language spoken in the Faroe Islands by some 48,000 inhabitants. Faroese belongs to the West Scandinavian group of the North Germanic languages. It preserves more characteristics of Old Norse (Old Norse language) than any other language except modern Icelandic (Icelandic language), to which it is closely related, but with which it is mutually unintelligible. Because Danish was the official language of the Faroe Islands, literary activity on the islands was minimal, though the local dialects continued to develop. Traditional dance ballads were written down after 1773 before the establishment in 1846 of an independent orthography, and they make up the greater part of Faroese traditional literature. Initially described by the Danish language scholar Rasmus Rask (Rask, Rasmus)—who wrote the first Faroese grammar (1811)—as a dialect of Icelandic, Faroese is actually an independent language, intermediate between West Norwegian and Icelandic and containing many Danish (Danish language) loanwords.

The written language was established by the Faroese linguist and folklorist Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb in 1846. The orthography is etymologizing and unphonetic and gives Faroese a strong Icelandic appearance. The language is notable for its many diphthongs (diphthong), which developed from older, simple vowels. By 1912 Faroese was authorized for use in some schools and churches, and the establishment of home rule in 1948 led to the introduction of Faroese as the primary language taught in the schools. (Danish is now taught beginning in the third grade and English in the fifth.)