{{Short description|North Frisian dialect of Föhr, Germany}} {{About|the North Frisian dialect|the pharmaceutical company|Ferring Pharmaceuticals}} {{Infobox language |name= Föhr Frisian |nativename=''Fering'' |states=Germany |region=Föhr, Nordfriesland |speakers=1,500 |date=2004 estimate |ref=<ref name=bohn/> |familycolor=Indo-European |fam2=Germanic |fam3=West Germanic |fam4=North Sea Germanic |fam5=Anglo-Frisian |fam6=Frisian |fam7=North Frisian |fam8=Insular |fam9=Föhr–Amrum |isoexception=dialect |glotto=ferr1240 |glottorefname=Ferring |lingua=2-ACA-dbb to 2-ACA-dbd<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.linguasphere.info/lcontao/tl_files/pdf/index/LS_index_d-e-f.pdf |page=164 |work=The Linguasphere Register |title=f |access-date=19 September 2011}}</ref> |map=NordfriesischeDialekte.png |mapcaption=North Frisian dialects |notice=IPA }}
'''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.
==Status== Around 3,000 of Föhr's 8,700 people speak ''Fering'' (1,500 of them being native speakers),<ref name=bohn>{{cite journal |title=How to organize a fairly large vowel inventory: the vowels of Fering (North Frisian) |author1-link=Ocke-Schwen Bohn |first=Ocke-Schwen |last=Bohn |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=34 |issue=2 |year=2004 |url=http://pure.au.dk/portal/files/44857633/jipa34.pdf |pages=161–173 |doi=10.1017/s002510030400180x}}</ref> constituting a third of all North Frisian speakers. 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.<ref name=bohn/>
==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.<ref name=Faltings>{{cite book|editor-first=Volkert F. |editor-last=Faltings |title=Kleine Namenkunde für Föhr und Amrum |location=Hamburg |publisher=Helmut Buske |year=1985 |language=de |isbn=3-87118-680-5}}</ref>
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.<ref name=Faltings/>
==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:<ref>{{cite book|title=Föhrer Grönlandfahrt im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert |language=de |first=Jan I. |last=Faltings |location=Amrum |publisher=Verlag Jens Quedens |pages=39–40| year=2011 |isbn=978-3-924422-95-0}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" |- ! 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:<ref name=Lexikon>{{cite book|title=Föhr Lexikon |language=de |editor=Nordfriisk Instituut |first=Harry |last=Kunz |first2=Thomas |last2=Steensen |pages=120–122 |year=2013 |location=Neumünster, Hamburg |publisher=Wachholtz Verlag |isbn=978-3-529-05523-2}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" |- ! Fering !! English |- | gaabitsch || garbage can |- | friiser || freezer |- | sink || sink |}
==Phonology== thumb|upright=1.13|Short monophthongs of the Föhr dialect on a vowel chart, based on formant values in {{Harvcoltxt|Bohn|2004|p=164}} thumb|upright=1.13|Long monophthongs of the Föhr dialect on a vowel chart, based on formant values in {{Harvcoltxt|Bohn|2004|p=164}} The ''r'' is always pronounced as alveolar trill. Initial ''s'' is always voiceless.<ref name=Lexikon/>
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.<ref name=Lexikon/>
== Orthography == 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.<ref name=Lexikon/>
