Learn Friulian 7. Lis predicjis dal muini: Preambul

This is the seventh lesson in our study of the Friulian language using the book Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet.

To download a PDF of the book and to listen to the audio recordings, which are made available by the Societât Filologjiche Furlane, follow the links in Learn Friulian 1.

The Friulian notes below relate to the fifth and sixth sentences of the third paragraph of the Preambul, which begin with da pît la vile and end with des lôr cragnis.

FRIULIAN NOTES

Preambul: paragraph 3, sentence 5.

Vocabulary: il pît (foot); da pît (at the foot of); la vile (village); unic (only); une abitazion (dwelling); civîl (civil, decent); il paîs (village); une ostarie (tavern); un forest (outsider, foreigner); savê (to know); fâ i siei interès (to go about his own interests); cence (without); trop (too many); un scrupul (scruple); insom (finally); un tîr (shot); une sclope (rifle); la cjase (house); la gleseute (little church); une costruzion (construction); il Cinccent (the fifteen hundreds); une cjampanute (little bell); il colm (ridge, top); une façade (façade); un puartiut (porch); devant di (in front of); une puarte (door); une strade (road, street).

Da pît la vile: at the foot of the village. La uniche abitazion civîl: the only proper dwelling. The four forms of unic (only) are: unic (masculine singular); uniche (feminine singular); unics (masculine plural); unichis (feminine plural). Dal paîs: of the village, where di and il contract to form dal. Un forest: this can refer in Friulian not only to someone from a different country altogether, but even to someone from out of town: a foreigner, an outsider, someone from away; it is pronounced with stress on the final syllable. Che al sa fâ i siei interès cence trops scrupui: who knows how to go about his interests without too many scruples. Study how to say his in Friulian: il so cjamp (his field); i siei cjamps (his fields); la sô cjase (his house); lis sôs cjasis (his houses). Trop means too many; its four forms are: trop (masculine singular); trope (feminine singular); trops (masculine plural); tropis (feminine plural). The masculine plural trops is pronounced tros, which you can hear in the audio. A un tîr di sclope des cjasis: at rifle's shot away from the houses. Des is the contraction of di and lis. La gleseute di S. Pieri: the little church of Saint Peter. Gleseute (little church) is the diminutive form of glesie (church); S. is the abbreviation of Sant (Saint). Cinccent is the Friulian for five hundred, but it is used to identify the fifteen hundreds (as in the sixteenth century), together with the definite article: il Cinccent. Cuntune cjampanute sul colm de façade: with a little bell on the ridge of the façade. Cun and une contract to form cuntune; su and il contract to form sul; di and la contract to form de. Un puartiut devant de puarte, su la strade: a porch in front of the door, on the road. Unlike su and il which contract to form sul, su and la do not contract: su la.

FRIULIAN NOTES

Preambul: paragraph 3, sentence 6.

Vocabulary: za timp (in the past, time ago); in cheste glesie (in this church); un vicjari curât (curate vicar); dipendi di (to answer to, to be under the authority of); un plevan (parish priest); une vile (village); ma cumò (but now); nissun (nobody, no one); par vie che (because, on account of); la int (people); stâ miôr (to be better off); cence che (without); un predi (priest); vignî (to come); meti il nâs in (to stick one's nose in); lôr (their); un afâr (business); impaçâsi di (to meddle in); lis cragnis (filthy affairs).

