Friulian language
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Friulian ( ) or Friulan (natively or ; ; ; ) is a
Romance language The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...
belonging to the Rhaeto-Romance family. Friulian is spoken in the
Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...
region of northeastern
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and has around 600,000 speakers, the vast majority of whom also speak Italian. It is sometimes called Eastern Ladin since it shares the same roots as Ladin, but over the centuries, it has diverged under the influence of surrounding languages, including German, Italian, Venetian, and Slovene. Documents in Friulian are attested from the 11th century and poetry and literature date as far back as 1300. By the 20th century, there was a revival of interest in the language.


History

A question that causes many debates is the influence of the Latin spoken in
Aquileia Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natisone), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small ( ...
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 them are common to other areas of the Roman Empire. Often, it is cited that Fortunatianus, the bishop of
Aquileia Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natisone), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small ( ...
342–357 AD, wrote a commentary to the
Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
in ''sermo rusticus'' (the common/ language), which, therefore, would have been quite divergent from the standard
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
of administration. The text itself did not survive so its language cannot be examined, but its attested existence testifies to a shift of languages while, for example, other important communities of Northern Italy were still speaking Latin. The languages spoken before the arrival of the Romans in 181 BC were Rhaetic, Venetic and
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
. The inhabitants belonged to the Raeti, a likely
pre-Indo-European language The pre-Indo-European languages are any of several ancient languages, not necessarily related to one another, that existed in Prehistoric Europe, Asia Minor, Ancient Iran and Southern Asia before the arrival of speakers of Indo-European langua ...
population, the Italic Veneti, and the Carni, a Celtic population. In modern Friulian, the words of Rhaetic, Venetic or Celtic origin include terms referring to mountains, woods, plants, or animals, as well as local toponyms and
onomastics Onomastics (or onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use. An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onom ...
(e.g. names of villages with ''-acco'', ''-icco''). Even influences from the
Lombardic language Lombardic or Langobardic () is an extinct West Germanic language that was spoken by the Lombards (), the Germanic people who settled in present-day Italy in the sixth century and established the Kingdom of the Lombards. It was already declining ...
— Friuli was one of their strongholds — are present. In a similar manner, there is a unique connection to the modern, nearby
Lombard language The Lombard language (,Classical Milanese orthography, and . ,Ticino, Ticinese orthography. Modern Western orthography and Classical Cremish Orthography. or ,Eastern Lombard, Eastern unified orthography. depending on the orthography; pronuncia ...
. In Friulian, there is also a plethora of words of German, Slovenian and Venetian origin. From that evidence, scholars today agree that the formation of new Friulian dates back to circa 500 AD, at the same time as other dialects derived from Latin (see
Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Colloquial, Popular, Spoken or Vernacular Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. ''Vulgar Latin'' a ...
). The first written records of new Friulian have been found in administrative acts of the 13th century, but the documents became more frequent in the following century, when literary works also emerged (''Frammenti letterari'' for example). The main centre at that time was
Cividale Cividale del Friuli (, locally ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity of Udine, part of the Northern Italy, North-Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The town lies above sea-level in th ...
. The Friulian language has never acquired primary official status: legal statutes were first written in Latin, then in Venetian and finally in Italian.


The "Ladin Question"

The idea of unity among Ladin, Romansh and Friulian comes from the Italian historical linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli, who was born in
Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...
. In 1871, he presented his theory that these three languages are part of one family, which in the past stretched from
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to
Muggia Muggia (; ; ) is an Italian (municipality) in the Province of Trieste, regional decentralization entity of Trieste, in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia on the border with Slovenia. It has 12,703 inhabitants. Lying on the eastern flank of th ...
and perhaps also
Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...
. The three languages are the only survivors of this family and all developed differently. Friulian was much less influenced by German. The scholar Francescato claimed subsequently that until the 14th century, the
Venetian language Venetian, also known as wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ), is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in Veneto, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is som ...
shared many phonetic features with Friulian and Ladin and so he thought that Friulian was a much more
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
language. Many features that Ascoli thought were peculiar to the Rhaeto-Romance languages can, in fact, be found in other languages of Northern
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.