{| class="wikitable" ! letter(s) !! value(s) in IPA !! notes |- | a || {{IPA|/a/}} || |- | aa || {{IPA|/ʌː/}} || |- | au || {{IPA|/au̯/}} || |- | ä || {{IPA|/ɛ/}} || |- | ää || {{IPA|/ɛː/}} || |- | äi || {{IPA|/ɛi/}} || |- | b || {{IPA|/b/}} || |- | ch || {{IPA|/x/}} || |- | d || {{IPA|/d/}} || |- | dj || {{IPA|/dj/}} || |- | e || {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, {{IPA|/ə/}} || Becomes schwa when unstressed |- | ee || {{IPA|/eː/}} || |- | f || {{IPA|/f/}} || |- | g || {{IPA|/ɡ/}} || |- | h || {{IPA|/h/}} || |- | i || {{IPA|/ɪ/}} || |- | ia || {{IPA|/ia̯/}} || |- | ii || {{IPA|/iː/}} || |- | j || {{IPA|/j/}} || |- | k || {{IPA|/k/}} || |- | l || {{IPA|/l/}} || |- | lj || {{IPA|/lj/}} || |- | m || {{IPA|/m/}} || |- | n || {{IPA|/n/}} || |- | ng || {{IPA|/ŋ/}} || |- | nj || {{IPA|/nj/}} || |- | o || {{IPA|/ɔ/}} || |- | oi || {{IPA|/ʌːi̯/}} || |- | oo || {{IPA|/oː/}} || |- | ö || {{IPA|/œ/}} || |- | öi || {{IPA|/øi̯/}} || |- | öö || {{IPA|/øː/}} || |- | p || {{IPA|/p/}} || |- | r || {{IPA|/r/}} || |- | s || {{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/z/}} || "s" is always {{IPA|/s/}} in initial position, {{IPA|/z/}} between vowels |- | sch || {{IPA|/ʃ/}} || |- | t || {{IPA|/t/}} || |- | tj || {{IPA|/tj/}} || |- | u || {{IPA|/ʊ/}} || |- | ua || {{IPA|/ua̯/}} || |- | uai || {{IPA|/ua̯i̯/}} || |- | ui || {{IPA|/ui̯/}} || |- | uu || {{IPA|/uː/}} || |- | ü || {{IPA|/ʏ/}} || |- | üü || {{IPA|/yː/}} || |- | w || {{IPA|/v/}} || |}
Although there is a standard orthography, there is still spelling variation. This could partly be because many Fering speakers only learned how to spell standard German in school. For example, the North Frisian nationalist slogan ''"lewer duad üs Slaw!"'' (better dead than a slave) often appears along with the flag or crest of Föhr and has spelling variants including: ''leewer duad üüs Slaaw'', ''lewer duaad üs Slaaw'', and ''lewer duad üs Slav''.
== Grammar ==
===Nouns=== ====Gender==== Fering originally had three 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: {{lang|frr|hünj}} (dog) – {{lang|frr|hünjer}} (dogs). Nouns can also lose an unstressed vowel, as is the case with {{lang|frr|kurew}} (basket) – {{lang|frr|kurwer}} (baskets). Some nouns undergo a vowel change, such as {{lang|frr|smas}} (blacksmith) – {{lang|frr|smeser}} (blacksmiths).
There are exceptions in this suffix group, including {{lang|frr|wöning}} (window; a feminine/neuter noun) which forms the plural by removing a syllable – {{lang|frr|wönger}}' (windows), and {{lang|frr|insel}} (island; also a feminine/neuter noun, and a German loanword) which form forms the plural by removing an unstressed vowel – {{lang|frr|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 {{lang|frr|foomen}} (woman) – {{lang|frr|foomnen}} (women) and {{lang|frr|taarep}} (village) – {{lang|frr|taarpen}} (villages). * An example of a (feminine/neuter) noun using the ''"-en"'' plural suffix: {{lang|frr|baantje}} (office – i.e., a type of position) – {{lang|frr|baantjin}} (offices). * An example of a (masculine) noun using the ''"-n"'' plural suffix: {{lang|frr|mooler}} (painter) – {{lang|frr|moolern}} (painters). * An example of a (masculine) noun using the ''"-s"'' plural suffix: {{lang|frr|koptein}} (captain) – {{lang|frr|kopteins}} (captains). * Examples of masculine nouns which retain the same form as the singular include: {{lang|frr|stian}} (stone(s)), ''karmen'' (man, men), ''lüs'' (louse, lice), {{lang|frr|steewel}} (boot(s)) and {{lang|frr|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.
