Friulian language
Friulian (
' or affectionately marilenghe in Friulian, friulano in Italian) is a Romance language belonging to the Rhaetian family, spoken in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. Friulian has around 600,000 speakers, the vast majority of whom also speak Italian. It is sometimes called Eastern Ladin''', since it comes from the same roots as the
Ladin Language, although over the centuries it has diverged, under the influence of surrounding languages, including
German,
Italian,
Venetian, and
Slovenian. Documents in Friulian are attested from the
11th century, and poetry and literature dating as far back as 1300. By the
20th century there was a revival of interest in the language, which has continued to this day.
The origins of the language are quite obscure. A question which causes many debates is the influence of the Latin spoken in
Aquileia and surrounding areas; some claim that it had peculiar features that later passed into Friulian. Epigraphs and inscriptions from that period show some variants if compared to the standard Latin language, but most of these are common to other areas of the Roman Empire. The language spoken before the arrival of the Romans in
181 BC was of Celtic origin, since the inhabitants belonged to the
Carni, a Celtic population; in modern Friulian the words of Celtic origins are few, while much influence of the original population is showed in toponyms (names of villages which end in
-acco,
-icco are an example). Even influences from
Longobardic language (Friuli was one of their strongholds) are very few; from this evidence scholars today agree that the formation of Friulian dates back to around
1000, at the same time as other dialects derived from Latin (see
Vulgar Latin). The first written records of Friulian have been found in administrative acts of the
XIII century, but these documents became more frequent in the following century, when literary works also emerged (
Frammenti letterari for example); the main center at that time was
Cividale. The Friulian language has never acquired official status: legal statutes were first written in Latin, then in Venetian and finally in Italian.
Relationship with Ladin (La questione ladina)
The idea of a unity among
Ladin,
Romansh and Friulian comes from the famous Italian
glottologist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli, who was born in
Gorizia. In
1871 he presented his theory that these three languages are part of one family, which in the past stretched from
Switzerland to
Muggia and perhaps also
Istria; today we can see only those three languages, isolated from one another, that evolved differently (in particular, Friulian was much less influenced by
German). The scholar Francescato claimed subsequently that until the
XIV century the
Venetian language shared a good number of phonetic features with Friulian and Ladin, therefore he thought that Friulian was a much more conservative language. It is also interesting to note that before the arrival of the Romans, the border between Carni and
Venetic populations was the river
Liquentia (nowadays Livenza), which is still the border between Friulian and Venetian today. The most widely-held opinion is that these languages were part of a family but were split many centuries ago; also, many features that Ascoli thought were peculiar to the Rhaeto-Romance languages can in fact be found in other languages of northern
Italy.
In Italy
Today, Friulian is spoken in the province of
Pordenone, but widely throughout the province of
Udine, including the area of the Carnia
Alps, in more than half of the province of
Gorizia and in the eastern part of the province of
Venice. In the past the language borders were a wider, since also in
Trieste and
Muggia particular variants of Friulian were spoken (the main document about the dialect of Trieste, or
tergestino, is "Dialoghi piacevoli in dialetto vernacolo triestino", published by G. Mainati in
1828),
In the world
Friuli was until the
1960s an area of deep poverty, causing a large number of Friulian speakers to emigrate. Most went to
France,
Belgium, and
Switzerland or outside
Europe, to
Canada,
Australia,
Argentina,
Brazil, the
United States, and
South Africa. In these countries there are associations of Friulian immigrants (called
Fogolâr furlan) who try to protect their traditions and language.
