FRIULAN

[Issacus Divus]

The language of those in Friuli.
An understorm of various languages influenced this unique one.
It is a ROMANCE LANGUAGE! There's more to this linguistic family than you know.

 

[Issacus Divus]

​

 

[Issacus Divus]

So, what even is Friulan?
Well...

That question encompasses a long and quite interesting journey of the sorts.
So, let's go.

So, as you can see above, this has to do with Italy.
In Northeastern Italy, there lies an area called Friuli.
The people who would be called "Friulians" would be born out of there eventually- but that would take the birth of a new nation.

Before Friuli became a thing, there were three areas in the place where Friuli would be:
Carnia, Carniola, and Carinthia.

These names are born from the tribe, the Carni.

It's worth mentioning that they are referred to as Gaulish sometimes, then Celtic, and even Venetic.
Although the consensus says Gaulish, sources speaking about Carnia itself call the tribe Celtic.

 

[Praetorianvs]

I've tried to read something in Friulan, and without the Italian translation I would have understood only isolated words here and there. In my opinion it looks similar to other northern Italian languages, sometimes I see some vague similarities with Romanian.

This is the fable of the Fox and Crow of Aesop in various Friulan dialects, Ladin, Romansh, Italian and I added Sardinian (Logudorese) for comparison :

Friulano carnico di Paularo/Paulâr
La bolp a erä di nûf famadä. In chêl a jôt un corvat pojât su par un pin, cal vevä tal bec un toc di çuç. "Chel si ch'al mi plasarès", a à pensât la bolp, e jê a dïs al corvat: "Ce biel ca tu sês! Sa il to cjant l'è biel tan che il to aspièt, di sigûr tu sês il plui biel di ducj i ucei!"


Friulano centrale collinare di Gemona del Friuli/Glemone dal Friûl
La bolp e jere di gnûf famade. In chel e a viodût un corvat poiât suntun pin, ch'al tigneve un toc di formadi tal bec. "Chel si che mi plasarès!" e a pensât le bolp, e e disè al corvát: "Ce biel che tu sês! Se il to cjant al é biel come il to aspiet, di sigûr tu sês il plui biel di ducj i ucei!


Friulano occidentale di Fanna/Fana
La volp a 'era di gnòuf famada. In chêl a à vioudût un côrvat poiât 'tun pin, ch'al tigneva un toc di formadi tal bec. "Chel si che al mi plasarès", al à pensât la volp, e al disè al côrf: "Ce biel che tu sôs! Se il to cjant al è biel come il to aspiet, di segûr tu sôs il plui biel di ducju i ucei!"


Confronto con altre lingue retoromanze

Ladino di Fodom
La volp l'eva ndavò afamada. Nte chëla la veiga n còrf che l se tegniva n tòch de formai ntel bech. "Chël l me savëssa ben bon", la s'à pensé ntra de dëla, e l'à clamé l còrf: "Cotánt bel che t'es! Se tuo cianté l è bel coche ti te ciale fòra, nlouta t'es segur ti l plu bel de duc cánc i uciei!"


Romancio della Val Monastero (anticamente diffuso anche in Val Venosta)
La vuolp d'eira darcheu üna jada fomantada. Qua ha'la vis ün corv chi tgnaiva ün toc chaschöl in seis pical. Quai am gustess, ha'la pensà, ed ha clomà al corv: "Che bel cha tü est! Scha teis chant es uschè bel sco tia apparentscha, lura est tü il plü bel utschè da tuots!"


Italiano
La volpe era nuovamente affamata. Vide un corvo posato su un pino con un pezzo di formaggio nel becco. Come lo gusterei, pensò la volpe, e disse al corvo: « Come sei bello ! Se il tuo canto è così bello come il tuo aspetto, allora sei l'uccello più bello di tutti!»

Sardinian (Logudorese)
Su grodde fit torra famídu. Haíat bidu unu corvu firmu ind'unu pinu cun 'nd'unu bìcculu de casu in su biccu. Comente lu día gustare, pensaíat su grodde, e haíat narádu a su corvu : Ite bellu qui ses! Si su cantu tou est gai bellu que s'apparentzia tua, tando ses su puzóne piús bellu de totu!