Areas


Italy

Today, Friulian is spoken in the
province of Udine The province of Udine (; ; ; ; ) was a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia, with the capital in the city of Udine. Abolished on 30 September 2017, it was reestablished in 2019 as the Re ...
, including the area of the Carnia
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, but as well throughout the province of Pordenone, in half of the province of
Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...
, and in the eastern part of the province of Venice. In the past, the language borders were wider since in
Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
and
Muggia Muggia (; ; ) is an Italian (municipality) in the Province of Trieste, regional decentralization entity of Trieste, in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia on the border with Slovenia. It has 12,703 inhabitants. Lying on the eastern flank of th ...
, local 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.


World

Friuli was, until the 1960s, an area of deep poverty, causing a large number of Friulian speakers to emigrate. Most went to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, and
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
or outside
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, to
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
,
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,
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,
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, the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. In those countries, there are associations of Friulian immigrants (called ''Fogolâr furlan'') that try to protect their traditions and language.


Literature

The first texts in Friulian date back to the 13th century and are mainly commercial or juridical acts. The examples show that Friulian was used together with Latin, which was still the administrative language. The main examples of literature that have survived (much from this period has been lost) are poems from the 14th century and are usually dedicated to the theme of love and are probably inspired by the Italian poetic movement Dolce Stil Novo. The most notable work is ''Piruç myò doç inculurit'' (which means "My pear, all colored"); it was composed by an anonymous author from Cividale del Friuli, probably in 1380. 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 (for example, , a word which means "child"). A modern Friulian speaker can understand these texts with only little difficulty. The second important period for Friulian literature is the 16th century. The main author of this period was Ermes di Colorêt, who composed over 200 poems.


Phonology


Consonants

Notes: * are bilabial, whereas are
labiodental In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth, such as and . In English, labiodentalized /s/, /z/ and /r/ are characteristic of some individuals; these may be written . Labiodental consonants in ...
and is labiovelar. * Note that, in the standard language, a phonemic distinction exists between true palatal stops and palatoalveolar affricates . The former (written ) originate from Latin before , whereas the latter (written , where is found before and , and is found elsewhere) originate primarily from Latin before and . The palatalization of Latin and before is characteristic of the
Rhaeto-Romance languages Rhaeto-Romance, Rheto-Romance, Rhaeto-Italian, or Rhaetian, is a purported subfamily of the Romance languages that is spoken in south-eastern Switzerland and north-eastern Italy. The name "Rhaeto-Romance" refers to the former Roman province of ...
and is also found in French and some
Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...
varieties. In some Friulian dialects (e.g. Western dialects), corresponding to Central are found . Note in addition that, due to various sound changes, these sounds are all now phonemic; note, for example, the minimal pair ' "drunk" vs. ' "log".


Vowels


Orthography

Some notes on orthography (from the perspective of the standard, i.e. Central, dialect): * Long vowels are indicated with a
circumflex The circumflex () is a diacritic in the Latin and Greek scripts that is also used in the written forms of many languages and in various romanization and transcription schemes. It received its English name from "bent around"a translation of ...
: . * is used for both (which only occurs in stressed syllables) and ; similarly, is used for both and . * is spelled word-initially, and elsewhere. * occurs primarily in diphthongs, and is spelled . * is normally spelled , but is spelled between vowels (in this context, a single is pronounced ). * is spelled , which can also occur word-finally. * is an allophone of , found word-finally, before word-final ''-s'', and often in the prefix ''in-''. Both sounds are spelled . * is normally spelled , but before and , as in Italian. * is normally spelled , but before and , again as in Italian. * The palatal stops are spelled . Note that in some dialects, these sounds are pronounced , as described above. * is spelled before and , elsewhere. Note that in some dialects, this sound is pronounced . * is spelled . Note that in some dialects, this sound is pronounced . * can also represent or in certain words (e.g. ''nazion'' "nation", ''lezion'' "lesson"). * is silent. * is no longer used except in the traditional spelling of certain proper names; similarly for before and .


