilingual setting, and it will be shown... more The topic of this paper is convergence in an asymmetrical bilingual setting, and it will be shown that the outcome of the convergence process is different in the dominant language (L1) from what it is in the receiving language (L2). In L1, there is complication of the receiving language, while there is reduction in the syntax of the L2.
Fróðskaparrit - Faroese Scientific Journal, 2018
Úrtak: Fleiri ymiskir styrkjandi forliðir eru í føroyskum, eins og í hinum norðurlandamálunum ... more Úrtak: Fleiri ymiskir styrkjandi forliðir eru í føroyskum, eins og í hinum norðurlandamálunum og í øðrum germanskum málum sum týskum og hollendskum. Víst verður her, hvørjir styrkjandi forliðir eru í føroyskum, og komið verður stutt inn á, hvussu slíkir liðir møguliga skulu greinast, t.e. sum konstruktiónsidiom.: Faroese has a wide range of up-toner prefixes; a situation that is known from other Scandinavian languages as well as Germanic languages like German and Dutch. Up-toner prefixes in Faroese are presented, and the question how they shall possible be analyzed will be addressed, where I suggest that they are constructional idioms.Lyklaorð: styrkjandi forliðir, forfestislíkar, grammatikalisering, elativar samansetingar, mynsturmállæra, konstruktiónsidiom, myndan av samansetingum. Keywords: Up-toner-prefixes, prefixoid, grammaticalization, elative compounds, construction grammar, constructional idioms, processing compounds.
In Faroese there is univerbation of phrases like onkran stað ‘some place’ to onkrastað- with dele... more In Faroese there is univerbation of phrases like onkran stað ‘some place’ to onkrastað- with deletion of the accusative ending -n in onkran ‘some’. In this particular case an adverbial suffix -ni is added giving the adverb onkrastaðni ‘somewhere’. It is univerbation and derivation of this kind that will be addressed here, where the second part of the compounds is -beint ‘straight’, -leið ‘path’, -stað ‘place’, -steðs ‘place’, -tið ‘time’ and -veg ‘road’.
This article presents the results from two grammaticality studies of Faroese among speakers, aver... more This article presents the results from two grammaticality studies of Faroese among speakers, average age 20, in order to see to what extent V-to-I movement is preserved. The tests show that young Faroese speakers lack V-to-I movement in embedded clauses after non-bridge verbs like harmast um regret', and they also lack other constructions that presuppose an expanded IP. In this respect, then, the Faroese of these speakers conforms to the grammar of Mainland Scandinavian (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish), not to the grammar of Insular Scandinavian (Icelandic).
Urtak 1 Har tað snýr seg um malmot, kann roknast við avirkan imillum malini. Ið hvussu er fer ann... more Urtak 1 Har tað snýr seg um malmot, kann roknast við avirkan imillum malini. Ið hvussu er fer annað malið altið at avirka hitt, og saest henda avirkan aftur i fonologiini, morfologiini, syntaksinum og diskursinum. Urslitið av malmotinum er ymisk stig av lanum. Foroyskt hevur verið fyri danskari avirkan i oldir. Tað hevur við saer, at fleiri donsk tokuorð eru i foroyskum og ymisk bygnaðarlig lan eisini. Nu a dogum kann sigast, at foroyskt liggur imillum islendskt og tey meginlandskandinavisku malini syntaktiskt, og at tað er eitt miðnorðurlendskt mal, hoast tað alt meira broytir seg moti teimum meginlandskandinavisku malunum.
Fróðskaparrit - Faroese Scientific Journal, 2020
In this article, we ask how asymmetrical bilinguals with Faroese (FA) as their L(anguage)1 and Fa... more In this article, we ask how asymmetrical bilinguals with Faroese (FA) as their L(anguage)1 and Faro-Danish (FADA) as their first L2 pronounce the Danish (DA) long vowels. We investigate which of the following three alternatives reflects the actual situation: 1. there is an interaction between the two phonetic subsystems; 2. speakers use Danish pronunciation; or 3. they simply impose the Faroese phonological system onto their Faro-Danish pronunciation.By describing the vowel system of Faro-Danish, this study contributes significantly to the yet unexplored field of Faro-Danish phonetics, as well as revealing some of the linguistic dynamics that characterizes the bilingual situation in the Faroe Islands.ÚrtakHer verður kannað, hvussu asymmetriskir tvímælingar við føroyskum sum M(ál)1 og føroyskum-donskum sum M2 bera fram donsk sjálvljóð. Vit kanna, um sínámillum ávirkan er ímillum tær fonetisku skipanirnar, ella um talandi nýta eina danska úttalu ella ota føroyskar framburðarvanar niðu...
Acta Linguistica Hafniensia, 2017
This paper investigates the status of the alternation in Faroese between HAVE (hava) and BE (vera... more This paper investigates the status of the alternation in Faroese between HAVE (hava) and BE (vera) as auxiliaries combining with the past participle / supine. We present the results of two online questionnaire studies and argue that the data indicate that in Faroese the HAVE/BE alternation is an alternation of perfect auxiliaries, like Danish but unlike the other Scandinavian languages, where BE can only be used to convey resultant state.