The first texts in Friulian date back in
XIII century and are mainly commercial or juridical acts; we can see in these examples that Friulian was used together with Latin, which was still the administrative language. The first examples of literature that have survived (much from this period has been lost) is poetry from the
XIV century, poems which are mainly dedicated to the theme of love and which were probably inspired by the Italian poetic movement
Dolce Stil Novo. The most famous work is
Piruç myò doç inculurit (which means My sweet, coloured pear), composed by an anonymous author from
Cividale, probably in
1380.
| Original text | Version in modern Friulian | | Piruç myò doç inculuritquant yò chi viot, dut stoi ardit | Piruç mio dolç inculurîtcuant che jo ti viôt, o stoi dut ardît |
There are few differences in the first two rows, which demonstrates that there has not been a great evolution in the language; except for several words which are no longer used (i.e.
dum(n) lo), a word which means young boy or girl and was used frequently in the past ) a modern Friulian speaker can understand only with a little difficulty these texts.
The second important period for Friulian literature is
XVI century; the main author of this period is
Ermes di Colorêt, who composed over 200 poems.
Famous poets and writers
*
Ermes di Colorêt (XVI century)
*
Pietro Zorutti (XIX century)
*
Pier Paolo Pasolini (XX century)
Phonology
Long vowels are typical of the Friulian language and this has a great influence also on Friulian pronunciation of Italian.
Friulian distinguishes between short and long vowels, e.g. in the following minimal pairs (long vowels are marked in the official orthography with a circumflex accent):
lat (milk):
lât (gone)
:
fis (fixed, dense):
fîs (sons)
:
lus (luxury):
lûs (light n.)
The Friulian dialects differ in their treatment of long vowels. In certain dialects some of the long vowels are actually diphthongs. The following chart shows how four words (
pît foot,
sêt thirst,
pôc (a) little,
fûc fire) are pronounced in four dialects. Each dialect uses a unique pattern of diphthongs (yellow) and monophthongs (blue) for the long vowels:
| West | Codroipo | Carnia | Central | | sêt | [seit] | [se:t] | [seit] | [se:t] |
| pît | [peit] | [peit] | [pi:t] | [pi:t] |
| pôc | [pouk] | [po:k] | [pouk] | [po:k] |
| fûc | [fouk] | [fouk] | [fu:k] | [fu:k] |
The double consonants (ll, rr, and so on), used frequently in Italian, are nearly absent in Friulian.
Morphology
Articles
In Friulian,
nouns referring to inanimate objects or abstract concepts can have either masculine or feminine
grammatical gender: e.g.
"il mûr" ("the wall", masculine),
"la cjadree" ("the chair", feminine).
Articles take the following forms, derived from the Latin
ille and
unus:
Before a vowel, both il and la can be abbreviated to l'.The indefinite article in Friulian (corresponding to "a" in English) varies according to gender.
Note that these are the standard forms; in spoken language you can hear also
el (in northern
Friuli) or
al (in southern and western Friuli) instead of
il,
li (or
las in northern
Friuli) instead of
lis and
le instead of
la, but these should be avoided in written language. Remember that the final
-e of
une is pronounced.
Also a partitive article exists; it has only one form,
des (for example,
des vacjis means some cows).
Nouns
Nouns in Friulian, as in other
Romance languages, are either masculine or feminine in gender.
= Feminine
=Most feminine nouns end in -e. (Remember, this final -e is pronounced.)
Examples:
*
cjase = house
*
lune = moon
*
scuele = school
Some feminine nouns, however, end in a consonant, including those ending in -zion (from
Latin).
man = hand
lezion = lesson (from Latin "lectio, -onis")
= Masculine
=Most masculine nouns end either in a consonant or in -i.
*
cjan = dog
*
gjat = cat
*
fradi = brother
*
libri = book
A few masculine nouns end in -e, including
sisteme (system) and
probleme (problem); these are usually words coming from ancient Greek. However, because most masculine nouns end in a consonant, it is not uncommon to find the forms system and problem instead (though this is more likely to occur in print than in speech).
There are also a number of masculine nouns which have been borrowed intact from
Italian, that is, with a final -o, like
treno (train). Many of these words have been fully absorbed into the language, even forming their plurals with the regular Friulian -s rather than the Italian -i. Still, there are some purists, including those influential in Friulian publishing, who frown on such words, insisting that the "proper" Friulian terms should be without the final -o. So despite the fact that one almost always hear treno, chances are that if you see the word in print it will be seen as
tren.
