Kjenner færøyingane til nynorsk?

[Sandberg]

Eg meiner å ha høyrd at islendingar kan velja mellom dansk, norsk og svensk i skulen. Men kor kjend er nynorsk mellom færøyingar flest? Og trur de at Tyr nokon gong kjem til å syngja ein song eller to på nynorsk? Eg fekk med meg at karane song om han Sinclair på bokmål, det eine av dei to skriftspråka i Noreg, men eg vonar at dei òg vil ta ein trall på det målet som framleis den dag i dag stend mang ein nordmann båe nærare og kjærare enn dansketunga.

I think I've heard that Icelanders can choose to learn either Danish, Norwegian or Swedish in school. But how known is nynorsk among most Faroese? And do you think Tyr ever will sing a song or two in nynorsk? I noticed that the guys sang about Sinclair in bokmål, one of the two official written languages of Norway, but I hope they'll do a tune in the tongue which still to this day many a Norwegian holds both nearer and dearer than the Danish tongue.

Om nynorsk på færøysk
Om færøysk på nynorsk

[ILuvEire]

I think I've heard that Icelanders can choose to learn either Danish, Norwegian or Swedish in school. But how known is nynorsk among most Faroese? And do you think Tyr ever will sing a song or two in nynorsk? I noticed that the guys sang about Sinclair in bokmål, one of the two official written languages of Norway, but I hope they'll do a tune in the tongue which still to this day many a Norwegian holds both nearer and dearer than the Danish tongue.

Om nynorsk på færøysk
Om færøysk på nynorsk

Oh, I don't think so. Every Icelander I've ever talked to and everything I've read says that they study Danish, but they don't really learn it very well. In the Faroes, they study Danish to a very advanced level. Bokmål is very very easy for a Danish speaker to understand, but Nynorsk is quite a bit harder. And as I understand it, there is no spoken Bokmål or Nynorsk, just spoken Norwegian. So you can't really sing in Nynorsk, just an Eastern dialect of Norwegian. But I doubt any foreigner really "sings" in a dialect, foreigners pretty much just learn Bokmål and pronounce it as it's written.

[csjc]

I think I've heard that Icelanders can choose to learn either Danish, Norwegian or Swedish in school. But how known is nynorsk among most Faroese? And do you think Tyr ever will sing a song or two in nynorsk? I noticed that the guys sang about Sinclair in bokmål, one of the two official written languages of Norway, but I hope they'll do a tune in the tongue which still to this day many a Norwegian holds both nearer and dearer than the Danish tongue.

Om nynorsk på færøysk
Om færøysk på nynorsk

Oh, I don't think so. Every Icelander I've ever talked to and everything I've read says that they study Danish, but they don't really learn it very well. In the Faroes, they study Danish to a very advanced level. Bokmål is very very easy for a Danish speaker to understand, but Nynorsk is quite a bit harder. And as I understand it, there is no spoken Bokmål or Nynorsk, just spoken Norwegian. So you can't really sing in Nynorsk, just an Eastern dialect of Norwegian. But I doubt any foreigner really "sings" in a dialect, foreigners pretty much just learn Bokmål and pronounce it as it's written.

Icelanders only learn Danish in school (in addition to English and French/German if they so choose) so I don't imagine Nynorsk would be popular... and the situation is similar in the Faroes with the Danish knowledge being at a higher level than in Iceland (in Iceland most people are conversationally proficient but I wouldn't hesitate to say the overwhelming majority of the Faroese population is fluent in Danish).

That being said, Faroese might very well be able to read Nynorsk well with a little effort.

[Sandberg]

I think I've heard that Icelanders can choose to learn either Danish, Norwegian or Swedish in school. But how known is nynorsk among most Faroese? And do you think Tyr ever will sing a song or two in nynorsk? I noticed that the guys sang about Sinclair in bokmål, one of the two official written languages of Norway, but I hope they'll do a tune in the tongue which still to this day many a Norwegian holds both nearer and dearer than the Danish tongue.

Om nynorsk på færøysk
Om færøysk på nynorsk

Oh, I don't think so. Every Icelander I've ever talked to and everything I've read says that they study Danish, but they don't really learn it very well. In the Faroes, they study Danish to a very advanced level. Bokmål is very very easy for a Danish speaker to understand, but Nynorsk is quite a bit harder. And as I understand it, there is no spoken Bokmål or Nynorsk, just spoken Norwegian. So you can't really sing in Nynorsk, just an Eastern dialect of Norwegian. But I doubt any foreigner really "sings" in a dialect, foreigners pretty much just learn Bokmål and pronounce it as it's written.

I stand corrected. Icelanders apparently can't choose to learn Swedish or Norwegian in school. However, we do have artists who sing in Bokmål and Nynorsk in Norway. Foreigners usually just pick up Bokmål, as you noted, but in the western part of the country Nynorsk is the norm. When it comes to foreigners singing in Nynorsk, one could just try to do some cover songs. "Ormen lange" is one such song, although it really is just a translation from Faroese.

That being said, Faroese might very well be able to read Nynorsk well with a little effort.

They sure do! I also posted this exact same question on kjak.fo, and if you'd like to read up on what's alread been posted, you can do so here: http://www.kjak.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4764