Al jere un vicjari curât: there was a curate vicar. Al jere is the imperfect indicative form of al è; likewise, e jere is the imperfect indicative form of e je. Al dipendeve dal plevan: he answered to the parish priest; here again is an imperfect indicative. Consider: al dipent di (he answers to); al dipendeve di (he used to answer to). Study the following: nol è nissun (there is nobody); nol jere nissun (there was nobody); nol sarà nissun (there will be nobody); nol ven nissun (nobody comes); nol è vignût nissun (nobody has come); nol vignarà nissun (nobody will come). Miôr means better; stâ miôr means to be better off. La int e sta miôr: the people are better off. Cence che i predis a vegnin: without priests coming. Consider: il predi al ven (the priest comes); i predis a vegnin (the priests come). With cence che, the subjunctive is required, but in the phrase from the book, its present subjunctive form (a vegnin) is indistinguishable from the present indicative (a vegnin); that said, some Friulians may use a vignedin in the present subjunctive: cence che a vegnin, cence che a vignedin. The literal meaning of meti is to put, and nâs is a masculine noun identifying the nose: meti il nâs tai lôr afârs: to stick their nose in their business. Tai is the contraction of in and i; in other words, tai lôr afârs = in (in) + i lôr afârs (their business). Lôr (their) never changes form: il lôr plevan (their parish priest); i lôr plevans (their parish priests); la lôr glesie (their church); lis lôr glesiis (their churches). Impaçâsi des lôr cragnis: to meddle in their filthy affairs, to meddle in their dirty laundry. Again, des is the contraction of di and lis. In some variants of Friulian, such as western ones, des is rather da li. For example, i cops des cjasis (the roof tiles of the houses) may rather be said in certain western variants i cops da li çasis. Un cop is, more precisely, a barrel tile used in Friulian roofing. Using cjase in the singular, i cops de cjase (the roof tiles of the house) may rather be said in certain western variants i cops da la çasa.

Learn Friulian 6. Lis predicjis dal muini: Preambul

This is the sixth lesson in the learning Friulian series using the book Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet. Follow the links in Learn Friulian 1 to read the entire book in PDF form and to listen to the audio, available online courtesy of the Societât Filologjiche Furlane.

The Friulian notes below relate to the third and fourth sentences of the third paragraph of the Preambul, which begin with a Gargagnà Disot and end with e di pretesis. 

FRIULIAN NOTES

Preambul: paragraph 3, sentence 3.

Vocabulary: il comun (town hall); la plêf (parish church); un pôc di (a bit of, a little, a few); un moviment (movement); comerciâl (commercial); dâ (to give); al da (it gives); cheste vile (this village); un fregul di (a smidgen of, a modicum of); une ande (flair); citadin (urban).

A Gargagnà Disot: in Lower Gargagnà. With the names of villages, towns and cities, Friulian uses the preposition a where English uses in. Al è il comun e la plêf: there is the town hall and the parish church. Whereas in the previous sentence the masculine noun comun referred to the municipality, here it identifies the town hall. Un pôc di moviment comerciâl: a bit of commercial movement, a little business activity. With un pôc di, note that pôc must always agree in number and gender with the noun following di, but un is invariable. Examples: un pôc di timp (a bit of time; masculine singular); un pocje di aghe (a bit of water; feminine singular); un pôcs di oms (a few men; masculine plural); un pocjis di feminis (a few women; feminine plural). The masculine plural pôcs is pronounced pôs. Che al da a cheste vile un fregul di ande citadine: which gives this village a smidgen of city flair. The four forms of the adjective citadin (urban) are: citadin (masculine singular); citadine (feminine singular); citadins (masculine plural); citadinis (feminine plural).

Preambul: paragraph 3, sentence 4.

Vocabulary: nuie (nothing); un borgat (shantytown); une staipe (shack); un landri (hovel); un murat (stone wall); la stabilidure (plaster); cence stabilidure (unplastered); un tamar (pen, fold); plen di (full of); dome (only, just); un catan (rust bucket); lis scovacis (rubbish, garbage); la int (people); grubian (oafish, coarse); la presunzion (presumption); une pretese (demand).

