Jakob Jakobsen
Encyclopedia
Dr. phil. Jakob Jakobsen, (* 22 February 1864 in Tórshavn
, Faroe; † 15 August 1918 in Copenhagen
), was a Faroese linguist as well as a scholar of literature
. He was the first Faroese person to earn a doctoral degree. The subject of his doctoral thesis was the Norn language
in Shetland.
. Jakob was the youngest of three children, having two older sisters.
The father H. N. Jacobsen, earned his living as a bookbinder as well as running a bookshop in Tórshavn.
The original book shop was in the old town, but H. N. Jacobsen moved the shop in 1918, to a central location further uptown, where it still stands today, retaining its traditional faroese grass roof. Founded in 1865, H. N. Jacobsens Bókahandil
is one of the oldest shops still in business in the Faroe Islands
today.
Jakob Jakobsen went to the “realskolen” school in Torshavn, where he showed a natural talent for learning languages. At the age of thirteen he went to school in Denmark and finished college in Herlufsholm in 1883. In 1891 he graduated with Danish
as his main subject and French
and Latin
as subsidiary subjects. In 1897 he got a doctor degree with his work “det norrøne sprog på Shetland” (the Norn language in Shetland).
Later in life, one of Jakobsen's sisters played a great role in her brother's life in Copenhagen; and after his death, she also translated his Shetland works into English
, in accordance with Jakobsen's own plans.
and oral poetry
played an important role in the rise of modern Faroese written literature. This is the case most of all with his collection of Faroese legends and folktales: Færøske Folkesagn og Æventyr. He looked upon folk tales as a kind of fictional literature, while the legends to him were a kind of source about early Faroese history
.
He also collected oral poetry, worked with Faroese place-names and created many neologisms. He was the first to point out some Celtic
place-names in the Faroes, and is also responsible for the grammar section and texts-samples in Færøsk Anthologi from 1891 (edited by V. U. Hammershaimb)
In 1898 J. Jakobsen created a new Faroese orthography
based on the new science: Phonetics
. The principle of the 1898 orthography is that there must be a one to one correspondence between phoneme
and letter
, and that the written language should be easy to learn by children. Due to political controversy
, the proposal was abandoned.
.
As John J. Graham
writes in his preface to the 2nd edition, his "Dictionary of the Norn
Language in Shetland is the unrivalled source-book of information on the origins and usage of the Shetland tongue. Based on Jakobsen's fieldwork in Shetland during 1893-95 it first appeared in Danish in four volumes between 1908 and 1921, and was subsequently published in English in two volumes, 1928 and 1932. The Dictionary has established itself internationally as a major work of scholarship in Scandinavian philology." In 1985 The Shetland Folk Society
, of which Graham was President at the time, succeeded in finding funds to reprint the two volume English edition in facsimile.
When Jakobsen left Faroe for Leith
near Edinburgh
, his only knowledge of the language of Shetland was drawn from Thomas Edmondston
's glossary and those parts of George Stewart's Shetland Fireside Tales that are written in dialect. In Edinburgh he met Gilbert Goudie, and there he read "a valuable manuscript supplement" to Edmondston's work written by Thomas Barclay. During his fieldwork in the isles, he interviewed a large number of Shetlandic speakers and scholars, including Haldane Burgess
, James Stout Angus
, John Irvine, Robert Jamieson (1827-1899), James Inkster, John Nicolson, and Laurence Williamson.
Jakobsen's correspondence with Goudie was edited by E. S. Reid Tait and published in 1953. In 1981, Roy Grønneberg published a study entitled Jakobsen and Shetland.
Larsen, Kaj. 1991. Hin fyrsti málreinsarin. Málting 9:12-19
Larsen, Kaj. 1994. Stavsetingaruppskot Jakobs Jakobsens. Varðin 61:7-41
Petersen Hjalmar P. 2007. Jakobsen's Orthography from 1889. To appear in a Conference book on Jakobsen.
Tórshavn
Tórshavn is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the high Kirkjubøreyn...
, Faroe; † 15 August 1918 in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
), was a Faroese linguist as well as a scholar of literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
. He was the first Faroese person to earn a doctoral degree. The subject of his doctoral thesis was the Norn language
Norn language
Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Caithness. After the islands were pledged to Scotland by Norway in the 15th century, it was gradually replaced by Scots and on the mainland by Scottish...
in Shetland.
Life
Jakob Jakobsen's parents were Hans Nicolai Jacobsen from Torshavn, and Johanne Marie Hansdatter from SandoySandoy
Sandoy is a small island that is part of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark. The largest population center on the island is the village of Sandur with a population of six hundred....
. Jakob was the youngest of three children, having two older sisters.
The father H. N. Jacobsen, earned his living as a bookbinder as well as running a bookshop in Tórshavn.
The original book shop was in the old town, but H. N. Jacobsen moved the shop in 1918, to a central location further uptown, where it still stands today, retaining its traditional faroese grass roof. Founded in 1865, H. N. Jacobsens Bókahandil
H. N. Jacobsens Bókahandil
H.N. Jacobsens Bókahandil is the oldest bookshop in Tórshavn and Faroe. It is also one of the oldest shops still in business in the Faroe Islands today....
is one of the oldest shops still in business in the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
today.
Jakob Jakobsen went to the “realskolen” school in Torshavn, where he showed a natural talent for learning languages. At the age of thirteen he went to school in Denmark and finished college in Herlufsholm in 1883. In 1891 he graduated with Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
as his main subject and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
as subsidiary subjects. In 1897 he got a doctor degree with his work “det norrøne sprog på Shetland” (the Norn language in Shetland).
