Learning Friulian 3: Lis predicjis dal muini (Preambul)

This third lesson continues to teach Friulian through Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet. Going forward, the portion of text to be studied will not be provided here, unless it is short. Follow the links in Learning Friulian 1 to read the entire book in PDF form and to listen to the audio, made available by the Societât Filologjiche Furlane.

The notes below relate to the second paragraph of the Preambul, which begins with o sin usâts a une forme di retoriche a bon presit and ends with e no ven nancje voie di cjalâle.

O sin usâts a [...]: we are used to. Jessi usât a: to be used to. Consider: o soi usât a (I am used to; masculine singular); o soi usade a (I am used to; feminine singular); o sin usâts a (we are used to; masculine plural); o sin usadis a (we are used to; feminine plural). The masculine plural usâts is pronounced usâs. In western variants of Friulian, be prepared to hear i soi and i sin in place of o soi and o sin.

Une forme di retoriche a bon presit: a form of cheap rhetoric. In Friulian variants preferring to end words in a rather than e, such as western ones, the form una forma di retorica would instead be used, which is indistinguishable from Italian. A bon presit: cheap. The adjective bon means good, whereas the masculine noun presit means price. When the letter s comes between vowels, it is voiced, which means that the s of presit sounds like the first letter of the English words zoo, zinc, zeal. Listen to the audio to hear it pronounced.

Puartâ adalt: to exalt. Puartâ means to bring, to carry, to bear. Adalt means up, upwards. Une forme [...] che e puarte adalt: a form [...] that exalts. E is used because une forme is a feminine singular subject. Had the subject been masculine singular, for instance: il libri (the book), then al would be used instead: il libri che al puarte adalt (the book that exalts). In the plural, whether masculine or feminine, a is used, with the verb set in the plural: i libris che a puartin adalt (the books that exalt).

Tant il nestri paîs che il nestri popul: both our country and our people. The masculine noun paîs can mean either country or village in Friulian. Nestri means our; it is used with the definite article of the noun that it modifies and changes form accordingly. Consider: il nestri difiet (our flaw); i nestris difiets (our flaws); la nestre forme di retoriche (our form of rhetoric); lis nestris formis di retoriche (our forms of rhetoric). Tant [...] che [...]: both [...] and [...].

Parsore di ducj chei altris vicins e lontans: above all others, near and far. Parsore di: above. Ducj chei altris: all others, all the others; literally, all those others. The forms of altri (other) are: altri (masculine singular); altre (feminine singular); altris (masculine plural); altris (feminine plural). Many Friulians drop the l of this adjective when speaking: atri, atre (or atra in western variants), atris. Vicin: near, nearby. Lontan: far, faraway. The masculine plural forms vicins and lontans are used to agree in number and gender with ducj chei altris. In western variants of Friulian, vicin may instead be pronounced vissin. For instance, rather than une citât vicine (a nearby city), you may hear una sitât vissina. Similarly: une citât lontane, una sitât lontana (a faraway city).

Learning Friulian 2: Lis predicjis dal muini (Preambul)

In Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet (follow the links in Learning Friulian 1 to read the book and listen to the audio, which are provided online courtesy of the Societât Filologjiche Furlane), the second sentence of the Preambul reads:

Gargagnà nol è une «entitât gjeografiche»; al è une «entitât morâl», un fat di costum: al è dut il Friûl cjalât de bande dal ledrôs, di chê bande dulà che une tele e mostre ducj i siei grops, dutis lis zontis, lis mendis, i difiets, in sumis dute la veretât.

Gargagnà nol è: Gargagnà is not. This is the negated form of Gargagnà al è (Gargagnà is). Another example: gno fradi al è a cjase (my brother is at home); gno fradi nol è a cjase (my brother is not at home). The Friulian gn of Gargagnà and gno sounds just as it does in Italian.

Une entitât gjeografiche: a geographic entity. Entitât is a feminine singular noun, and the adjective gjeografic (geographic) modifying it must agree in gender and number, producing: gjeografiche. The four forms of this adjective are: gjeografic (masculine singular); gjeografiche (feminine singular); gjeografics (masculine plural); gjeografichis (feminine plural).

Un fat di costum: a cultural phenomenon.

Al è dut il Friûl cjalât de bande dal ledrôs: it is all of Friûl seen from the rear side. Dut: all. Cjalâ: to look at, to observe. Cjalât: looked at, observed, seen. La bande: side. Il ledrôs: rear side, wrong side. De bande dal ledrôs: from the rear side, where di (from) contracts with la to form de. In western variants of Friulian, be prepared to encounter da la instead of de; and in those variants where feminine nouns end in a rather than e, you may hear da la banda. Il ledrôs refers to the rear side or wrong side of, for instance, a rug or canvas, which is to say, the side hidden from view.

Di chê bande dulà che une tele e mostre [...]: from that side where a canvas shows [...]. The Friulian for that is chel (masculine singular); chê (feminine singular); and the Friulian for those is chei (masculine plural); chês (feminine plural). Une tele: a canvas. Mostrâ: to show. Une tele e mostre: a canvas shows. E mostre is feminine singular; its masculine equivalent is al mostre. Examples: la femine e mostre (the woman shows); l'om al mostre (the man shows). In those variants of Friulian preferring to end words with a rather than e, such as western ones, be prepared to hear instead: una tela a mostra, la femina a mostra, l'om al mostra.