A Gargagnà Disore nol è nuie: In Upper Gargagnà there is nothing. The verb is negated before nuie. Consider: al dîs (he says); nol dîs nuie (he says nothing); al à (he has); nol à nuie (he has nothing); e à (she has); no à nuie (she has nothing). Al è un borgat di staipis e di landris: it is a shantytown of shacks and hovels. The literal meaning of the masculine noun landri is cave; here it refers figuratively to a run-down dwelling. Di murats cence stabilidure: of unplastered stone walls. Murats is pronounced muràs, which you can hear in the recording. Di tamars plens dome di catans e scovacis: of pens full of only rust buckets and rubbish. Un tamar is a fold where sheep or goats are kept; it is pronounced with stress on the first syllable. Di int grubiane plene di presunzion e di pretesis: of oafish people full of presumption and demands. Plen (full) must agree in number and gender with the noun that it modifies: un tamar plen di (a pen full of); tamars plens di (pens full of); int plene di (people full of). Note that int (people) is a feminine singular noun, not a plural one. This means that the verb used with it will also be singular: cheste int e je grubiane (these people are oafish).

Learn Friulian 5. Lis predicjis dal muini: Preambul

This is the fifth lesson in our study of the Friulian language using the book Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet.

Follow the links in Learn Friulian 1 to read the entire book in PDF form and to listen to the audio, made available online by the Societât Filologjiche Furlane.

The Friulian notes below relate to the first two sentences of the third paragraph of the Preambul, which begin with cheste veretât and end with il Comun di Scufons.

FRIULIAN NOTES

Preambul: paragraph 3, sentence 1.

Vocabulary: cheste veretât (this truth); la urdidure (the thrust); di chest libri (of this book); la trame (the plot, the story line); invezit (on the other hand); une fente (a fiction, a made-up story); une bausie (a lie); salacor (perhaps, maybe); coventâ (to be needed); une peraule di spiegazion (a word of explanation).

Listen to the audio to hear how the speaker pronounces invezit (on the other hand); it sounds like invessit, with the second syllable being the stressed one. Salacor (perhaps, maybe) is pronounced with stress on the final syllable; used even more frequently in Friulian is forsit, having the same meaning and taking its stress on the first syllable. I covente: is needed unto it. The third-person singular and indirect i means unto it. I covente une peraule di spiegazion: it needs a word of explanation; literally, unto it is needed a word of explanation. Consider now the following: e covente une peraule di spiegazion (a word of explanation is needed); i covente une peraule di spiegazion (it needs a word of explanation [a word of explanation is needed unto it]). For some Friulians, the z of spiegazion will sound like ts; for others, such as speakers of western variants, it will sound like ss. The same can be said of frazion, which appears in the next sentence. Words ending in zion are always feminine.

Preambul: paragraph 3, sentence 2.

Vocabulary: secont (according to); cheste fente (this fiction, this made-up story); Gargagnà Disore (Upper Gargagnà); une vile (a village); dal Friûl di Mieç (of Central Friûl); une frazion (a borough); nus (us); insegnâ (to teach); dî (to say); i talians (the Italians); une anime (a soul); cun siet votcent animis (with seven or eight hundred souls); in union cun (together with, along with); Gargagnà Disot (Lower Gargagnà); cualchi altri cjasâl (a few other hamlets); plui minût (smaller); formâ (to form); il Comun di Scufons (the Municipality of Scufons).