Later in life, one of Jakobsen's sisters played a great role in her brother's life in Copenhagen; and after his death, she also translated his Shetland works into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, in accordance with Jakobsen's own plans.
Jakobsen and Faroese
J. Jakobsen’s work within the field of Faroese folkloreFolklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and oral poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
played an important role in the rise of modern Faroese written literature. This is the case most of all with his collection of Faroese legends and folktales: Færøske Folkesagn og Æventyr. He looked upon folk tales as a kind of fictional literature, while the legends to him were a kind of source about early Faroese history
History of the Faroe Islands
-Pre-Norse history:The early details of Faroese history are rather nebulous. It is possible that Saint Brendan, an Irish monk sailed past the islands during his North Atlantic voyage in the 6th century...
.
He also collected oral poetry, worked with Faroese place-names and created many neologisms. He was the first to point out some Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
place-names in the Faroes, and is also responsible for the grammar section and texts-samples in Færøsk Anthologi from 1891 (edited by V. U. Hammershaimb)
In 1898 J. Jakobsen created a new Faroese orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
based on the new science: Phonetics
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
. The principle of the 1898 orthography is that there must be a one to one correspondence between phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
and letter
Letter (alphabet)
A letter is a grapheme in an alphabetic system of writing, such as the Greek alphabet and its descendants. Letters compose phonemes and each phoneme represents a phone in the spoken form of the language....
, and that the written language should be easy to learn by children. Due to political controversy
Controversy
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction," from contra – "against" – and vertere – to turn, or versus , hence, "to turn...
, the proposal was abandoned.
Jakobsen and Shetland
Dr. Jakob Jakobsen is a key figure in Shetland's cultureCulture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
.
As John J. Graham
John J. Graham
John J. Graham was an American graphic artist who designed and created both the NBC peacock logo and the NBC "snake" logo ....
writes in his preface to the 2nd edition, his "Dictionary of the Norn
Norn language
Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Caithness. After the islands were pledged to Scotland by Norway in the 15th century, it was gradually replaced by Scots and on the mainland by Scottish...
Language in Shetland is the unrivalled source-book of information on the origins and usage of the Shetland tongue. Based on Jakobsen's fieldwork in Shetland during 1893-95 it first appeared in Danish in four volumes between 1908 and 1921, and was subsequently published in English in two volumes, 1928 and 1932. The Dictionary has established itself internationally as a major work of scholarship in Scandinavian philology." In 1985 The Shetland Folk Society
Shetland Folk Society
The Shetland Folk Society was created in 1945 as a heritage group, to gather, record and support all aspects of Shetland's cultural history. The first president was T. A. Robertson , who served until his death in 1973, after which John J. Graham took on the role...
, of which Graham was President at the time, succeeded in finding funds to reprint the two volume English edition in facsimile.
When Jakobsen left Faroe for Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
near Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, his only knowledge of the language of Shetland was drawn from Thomas Edmondston
Thomas Edmondston
Thomas Edmondston was a British-born botanist.The family of Edmondston was prominent in 19th century Shetland. Thomas Edmondston's uncle, also Thomas Edmondston, was laird of the Buness estate on Unst and host to many scientific visitors to Shetland...
's glossary and those parts of George Stewart's Shetland Fireside Tales that are written in dialect. In Edinburgh he met Gilbert Goudie, and there he read "a valuable manuscript supplement" to Edmondston's work written by Thomas Barclay. During his fieldwork in the isles, he interviewed a large number of Shetlandic speakers and scholars, including Haldane Burgess
Haldane Burgess
James John Haldane Burgess is a figure in Shetland's cultural history, being a poet, novelist, violinist, and linguist, as well as a socialist. His published works include Rasmie's Büddie, Some Shetland Folk, Tang, The Treasure of Don Andreas, Rasmie's Kit, Rasmie's Smaa Murr, and The Viking...
, James Stout Angus
James Stout Angus
-Life:He was born at Catfirth Haa in the parish of Nesting. His grandfather William Angus is recorded first at Burraness in Delting, but the lands of Catfirth were leased in 1782 to the Angus family who retained them until 1890. His son Hercules married Janet Stout of Scatsta. He was a merchant at...
, John Irvine, Robert Jamieson (1827-1899), James Inkster, John Nicolson, and Laurence Williamson.
Jakobsen's correspondence with Goudie was edited by E. S. Reid Tait and published in 1953. In 1981, Roy Grønneberg published a study entitled Jakobsen and Shetland.
External links
- John J. GrahamJohn J. GrahamJohn J. Graham was an American graphic artist who designed and created both the NBC peacock logo and the NBC "snake" logo ....
's poem to Jakob Jakobsen is here
- H. N. Jacobsens BókahandilH. N. Jacobsens BókahandilH.N. Jacobsens Bókahandil is the oldest bookshop in Tórshavn and Faroe. It is also one of the oldest shops still in business in the Faroe Islands today....
´s Homepage is here
Larsen, Kaj. 1991. Hin fyrsti málreinsarin. Málting 9:12-19
Larsen, Kaj. 1994. Stavsetingaruppskot Jakobs Jakobsens. Varðin 61:7-41
Petersen Hjalmar P. 2007. Jakobsen's Orthography from 1889. To appear in a Conference book on Jakobsen.