This is the eighth lesson in the learning Friulian series using the book Lis predicjis dal muini by Josef Marchet. Follow the links in Friulian 1 to read the book and listen to the audio, available online courtesy of the Societât Filologjiche Furlane. The commentary below relates to the last two sentences of the third paragraph of the Preambul, which begin with cussì il paîs and end with vot o dîs umigns.
COMMENTARY ON THE FRIULIAN
Preambul: paragraph 3, sentence 7.
Vocabulary: cussì (so, thus); il paîs (village); cence (without); la cure (care); la anime (soul); di nissune sorte (of any sort, whatsoever); il plevan (parish priest); mandâ (to send); cualchi (some {or other}); il predi (priest); dî (to say); la messe (Mass); domenie (Sunday); râr (rare); une volte (time, occasion); in disdivore (on workdays); par solit (usually); rivâ sù (to come up, to arrive up top); sflanchinâ (to struggle, to get tuckered out); tirâ la ansime (to huff and puff); pre (Father); un capelan (chaplain); vieli (old); clopadiç (limping, lame); vênt une gnoche (to be sick and tired of it); fâ (to do); un cuart (quarter); une ore (hour); une rive (incline).
Cussì il paîs al è cence cure di animis di nissune sorte: so the village is without any spiritual care whatsoever. Il plevan al mande: the parish priest sends. With infinitives ending in â, the third-person singular ending is e in the present indicative: mandâ, al mande (to send, he sends); rivâ, al rive (to arrive, he arrives); sierâ, al siere (to close, he closes). For information, the ending is i in the first-person singular: o mandi, o rivi, o sieri (I send, I arrive, I close). Cualchi predi: some priest or other. Dî messe: to say Mass. Domenie: Sunday, but to say on Sundays, the definite article is added: la domenie. Cualchi rare volte: on some rare occasions; remember that the noun following cualchi is always set in the singular. The four forms of râr (rare) are: râr (masculine singular); rare (feminine singular); rârs (masculine plural); raris (feminine plural). In disdivore: on workdays; contraction of dîs (days) di (of) vore (work). Sflanchinant: struggling, getting tuckered out. Tirant la ansime: huffing and puffing. Ansime is pronounced with stress on the first syllable; very literally, tirâ la ansime (to huff and puff) translates as to draw breathlessness. Pre Scjefin: Father Scjefin. Un capelan vieli e clopadiç: an old and limping chaplain. A 'nd à une gnoche: he is sick and tired of it, he has had his fill of it. Indi means of it, thereof and contracts to 'nd or 'nt; this will be discussed in more detail as the lessons progress. For now, know that al indi à (he has of it) becomes a 'nd à in colloquial language, which sounds like andà. Un capelan vieli e clopadiç che a 'nd à une gnoche a fâ chel cuart di ore di rive: an old and limping chaplain who is sick and tired of doing that quarter-hour uphill walk. Another example: o 'nd ài une gnoche a fâ chê vore (I have had it up to here doing that work), where o 'nd ài sounds like ondài.
Preambul: paragraph 3, sentence 8.
Vocabulary: une glesie (church); piçul (small, little); cincuante (fifty); stentâ (to struggle, to have trouble); stâ dentri (to fit inside); vignî a messe (to come to Mass); un troput di (a small bunch of); une femine (woman); cualchi (some, a few); une fantaçute (young girl); un cjap di (a handful of); un frut (boy, child); vot (eight); dîs (ten); i umigns (men).
La glesie e je piçule: the church is small. The four forms of piçul (small, little) are: piçul (masculine singular); piçule (feminine singular); piçui (masculine plural); piçulis (feminine plural). In western variants of Friulian, be prepared to hear: pissul, pissula, pissui, pissulis. In all four forms, both central and western, stress is on the first syllable. Un cincuante di lôr: some fifty people; literally, fifty of them. This is a commonly used structure in Friulian in place of using the word for people; another example: un vincj di lôr a son muarts (some twenty people died). For information, the masculine plural muarts sounds like muars. Che un cincuante di lôr a stentin a stâ dentri: so much so that some fifty people struggle to fit inside. Study: o stenti (I struggle); tu stentis (you [singular] struggle); al stente (he struggles); e stente (she struggles); o stentìn (we struggle); o stentais (you [plural] struggle); a stentin (they struggle). Al ven a messe un troput di feminis, cualchi fantaçute, un cjap di fruts e vot o dîs umigns: a small bunch of women come to Mass, a few young girls, a handful of children and eight or ten men. A male child is un frut (boy), whereas a female child is une frute (girl). The masculine plural i fruts can be understood as boys or more generally as children of both genders: the context must inform. For instance, children of both genders playing in a park are called i fruts, but so too are childen of only male gender. Children of only female gender are lis frutis. The masculine plural fruts is pronounced frus. The Friulian for man is the masculine noun om; its regular plural is oms, but other forms exist: omis, umign, umigns. Listen to the audio to hear the speaker pronounce both fruts and umigns. Know also that dîs (ten) is pronounced deis in some variants of Friulian, such as western ones; there where deis is used, you will also hear seis instead of the sîs (six) of central Friulian.
Go to the next Friulian lesson, where you will learn the Friulian name for a traditional piece of footwear, namely the wooden clog, together with other words related to work and earning money. You will also learn how to describe someone in Friulian as being plain-spoken.