This is the thirteenth lesson in our study of the Friulian language using the book Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet. To download the book and listen to the audio recordings, which are made available by the Societât Filologjiche Furlane, follow the links in Learn Friulian 1. The commentary below relates to the first paragraph of the predicje called La statistiche, which begins with cussì o sin and ends with ni timbris. You are encouraged to read the Preambul (follow the link above for related commentary) before moving on to the predicjis.
COMMENTARY ON THE FRIULIAN
La statistiche: paragraph 1, sentence 1.
Vocabulary: cussì (so, thus); rivâ (to arrive); il cjâf (head); rivâ in cjâf di (to come to the end of); altri (other); un an (year).
In this first sentence of this first predicje, Vigji tells us that they, in the village, have come to the end of another year. Study: o soi rivât (I have arrived; masculine singular); o soi rivade (I have arrived; feminine singular); o sin rivâts (we have arrived; masculine plural); o sin rivadis (we have arrived; feminine plural). The masculine plural rivâts is pronounced rivâs. In some variants of Friulian, such as western ones, all the foregoing may instead be said: i soi rivât, i soi rivada, i sin rivâts, i sin rivadis. The written text employs rivâ in cjâf di (to come to the end of), but used in the audio recording is rather rivâ in cjâf a; no matter: whether used with di or a, the meaning is the same. This expression is formed from the masculine noun cjâf, meaning head. In western variants, be prepared to hear this pronounced çâf. Depending on the context, in cjâf di or in cjâf a can also take on the sense of within. Examples: o soi rivât in cjâf a un altri mês (I have come to the end of another month); al sarà muart in cjâf a un an (he will be dead within a year). Be reminded that many Friulian speakers pronounce altri as atri; the speaker interpreting Vigji in the audio recording says altri.
La statistiche: paragraph 1, sentence 2.
Vocabulary: par vie che (because, given that); la plêf (parish church); fâ la statistiche (to do {to compile} the statistics); ancjemò (yet, still); la parochie (parish); noaltris (we); par intant (for the time being); nestri (our); la vile (village).
Vigji talks about the parish statistics, which have not yet been done in the church. Par vie che means because, given that, owing to the fact that, amongst other possible formulations in English. Example: par vie che al plûf o torni cjase (because it is raining I am going home). If used with a noun, then par vie di is used instead: par vie de ploie o torni cjase (because of the rain I am going home). Study: nol è stât fat il calcul (the calculation has not been done); no je stade fate la stime (the estimate has not been done); no son stâts fats i calcui (the calculations have not been done); no son stadis fatis lis stimis (the estimates have not been done). Using ancjemò, the sense of yet is added: nol è ancjemò stât fat il plan di vore (the work plan has not yet been done). In western variants of Friulian, be prepared to hear ancjemò pronounced ençamò. O fasarìn (we shall do, we shall make) is the first-person plural of the future indicative of fâ (to do, to make). As for noaltris, this is the stressed first-person plural subject pronoun meaning we {ourselves}, so that o fasarìn noaltris means we ourselves shall do. Noaltris exists in different forms depending on the speaker's variant: nô, noaltris, noatris, nualtris, nuatris... The stressed subject pronouns are: jo (I), tu (you [singular]), lui (he), jê (she), noaltris (we), voaltris (you [plural]), lôr. The unstressed forms, in the same order, are: o, tu, al, e, o, o, a. For instance, whereas o fâs means I do, jo o fâs means I myself do, as opposed to someone else; and whereas tu âs means you have, tu tu âs means you yourself have, as opposed to someone else. Another example: lui al è vieli ma jê e je zovine (he is old but she is young), where the stressed pronouns are included for contrast. Chê de nestre vile: that of our village. The feminine singular chê stands in for la statistiche.
La statistiche: paragraph 1, sentence 3.
Vocabulary: notâ (to note); il zes (chalk); daûr (behind); la puarte (door); i nassûts (those who were born); i muarts (those who died); i sposalizis (those who got married); come che (just as); fâ (to do); par antîc (in the old days, in the past); cuant che (when); nassi (to be born); murî (to die); coventâ (to be needed); la cjarte (paper); il timbri (stamp).
Study the following: o ài notât (I noted); tu âs notât (you [singular] noted); al à notât (he noted); e à notât (she noted); o vin notât (we noted); o vês notât (you [plural] noted); a àn notât (they noted). These may also, depending on the context, be understood as I have noted, you have noted, he has noted, and so on. Notâ cul zes: to note with chalk; the speaker interpreting Vigji pronounces the first letter of zes like the first letter of the English word jump. Daûr la puarte means behind the door; this will also very commonly be expressed as daûr de puarte, where daûr di is used instead. Examples: daûr dal arbul (behind the tree); daûr de taule (behind the table); daûr dai arbui (behind the trees); daûr des taulis (behind the tables). In western variants of Friulian, be prepared to hear daûr pronounced davour; for instance, daûr de puarte may instead be said davour da la puarta. Note that the ou of the variant form davour is a diphthong, which begins as o and glides into u, so that davour sounds like da-vò-ur; it is not to be confused with the ou of French. Ducj i nassûts: all those who were born; to pronounce this, imagine ducj i to be rather one word: ducji, and then pronounce nassûts as nassûs. Muarts is pronounced muars. A fasevin (they used to do) is third-person plural of the imperfect indicative of fâ (to do). Study: o fasevi (I used to do); tu fasevis (you [singular] used to do); al faseve (he used to do); e faseve (she used to do); o fasevin (we used to do); o fasevis (you [plural] used to do); a fasevin (they used to do). In certain western variants, be prepared to hear, in the same order: i fadevi, i ti fadevis, al fadeva, a fadeva, i fadevin, i fadevis, a fadevin, where there is even an internal change from s to d. Another imperfect indicative appears in the text: no coventavin (were not needed), which is the negation of a coventavin (were needed). Study: al covente un timbri (a stamp is needed); nol covente nissun timbri (no stamp is needed); al coventave un timbri (a stamp was needed); e covente une autorizazion (an authorisation is needed); no covente nissune autorizazion (no authorisation is needed); e coventave une autorizazion (an authorisation was needed); a coventin doi timbris (two stamps are needed); a coventavin doi timbris (two stamps were needed). To be clear, un timbri means a stamp in the sense of an ink impression; a postage stamp is rather un bol.
Go to the next Friulian lesson, where Vigji speaks of the number of people living in his village. You will learn how to count in Friulian, not only in standard form but also in western variants of Friulian.
No comments:
Post a Comment