Watch a videoclip in Friulian
In this videoclip, Francesco Colombino laments over what he says are endless disagreements about whose use of the Friulian language is the more correct. He argues that Friulian is Friulian, regardless of one’s particular variant of the language.
Transcription of the Friulian
Us àial mai capitât di sintî discors come chest? «Tal gno paîs i disìn fevelâ». «Setu sigûr? Noaltris o disìn cjacarâ...». «Eh no, a si dîs tabaiâ...». Po sì po. E se ti dîs frêt? Ce mi ditu? «Freit... Criùre...». Eh, no le finìn plui alore... «Fantâts, viodêt che il vêr furlan al è chel di San Denêl». «Furlan? No mo, i cjargnei a fevelin cjargnel, migo furlan». Vonde, vonde, vonde, vonde! Furlans, vonde monadis. Cirìn di fâ un pôc di ordin. Tignît sot voli ce che a disin chei che il furlan lu cjacjarin, ma ancje chei che a lu studiin di une vite. E cumò o sai che us disarai une robonone che no mi crodarês. Cuant che i studiôs a àn tacât a ocupâsi di furlan, a si son meraveâts dal fat che, suntun teritori cussì ampli, a sei une cussì grande omogjeneitât de lenghe ator pal Friûl. Ma alore, parcè dut chest ma-chi-di-me-cussì, ma-chi-di-me-culà cuant che doi furlans a si confrontin tal lôr mût di fevelâ? O vin di pensâ che une lenghe e je fate di tantis parts come une machine. Une di chestis parts a son lis variantis, o ben par dîle semplice, ogni maniere diferente di fevelâ il furlan. Di fat tal timp la distance, lis barieris gjeografichis o ancje la politiche a àn separât i grups di personis. Dai vuê dai doman la lenghe a cambie di puest in puest. Ma chest vuelial dî che a son nassudis dôs lenghis diferentis? Sigûr che no. Parcè? Parcè che il furlan, come in dutis lis lenghis, al manten la stesse struture gramaticâl ancje tes variantis. Ce che al cambie a son soredut ciertis peraulis. E par provâlu si sta pôc: une persone di Clausêt che a fevele furlan cuntune di Cormons a si capissin benon; e cussì ancje une di Manià cuntune di Cividât; une di Aquilee cuntune di Lauc, e vie indenant. A pos cambiâ cualchi peraule, cualchi sun, cualchi mût di dî, ma al è plui di mil agns che noaltris furlans, ognun cu la sô fevele, si cjacarìn, si fevelìn, si tabaìn, ma a la fin si capìn fra di nô, e duncje no stìn a fâ i furlanâts e a rimarcâ simpri lis diferencis. Din pluitost impuartance a ce che nus ten dongje.
Translation of the Friulian
Have you ever happened to hear discussions like this? “In my village, we say fevelâ.” “Are you sure? We say cjacarâ...” “Eh no, you’re supposed to say tabaiâ...” Well, sure. And if I say frêt to you? What will you tell me? “Freit... Criùre...” Eh, we’ll never see the end of things, then. “Lads, look, a true Friulian is someone from San Denêl.” “Friulian? Well, no, the Carnic people speak cjargnel, not Friulian.” Enough, enough, enough, enough! Friulians, enough nonsense. Let’s try to clear some things up. Take into account what those who speak Friulian say, but also those who have been studying it their entire lives. And now I know I’m going to tell you something wonderful that you won’t believe. When scholars began dealing with Friulian, they were amazed by the fact that, on such a broad territory, there should be such great linguistic homogeneity around Friûl. But then why all this but-where-I’m-from-it’s-like-this, but where-I’m-from-it’s-like-that when two Friulians are confronted in their way of speaking? We must consider that a language is made up of many parts, like a car. One of these parts is its variants, or to put it simply, all the different ways of speaking Friulian. Indeed, across time, distance, geographical barriers or even politics have separated groups of people. Day in day out, language changes from place to place. But does this mean that two different languages have been born? Of course not. Why? Because Friulian, as in all languages, maintains the same grammatical structure even in its variants. What changes above all is certain words. And it doesn’t take much to prove it: a person from Clausêt who speaks Friulian with a person from Cormons is understood very well; and the same goes for a person from Manià with a person from Cividât; a person from Aquilee with a person from Lauc, and so on. Some words can change, some sounds, some expressions, but it’s been over one thousand years that we Friulians, each with his own vernacular, have been speaking to one another [si cjacarìn, si fevelìn, si tabaìn, depending on how it is said in one’s variant], but in the end, we understand one another, so let’s not engage in furlanâts, where we’re always pointing out differences. Let’s put more emphasis on what unites us.