Friulian language
| Friulian (Furlan) | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in: | the eastern part of Italy |
| Region: | Friuli-Venezia Giulia |
| Total speakers: | 600,000 |
| Ranking: | N/A |
| Genetic classification: |
Indo-European Rhaetian languages |
| Official status | |
| Official language of: | No country. Officially recognized in Italy with the law 482/1999 |
| Regulated by: | Osservatori Regjonâl de Lenghe e de Culture Furlanis |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | fur |
| SIL | FRL |
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) and in the 20th century there was a revival of the language, which continues so far. Today this language is officially recognized in Italy among the minorities and the use is growing also for music and theatre, although there are problems of standardisation (Friulian spoken in the central areas of Friuli, near Udine is generally considered standard, but not everybody agrees, and different writing systems coexist too).
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)