Adjectives
A Friulian
adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun it qualifies. Most adjectives have 4 forms for singular (masculine and feminine) and plural (masculine and feminine), for example
brut (ugly):
| Declination | | Number | Masculine | Feminine |
| Singular | brut | brute |
| Plural | bruts | brutis |
Note that in northern
Friuli the feminine plural is pronounced
brutes instead of
brutis.
To form the plural, normal rules are followed; given a masculine singular form, the corresponding feminine form is not so straightforward:
* in most cases, just add an ending -e (
curt,
curte)
* if the final letter is a -c, feminine is in -cje, -cje, -che, -ghe
* if the final letter is a -f, feminine is in -ve
* if the final letter is a -p, feminine is in -be
* if the final letter is a -t, feminine is in -de
Rules for the formation of plurals
To form the plural of nouns ending in -e, whether feminine or masculine, change the final -e to -is.
taule,
taulis = table, tables
cjase,
cjasis = house, houses
lune,
lunis = moon, moons
scuele,
scuelis = school, schools
sisteme,
sistemis = system, systems
To form the plural of almost all other nouns, simply add a final
s. Note: this final s is always pronounced as a soft s, that is, like the s of the
English word cats, and never with the hard z-sound of the s in dogs.
man,
mans = hand, hands
lezion,
lezions = lesson, lessons
cjan,
cjans = dog, dogs
gjat,
gjats = cat, cats
fradi,
fradis = brother, brothers
libri,
libris = book, books
treno,
trenos = train, trains
braç,
braçs = arm, arms
guant,
guants = glove, gloves
Please note that in some Friulian dialects there are many words whose final consonant becomes silent when the +s is added. These words include just about all those whose singular form ends in -t. The plural of
gjat, for example, is written as
gjats, but is pronounced in much of Friuli as though it were
gjas, and that of
plat (that means dish), though written as
plats, is often pronounced as
plas. Other words in this category include
clâf (key) and
clap (stone), whose plural forms, clâfs and claps, are often pronounced with a silent f and p, respectively (clâs, clas), so that the longer a in the former is all that distinguishes it from the latter. Note also that a final -ç, which is pronounced either as the
English "-ch" (in central Friulian) or as "-s", is pluralized in writing as -çs, regardless of whether the pluralized pronunciation is "-s" or "-ts" (it varies according to dialect); an example is messaç / messaçs (message).
= Exceptions
=Masculine nouns ending in -l or -li form their plurals by substituting -i for the l or the li.
cjaval,
cjavai = horse, horses
fîl,
fîi = string, strings
cjapiel,
cjapiei = hat, hats
cjaveli,
cjavei = hair, hairs
voli,
voi = eye, eyes
zenoli,
zenoi = knee, knees
Feminine nouns ending in -l are pluralized regularly.
piel,
piels = skin, skins
val,
vals = valley, valleys
Some masculine nouns which end in -t are pluralized by changing the final -t to -cj.
dint,
dincj = tooth, teeth
dut,
ducj = all (of one thing), all (of several things)
Nouns ending in s do not change spelling when pluralized (even though some speakers may pronounce the plural -s differently from the singular -s).
vues = bone, bones
pes = fish (singular or plural)
mês = month, months
The plural of
an (year) has several forms depending on dialect, including ain, ains, agn and agns. Regardless of pronunciation, the written form is
agns.
Weak pronouns
A feature of Friulian, though it can also be found for example in
Catalan, are the weak
pronouns. These, known in Friulian as
pleonastics o
clitics, are never emphasized vocally; they are used together with the verbs to reinforce the subject, and can be found before the
verb in
declarative sentences or immediately after it in case of
interrogative or vocative (
otative) sentences.
| Weak pronouns | | Declaration | Question | Invocation |
| I | o | -io | -io |
| You | tu | -tu | -tu |
| He | al | -ial | -ial |
| She | e | -ie | -ie |
| We | o | -o | -o |
| You | o | -o | -o |
| They | -a | -o | -o |
An example:
jo o lavori means I work;
lavorio jo? means Do I work?, while
lavorassio means I wish I worked.
