kirkja

Faroese

Viðareiðis kirkja - the church of Viðareiði.

Etymology

From Old Norse kirkja, borrowed from Old English cirice.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃʰɪr̥t͡ʃa/
• Rhymes: -ɪr̥t͡ʃa
• Homophone: kyrkja

Noun

kirkja f (genitive singular kirkju, plural kirkjur)

1. church

Declension

Declension of kirkja
f1	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	kirkja	kirkjan	kirkjur	kirkjurnar
accusative	kirkju	kirkjuna	kirkjur	kirkjurnar
dative	kirkju	kirkjuni	kirkjum	kirkjunum
genitive	kirkju	kirkjunnar	kirkja	kirkjanna

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse kirkja, from Old English cirice.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈcʰɪr̥ca/
• Rhymes: -ɪr̥ca
• Homophone: kyrkja

Noun

kirkja f (genitive singular kirkju, nominative plural kirkjur)

1. church

Derived terms

• aðalkirkja
• dómkirkja
• forkirkja
• kirkjuskip

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse kirkja, or from kyrkja with influence from Danish kirke.

Noun

kirkja f (definite singular kirkja, indefinite plural kirkjer or kirkjor, definite plural kirkjene or kirkjone)

1. (nonstandard or dialectal) alternative form of kyrkje (“church”)

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• kyrkja

Etymology

Borrowed from Old English cirice, from Proto-West Germanic *kirikā, from Byzantine Greek κυριακόν (δόμα) (kuriakón (dóma), “Lord's (house)”), from Ancient Greek κύριος (kúrios, “lord”).

Noun

kirkja f (genitive kirkju, plural kirkjur)

1. church (Christian house of worship)

Declension

  Declension of kirkja (weak jōn-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	kirkja	kirkjan	kirkjur	kirkjurnar
accusative	kirkju	kirkjuna	kirkjur	kirkjurnar
dative	kirkju	kirkjunni	kirkjum	kirkjunum
genitive	kirkju	kirkjunnar	kirkna	kirknanna

Descendants

• Icelandic: kirkja
• Faroese: kirkja
• Norn: kirka
• Middle Norwegian: kyrkja, kirkja
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kyrkja, kyrkje; (dialectal) kirkja, kirkj’, kjørkje, kjærkja, kjèrke, kjérsk’
    • Russenorsk: Kjerka
• Jamtish: kyrkje
• Old Swedish: kyrkia, kirkia
  • Swedish: kyrka
• Old Danish: kyrkiæ, kirkæ
  • Danish: kirke m
    • Norwegian Bokmål: kirke m or f
• → Northern Middle English: kyrke (or from Old English cirice)
  • Scots: kirk
  • English: kirk

References

• “kirkja”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press