Resumen de Language use and linguistic nationalism in the Faroe Islands

Karin Jóhanna L. Knudsen

• Using data from the work of a Language Commission set by the Faroese Government in 2005 to formulate a proposal for an official Faroese language policy and findings from my own study on language use among young Faroe Islanders, this paper questions whether the present language policy in the Faroes is an effective strategy to maintain and protect a demographically small language – like Faroese – as a viable language. The findings of this study indicate a conflict between a purist movement that wants to police the Faroese language and actual language use. The findings also suggest that even if one lives in a linguistically fairly homogenous situation, in remote areas, multilingualism is a necessity.