PART 1. A new listening exercise now, this time on the subject of dragonflies. From this videoclip, we learn that dragonflies are called svuarbecjavai in Friulian, and we also learn where its rather peculiar name (literally, {it} blinds horses, which is to say, ‘horseblinder’) comes from. In this first part, we take into account only the first minute of the videoclip; the rest of the videoclip is analysed in the second part and in the third part.
0.00 Vie pal Istât us sarà siguramentri sucedût di lâ a cirî un pôc di fresc ator des nestris aghis, fasint une cjaminade par esempli: (literally) During the summer, it’ll have certainly happened to you to go looking for a bit of freshness around our waters, for example by going for a walk; (idiomatically) During the summer, you’ll have certainly gone looking to cool down a bit by the water in our region, for example by going for a walk. / It sounds poetic in English to use the plural waters, but ator des nestris aghis (literally, around our waters) should just be understood as meaning: by the {bodies of} water in our region. The speaker then says that it is there that are found the characteristic environments of a very interesting insect (i ambients caratertistics di un inset une vore interessant). Listen to how she tells us about what we are about to discover: un inset une vore interessant ch’i larìn a scuvierzi vuê: il svuarbecjavai (a very interesting insect that we’ll go discover today: the dragonfly). In this speaker’s variant of Friulian, i larìn (we shall go) is equivalent to standard: o larìn.
0.18. Il svuarbecjavai, cognossût ancje cul non di svuarbevoi o siôr, ch’al sarès la libellula par talian, al è un piçul inset ch’al svuale (=svole) in maniere cidine e elegante: The svuarbecjavai (dragonfly), known also by the name svuarbevoi or siôr, which is the libellula in Italian, is a little insect that flies quietly and elegantly. This speaker uses al svuale (it flies) and a svualin (they fly), whereas the standard uses: al svole, a svolin. The speaker tells us that the dragonfly has a head with big eyes (al à un cjâf cun voi grancj), a long body (un cuarp lunc) and four wings that keep it up during flight (cuatri alis ch’a lu tegnin sù tal svual). In written standard Frulian, this latter bit said by the speaker must take the form: cuatri alis che lu tegnin sù tal svol.
0.34 A fasin part dal ordin dai odonâts, e si puedin dividi in doi sotgrups a seconde de lôr dimension, de forme e dal puartament des alis. Intal prin grup i vin lis damiselis, o il tiermin pui (=plui) tecnic zigotars: They are part of the order Odonata, and they can be divided into two subgroups according to their size, shape and wing behaviour. In the first group, we have the damselflies, or the more technical term Zygoptera. / This speaker pronounces plui as pui throughout the videoclip. Another pronunciation that you will hear of the Friulian plui, but not used by this speaker in this videoclip, is pi.
0.47. Lis damiselis a son picininis. Lis cuatri alis a son avonde compagnis tra di lôr e a ven tignudis sieradis cuant ch’a son poiadis. Il cjavut al è slungjât e i voi dividûts: Damselflies are tiny. Their four wings are all rather similar and are kept shut when they’re at rest. Their little head is elongated, and the eyes are separated. / Picinin means tiny. Its four forms are: picinin (masculine singular), picinins (masculine plural), picinine (feminine singular), picininis (feminine plural). Tra di lôr (amongst them) should be taken as meaning: from the one to the other, which is to say: their four wings are rather similar from the one to the other {their four wings are all rather similar}. Poiât (at rest) is in feminine plural form: poiadis; it modifies the feminine plural damiselis, as in: cuant che lis damiselis a son poiadis (when damselflies are at rest). The masculine noun cjâf (head) takes the following diminutive: cjavut (little head). Pronunciation: We hear that this speaker, according to her variant of Friuian, makes her feminine plurals end in -es rather than -is, which is why she says, for instance, damiseles, picinines, sierades, poiades. You do not need to adopt this feature yourself, but you should be able to recognise it.