Editing Fjord (section)

==Etymology==
[[Image:Norge Fjorder1.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Important fjords and lakes in [[Norway]]. Note: The part of the map showing the northern fjords has a considerably smaller scale. Blurred coastlines = [[skerry|skerries]]]]

The word ''fjord'' is borrowed from [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], where it is pronounced {{IPA|no|ˈfjuːr|}}, {{IPA|no|ˈfjøːr|}}, {{IPA|no|ˈfjuːɽ|}} or {{IPA|no|ˈfjøːɽ|}} in various [[Norwegian dialects|dialects]] and has a more general meaning, referring in many cases to any long, narrow body of water, [[inlet]] or [[Channel (geography)|channel]] (for example, see [[Oslofjord]]).

The Norwegian word is inherited from [[Old Norse]] {{Lang|non|fjǫrðr}}, a noun which refers to a 'lake-like' body of water used for passage and ferrying and is closely related to the noun ''{{lang|non|ferð}}'' "travelling, ferrying, journey".<ref name="Nesje">Nesje, A. (2009). Fjords of Norway: Complex Origin of a Scenic Landscape. In ''Geomorphological Landscapes of the World'' (pp. 223–234). Springer, Dordrecht.</ref><ref name="s">{{Cite web |url=https://snl.no/fjord |title=fjord |date=2021 |access-date=11 December 2021 |website=Store norske leksikon |last=Lilleøren |first=Karianne}}

</ref> Both words go back to [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] {{Wikt-lang|ine-pro|Proto-Indo-European/pértus|*pértus}} "crossing", from the root {{Wikt-lang|ine-pro|Proto-Indo-European/per-#Root_2|*per-}} "cross". The words {{Lang|en|fare|italic=yes}} and ''ferry'' are of the same origin.<ref>Helleland, Botolv (1975). ''Norske stedsnavn/stadnamn''. Oslo: Grøndahl. {{ISBN|8250401042}}.</ref><ref name=":3">Migon, P. (Ed.). (2010). ''Geomorphological landscapes of the world.'' Springer Science & Business Media, p. 223.</ref>

The Scandinavian ''fjord'', [[Proto-Norse|Proto-Scandinavian]] *''{{lang|non|ferþuz}}'', is the origin for similar [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] words: [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] ''{{lang|is|fjörður}}'', [[Faroese language|Faroese]] ''{{lang|fo|fjørður}}'', [[Swedish language|Swedish]] ''{{lang|sv|fjärd}}'' (for Baltic waterbodies), [[Scots language|Scots]] ''{{lang|sco|[[firth]]}}'' (for marine waterbodies, mainly in Scotland and northern England).<ref name="s" /><ref name=":3" /> The Norse noun ''{{lang|non|fjǫrðr}}'' was adopted in German as ''{{lang|de|Förde}}'', used for the narrow long bays of [[Schleswig-Holstein]], and in English as ''firth'' "fjord, river mouth". The English word ''[[ford (crossing)|ford]]'' (compare [[German language|German]] ''{{lang|de|Furt}}'', [[Low German]] ''{{lang|nds|Ford}}'' or ''{{lang|nds|Vörde}}'', in [[Dutch language|Dutch]] names ''{{lang|nl|voorde}}'' such as Vilvoorde, [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|πόρος}}, ''{{lang|grc-Latn|poros}}'', and [[Latin]] ''{{lang|la|portus}}'') is assumed to originate from Germanic ''{{lang|gem-x-proto|ferþu-}}'' and Indo-European root *''{{PIE|pertu-}}'' meaning "crossing point". Fjord/firth/Förde as well as ford/Furt/Vörde/voorde refer to a Germanic noun for ''a travel'': [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] ''{{lang|gmq|ferd}}'' or ''{{lang|gmq|färd}}'' and of the verb ''to travel'', Dutch ''{{lang|nl|varen}}'', German ''{{lang|de|fahren}}''; English ''to fare''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Norsk etymologisk ordbok |last=de Caprona |first=Yann |publisher=Kagge |year=2014 |isbn=978-8-2489-1054-1 }}</ref>

As a [[loanword]] from Norwegian,<ref name="Nesje" /> it is one of the few words in the English language to start with the sequence ''fj''.<ref>[[fjeld]] is another</ref>  The word was for a long time normally spelled ''f'''i'''ord'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fowler |first1=H. W. |author1-link=Henry Watson Fowler |title=A Dictionary of Modern English Usage:The Classic First Edition: The Classic First Edition |orig-year=1926 |date=10 September 2009 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-953534-7 |page=181 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vr7muDFR6j4C&pg=PA181 |language=en |quote=The OED gives precedence to fi-. The other spelling is apparently used in English to help the ignorant to call it fyord; as, instead of helping, it only puzzles them, it should be abandoned}}</ref> a spelling preserved in place names such as [[Grise Fiord]]. The ''fiord'' spelling mostly remains only in [[New Zealand English]], as in the place name [[Fiordland]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ryan |first1=Paddy |title=Fiords |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/fiords |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=3 March 2022 |language=en |date=12 June 2016}}</ref>

