This is the second 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 second sentence of the Preambul, which begins with Gargagnà and ends with dute la veretât.
COMMENTARY ON THE FRIULIAN
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.
Go to the next Friulian lesson, where you will learn how to speak in Friulian about seeing reality for what it is, even when the truth is too ugly to behold.
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