This article is about the North Frisian dialect. For the pharmaceutical company, see Ferring Pharmaceuticals.
Föhr Frisian, or Fering, is the dialect of North Frisian spoken on the island of Föhr in the German region of North Frisia. Fering refers to the Fering Frisian name of Föhr, Feer. Together with the Öömrang, Söl'ring, and Heligolandic dialects, it forms part of the insular group of North Frisian dialects and it is very similar to Öömrang.
Around 3,000 of Föhr's 8,700 people speak Fering (1,500 of them being native speakers[1]), constituting a third of all North Frisian speakers. An unknown number of emigrants in the United States of America, mainly in New York and Northern California, speak Fering as well. Fering differs from other North Frisian dialects in that it is also used publicly on Föhr, not only at home. The municipalities of Oldsum and Süderende (Fering: Olersem, Söleraanj) in the western part of Föhr are strongholds of the dialect.[1]
Personal and family names
Personal names on Föhr are still today greatly influenced by a Frisian element. Notably hypocorisms and names with two elements are common. Early borrowings were made from the Danish language and the Christianisation of the North Frisians around 1000 A.D. brought a modest influence of Christian and biblical names. In the Age of Sail, Dutch and West Frisian forms became popular.[3]
Family names were usually patronymic, i. e. they were individually created as genitives from the father's given name. Contrary to the Scandinavian Petersen or Petersson, meaning "Peter's son", a Fering name like Peters means "of Peter". This practice was prohibited by the Danish Crown in 1771 for the Duchy of Schleswig and was therefore abandoned in the eastern part of Föhr. As western Föhr was a direct part of the Danish kingdom until 1864, patronyms were in use there until 1828 when they were forbidden in Denmark proper as well.[3]
Loanwords
Apart from Dutch names, the seafarers in Dutch service also introduced many loanwords in Dutch language to Fering which are still in use today. It has been observed that apart from Afrikaans, no other language outside the Netherlands proper has been influenced as much by the Dutch language as the North Frisian insular dialects. Examples for Fering include:[4]
Fering
Dutch
English
al of ei
al of niet
(whether) ... or not
bak
bak
wooden bowl
bekuf
bekaf
exhausted
kofe
koffie
coffee
skraal
schraal
lean, meagre
det spiit mi
dat spijt mij
I'm sorry
Other loanwords were derived from American English when many people emigrated from Föhr to the United States but kept contact with their relatives on the island. Examples include:[5]
Fering
English
gaabitsch
garbage can
friiser
freezer
sink
sink
Phonology
Short monophthongs of the Föhr dialect on a vowel chart, based on formant values in Bohn (2004:164)
Long monophthongs of the Föhr dialect on a vowel chart, based on formant values in Bohn (2004:164)
The r is always pronounced as alveolar trill. Initial s is always voiceless.[5]
The current orthographic rules for Fering and Öömrang were defined in 1971. Previously, linguists like L. C. Peters, Otto Bremer and Reinhard Arfsten had each created their own Fering orthography. Long vowels including those with umlauts are always written as double letters while consonants are short by default. Capital letters are only used in the beginning of a sentence and for proper names.[5]
letter(s)
value(s) in IPA
notes
a
/a/
aa
/ʌː/
au
/au̯/
ä
/ɛ/
ää
/ɛː/
äi
/ɛi/
b
/b/
ch
/x/
d
/d/
dj
/dj/
e
/ɛ/, /ə/
Becomes schwa when unstressed
ee
/eː/
f
/f/
g
/ɡ/
h
/h/
i
/ɪ/
ia
/ia̯/
ii
/iː/
j
/j/
k
/k/
l
/l/
lj
/lj/
m
/m/
n
/n/
ng
/ŋ/
nj
/nj/
o
/ɔ/
oi
/ʌːi̯/
oo
/oː/
ö
/œ/
öi
/øi̯/
öö
/øː/
p
/p/
r
/r/
s
/s/, /z/
"s" is always /s/ in initial position, /z/ between vowels
sch
/ʃ/
t
/t/
tj
/tj/
u
/ʊ/
ua
/ua̯/
uai
/ua̯i̯/
ui
/ui̯/
uu
/uː/
ü
/ʏ/
üü
/yː/
w
/v/
Grammar
Nouns
Gender
Fering originally had 3 genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. However during the course of the twentieth century the feminine and neuter genders have combined.