Secont (according to) also exists as seont. Mieç is a masculine noun meaning middle; for instance, il mieç dal mâr means the middle of the sea. Di mieç can be attached to a placename to create the sense of central; for instance, il Friûl di Mieç means Central Friûl, and l'Orient di Mieç means the Middle East. Consider all the following: il talian (the Italian); i talians (the Italians); il talian al à insegnât (the Italian has taught); i talians a àn insegnât (the Italians have taught); il talian nus à insegnât (the Italian has taught us); i talians nus àn insegnât (the Italians have taught us). Note how the presence of nus forces the omission of al and a in the preceding examples. The author explains that it was under the influence of the Italians that the Friulians adopted the term une frazion (borough) to name each of the administrative divisions of un comun (municipality), for it was the Italians who devised the system. The infinitive dî means to say; be prepared to hear this expressed also as disi. For instance, i talians nus àn insegnât a dî cussì or i talians nus àn insegnât a disi cussì both mean the Italians have taught us to say so. The Friulian for seven is siet, and for eight is vot. Sietcent: seven hundred. Votcent: eight hundred. Siet votcent: seven or eight hundred. Cualchi (a few) is always followed by the singular: cualchi cjase (a few houses); cualchi cjamp (a few fields); cualchi cjasâl (a few hamlets). Any adjective or verb used with it will also be set in the singular: cualchi altri cjasâl plui minût (a few other smaller hamlets); cualchi altre cjase plui minude (a few other smaller houses). Study: il comun al forme (the municipality forms); la citât e forme (the city forms); chestis frazions a formin (these boroughs form).

Learn Friulian 4. Lis predicjis dal muini: Preambul

This is the fourth lesson in the learning Friulian series using the book Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet. Follow the links in Learn Friulian 1 to read the entire book in PDF form and to listen to the audio, available online courtesy of the Societât Filologjiche Furlane.

The Friulian notes below relate to the final sentence of the second paragraph of the Preambul, which begins with intun cuadri and ends with voie di cjalâle. 

FRIULIAN NOTES

Preambul: paragraph 2, sentence 3.

Intun cuadri lis robis claris a parin plui lusorosis: in a painting, light things appear brighter. In and un combine to form intun (in a); the feminine equivalent is intune. Examples: intun cuadri (in a painting); intune cjase (in a house); intun libri (in a book); intune lenghe (in a language). Une robe: a thing. Clâr: light, bright. Parê: to appear, to seem. Lis robis claris a parin: light things appear. Lusorôs: bright, brilliant. Plui lusorôs: brighter, more brilliant. Both claris and lusorosis are feminine plural to agree in number and gender with feminine plural robis.

Se a son dongje lis ombris e lis maglis: if there are shadows and dark spots beside them. Se: if. Dongje: alongside, nearby. Une ombre: a shadow. Une magle: a dark spot, a stain. Taken more literally, this phrase can be understood as: if nearby are shadows and dark spots. In some variants of Friulian, such as western ones, be prepared to hear dongje said as dongia. Whereas standard dongje takes a hard g (as in the English word get), variant form dongia uses a soft one (as in the English word jet). Standard example: dongje de cjase (beside the house); equivalent in certain variants: dongia da la çasa.

Se no son ombris ni maglis: if there are neither shadows nor dark spots. A son ombris: there are shadows. No son ombris: there are no shadows. A son can take the sense of either they are or there are. Examples: i cjamps a son dongje de citât (the fields are near the city); a son une vore di cjamps dongje de citât (there are many fields near the city). Negated, a son becomes no son. In the phrase under review here, no son takes the sense of there are no, there are not any. No... ni... ni... can be used in neither... nor constructions in this way: chel monument nol è ni grant ni biel (that monument is neither large nor beautiful); chê citât no je ni grande ni biele (that city is neither large nor beautiful); su la taule no son ni pirons ni sedons (on the table are neither forks nor spoons). In our phrase under review, the author omitted ni before ombris (he used ni only once), which is a simplified, more direct style. Consider: al è (masculine singular); e je (feminine singular); a son (masculine and feminine plural); negated: nol è, no je, no son. For information: il piron (fork), la sedon (spoon), il curtìs (knife).

Si pues stâ sigûrs che e je dute une bausie: you can be certain that it is all a lie. Podê: can, to be able. Si pues: one can, one is able. Stâ sigûr: to be certain, to be sure. The masculine plural sigûrs is used because si pues refers to people in general, which is a plural concept. Une bausie: a lie; this word has three syllables (bau-sì-e), and the stress falls on the second one. E je is used because bausie is feminine singular. Examples: e je dute une bausie (it is all a lie); al è dut un mismàs (it is all a mess).