Long vowels and their origin

Long vowels are typical of the Friulian language and greatly influence the Friulian pronunciation of Italian. Friulian distinguishes between short and long vowels: in the following
minimal pair In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, spoken or signed, that differ in only one phonological element, such as a phoneme, toneme or chroneme, and have distinct meanings. They are used to demonstrate t ...
s (long vowels are marked in the official orthography with a
circumflex The circumflex () is a diacritic in the Latin and Greek scripts that is also used in the written forms of many languages and in various romanization and transcription schemes. It received its English name from "bent around"a translation of ...
accent): : ''lat'' (milk) : ''lât'' (gone) : ''fis'' (fixed, dense) : ''fîs'' (sons) : ''lus'' (luxury) : ''lûs'' (light n.) 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 six words (''sêt'' thirst, ''pît'' foot, ''fîl'' "wire", ''pôc'' (a) little, ''fûc'' fire, ''mûr'' "wall") are pronounced in four dialects. Each dialect uses a unique pattern of diphthongs (yellow) and monophthongs (blue) for the long vowels: Note that the vowels ''î'' and ''û'' in the standard language (based on the Central dialects) correspond to two different sounds in the Western dialects (including Codroipo). These sounds are not distributed randomly but correspond to different origins: Latin short in an open syllable produces Western but Central , whereas Latin long produces in both dialects. Similarly, Latin short in an open syllable produces Western but Central , whereas Latin long produces in both dialects. The word ''mûr'', for example, means both "wall" (Latin ) and "(he, she, it) dies" (Vulgar Latin * from Latin ); both words are pronounced in Central dialects, but respectively and in Western dialects. Long consonants (ll, rr, and so on), frequently used in Italian, are usually absent in Friulian. Friulian long vowels originate primarily from vowel lengthening in stressed
open syllable A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of Phone (phonetics), speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''ma ...
s when the following vowel was lost. Friulian vowel length has no relation to vowel length in Classical Latin. For example, Latin yields ''vâl'' "it is worth" with a long vowel, but Latin yields ''val'' "valley" with a short vowel. Long vowels aren't found when the following vowel is preserved, e.g.: * before final -e < Latin , cf. short ''gnove'' "new (fem. sg.)" < Latin vs. long ''gnûf'' "new (masc. sg.)" < Latin ; * before a non-final preserved vowel, cf. ''tivit'' "tepid, lukewarm" < Latin , ''zinar'' "son-in-law" < Latin , ''ridi'' "to laugh" < Vulgar Latin (Classical ). It is quite possible that vowel lengthening occurred originally in all stressed open syllables, and was later lost in non-final syllables. Evidence of this is found, for example, in the divergent outcome of Vulgar Latin , which becomes in originally closed syllables but in Central Friulian in originally open syllables, including when non-finally. Examples: ''siet'' "seven" < Vulgar Latin < Latin , word-final ''pît'' "foot" < Vulgar Latin < Latin , non-word-final ''tivit'' "tepid, lukewarm" < Vulgar Latin < Latin . An additional source of vowel length is
compensatory lengthening Compensatory lengthening in phonology and historical linguistics is the lengthening of a vowel sound that happens upon the loss of a following consonant, usually in the syllable coda, or of a vowel in an adjacent syllable. Lengthening triggered ...
before lost consonants in certain circumstances, cf. ''pâri'' "father" < Latin , ''vôli'' "eye" < Latin , ''lîre'' "pound" < Latin . This produces long vowels in non-final syllables, and was apparently a separate, later development than the primary lengthening in open syllables. Note, for example, the development of Vulgar Latin in this context: > > ''iê'' , as in ''piêre'' "stone" < Latin , differing from the outcome in originally open syllables (see above). Additional complications: * Central Friulian has lengthening before even in originally closed syllables, cf. ''cjâr'' "cart" < Latin (homophonous with ''cjâr'' "dear asc. sg. < Latin ). This represents a late, secondary development, and some conservative dialects have the expected length distinction here. * Lengthening doesn't occur before
nasal consonant In phonetics, a nasal, also called a nasal occlusive or nasal stop in contrast with an oral stop or nasalized consonant, is an occlusive consonant produced with a lowered velum, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. The vast majo ...
s even in originally open syllables, cf. ''pan'' "bread" < Latin , ''prin'' "first" < Latin . * Special developments produced absolutely word-final long vowels and length distinctions, cf. ''fi'' "fig" < Latin vs. ''fî'' "son" < Latin , ''no'' "no" < Latin vs. ''nô'' "we" < Latin .
Synchronic Synchronic may refer to: * ''Synchronic'' (film), a 2019 American science fiction film starring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan *Synchronic analysis, the analysis of a language at a specific point of time *Synchronicity, the experience of two or m ...
analyses of vowel length in Friulian often claim that it occurs predictably in final syllables before an underlying voiced
obstruent An obstruent ( ) is a speech sound such as , , or that is formed by ''obstructing'' airflow. Obstruents contrast with sonorants, which have no such obstruction and so resonate. All obstruents are consonants, but sonorants include vowels as well ...
, which is then devoiced. Analyses of this sort have difficulty with long-vowel contrasts that occur non-finally (e.g. ''pâri'' "father" mentioned above) or not in front of obstruents (e.g. ''fi'' "fig" vs. ''fî'' "son", ''val'' "valley" vs. ''vâl'' "it is worth").