Number
Fering nouns have two numbers – singular and plural. There are two major suffixes used to form the plural: "-er" and "-en". Nouns with a masculine gender often use the "-er" plural (although there are a few feminine/neuter nouns in this group) and nouns with a feminine/neuter gender often use the "-en" plural (there are a few masculine nouns in this group). Plurals can also be formed using "-in", "-n" and "-s". There are also plurals formed by changing a consonant at the end of the word, by changing a vowel within the word or by retaining the same form as the singular. Occasionally the plural form is formed by using a different word.
An example of a masculine noun using the "-er" plural suffix: hünj (dog) – hünjer (dogs). Nouns can also lose an unstressed vowel, as is the case with kurew (basket) – kurwer (baskets). Some nouns undergo a vowel change, such as smas (blacksmith) – smeser (blacksmiths).
There are exceptions in this suffix group, including wöning (window; a feminine/neuter noun) which forms the plural by removing a syllable – wönger' (windows), and insel (island; also a feminine/neuter noun, and a German loanword) which form forms the plural by removing an unstressed vowel – insler (islands).
An example of a feminine/neuter noun using the "-en" plural suffix: buk (book) – buken (books). Nouns can also lose an unstressed vowel, as is the case with foomen (woman) – foomnen (women) and taarep (village) – taarpen (villages).
An example of a (feminine/neuter) noun using the "-en" plural suffix: baantje (office – i.e., a type of position) – baantjin (offices).
An example of a (masculine) noun using the "-n" plural suffix: mooler (painter) – moolern (painters).
An example of a (masculine) noun using the "-s" plural suffix: koptein (captain) – kopteins (captains).
Examples of masculine nouns which retain the same form as the singular include: stian (stone(s)), karmen (man, men), lüs (louse, lice), steewel (boot(s)) and twanling (twin(s)).
Examples of feminine/neuter nouns which retain the same form as the singular include: bian (bone(s), leg(s), gris (piglet(s)), schep (sheep, singular and plural) and swin (pig(s)).
Verbs
In Fering, there are three groups of verbs: weak, strong and irregular verbs.
Fering literature
There are various Fering authors. One of the first publicly noticed writers was Arfst Jens Arfsten (1812–1899) who began writing anecdotes in Fering around 1855.[6] Others include Stine Andresen (1849–1927) who was a poet and writer from Wyk whose literature often refers to her native island. She published her poetry in German but also in Fering. In 1991, Ellin Nickelsen's noveletteJonk Bradlep (Dark Wedding) was published. With it, she won the first ever held North Frisian literature competition.[7]
^"f" (PDF). The Linguasphere Register. p. 164. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
^ abFaltings, Volkert F., ed. (1985). Kleine Namenkunde für Föhr und Amrum (in German). Hamburg: Helmut Buske. ISBN3-87118-680-5.
^Faltings, Jan I. (2011). Föhrer Grönlandfahrt im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert (in German). Amrum: Verlag Jens Quedens. pp. 39–40. ISBN978-3-924422-95-0.
^ abcdKunz, Harry; Steensen, Thomas (2013). Nordfriisk Instituut (ed.). Föhr Lexikon (in German). Neumünster, Hamburg: Wachholtz Verlag. pp. 120–122. ISBN978-3-529-05523-2.
^Arfsten, Arfst J. (1993). Faltings, Volkert F. (ed.). Fering düntjin [Fering anecdotes]. Nuurdfresk tekstbiblioteek (in Northern Frisian, German, and Low German). Vol. 1. Amrum: Verlag Jens Quedens. pp. 9–22. ISBN978-3-924422-16-5.
^Nickelsen, Ellin (1991). Jonk Bradlep (in Northern Frisian). Bredstedt: Nordfriisk Instituut. ISBN978-3-88007-175-9. Weblink in German and Fering.
