Friulian (friulano in Italian, Furlan in Friulian) is a Romance language belonging to the Rhaetian languages family, spoken in the north-east of Italy (Friuli-Venezia Giulia province) by about 600,000 people. It is also called Eastern Ladin, since it has the same roots of Ladin, although in the centuries it has developed in different ways under the influence of surrounding cultures (German, Italian, Venetian, Slovenian). It has a good cultural background (there were poems and works in Friulian already in 1300, while first documents appear in 11th century) and in the 20th century there was a revival of the language, which continues so far.

The area of diffusion

Today, Friulian language is spoken in the Province of Udine, in the vast majority of the Province of Pordenone, in more than half of the Province of Gorizia and in the eastern part of the Province of Venice.

In the world

Friuli was until the Sixties an area of deep poverty, so lots of people left their homeland to search a job; the main destinations were Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, the United States, South Africa. Therefore in this countries there are still today associations of Friulian immigrants (their name is Fogolâr furlan), that try to protect the traditions and the language of their origins.

Famous poets and writers

• Ermes di Colloredo (XVI century)
• Pietro Zorutti (XIX century)
• Caterina Percoto (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. The double consonants (ll, rr, and so on), used a lot in Italian, are nearly absent in Friulian

Grammar

• The plural has usually an -s termination
• Friulian verb infinitives have one of four endings, either -â, -ê, -i, -î

Actual condition of Friulian

Nowadays, Friulian is officially recognized in Italy with the law 482/1999, that protects linguistic minorities; therefore teaching of Friulian was introduced in many primary schools. An online newspaper is active, and there are also a couple of musical groups who use Friulian for their songs, as well as some theatrical companies. In about 40% of the communities in the Province of Udine road signs are both in Friulian and Italian. There is an official translation of the Holy Bible too. A famous beer brand used Friulian for one of the latest advertisements.

Toponyms

Every city and village in Friuli has a double toponym, one in Italian and one in Friulian; actually, only the first one is official and can be used in administration, although the Friulian ones will be probably have a partial acknowledgemnt in the near future. For example, the city of Udine is called Udin in Friulian, while the town of Tolmezzo is called Tumieç.

The problem of standardisation

A problem, 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.

The variants of Friulian

We can basically find four ‘dialects’ of Friulian, which could be all understood by a native speaker. They are usually distinguished by the last letter of sostantives, following this scheme:

• Friulian of the central Friuli, around Udine

words’ ending is -e

it is used in official documents and generally considered standard

• Friulian of Carnia (northern Friuli)

several variants, language can vary with the valleys; words‘ ending could be either -o, -e, or -a

• Friulian of Bassa Friulana and isontino (south-eastern Friuli)

words’ ending is -a

some features of the pronunciation have been lost; this dialect is closer to Italian

• Friulian of pordenonese (western Friuli)

words’ ending is -a

deep influence of Venetian dialects

For example, the word home becomes cjase in Central Friuli, cjasa or cjaso in other areas.

Writing systems

Actually there are two main writing systems:

• the most common is that approved by the Province of Udine and used in official documents; it uses the same letters of the French language, so standard latin alphabet plus the cedille (ç) and vowels such as â ê î ô û. This system is the most natural one.
• an alternative system is called Faggin-Nazzi from the names of the scholars by whom it was proposed. It is also widely used, but it’s more difficult for a beginner due to its use of letters such as č which are typical of Slavic languages, but often seem unnatural to native Italian speakers. These letters were used in order to more accurately reflect particular features of Friulian phonology.

Some examples

• Hello, my name is Jack!
  

Mandi, jo o 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 studiâ

External links

• Official Friulian orthography
• Online magazine in Friulian
• Online magazine and resources
• Association to foster the use of Friulian in scientific world
• Fogolâr furlan of Toronto