Verbs
* Friulian verbal
infinitives have one of four endings, either -â, -ê, -i, -î; if you remove the ending you get the root which is used to form the other forms (
fevel - â, to speak). In the case of irregular verbs, even the root changes; these kind of verbs are commonly used (
jessi, to be,
vê, to have,
podê, to be able to). Frequently people use verbs in combination with adverbs to restrict the meaning.
| Verbs, present, declarative form | | Person | fevelâ (to speak) | lâ (to go) | jessi (to be)| Jo | o fevel-i | o v-oi | o soi | | Tu | tu fevel-is | tu v-âs | tu sês | | Lui | al fevel-e | al v-a | al è | | Nô | o fevel-ìn | o l-in | o sin | | Vô | o fevel-ais | o v-ais (l-ais) | o sês | | Lôr''' | a fevel-in | a v-an | a son | |
Adverbs
An adjective can be made into an
adverb by adding -mentri to the ending of the feminine singular form of the adjective (
lente becomes
lentementri, slowly), though it can sometimes lose the -e of the adjective (
facile becomes
facilmentri, easily). These type of formation is more common in written language: in spoken language people use frequently other forms or locutions (i.e.
a planc for slowly).
Most part of the Friulian vocabulary is derived from Latin; needless to say, there has been substantial phonological and morphological changes throughout its history. Therefore many words are shared with
Romance languages1, but other languages have contributed too:
*
German words were introduced in particular in the
Middle Ages, during the
Patrie dal Friûl, when the influence from this culture was quite strong (i.e.
bearç, backyard;
bussâ, to kiss).
*
Slavic words were brought by immigrants that several times were called to
Friuli to repopulate lands where the inhabitants had been killed due to
Hungarian invasions in
10th century (i.e.
cjast, barn;
zigâ, to shout). There are also a good number of toponyms of slavic origins.
* there are many words that have Germanic (probably
Longobardic origins) and Celtic roots (what still remains of the languages spoken before Roman colonizations). Examples of the first category are
sbregâ, to tear;
sedon, spoon;
tapona, to cover. For the latter category,
troi, path;
bragons, trousers.
* the
Venetian language influenced Friulian vocabulary, for example
canucje, straw.
* scientific terms are often of Greek origins, and there are also some
Arab terms in Friulian (
lambic, still)
* some
French words entered Friulian vocabulary: examples include
pardabon, really and
gustâ, to have lunch
|
Road signs in Italian and Friulian |
Nowadays, Friulian is officially recognized in
Italy supported by law 482/1999, which protects linguistic minorities; therefore teaching of Friulian has been introduced in many primary schools. An online newspaper is active, and there are also a number of musical groups which use Friulian for their songs, as well as some theatrical companies, Recently two movies have been made in Friulian (
Tierç lion,
Lidrîs cuadrade di trê), with positive reviews in Italian newspapers. In about 40 per cent of the communities in the
Province of Udine, road signs are both in Friulian and Italian. There is also an official translation of the
Holy Bible. In
2005, a famous brand of beer used Friulian for one of its commercials.
The main association to foster the use and development of Friulian is the
Societât filologjiche furlane, founded in
Gorizia in
1919.
Toponyms
Every city and village in Friuli has two
names, one in
Italian and one in Friulian. Only the Italian is official and used in administration, although it is widely expected that the Friulian ones will receive partial acknowledgement in the near future. For example, the city of
Udine is called
Udin in Friulian, while the town of
Tolmezzo is called
Tumieç.
