Skopunarfjørður
The Skopunarfjørður is a natural strait of the Faroe Islands between the islands Sandoy in the south and Streymoy and Hestur in the north.
It takes its name from the place Skopun on Sandoy. Besides Kirkjubøur on Streymoy, it is the only place on the waterway.
traffic
As a traffic route, the Skopunarfjørður has always been the connection between the residents of Sandoy and the main island of Streymoy. While the ferry used to go from Tórshavn to Skopun, it has been departing from Gamlarætt since 1991 , initially crossing the Hestsfjørður , which flows into the Skopunarfjørður. It is planned (as of 2006) to cross the fjord for 9 kilometers with the Sandoy tunnel . This would make it the longest submarine road tunnel in the world.
Dialect border
Skopunarfjørður is also one of the most important isoglosses in the Faroese language . When Nordfjords and Südfjords (or the analogous terms in Faroese or Danish) are mentioned in the literature , the dialects of the South and the North are meant.
The first written mention of this rough subdivision is found in Lucas Debes 1673. Exactly a hundred years later, Jens Christian Svabo distinguishes between the “southern island” (suderøske), “northern island” (norderøske) and Tórshavner dialect in his manuscript for his dictionary in 1773. A few years later, a fourth "general" dialect came up with him, but he does not locate it more precisely (possibly Vágar is meant). Johan Henrik Schrøter again wrote about two main dialects around 1820, a "Northern language" (Noran Maali) and a "Southern language" (Sunnan Maali). VU Hammershaimb divided Faroese again into three main dialects in 1854: the "Südfjordsdialekt" (Søndenfjordsdialekten), "Streymoydialekt" (Strømødialekten), "Nordinselnialekten" (Norderødialekten). In the revised grammar from 1891, however, he and Jakob Jakobsen again write of two main dialects: North and South - with Skopunarfjørður as the most important dividing line.
The dialect group south of Skopunarfjørður is called Søndenfjordsdialekt (Südfjordsdialekt) in Danish and includes, in addition to Sandoy, Suðuroy , Skúvoy and Stóra Dímun . The main characteristics are:
- The short / ou / (ó) is pronounced in the south [ɔ], in the north [œ]
- The / a / vor / ng, nk / is pronounced in the south [a], in the north [ɛ]
- In the south / p, t, k / are unaspirated after long vowels, in the north they are aspirated.
The southern dialect or southern fjord dialect is divided into two groups: The dialects of Suðuroy; and those of Sandoy, Skúvoy and Stóra Dímun.
literature
- Höskuldur Thráinsson et al .: Faroese. An Overview and Reference Grammar . Tórshavn 2004, p. 339 ff.
Coordinates: 61 ° 55 ′ N , 6 ° 47 ′ W