1325.15 - Family name studies (BA)

1325.15

Family name studies (BA)

10

Students must have completed the required core component of the BA in Faroese. This course can also be taken as an individual course subject to other prerequisites (please refer to the academic programme in force).

For students to acquire a foundation in the study of family names throughout history and today.

This course will examine surnaming conventions from the earliest to present day practices. The earliest convention was to add –son or –daughter to the father’s name, sometimes the mother’s name. On May 30, 1828, a Royal Decree was issued, which meant that the –sen names of the time were instituted as fixed surnames. In 1904 a Danish act on name changing entered into force. It authorised individuals to change their family name. The course will entail an exhaustive revision of fathers’ names history, family names, particularly dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, their structure, origin, written form and other characteristics, in addition to the legislation on family names. The course will also touch on middle names, as well as epithets that have often become family names.

The duration of the course is three hours a week over one semester. The approaches used are class-based teaching and student presentations.

Successful students can demonstrate that they have acquired a foundation in the theory of family names and the ability to: • offer a basic analysis and description of the different family naming conventions, including • explain epithets and analyse them • explain and analyse middle names • explain and analyse original fathers’ names and inherited fathers’ names • explain and analyse bought family names in the Faroes • offer a basic explanation of the legislation governing family names

Six-hour written examination.

External

There is no textbook. Students will therefore receive copies of articles and treatises on family name studies.

Anfinnur Johansen