Föhr Frisian, or Fering, is the dialect of North Frisian spoken on the island of Föhr in the German region of North Frisia. Fering refers to the Fering Frisian name of Föhr, Feer. Together with the Öömrang, Söl'ring, and Heligolandic dialects, it forms part of the insular group of North Frisian dialects and it is very similar to Öömrang.
Status
Around 3,000 of Föhr's 8,700 people speak Fering (1,500 of them being native speakers), constituting a third of all North Frisian speakers. Fering differs from other North Frisian dialects in that it is also used publicly on Föhr, not only at home. The municipalities of Oldsum and Süderende (Fering: Olersem, Söleraanj) in the western part of Föhr are strongholds of the dialect.
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", a Fering name like Peters means "of Peter". This practice was prohibited by the Danish Crown in 1771 for the Duchy of Schleswig and was therefore abandoned in the eastern part of Föhr. As western Föhr was a direct part of the Danish kingdom until 1864, patronyms were in use there until 1828 when they were forbidden in Denmark proper as well.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Fering !! Dutch !! English
|-
| al of ei || al of niet || (whether) ... or not
|-
| bak || bak || wooden bowl
|-
| bekuf || bekaf || exhausted
|-
| kofe || koffie || coffee
|-
| skraal || schraal || lean, meagre
|-
|det spiit mi || dat spijt mij || I'm sorry
|}
Other loanwords were derived from American English when many people emigrated from Föhr to the United States but kept contact with their relatives on the island. Examples include:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Fering !! English
|-
| gaabitsch || garbage can
|-
| friiser || freezer
|-
| sink || sink
|}
Phonology
thumb|upright=1.13|Short monophthongs of the Föhr dialect on a vowel chart, based on formant values in
thumb|upright=1.13|Long monophthongs of the Föhr dialect on a vowel chart, based on formant values in
The r is always pronounced as alveolar trill. Initial s is always voiceless.
{| class="wikitable"
!
! colspan="4" |Singular
!
!
! colspan="3" |Plural
|-
!Case
!First Person
! colspan="2" |Second Person
! colspan="3" |Third Person
!First Person
!Second Person
!Third Person
|-
!English nominative
!I
!you
!you (formal)
!he
!she
!it
!we
!you
!they
|-
|Nominative (subject form)
|ik
|dü
|i
|hi
|hat
|at
|wi
|jam
|jo
|-
|Accusative and Dative (object form)
|mi
|di
|jau
|ham
|ham
|at
|üs
|jam
|jo
|}
Possessive Pronouns
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="3" rowspan="3" |
! colspan="3" |The noun
|-
! colspan="2" |Singular
!Plural
|-
!Masculine
!Feminine/neuter
!
|-
! rowspan="8" |The owner
! rowspan="5" |Singular
!ik
|man
|min
|minen
|-
!dü
|dan
|din
|dinen
|-
!hi
| rowspan="3" |san
| rowspan="3" |sin
| rowspan="3" |sinen
|-
!hat
|-
!at
|-
! rowspan="3" |Plural
!wi
| colspan="2" |üüs
|üüsen
|-
!jam
| colspan="2" |jau
|jauen
|-
!jo
| colspan="2" |hör
|hören
|}
Literature
There are various Fering authors. One of the first publicly noticed writers was Arfst Jens Arfsten (1812–1899) who began writing anecdotes in Fering around 1855. Others include Stine Andresen (1849–1927) who was a poet and writer from Wyk whose literature often refers to her native island. She published her poetry in German but also in Fering. In 1991, Ellin Nickelsen's novelette Jonk Bradlep (Dark Wedding) was published. With it, she won the first ever held North Frisian literature competition.
Dialects
There are three dialects of Fering: Weesdring in Western Föhr, Aasdring in Eastern Föhr,