External links
Ocke-Schwen Bohn's home page Speech samples and a phonetic description of Fering
February 21, 2023
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This article is about the North Frisian dialect For the pharmaceutical company see Ferring Pharmaceuticals Fohr Frisian or Fering is the dialect of North Frisian spoken on the island of Fohr in the German region of North Frisia Fering refers to the Fering Frisian name of Fohr Feer Together with the Oomrang Sol ring and Heligolandic dialects it forms part of the insular group of North Frisian dialects and it is very similar to Oomrang Fohr FrisianFeringNative toGermanyRegionFohr NordfrieslandNative speakers1 500 2004 estimate 1 Language familyIndo European GermanicWest GermanicNorth Sea GermanicAnglo FrisianFrisianNorth FrisianInsularFohr AmrumFohr FrisianLanguage codesISO 639 3 Glottologferr1240Linguasphere2 ACA dbb to 2 ACA dbd sup id cite ref 2 class reference a href cite note 2 2 a sup North Frisian dialectsThis article contains IPA phonetic symbols Without proper rendering support you may see question marks boxes or other symbols instead of Unicode characters For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA Contents 1 Status 2 Personal and family names 3 Loanwords 4 Phonology 5 Orthography 6 Grammar 6 1 Nouns 6 1 1 Gender 6 1 2 Number 6 2 Verbs 7 Fering literature 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksStatus EditAround 3 000 of Fohr s 8 700 people speak Fering 1 500 of them being native speakers 1 constituting a third of all North Frisian speakers An unknown number of emigrants in the United States of America mainly in New York and Northern California speak Fering as well Fering differs from other North Frisian dialects in that it is also used publicly on Fohr not only at home The municipalities of Oldsum and Suderende Fering Olersem Soleraanj in the western part of Fohr are strongholds of the dialect 1 Personal and family names EditPersonal names on Fohr are still today greatly influenced by a Frisian element Notably hypocorisms and names with two elements are common Early borrowings were made from the Danish language and the Christianisation of the North Frisians around 1000 A D brought a modest influence of Christian and biblical names In the Age of Sail Dutch and West Frisian forms became popular 3 Family names were usually patronymic i e they were individually created as genitives from the father s given name Contrary to the Scandinavian Petersen or Petersson meaning Peter s son a Fering name like Peters means of Peter This practice was prohibited by the Danish Crown in 1771 for the Duchy of Schleswig and was therefore abandoned in the eastern part of Fohr As western Fohr was a direct part of the Danish kingdom until 1864 patronyms were in use there until 1828 when they were forbidden in Denmark proper as well 3 Loanwords EditApart from Dutch names the seafarers in Dutch service also introduced many loanwords in Dutch language to Fering which are still in use today It has been observed that apart from Afrikaans no other language outside the Netherlands proper has been influenced as much by the Dutch language as the North Frisian insular dialects Examples for Fering include 4 Fering Dutch Englishal of ei al of niet whether or notbak bak wooden bowlbekuf bekaf exhaustedkofe koffie coffeeskraal schraal lean meagredet spiit mi dat spijt mij I m sorryOther loanwords were derived from American English when many people emigrated from Fohr to the United States but kept contact with their relatives on the island Examples include 5 Fering Englishgaabitsch garbage canfriiser freezersink sinkPhonology Edit Short monophthongs of the Fohr dialect on a vowel chart based on formant values in Bohn 2004 164 Long monophthongs of the Fohr dialect on a vowel chart based on formant values in Bohn 2004 164 The r is always pronounced as alveolar trill Initial s is always voiceless 5 The diphthongs ia ua and ui as well as the triphthong uai are falling diphthongs i e the stress is always on the first vowel 5 Orthography EditThe current orthographic rules for Fering and Oomrang were defined in 1971 Previously linguists like L C Peters Otto Bremer and Reinhard Arfsten had each created their own Fering orthography Long vowels including those with umlauts are always written as double letters while consonants are short by default Capital letters are only used in the beginning of a sentence and for