Morphology

Friulian is quite different from Italian in its morphology; it is, in many respects, closer to French.


Nouns

In Friulian as in other
Romance languages The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...
,
noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...
s are either masculine or feminine (for example, "''il mûr''" ("the wall", masculine), "''la cjadree''" ("the chair", feminine).


Feminine

Most feminine nouns end in ''-e'', which is pronounced, unlike in Standard French: * ''cjase'' = house (from Latin "casa, -ae" hut) * ''lune'' = moon (from Latin "luna, -ae") * ''scuele'' = school (from Latin "schola, -ae") Some feminine nouns, however, end in a consonant, including those ending in ''-zion'', which are from
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
. * ''man'' = hand (from Latin "manŭs, -ūs" f) * ''lezion'' = lesson (from Latin "lectio, -nis" f Note that in some Friulian dialects the -e feminine ending is actually an -a or an -o, which characterize the dialect area of the language and are referred to as ''a/o-ending dialects'' (e.g. is spelled as or the latter being the oldest form of the feminine ending).


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). They are usually words coming from
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
. However, because most masculine nouns end in a consonant, it is common to find the forms ''sistem'' and ''problem'' instead, more often in print than in speech. There are also a number of masculine nouns borrowed intact from Italian, with a final ''-o'', like ''treno'' (train). Many of the words have been fully absorbed into the language and even form their plurals with the regular Friulian ''-s'' rather than the Italian
desinence In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...
changing. Still, there are some purists, including those influential in Friulian publishing, who frown on such words and insist that the "proper" Friulian terms should be without the final ''-o''. Despite the fact that one almost always hears ''treno'', it is almost always written ''tren''.


Articles

The Friulian
definite article In grammar, an article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" ...
(which corresponds to "the" in English) is derived from the Latin ''ille'' and takes the following forms: Before a vowel, both ''il'' and ''la'' can be abbreviated to l' in the standard forms - for example ''il + arbul'' (the tree) becomes ''l'arbul.'' Yet, as far as the article ''la'' is concerned, modern grammar recommends that its non elided form should be preferred over the elided one: ''la acuile (the eagle)'' although in speech the two ''a'' sounds are pronounced as a single one. In the spoken language, various other articles are used. The indefinite article in Friulian (which corresponds to ''a'' and ''an'' in English) derives from the Latin ''unus'' and varies according to gender: A partitive article also exists: des for feminine and dai for masculine: – ''some cows'' and ''dai libris'' - ''some books''