Ducj i siei grops, dutis lis zontis, lis mendis, i difiets: all its knots, all its seams, its patches, its flaws. The four forms of dut (all) are: dut (masculine singular); dute (feminine singular); ducj (masculine plural); dutis (feminine plural). In wetsern variants of Friulian, be prepared to hear: dut, duta, duçus, dutis. Un grop: a knot. Une zonte: a seam. Une mende: a patch. Un difiet: a flaw. Consider: il so grop (its knot); i siei grops (its knots); la sô zonte (its seam); lis sôs zontis (its seams). The masculine plural difiets sounds like difiès. To pronounce ducj as used in this sentence, imagine that ducj and i are written as one word: ducji. Whereas lis (also said li) is the plural of the definite article la, the plural of the definite article il is i, for instance: il grop, i grops (the knot, the knots); la mende, lis mendis (the repair, the repairs).

In sumis dute la veretât: in short, the whole truth. When listening to the audio, take note of how the speaker pronounces veretât, with its circumflex-accented â held slightly longer than an unaccented a. Listen for this phenomenon in other words as well, such as ledrôs.

Learning Friulian 1: Lis predicjis dal muini (Preambul)

This series for learning Friulian uses the book Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet. The book and audio have been made available online by the Societât Filologjiche Furlane.

READ: Click here to download a PDF of the book.
LISTEN: Click here to listen to the Friulian audio.

The first sentence of the book, from the Preambul, reads:

Al è dibant lâ a cirî Gargagnà su lis mapis dal Friûl: no si cjatilu nancje in chês plui minudis e precisis che a doprin i militârs, indulà che a son segnadis fin lis farcadicis.

Al è dibant: there is no need, it is pointless. Dibant (in vain) is pronounced with tonic stress on the final syllable. Al è: it is.

Lâ a cirî Gargagnà: to go looking for Gargagnà. Whereas lâ means to go, cirî means to look for. Many Friulian infinitives end in â, ê, î and take their tonic stress on that syllable. In some variants of Friulian, such as western ones, to go is rather 'sî, and to look for is rather serçâ. The apostrophed 's of 'sî is voiced, which means that it sounds like the first letter of the English words zoo, zinc, zeal, and not like its voiceless counterpart in sue, sink, seal. Gargagnà, as explained in the book, is an imaginary village of Friûl, where the story is set.

Su lis mapis dal Friûl: on maps of Friûl. The Friulian for map is the feminine noun la mape (the map). In the plural, it becomes lis mapis (the maps). In the audio, you will hear the speaker say li mapis. The feminine plural definite articles lis and li are both heard in Friulian. Su means on. Friûl in Friulian itself is il Friûl, with the masculine singular definite article. Dal Friûl: literally, of the Friûl, where di (of) contracts with il to form dal.

No si cjatilu: you cannot find it; literally, one finds it not. The Friulian for to find is cjatâ. Si cjate: one finds. Si cjatilu: one finds it. No si cjatilu: one finds it not. The masculine singular direct object lu (it) is attached to the verb cjate (finds), whose final e becomes i before the addition. Si is an impersonal subject pronoun, used here to mean one, people in general.

Nancje in chês plui minudis e precisis: not even on the smallest and most precise ones. Nancje: not even. Minût: small. Precîs: precise. Plui: most. Mapis is feminine plural, and the adjectives minût and precîs must agree in number and gender with it: minudis, precisis. Chês is also feminine plural, meaning those. Literal translation: not even in those most small and precise. In western variants of Friulian, be prepared to hear nença rather than nancje. Other common pronunciations of plui include pui and pi.

Che a doprin i militârs: that soldiers use. Doprâ: to use. A doprin: they use. I militârs a doprin: soldiers use. Che takes the sense here of that or which, so that che a doprin i militârs means that soldiers use. The third person plural doprin is pronounced with tonic stress on the first syllable. Note that the third-person plural a must be included. Singular equivalent: il militâr al dopre (the soldier uses). In spoken Friulian, it is normal to pronounce che a in one syllable: ch'a, which sounds like ca. That said, in the audio, the speaker may not always make such contractions.

Indulà che a son segnadis fin lis farcadicis: where even molehills are indicated. Indulà che: where, wherein; also commonly said as dulà che and là che. Segnâ: to indicate. Segnât: indicated. Une farcadice: a molehill; plural: lis farcadicis. Segnât must agree in number and gender with the feminine plural farcadicis, to produce: a son segnadis (they are indicated). Consider: al è segnât (masculine singular); e je segnade (feminine singular); a son segnâts (masculine plural); a son segnadis (feminine plural). Masculine plural segnâts is pronounced segnâs; this dropping of the t is typical of the pronunciation of the masculine plural ts ending, and you will have many opportunities to hear this Friulian pronunciation phenomenon in the audio. Fin lis farcadicis: even molehills. Whereas une farcadice means molehill, the animal itself is called un farc (mole).