=== Personal pronouns === Fering pronouns can be singular or plural. There used to be a dual form but it is no longer used. The formal is rarely used.<ref name=arfsten>{{Cite book |last=Arfsten |first=Antje | last2=Paulsen-Schwarz |first2=Anne |last3=Terhart |first3=Lena |title=Friesische Gebrauchgrammatik Fering |date=31 December 2019 |publisher=Nordfriisk Instituut |location=Bredstedt |url=https://www.nordfriiskinstituut.eu/fileadmin/Content/Nordfriisk_Futuur/E-Books/Friesische_Gebrauchsgrammatik_-_Fering.pdf |language=de |access-date=15 July 2024}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" ! ! colspan="4" |Singular ! ! ! colspan="3" |Plural |- !'''Case''' !'''First Person''' ! colspan="2" |'''Second Person''' ! colspan="3" |'''Third Person''' !'''First Person''' !'''Second Person''' !'''Third Person''' |- !'''English nominative''' !'''I''' !'''you''' !'''you (formal)''' !'''he''' !'''she''' !'''it''' !'''we''' !'''you''' !'''they''' |- |Nominative (subject form) |''ik'' |''dü'' |''i'' |''hi'' |''hat'' |''at'' |''wi'' |''jam'' |''jo'' |- |Accusative and Dative (object form) |''mi'' |''di'' |''jau'' |''ham'' |''ham'' |''at'' |''üs'' |''jam'' |''jo'' |}
==== Possessive Pronouns ==== {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="3" rowspan="3" | ! colspan="3" |The noun |- ! colspan="2" |Singular !Plural |- !Masculine !Feminine/neuter ! |- ! rowspan="8" |The owner ! rowspan="5" |Singular !ik |''man'' |''min'' |''minen'' |- !dü |''dan'' |''din'' |''dinen'' |- !hi | rowspan="3" |''san'' | rowspan="3" |''sin'' | rowspan="3" |''sinen'' |- !hat |- !at |- ! rowspan="3" |Plural !wi | colspan="2" |''üüs'' |''üüsen'' |- !jam | colspan="2" |''jau'' |''jauen'' |- !jo | colspan="2" |''hör'' |''hören'' |}
==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.<ref>{{cite book|first=Arfst J. |last=Arfsten |editor-first=Volkert F. |editor-last=Faltings |title=Fering düntjin |trans-title=Fering anecdotes |language=frr, de, nds |pages=9–22 |year=1993 |publisher=Verlag Jens Quedens |location=Amrum |series=Nuurdfresk tekstbiblioteek |volume=1 |isbn=978-3-924422-16-5}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Jonk Bradlep|first=Ellin|last=Nickelsen|year=1991|publisher=Nordfriisk Instituut|location=Bredstedt|isbn=978-3-88007-175-9|url=http://www.nordfriiskinstituut.de/verlagsprogramm/indexv.html?titel_jonkbradlep.php|language=frr|access-date=2013-12-18|archive-date=2016-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201353/http://www.nordfriiskinstituut.de/verlagsprogramm/indexv.html?titel_jonkbradlep.php|url-status=dead}} Weblink in German and Fering.</ref>
==Dialects== There are three dialects of Fering: ''Weesdring'' in Western Föhr, ''Aasdring'' in Eastern Föhr,<ref name=arfsten/> and ''Boowentaareps'' in Southern Föhr.
==See also== *{{lang|frr|Leew Eilun Feer}} *Low German
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite journal |last=Hoekstra |first=Jarich |title=Another Quantificational Variability Effect: The indefinite pronoun neemen 'no one' as a floating quantifier and as a negative adverb in Fering–Öömrang (North Frisian) |journal=Lingua |volume=134 |date=2013 |doi=10.1016/j.lingua.2013.07.006 |pages=194–209 |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0024384113001629 |url-access=subscription}}
==External links== * [http://www.hum.au.dk/engelsk/engosb/fering.html Ocke-Schwen Bohn's home page] Speech samples and a phonetic description of Fering * [https://ferring-stiftung.de/en/ Ferring Stiftung] has a North Frisian version of its site and an archive of materials and recordings in Fering
{{Frisian languages}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Föhr Category:North Frisian language