Adjectives

A Friulian
adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...
must agree in gender and number with the noun it qualifies. Most adjectives have four forms for singular (masculine and feminine) and plural (masculine and feminine): (Like for nouns, for a/o-ending dialects the plural is simply obtained by adding an ''s -'' e.g. ''brute'' corresponds to ''bruta/bruto'' and its plural form ''brutis'' is ''brutas/brutos''). The feminine is formed in several ways from the masculine: * in most cases, all that is needed is -e (short: ''curt'', ''curte'') * if the final letter is a -c, the feminine can end with -cje, -gje, -che, -ghe (little: pôc, pôcje) * if the final letter is a -f, the feminine can end with -ve (new: ''gnûf, gnove'') * if the final letter is a -p, the feminine can end with -be (sour: ''garp, garbe'') * if the final letter is a -t, the feminine can end with -de (green: ''vert, verde'')


Plurals

To form the plural of masculine and feminine nouns ending in -e, the -e is changed to -is (whilst a/o-ending dialects simply add an s) * , = table, tables * , = house, houses * , = moon, moons * , = school, schools * , = system, systems * , = glove, gloves * , = niece, nieces The plural of almost all other nouns is just -s. It is always pronounced as voiceless as in English ''cats'', never as voiced as in ''dogs''. * , = hand, hands * , = lesson, lessons * , = dog, dogs * , = cat, cats * , = brother, brothers * , = book, books * , = train, trains * , = arm, arms (from Latin "bracchium") * , = glove, gloves (compare English "gauntlet") In some Friulian dialects, there are many words whose final consonant becomes silent when the -s is added. The words include just about all those whose singular form ends in -t. The plural of , for example, is written as but is pronounced in much of Friuli as if it were . The plural of 'dish', though written as , is often pronounced as . Other words in this category include ''clâf'' (key) and ''clap'' (stone), whose plural forms, clâfs and claps, are often pronounced with no f or p, respectively (clâs, clas) so the longer a in the former is all that distinguishes it from the latter. 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): messaç / messaçs (message).


Exceptions

Masculine nouns ending in -l or -li form their plurals by palatalising final -l or -li to -i. * , = horse, horses (from Latin "caballus") * , = string, strings (from Latin "filum") * , = hat, hats * , = hair, hairs * , = eye, eyes * , = knee, knees (from Latin "genu") Notice how these very often correspond to French nouns that form an irregular plural in -''x'': ''cheval-chevaux, chapeau-chapeaux, cheveu-cheveux, oeil-yeux, genou-genoux''. Feminine nouns ending in -l have regular plurals. * ''piel'', ''piels'' = skin, skins * ''val'', ''vals'' (in northern Friulian also "tal", "tals") = valley, valleys Masculine nouns ending in -st form their plurals by palatalising the final -t to -cj * ''cavalarist'', ''cavalariscj'' = military horseman, military horsemen * ''test'', ''tescj'' = text, texts Some masculine nouns ending in -t form their plurals by palatalising the final -t to -cj: * , = tooth, teeth (from Latin "dens, -tis") * , = all (of one thing), all (of several things) (from Latin "totus") Nouns ending in "s" do not change spelling in the plural, but some speakers may pronounce the plural -s differently from the singular -s. * ''vues'' = bone, bones * ''pes'' = fish (singular or plural) (from Latin "piscis") * ''mês'' = month, months (from Latin "mensis") 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''. The same happens for the adjective ''bon'' (good), as its plural is .


Clitic subject pronouns

A feature of Friulian are the clitic subject
pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (Interlinear gloss, glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts of speech, but so ...
s. Known in Friulian as ''pleonastics'', they are never stressed; they are used together with the verb to express the subject and can be found before the
verb A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...
in declarative sentences or immediately after it in case of
interrogative An interrogative clause is a clause whose form is typically associated with question-like meanings. For instance, the English sentence (linguistics), sentence "Is Hannah sick?" has interrogative syntax which distinguishes it from its Declarative ...
or vocative (''optative'') sentences. An example: ''jo o lavori'' means "I work"; ''lavorio?'' means "Do I work?", while ''lavorassio'' means "I wish I worked".


Verbs

* Friulian verbal
infinitive Infinitive ( abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs that do not show a tense. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all ...
s have one of four endings, -â, -ê, -i, -î; removing the ending gives the root, used to form the other forms (''fevelâ'', to speak; root ''fevel-''), but in the case of irregular verbs, the root changes. They are common (''jessi'', to be; ''vê'', to have; ''podê'', to be able to). Verbs are frequently used in combination with adverbs to restrict the meaning.