A challenge that Friulian shares with other minorities is to create a standard language and a unique writing system. Usually, Friulian of central areas of
Friuli is considered standard, but not everybody agrees.
|
Advertisement in a magazine to promote usage of Friulian |
Variants of Friulian
Four dialects of Friulian can be distinguished, all
mutually intelligible. They are usually distinguished by the last vowel of many parts of speech (including nouns, adjectives, adverbs), following this scheme:
*Central Friulian, spoken around
Udine:*words end in -e:*used in official documents and generally considered standard:*some people sees it as the less original, since it doesn't show interesting features which can be found in other variants
*Northern Friulian, spoken in
Carnia:*several variants; language can vary with the valleys; words can end in -o, -e, or -a
*South-eastern Friulian, spoken in
Bassa Friulana, and Isontino, spoken in the area along the
Isonzo River (the area of the old
Contea di Gorizia e Gradisca:*words end in -a:*some features of the pronunciation have been lost; this dialect is closer to Italian
*Western Friulian, including Pordenonese, spoken in the
Province of Pordenone, also called
concordiese, from
Concordia Sagittaria:*words end in -a:*Venetian influence:*some claims that this is the more conservative variant
For example, the word
home becomes
cjase in Central Friulian, and
cjasa or
cjaso in other areas. It is also notable that the most famous intellectual who used friulian during the XX century,
Pier Paolo Pasolini, wrote his works in Western Friulian, since he learned the language from his mother who was from
Casarsa ([
1]), near
Pordenone.
It's worth to note that in
XIII century, early literary works in Friulian were based on the language spoken in
Cividale, which was at that time the most important town in Friuli; these works show endings in -o, which interstingly nowadays is restricted to some villages in
Carnia. Later, the main city of
Friuli became
Udine and the most common ending was -a; only from the
XVI century on, -e endings were used in standard Friulian.
Writing systems
In the official writing system, approved by the
Province of Udine and used in official documents, Friulian is written using the
Latin alphabet, plus the c-
cedilla (ç). The letter q is used only for personal names and historical toponyms, in every other case is replaced by c; besides that, k, x, w and y appear only in loan words, so they are not considered part of the alphabet.
Aa Bb Cc Çç Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Zz
There are also
grave accents (à, è, ì, ò and ù) and
circumflex accents (â, ê, î, ô, and û), which are put above the
vowels to distinguish between homophonic words or to show where there is stress (the former) and show long vowels (the latter).
Other systems
An alternative system is called
Faggin-Nazzi from the names of the scholars who proposed it. It is less common, probably also because it is more difficult for a beginner due to its use of letters such as č that are typical of
Slavic languages, but seem foreign to native Italian speakers. These letters are used in order to more accurately reflect particular features of Friulian phonology.
*Hello, my name is Jack!
*
Mandi, jo mi clami Jacum!*Today the weather is really hot!
*
Vuê al è propite cjalt!*I really have to go now, see you
*
O scugni propite lâ cumò, ariviodisi*I can't go out with you tonight, I have to study
*
No pues vignî fûr usgnot, o ai di studiâThe grammar section is based on
An introduction to Friulian by R. Pontisso. Some parts are also based loosely on
Gramatiche furlane by Fausto Zof, Edizioni Leonardo, Udine 2002.
*
1 Language similarity table*
Official Friulian orthography*
Lenghe.net – Online bilingual magazine (Friulian/Italian)*
Online magazine and resources*
The juridical defence of Friulian (in English)*
Ethnologue report for Friulian*
Course of Friulian*
Friulian Journal of Science – an association to foster the use of Friulian in the scientific world
*
Fogolâr furlan of Toronto*
Fogolâr Furlan of Windsor*
Societat Filologjiche Furlane*
Centri interdipartimentâl pe ricercje su la culture e la lenghe dal Friûl "Josef Marchet"*
Friulian version of Firefox browser*
Centri Friûl Lenghe 2000, with online tools*
Friulians in South America*
Furlan English Dictionary from [
2] – the Rosetta Edition
