Friulian ( ) or Friulan (endonym: ; ; ; ) is a Romance language belonging to the Rhaeto-Romance family. Friulian is spoken in the historical region of Friuli (which currently consists of 90% of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region and a small part of Veneto region) in the northeastern part of Italy. It 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 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 342–357 AD, wrote a commentary to the Gospel in sermo rusticus (the common/ language), which, therefore, would have been quite divergent from the standard Latin 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.Schumacher, Stefan; Kluge, Sindy (2013–2017). Salomon, Corinna (ed.). "Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum". Department of Linguistics. of the University of Vienna The inhabitants belonged to the Raeti, a likely pre-Indo-European language 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 (e.g. names of villages with -acco, -icco). Even influences from the Lombardic language—Friuli was one of their strongholds—are present. In a similar manner, there is a unique connection to the modern, nearby Lombard language.
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 c. 500 AD, at the same time as other dialects derived from Latin (see Vulgar Latin). 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. 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. 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. 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 shared many phonetic features with Friulian and Ladin and so he thought that Friulian was a much more conservative language. Many features that Ascoli thought were peculiar to the Rhaeto-Romance languages can, in fact, be found in other languages of Northern Italy.
Areas Italy
Today, Friulian is spoken in the province of Udine, including the area of the Carnia Alps, but as well throughout the province of Pordenone, in half of the province of Gorizia, and in the eastern part of the province of Venice. In the past, the language borders were wider since in Trieste and Muggia, 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, Belgium, and Switzerland or outside Europe, to Canada, Mexico, Australia, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, the United States, and South Africa. 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.
Original textVersion in modern FriulianPiruç myò doç inculurit quant yò chi viot, dut stoi arditPiruç gno dolç incolorît cuant che jo ti viôt, dut o stoi 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 (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. +Notable poets and writersYears activeErmes di Colorêt1622–1692Pietro Zorutti1792–1867Caterina Percoto1812–18871920–2009Pier Paolo Pasolini1922–1975Rina Del Nin Cralli (Canada)1929–20211930–2009
Phonology
Consonants + Consonant phonemes in Central FriulianPavel Iosad, Final devoicing and vowel lengthening in the north of Italy: A representational approach, Slides, Going Romance 24, December 10th 2010, Universiteit Leiden, Academia Lugduno Batava Labial Dental/Alveolar Palatal Velar Nasal Plosive Affricate Fricative Trill Approximant
Notes: are bilabial, whereas are labiodental 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 and is also found in French and some Occitan 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
+ Vowel phonemes Front Central Back Close Close mid Open mid Open
Orthography Some notes on orthography (from the perspective of the standard, i.e. Central, dialect): Long vowels are indicated with a circumflex: . 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 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.)
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:
Latin origin West Codroipo Carnia Central sêt "thirst" pît "foot" fîl "wire" pôc "a little" fûc "fire" mûr "wall"
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 syllables 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 .