Adverbs

An adjective can be made into an
adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a determiner, a clause, a preposition, or a sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, or level of certainty by ...
by adding -mentri to the ending of the feminine singular form of the adjective (''lente'' becomes ''lentementri'', slowly), but it can sometimes lose the -e of the adjective (''facile'' becomes ''facilmentri'', easily). It is more common in the written language; in the spoken language people frequently use other forms or locutions (''a planc'' for slowly).


Vocabulary

Most vocabulary is derived from Latin, with substantial phonological and morphological changes throughout its history. Therefore, many words are shared with the other
Romance languages The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...
, Here the composition: * Rhaetic and
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
(9%) words are many, because the substrate of the Vulgar Latin spoken in Friuli, was the Rhaetic language and the Karn-Celtic language. ("bâr", wood; "clap/crap", stone;"cjâr", plow) * Modern German (10%) words were introduced in particular in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, during the
Patrie dal Friûl The Patria del Friuli (, ), also known as the Patriarchal State of Aquileia (), was the territory under the temporal (political) rule of the Patriarch of Aquileia, and one of the ecclesiastical states within the Holy Roman Empire. It was creat ...
, when the influence from this culture was quite strong (''bearç'', backyard; "crot", frog/toad). * Slavic (3%) words were brought by Slavic (mostly Alpine Slavic) immigrants called several times to
Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...
to repopulate lands devastated by Hungarian invasions in the 10th century (, barn; , to shout). Furthermore, many Slavic words have entered Friulian through the centuries-long neighbouring between Friulians and
Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...
, especially in north-eastern Friuli ( Slavia Friulana) and in the
Gorizia and Gradisca The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (; ; ), historically sometimes shortened to and spelled "Goritz", was a crown land of the Habsburg dynasty within the Austrian Littoral on the Adriatic Sea, in what is now a multilingual border area of ...
area. Words such as ''colaç'' (cake), ''cudiç'' (devil) and ''cos'' (basket) are all of Slovene origin. There are also many toponyms with Slavic roots. * There are many words that have Germanic (8%, probably Lombardic origins), Celtic and Rhaetic roots (what still remained of the languages spoken before the Romans came). Examples of the first category are ''sbregâ'', to tear; ''sedon'', spoon; ''taponâ'', to cover. For the latter categories, ''troi'', path; , trousers. * Latin and derived languages (68%): **
Venetian language Venetian, also known as wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ), is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in Veneto, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is som ...
influenced Friulian vocabulary: , straw. ** Some French words entered the Friulian vocabulary: , really and ''gustâ'', to have lunch. ** Italian itself has a growing influence on Friulian vocabulary, especially as far as neologisms are concerned (''tren'' meaning train). Such neologisms are currently used even if they're not accepted in the official dictionary (for example the verb "to iron" is ''sopressâ'' but the verb ''stirâ'' taken from Italian is used more and more instead). * Scientific terms are often of Greek origin, and there are also some
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
terms in Friulian (<1%, ''lambic'', still). * Many English words (such as computer, monitor, mouse and so on) have entered the Friulian vocabulary through Italian. (more than 1%).


Present condition

Nowadays, Friulian is officially recognized in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, supported by law 482/1999, which protects linguistic minorities. Therefore, optional teaching of Friulian has been introduced in many primary schools. An online newspaper is active, and there are also a number of musical groups singing in Friulian and 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% of the communities in the
Province of Udine The province of Udine (; ; ; ; ) was a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia, with the capital in the city of Udine. Abolished on 30 September 2017, it was reestablished in 2019 as the Re ...
, road signs are in both Friulian and Italian. There is also an official translation of the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
. In 2005, a notable 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 Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...
in 1919.