proper names 5 letter s value s in IPA notesa a aa ʌː au au a ɛ aa ɛː ai ɛi b b ch x d d dj dj e ɛ e Becomes schwa when unstressedee eː f f g ɡ h h i ɪ ia ia ii iː j j k k l l lj lj m m n n ng ŋ nj nj o ɔ oi ʌːi oo oː o œ oi oi oo oː p p r r s s z s is always s in initial position z between vowelssch ʃ t t tj tj u ʊ ua ua uai ua i ui ui uu uː u ʏ uu yː w v Grammar EditNouns Edit Gender Edit Fering originally had 3 genders masculine feminine and neuter However during the course of the twentieth century the feminine and neuter genders have combined Number Edit Fering nouns have two numbers singular and plural There are two major suffixes used to form the plural er and en Nouns with a masculine gender often use the er plural although there are a few feminine neuter nouns in this group and nouns with a feminine neuter gender often use the en plural there are a few masculine nouns in this group Plurals can also be formed using in n and s There are also plurals formed by changing a consonant at the end of the word by changing a vowel within the word or by retaining the same form as the singular Occasionally the plural form is formed by using a different word An example of a masculine noun using the er plural suffix hunj dog hunjer dogs Nouns can also lose an unstressed vowel as is the case with kurew basket kurwer baskets Some nouns undergo a vowel change such as smas blacksmith smeser blacksmiths There are exceptions in this suffix group including woning window a feminine neuter noun which forms the plural by removing a syllable wonger windows and insel island also a feminine neuter noun and a German loanword which form forms the plural by removing an unstressed vowel insler islands An example of a feminine neuter noun using the en plural suffix buk book buken books Nouns can also lose an unstressed vowel as is the case with foomen woman foomnen women and taarep village taarpen villages An example of a feminine neuter noun using the en plural suffix baantje office i e a type of position baantjin offices An example of a masculine noun using the n plural suffix mooler painter moolern painters An example of a masculine noun using the s plural suffix koptein captain kopteins captains Examples of masculine nouns which retain the same form as the singular include stian stone s karmen man men lus louse lice steewel boot s and twanling twin s Examples of feminine neuter nouns which retain the same form as the singular include bian bone s leg s gris piglet s schep sheep singular and plural and swin pig s Verbs Edit In Fering there are three groups of verbs weak strong and irregular verbs Fering literature EditThere are various Fering authors One of the first publicly noticed writers was Arfst Jens Arfsten 1812 1899 who began writing anecdotes in Fering around 1855 6 Others include Stine Andresen 1849 1927 who was a poet and writer from Wyk whose literature often refers to her native island She published her poetry in German but also in Fering In 1991 Ellin Nickelsen s novelette Jonk Bradlep Dark Wedding was published With it she won the first ever held North Frisian literature competition 7 See also EditLeew Eilun FeerReferences Edit a b c Bohn Ocke Schwen 2004 How to organize a fairly large vowel inventory the vowels of Fering North Frisian PDF Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 2 161 173 doi 10 1017 s002510030400180x f PDF The Linguasphere Register p 164 Retrieved 19 September 2011 a b Faltings Volkert F ed 1985 Kleine Namenkunde fur Fohr und Amrum in German Hamburg Helmut Buske ISBN 3 87118 680 5 Faltings Jan I 2011 Fohrer Gronlandfahrt im 18 und 19 Jahrhundert in German Amrum Verlag Jens Quedens pp 39 40 ISBN 978 3 924422 95 0 a b c d Kunz Harry Steensen Thomas 2013 Nordfriisk Instituut ed Fohr Lexikon in German Neumunster Hamburg Wachholtz Verlag pp 120 122 ISBN 978 3 529 05523 2 Arfsten Arfst J 1993 Faltings Volkert F ed Fering duntjin Fering anecdotes Nuurdfresk tekstbiblioteek in Northern Frisian German and Low German Vol 1 Amrum Verlag Jens Quedens pp 9 22 ISBN 978 3 924422 16 5 Nickelsen Ellin 1991 Jonk Bradlep in Northern Frisian Bredstedt Nordfriisk Instituut ISBN 978 3 88007 175 9 Weblink in German and Fering External links EditOcke Schwen Bohn s home page Speech samples and a phonetic description of Fering Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fohr North Frisian amp oldid 1128373832, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