Studies in Germanic Linguistics, 2017
Studies in Germanic Linguistics, 2017
Fróðskaparrit - Faroese Scientific Journal, 2017
Úrtak: Føroyskt er í ferð við at broyta seg frá einum syntetiskum til eitt analytiskt mál. Tað me... more Úrtak: Føroyskt er í ferð við at broyta seg frá einum syntetiskum til eitt analytiskt mál. Tað merkir, at í dag er talan um variatión millum syntetiska og analytiska syntaks. Partur av hesari broytingini er tað analytiska mið og hástigið, sum breiðir seg, t.e. sovorðið sum meira sjúkur og mest sjúkur fyri sjúkari og sjúkastur. Her verður kannað, hvussu langt áleiðis broytingin er komin, og sagt verður nakað um grundirnar fyri, hví broytingin er íkomin, t.e., um talan er um driv (innari málbroyting), ella málamót (ytri orsøk til broytingina, t.e. samband við danskt). Eisini verður kannað, um variatiónin er treytað av m.a. kyni.s: Faroese is presently changing from a synthetic to an analytic language. A part of this change is that a synthetic comparative and superlative are changing to an analytical comparative and superlative like more sick and most sick. I will look into where this happens, and has happened, and why, that is, if it has come about as the result of drift (that is, an...
Arkiv For Nordisk Filologi, 2002
The main hypothesis presented in this paper is that the so-called Verschärfung in Germanic (or Ho... more The main hypothesis presented in this paper is that the so-called Verschärfung in Germanic (or Holtzmann's Law) is an independent development in Gothic and Old Norse as shown by structural similarities. The sound change was not of Indo-European origin, but is a diphthongisation with stop articulation as the final step. It will be shown that neither the Indo-European (IE) laryngeals nor the IE accent played any role in the development of-ddj/-ggj and-ggw/-ggv in Gothic and Old Norse. Germanic Verschärfung originated, we will argue, in a structure like [eu.e/ei.e]. The conditions for the change were (i) a disyllabic word-form, (ii) a short vowel as the first part of an-i or-u diphthong, (iii) glide insertion [eu.we], and (iv) a change of the-u/i (or-w/j) part o f the diphthong to a fricative [ej'.we/ej'.je] as an intermediate step before stop articulation. The fricative pronunciation occurred, we will argue, when the word-forms were in accented position in the sentence. This resulted in an alternation between an [ew.we] and [ej^.we], which became opaque, once the fricative changed to a stop. This in turn leads to an analogical levelling of the stop to monosyllabic word-forms. It will be shown, with examples from Old Norse, that the stop articulation was original only in disyllabic word-forms, and spread to mono syllabic word forms. Crucial pairs are hçggva 'to hew ' (infinitive) and past tense hjç. W e will show that an exact typological parallel is found in the history of Faroese, and, with regard to accented sentence position, that we may find typo logical evidence from Danish dialects. Figure 2 Germanic Illustration Attested word-form *aw.wV *haw.wön hçggva (infinitive) Old Norse 'to hew' *haw.wana hçggvenn (preterite participle) Old Norse *ew.wV *hew.wum hçggom (plural present) Old Norse *uw.wV *bluw.wana bluggwans (preterite participle) Gothic 'beaten' *ajjV *waj.ju waddjus (nom. sg.) Gothic 'wall' •ij-jV *ijja iddja (infinitive) Gothic 'to go'
Beginners' language course in Faroese (reading, conversations, vocabulary)
Beginners' language course in Faroese (grammar)
Fróðskaparrit - Faroese Scientific Journal, 2015
The question we adress in this article is to what extent the preposition fyri ‘for’ might govern ... more The question we adress in this article is to what extent the preposition fyri ‘for’ might govern the accusative where it used to govern the dative. In order to find out if this is so, young and old speakers of Faroese have answered a grammaticality judgment test, and it is the results of this test that we present the reader for here.
Fróðskaparrit - Faroese Scientific Journal, 2015
Jonathan Adams and Hjalmar P. Petersen. 2009. Faroese. A Language Course for Beginners. Textbook.... more Jonathan Adams and Hjalmar P. Petersen. 2009. Faroese. A Language Course for Beginners. Textbook. Stiðin, Tórshavn.. xiv + 400 pages. (A cd is included)Hjalmar P. Petersen and Jonathan Adams. Faroese. A Language course for Beginners. Grammar. Stiðin, Tórshavn. xiv + 303 pages
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Papers by Hjalmar Petersen
(hava) and BE (vera) as auxiliaries combining with the past participle / supine.
We present the results of two online questionnaire studies and argue that the
data indicate that in Faroese the HAVE/BE alternation is an alternation of perfect
auxiliaries, like Danish but unlike the other Scandinavian languages, where BE
can only be used to convey resultant state.
Keywords: Faroese; perfect; resultative