 

[Terry S.]

I have a feeling that this is one the regional languages in Italy that has its own translation of the Roman Missal and whose speakers aren't (any longer) any longer obliged to use the Italian translation.

 

[Issacus Divus]

Exactly. Sort of like Sardinian.

I've tried to read something in Friulan, and without the Italian translation I would have understood only isolated words here and there. In my opinion it looks similar to other northern Italian languages, sometimes I see some vague similarities with Romanian.

This is the fable of the Fox and Crow of Aesop in various Friulan dialects, Ladin, Romansh, Italian and I added Sardinian (Logudorese) for comparison :

Friulano carnico di Paularo/Paulâr
La bolp a erä di nûf famadä. In chêl a jôt un corvat pojât su par un pin, cal vevä tal bec un toc di çuç. "Chel si ch'al mi plasarès", a à pensât la bolp, e jê a dïs al corvat: "Ce biel ca tu sês! Sa il to cjant l'è biel tan che il to aspièt, di sigûr tu sês il plui biel di ducj i ucei!"


Friulano centrale collinare di Gemona del Friuli/Glemone dal Friûl
La bolp e jere di gnûf famade. In chel e a viodût un corvat poiât suntun pin, ch'al tigneve un toc di formadi tal bec. "Chel si che mi plasarès!" e a pensât le bolp, e e disè al corvát: "Ce biel che tu sês! Se il to cjant al é biel come il to aspiet, di sigûr tu sês il plui biel di ducj i ucei!


Friulano occidentale di Fanna/Fana
La volp a 'era di gnòuf famada. In chêl a à vioudût un côrvat poiât 'tun pin, ch'al tigneva un toc di formadi tal bec. "Chel si che al mi plasarès", al à pensât la volp, e al disè al côrf: "Ce biel che tu sôs! Se il to cjant al è biel come il to aspiet, di segûr tu sôs il plui biel di ducju i ucei!"


Confronto con altre lingue retoromanze

Ladino di Fodom
La volp l'eva ndavò afamada. Nte chëla la veiga n còrf che l se tegniva n tòch de formai ntel bech. "Chël l me savëssa ben bon", la s'à pensé ntra de dëla, e l'à clamé l còrf: "Cotánt bel che t'es! Se tuo cianté l è bel coche ti te ciale fòra, nlouta t'es segur ti l plu bel de duc cánc i uciei!"


Romancio della Val Monastero (anticamente diffuso anche in Val Venosta)
La vuolp d'eira darcheu üna jada fomantada. Qua ha'la vis ün corv chi tgnaiva ün toc chaschöl in seis pical. Quai am gustess, ha'la pensà, ed ha clomà al corv: "Che bel cha tü est! Scha teis chant es uschè bel sco tia apparentscha, lura est tü il plü bel utschè da tuots!"


Italiano
La volpe era nuovamente affamata. Vide un corvo posato su un pino con un pezzo di formaggio nel becco. Come lo gusterei, pensò la volpe, e disse al corvo: « Come sei bello ! Se il tuo canto è così bello come il tuo aspetto, allora sei l'uccello più bello di tutti!»

Sardinian (Logudorese)
Su grodde fit torra famídu. Haíat bidu unu corvu firmu ind'unu pinu cun 'nd'unu bìcculu de casu in su biccu. Comente lu día gustare, pensaíat su grodde, e haíat narádu a su corvu : Ite bellu qui ses! Si su cantu tou est gai bellu que s'apparentzia tua, tando ses su puzóne piús bellu de totu!

Good list.

 

[Issacus Divus]

Anyways, since this thread is lacking.



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


In Friulian as in other Romance languages, nouns are either masculine or feminine (for example, "il mûr" ("the wall", masculine), "la cjadree" ("the chair", 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.

• 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. cjase is spelled as cjasa or cjaso - the latter being the oldest form of the feminine ending).


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. 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 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.