No ven nancje voie di cjalâle: you will not even want to look at it. Vignî: to come. La voie: keenness, desire. E ven voie: keenness comes. No ven voie: keenness comes not. Nancje: not even. In Friulian, to look at it is either cjalâlu or cjalâle; the former uses the masculine singular direct object lu attached to the infinitive cjalâ, whereas the latter uses the feminine singular direct object le. In our phrase under review, the feminine singular is used because it refers back to feminine singular bausie (lie) rather than masculine singular cuadri (painting): in the author's mind, the object is not a painting at all, but a lie.

Learn Friulian 3. Lis predicjis dal muini: Preambul

This third lesson continues to teach Friulian through Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet.

From this point on, the entire portion of text to be studied will not be provided here as a full quotation, unless it is short. Follow the links in Learn Friulian 1 to read the entire book in PDF form and to listen to the audio, made available by the Societât Filologjiche Furlane.

The Friulian notes below relate to the first two sentences of the second paragraph of the Preambul, which begin with o sin usâts and end with cence baronade.

FRIULIAN NOTES 

Preambul: paragraph 2, sentence 1.

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). 

Preambul: paragraph 2, sentence 2.

Chest al è il dret: this is the front side. Il dret is the front-facing side, in opposition to il ledrôs, which is the back-facing side, studied previously. The Friulian for this is: chest (masculine singular); cheste (feminine singular); and the Friulian for these is: chescj (masculine plural); chestis (feminine plural). Consider: chest om, chel om (this man, that man); cheste femine, chê femine (this woman, that woman); chescj oms, chei oms (these men, those men); chestis feminis, chês feminis (these women, those women).

Ma e vûl metude in cont ancje chê altre muse: but the other face also needs to be taken into account. Ma: but. Meti in cont: to take into account. Metût in cont: taken into account. Ancje: also. La muse: the face. Chê altre muse: the other face; literally, that other face. E vûl is the feminine, third-person singular of the present tense of volê (to want); it agrees here with chê altre muse, feminine singular. Compare the following: al vûl metût in cont (masculine singular); e vûl metude in cont (feminine singular), both meaning it needs to be taken into account. Another example: al vûl metût in cont ancje chel altri probleme (the other problem also needs to be taken into account). Probleme may look like a feminine noun because of its e ending, but it is indeed masculine.

Bisugne vê la fuarce di cjalâ dut cence parevoi: one must have the strength to observe eveything without blinders. Bisugne: one must, you have to. Vê la fuarce: to have the strength. Cjalâ: to observe, to look at. Cence parevoi: without blinders. I parevoi are the blinders (or blinkers) worn by horses to limit their vision. Cence parevoi is used figuratively here to mean that one must see things with a full view to how they really are.

Pesâ dut cence baronade: to weigh everything without mischief, which is to say, to consider everything in an honest manner. In other variants of Friulian, such as western ones, be prepared to hear cence (without) said as sensa.

Learn Friulian 2. Lis predicjis dal muini: Preambul

In Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet (follow the links in Learn 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.

FRIULIAN NOTES 

Preambul: paragraph 1, sentence 2.

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.

Learn Friulian 1. Lis predicjis dal muini: Preambul

This series for learning Friulian uses the book Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet. The text and audio have been made available online by the Societât Filologjiche Furlane (links below). In this book, a fictional muini (sacristan) delivers his biting commentary in his predicjis (sermons), which will introduce you to many colloquial Friulian usages. The book begins with a foreward, called the preambul, in the words of the author himself; this introductory text is a straightforward commentary on what to expect in the lively predicjis that follow. Our study of the Friulian language begins with the preambul.

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.

FRIULIAN NOTES 

Preambul: paragraph 1, sentence 1.

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. The Friulian territory is called il Friûl in Friulian itself, using the masculine singular definite article il. 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).