Following is a short passage written by Alberto Luchini in his book Uchì. The notes in this entry pertain to the Dograva variant of Friulian, which is the variant of Friulian used in the passage below. The passage reads so:
Al fumava di sempri, un pachet al dì. La femina a lu tontonava di ains par ch’al molàs. Jê a diseva pa la sô salût, lui a j fadeva contro ch’a era doma pa la spesa. Sincmil francs al dì, un milionvosentevinçasincmil par an. Scuasin duta la sô tredicesima.
He had always smoked, a packet a day. His wife had been nagging him for years to quit. She said it was for his health, but he argued back to her that it was just about the cost. Five thousand lire a day, one million eight hundred and twenty-five thousand a year. Almost his entire year-end bonus.
According to the Dograva variant of Friulian, we can say of the man in the image above: al s’impia un sigaret (he is lighting himself a cigarette). Following are language notes related to the passage that you have just read.
Par ch’al molàs: that he might quit. The verb used here is molâ (to quit), and the tense is the imperfect subjunctive, which must be used because the sentence is set in past time. Compare: la femina a lu tontona par ch’al moli (his wife is nagging him that he may quit); la femina a lu tontonava par ch’al molàs (his wife was nagging him that he might quit).
A j fadeva contro: he argued back to her. Components: a (he) j (unto her) fadeva (was making) contro (against). The third-person masculine singular al drops its l before j. To pronounce a j, just take it as though it were a single word: aj, which sounds like ài.
Sincmil francs: five thousand lire. We discover the Italian lira referred to in Friulian as: un franc. This is true not only of the Dograva variant, but also the standard. (I cannot confirm in what years Luchini wrote his different books, but they appear to be from the 1990s. Costs are stated in francs not euros, and there is mention of the internet, as well as pop culture references from that decade. Italy adopted the euro in 1999.)
Un milionvosentevinçasincmil: one million eight hundred and twenty-five thousand. Components: un milion (one million) vosent (eight hundred) e (and) vinçasincmil (twenty-five thousand). Learn the following, according to the Dograva variant: sinc (five); vot (eight); vinç (twenty); vinçasinc (twenty-five); sent (one hundred); vosent (eight hundred); mil (one thousand); sincmil (five thousand); vinçasinc mil (twenty-five thousand); un milion (one million).
La tredicesima: literally, the thirteenth. This is an additional monthly salary paid to employees, typically at Christmas. Related: The Friulian for at Christmas is: sot Nadâl.