The Friulian definite article (which corresponds to "the" in English) is derived from the Latin ille and takes the following forms:
Definite articles

Number​

Masculine​

Feminine​

Singular il la
Plural i lis
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.[11]
The indefinite article in Friulian (which corresponds to "a" and an in English) derives from the Latin unus and varies according to gender:
Indefinite articles

Masculine​

un

Feminine​

une
A partitive article also exists: des for feminine and dai for masculine: des vacjis – some cows and dai libris - some books


A Friulian adjective 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):
Declination

Number​

Masculine​

Feminine​

Singular brut brute
Plural bruts brutis
(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)

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)

• taule, taulis = table, tables
• cjase, cjasis = house, houses
• lune, lunis = moon, moons
• scuele, scuelis = school, schools
• sisteme, sistemis = system, systems
• manece, manecis = glove, gloves
• gnece, gnecis = 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 [z], as 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
• tren, trens = train, trains
• braç, braçs = arm, arms (from Latin "bracchium")
• guant, guants = 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 gjat, for example, is written as gjats but is pronounced in much of Friuli as if it were gjas. The plural of plat '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 no f or p, respectively (clâs, clas) so 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): messaç / messaçs (message).


Masculine nouns ending in -l or -li form their plurals by palatalising final -l or -li to -i.

• cjaval, cjavai = horse, horses (from Latin "caballus")
• fîl, fîi = string, strings (from Latin "filum")
• cjapiel, cjapiei = hat, hats
• cjaveli, cjavei = hair, hairs
• voli, voi = eye, eyes
• zenoli, zenoi = 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:

• dint, dincj = tooth, teeth (from Latin "dens, -tis")
• dut, ducj = 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 bogns.


A feature of Friulian are the clitic subject pronouns. Known in Friulian as pleonastics, are never stressed; they are used together with the verbs to express the subject and can be found before the verb in declarative sentences or immediately after it in case of interrogative or vocative (optative) sentences.
Weak pronouns

Declaration​

Question​

Invocation​

I o -io -io
You (singular) tu -tu -tu
He al -ial -ial
She e ie ie
We o -o -o
You (plural) o -o -o
They -a -o -o
An example: jo o lavori means "I work"; lavorio? means "Do I work?", while lavorassio means "I wish I worked".

• Friulian verbal infinitives have one of four endings, -â, -ê, -i, -î; removing the ending gives the root, used to form the other forms (fevel – â, to speak), but in the case of irregular verbs, the root changes. They are common (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


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), but it can sometimes[12] 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).


Most vocabulary is derived from Latin, with substantial phonological and morphological changes throughout its history. Therefore, many words are shared with the Romance languages,[13] Here the composition:

• Celtic (9%) words are many, because the substrate of the Vulgar Latin spoken in Friuli, was the Karn-Celtic language. ("bâr", wood; "clap/crap", stone;"cjâr", plow; "crot", frog)
• Modern German (10%) words were introduced in particular in the Middle Ages, during the Patrie dal Friûl, when the influence from this culture was quite strong (bearç, backyard).
• Slavic (3%) words were brought by Slavic (mostly Alpine Slavic) immigrants called several times to Friuli to repopulate lands devastated by Hungarian invasions in the 10th century (cjast, barn; zigâ, to shout). Furthermore, many Slavic words have entered Friulian through the centuries-long neighbouring between Friulians and Slovenes, especially in north-eastern Friuli (Slavia Friulana) and in the Gorizia and Gradisca 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) and Celtic 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 category, troi, path; bragons, trousers.
• Latin and derived languages (68%):
  • Venetian language influenced Friulian vocabulary: canucje, straw.
  • Some French words entered the Friulian vocabulary: pardabon, 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 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 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%).

 

[EstQuodFulmineIungo]

No pos crodi cal seti qualchidun fur dal Friûl cal studie chiste lenge inutile?

 

[EstQuodFulmineIungo]

Carnia, Carniola, and Carinthia

That's not completely right by the way,

 

[EstQuodFulmineIungo]

This is what happens if you speak "Friulano" in a formal context in Italy (Parliament):

 

[EstQuodFulmineIungo]

Une biele cjancon ca tu podis scolta e capî dome sa tu tabais par Furlan:

 

[EstQuodFulmineIungo]

Da font de me anime, o gjot o esulti
"Animae meae ex fundo, jubilo et exsulto"