Toponyms

Every city and village in Friuli has two
names A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...
, one in Italian and one in Friulian. Only the Italian is official and used in administration, but it is widely expected that the Friulian ones will receive partial acknowledgement in the near future. For example, the city of
Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...
is called ''Udin'' in Friulian, the town of
Tolmezzo Tolmezzo (; ; archaic or ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity of Udine, part of the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy. Geography Tolmezzo is located at the foot o ...
''Tumieç'' and the town of Aviano is called both ''Davian'' and ''Pleif''.


Standardisation

A challenge that Friulian shares with other minority languages is to codify a standard variety and a suitable writing system. The regional law 15/1996 approved a standard orthography, which represents the basis of a common variant and should be used in toponyms, official acts, written documents. The standard is based on Central Friulian, which was traditionally the language used in literature already in 1700 and afterwards (the biggest examples are probably Pieri Çorut's works) but with some changes: * the
diphthong A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...
''ie'' replaces ''ia'': ''fier (iron)'' instead of ''fiar'', ''tiere (soil, earth)'' instead of ''tiare''. * the use of ''vu'' instead of ''u'' at the beginning of word: ''vueli (oil)'' instead of ''ueli '', ''vueit (empty)'' instead of ''ueit''. * the use of ''i'' between vocals: ''ploie (rain)'' instead of ''ploe''. Standard Friulian is called in Friulian ''furlan standard'', ''furlan normalizât'' or from
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
, '' coinè''.


Criticism

There have been several critics of the standardisation of Friulian, mainly from speakers of local varieties that differ substantially from the proposed standard; they also argue that the standard could eventually kill local variants. The supporters of standardisation refer to the various advantages that a unique form can bring to the language. Above all, it can help to stop the influence of
Italian language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...
in the
neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
s, which pose a serious threat to Friulian's future development. They also point out that it is a written standard without affecting pronunciation, which can follow local variants. Opponents of the standardisation, on the other hand, insist that the standard language, being artificially created, is totally inadequate to represent the local variations, particularly from differences in the phonetic pronunciation of the words in each variant that may, in some cases, even require special and different diacritics for writing a single variant.


Varieties of Friulian

At least four dialects of Friulian can be distinguished, all
mutually intelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between different but related language varieties in which speakers of the different varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. Mutual intellig ...
. 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 Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...
has words ending with -e. It is used in official documents and generally considered standard. Some people see it as the least original but one of the most recent variants since it does not show interesting features found in other variants, as it has Venetian influence. * Northern Friulian, spoken in Carnia, has several variants. The language can vary with the valleys and words can end in -o, -e or -a. It is the most archaic variant. * Southeastern Friulian, spoken in Bassa Friulana and Eastern Friuli, in the area along the Isonzo River (the area of the old Contea di Gorizia e Gradisca), has words that end with -a. This variant has been known since the origins of the language and was used as official literary language by the Friulians of the Austrian Empire. It was influenced by German and Slavic. * Western Friulian, including Pordenonese, is spoken in the Province of Pordenone and is also called , from
Concordia Sagittaria Concordia Sagittaria is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, Italy. History The town was founded in 42 BC as ''Iulia Concordia'' by the Romans, where the Via Annia and the Via Postumia crossed each other. The establi ...
. Words end with -a or -e, but the strong Venetian influence, makes it be considered one of the most corrupted variants. The word for ''home'' is in Central Friulian and or in other areas.
Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...
wrote his works in Western Friulian since he learned the language from his mother who was from Casarsa/Cjasarsa, near
Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian language, Venetian and ) is a city and (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the capital of the Province of Pordenone, Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone. The name comes from Lati ...
. In the 13th century, early literary works in Friulian were based on the language spoken in Cividale del Friuli, which was the most important town in Friuli. The endings in -o, which now is restricted to some villages in Carnia. Later, the main city of
Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...
became
Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...
and the most common ending was -a; only from the 16th century on, -e endings were used in standard Friulian.


