Friulian

Friulian or Friulan (furlan in Friulian) is a language spoken in the historical Friuli region in northeastern Italy bordering Austria in the north, Slovenia in the east and Veneto in the west. It developed around 1000 AD from Vulgar Latin spoken in the Aquileia region and conserves for example a final –s in the plural of nouns, cf. cjan (sg.) ‘dog’ vs. cjans ‘dogs’ (pl.): in Italian: cane (sg.) vs. cani (pl.), and it maintains consonant clusters such as cl, gl, bl, pl, fl; compare e.g. clâf  (Latin: clavem; Italian: chiave). Friulian can be divided into three main varieties: western Friulian, central-eastern Friulian and Carnic Friulian, spoken in the north, in Carnia.

Due to its peripheral geographic position, Friulian has always been in contact with other languages and varieties. Friuli-Venezia Giulia, an autonomous region with special statute, recognizes (besides Friulian) also two other historical minority languages as official languages: German (for example in the language islands Sappada/Pladen, Timau/Tischelwang or Sauris/Zahre going back to a medieval variety of Southern Bavarian) and Slovenian spoken in the provinces of Gorizia, Trieste and Udine.

At national level, Friulian has been recognised as minority language according to Italy’s National Law no. 482/99, Friuli Venezia-Giulia’s Regional Laws no. 15/96 and 29/2009 as well as Veneto’s Regional Law no. 30/2021.

Since 2005, the Regional Agency for the Friulian language (ARLeF – in Friulian: Agjenzie Regjonâl pe lenghe furlane) has been coordinating activities to protect and to promote the Friulian language and its historical and cultural heritage. ARLeF is the reference point for vocabulary standardisation and language certification. It also provides digital tools for Friulian writing. According to a study published by the ARLeF in co-operation with Istituto di Ricerche Economiche e Sociali del Friuli Venezia-Giulia (Research Institute for Economic and Social Issues of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region), in 2023, there are ca. 450,000 speakers of Friulian in the Friulian-speaking part of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region as well as in the Veneto region (180 municipalities). Additionally, many speakers of Friulian have emigrated worldwide in the past, especially to Australia, North- and South America and South Africa, resulting in Friulian speech communities outside of Italy.

Friulian has a long tradition as a written language. The first documentation of literary use dates back to the fourteenth century. Later, the poet Ermes di Colloredo (1622 – 1692) created a common literary language based on the central Friulian variety spoken in the area around Udine which as a result acquired the status of literary koiné. Subsequently, this variety was used also by other writers and served as a model for the official spelling adopted in 1996. The Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia-Giulia has acknowledged the official Friulian writing system in accordance with Regional Law no. 15/96, which is now used as a unique orthographic system in institutions, schools and media.

ISO-Code 639-2: fur

Further reading

  • Benincà, Paola & Laura Vanelli (2016): Friulian. In Adam Ledgeway & Martin Maiden (eds.): The Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages. Oxford: University Press, pp. 139-153.
  • Frau, Giovanni (1984): I dialetti del Friuli. Udine. Società Filologica Friulano.
  • Heinemann, Sabine & Luca Melchior (eds.) (2015): Manuale di linguistica friulana (=Manuals of Romance Linguistics 3). Berlin: de Gruyter.
  • Marcato, Carla (2001): Friuli Venezia Giulia (=Alberto A. Sobrero [ed.]: Profili linguistici delle regioni). Bari: Laterza.
  • Rizzolatti, Piera (1981): Elementi di linguistica friulana. Udine: Società Filologica Friulano.
  • Turello, Davide (2007): Sprachplanung des Friaulischen: eine Untersuchung der Standardisierungsprozesse. Bamberg: Otto-Friedrich-Universität.

Additional online resources

Discover the other varieties