===Scandinavian usage===
[[File:Monet banks fjord christiania 1895.jpg|thumb|''Fjord à Christiania'', by [[Claude Monet]] (1895).]]
[[File:Svartisen-2009-07-08-14-03-055.jpg|thumb|[[Holandsfjorden]] with [[Svartisen]] glacier in [[Nordland]].]]
{{see also|Förden and East Jutland Fjorde}}

The use of the word fjord in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish is more general than in English and in international scientific terminology. In Scandinavia, ''fjord'' is used for a narrow inlet of the sea in Norway, Denmark and western Sweden, but this is not its only application. In Norway and Iceland, the usage is closest to the Old Norse, with fjord used for both a firth and for a long, narrow inlet. In eastern Norway, the term is also applied to long narrow freshwater lakes ([[Randsfjorden]] and [[Tyrifjorden]]) and sometimes even to rivers (for instance in [[Flå Municipality]] in [[Hallingdal]], the [[Hallingdalselva|Hallingdal river]] is referred to as ''{{lang|no|fjorden}}''). In southeast Sweden, the name [[fjard]] ''{{lang|sv|fjärd}}'' is a subdivision of the term 'fjord' used for bays, [[bight (geography)|bights]] and narrow inlets on the Swedish [[Baltic Sea]] coast, and in most Swedish lakes. This latter term is also used for bodies of water off the coast of Finland where [[Finland Swedish]] is spoken. In Danish, the word may even apply to shallow [[lagoon]]s. In modern Icelandic, ''{{lang|is|fjörður}}'' is still used with the broader meaning of firth or inlet. In [[Faroese language|Faroese]] ''{{lang|fo|fjørður}}'' is used both about inlets and about broader sounds, whereas a narrower sound is called ''{{lang|fo|sund}}''. In the [[Finnish language]], a word ''{{lang|fi|vuono}}'' is used although there is only one fjord in Finland.

In old Norse [[Genitive case|genitive]] was ''fjarðar'' whereas [[Dative case|dative]] was ''firði''. The dative form has become common place names like Førde (for instance [[Førde (town)|Førde]]), Fyrde or Førre (for instance [[Førre]]).<ref>Rygh, O. (1898). ''Norske Gaardnavne: Oplysninger samlede til Brug ved Matrikelens Revision.'' Kristiania: Fabritius.</ref>

The German use of the word ''{{lang|de|Föhrde}}'' for long narrow bays on their Baltic Sea coastline, indicates a common [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] origin of the word. The landscape consists mainly of moraine heaps. The ''{{lang|de|Föhrden}}'' and some "fjords" on the east side of Jutland, Denmark are also of glacial origin. But while the glaciers digging "real" fjords moved from the mountains to the sea, in Denmark and Germany they were tongues of a huge glacier covering the basin of which is now the Baltic Sea. See [[Förden and East Jutland Fjorde]].

Whereas fjord names mostly describe bays (though not always geological fjords), [[strait]]s in the same regions typically are named ''Sund'', in Scandinavian languages as well as in German. The word is related to "to sunder" in the meaning of "to separate". So the use of ''[[Sound (geography)|Sound]]'' to name fjords in North America and New Zealand differs from the European meaning of that word.

The name of [[Wexford]] in [[Ireland]] is originally derived from ''{{lang|non|Veisafjǫrðr}}'' ("inlet of the mud flats") in Old Norse, as used by the [[Viking]] settlers—though the inlet at that place in modern terms is an [[estuary]], not a fjord. Similarly the name of [[Milford Haven|Milford]] (now Milford Haven) in [[Wales]] is derived from ''{{lang|non|Melrfjǫrðr}}'' ("sandbank fjord/inlet"),<ref name="owen">{{cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Richard |last2=Owen |first2=Hywel Wyn |title=Dictionary of the Place-Names of Wales |date=2022 |publisher=Y Lolfa |isbn=9781800992399 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8vGxEAAAQBAJ |access-date=29 September 2023}}</ref> though the [[Milford Haven Waterway|inlet]] on which it is located is actually a ria.

Before or in the early phase of [[Old Norse]] ''{{lang|non|angr}}'' was another [[common noun]] for fjords and other inlets of the ocean. This word has survived only as a suffix in names of some Scandinavian fjords and has in same cases also been transferred to adjacent settlements or surrounding areas for instance [[Hardanger]], [[Stavanger]], and [[Geiranger]].<ref>Rygh, O. (1896). ''Norske Fjordnavne.'' Kristiania: Aschehoug.</ref><ref>Helle, Knut (1975). ''Stavanger: fra våg til by.'' Stavanger: Stabenfeldt. {{ISBN|8253201893}}.</ref>