Writing systems

In the official writing system, approved by the (former, abolished in 2017)
Province of Udine The province of Udine (; ; ; ; ) was a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia, with the capital in the city of Udine. Abolished on 30 September 2017, it was reestablished in 2019 as the Re ...
and used in official documents, Friulian is written using the
Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...
with the c-
cedilla A cedilla ( ; from Spanish language, Spanish ', "small ''ceda''", i.e. small "z"), or cedille (from French , ), is a hook or tail () added under certain letters (as a diacritic, diacritical mark) to indicate that their pronunciation is modif ...
(ç). The letter q is used only for personal names and historical toponyms, and in every other case, it 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 accent The grave accent () ( or ) is a diacritical mark used to varying degrees in French, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan and many other Western European languages as well as for a few unusual uses in English. It is also used in other ...
s (à, è, ì, ò and ù) and circumflex accents (â, ê, î, ô, and û), which are put above the
vowel A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...
s to distinguish between homophonic words or to show 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 for its use of letters, such as č, that are typical of
Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto- ...
but seem foreign to native Italian speakers.


Examples


The Fox and the Crow translation in Central Friulian


References

* Paola Benincà & Laura Vanelli. ''Linguistica friulana''. Padova: Unipress, 2005. * Paola Benincà & Laura Vanelli. "Friulian", in ''The Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages'', eds. Adam Ledgeway & Martin Maiden. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 139–53. * Franc Fari, ed. ''Manuâl di lenghistiche furlane''. Udine: Forum, 2005. * Giuseppe Francescato. ''Dialettologia friulana''. Udine: Società Filologica Friulana, 1966. * Giovanni Frau. ''I dialetti del Friuli''. Udine: Società Filologica Friulana, 1984. * Sabine Heinemann. ''Studi di linguistica friulana''. Udine: Società Filologica Friulana, 2007. * Carla Marcato. ''Friuli-Venezia Giulia''. Rome–Bari: Laterza, 2001. * Nazzi, Gianni & Deborah Saidero, eds. ''Friulan Dictionary: English-Friulan / Friulan-English.'' Udine: Ent. Friul tal Mond, 2000. * Piera Rizzolati. ''Elementi di linguistica friulana''. Udine: Società Filologica Friulana, 1981. * Paolo Roseano.
La pronuncia del friulano standard: proposte, problemi, prospettive
', ''Ce Fastu?'' LXXXVI, vol. 1 (2010), p. 7–34. *Paolo Roseano. ''Suddivisione dialettale del friulano'', in ''Manuale di linguistica friulana'', eds. S. Heinemann & L. Melchior. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 2015, pp. 155–186. * Federico Vicario, ed. ''Lezioni di lingua e cultura friulana''. Udine: Società Filologica Friulana, 2005. * Federico Vicario. ''Lezioni di linguistica friulana''. Udine: Forum, 2005. *


Notations

The grammar section is based o
An introduction to Friulan
by R. Pontisso. Some parts are also based loosely on ''Gramatiche furlane'' by Fausto Zof, Edizioni Leonardo, Udine 2002.


Footnotes


External links


Learn standard Friulian and the Dograva variant

Short video showing bilingual Italian/Friulian road signs

Radio Onde Furlane
''Radio in Friulian language.''
Grafie uficiâl de lenghe furlane — Agjenzie regjonal pe lenghe furlane (different other language resources)
* Dante in furlan


Provincie di Udin-Provincia di Udine: La lingua friulana

La Patrie dal Friûl; Magazine and News in Friulian language since 1946

Lenghe.net – Online bilingual magazine in Friulian language (2004–2010)

Online magazine and resources

The juridical defence of Friulian (in English)



Friulian Journal of Science
nbsp;– an association to foster the use of Friulian in the scientific world


''Fogolâr Furlan'' of Windsor

Societat Filologjiche Furlane


* ttp://www3.sympatico.ca/rpontisso/firefoxfurlan.htm Friulian version of Firefox browser
Centri Friûl Lenghe 2000, Online bilingual dictionary (Italian/Friulian) with online tools

Furlan English Dictionary
fro
Webster's Online Dictionary
The Rosetta Edition
C-evo Furlan
– a computer game in Friulian
Italian-Friulian Dictionary

Friulian-Italian-Slovenian-German-English-Spanish-French Multilingual Dictionary

Friulian basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database


– ''uses the Faggin-Nazzi alphabet'' {{Authority control Languages of Italy