Amrum North Frisian
Amrum Frisian, also known as Öömrang, is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the island of Amrum in the North Frisia region of Germany. Öömrang refers to the Öömrang Frisian name of Amrum, which is Oomram. Alongside the Fering, Söl'ring, and Heligolandic dialects, it is part of the insular group of North Frisian dialects, and it bears a close resemblance to Fering. Öömrang is spoken by approximately one-third of Amrum's 2,300 inhabitants.
Characteristics
- Differentiation between long and short vowels by doubling of the vowel letter
- Use of numerous diphthongs and one triphthong, "uai"
- Frequent use of umlauts
- Final "w" is pronounced like a short "u"
- The "r" is rolled
Personal and family names
Personal names on Amrum are still greatly influenced by Frisian elements to this day. Notably, hypocorisms and names with two elements are common. Early borrowings were made from the Danish language and the Christianisation of the North Frisians around 1000 A.D. brought a modest influence of Christian and biblical names. In the Age of Sail, Dutch and West Frisian forms became popular.Family names were usually patronymic, i.e. they were individually created as genitives from the father's given name. Contrary to the Scandinavian Petersen or Petersson, meaning "Peter's son", an Öömrang name like Peters means "of Peter". This practice was eventually prohibited by the Danish Crown in 1828.