Dangling Conversations

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Lost: language

Posted 29 Sep, 2004 at 14:10 by matt in /Books | Permanent link

Earlier this year, my friend the Ultimate Corruptor of Souls (or Brent, as he's usually known) tried to convince me that we should travel to Italy in October. I had to turn him down, unfortunately; as an academic I get a fair amount of vacation time, but I don't get a lot of flexibility about when it comes up.

However, I would like to go to Italy someday. Specifically, I'd like to visit the province of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, where several hundred years' worth of my ancestors lived. Ideally, I'd like to do so in full possession of Furlan (Friulano in Italian, Friulian in English), a local dialect of not-quite-Italian and my mother's native tongue.

This is a bit of a problem, though. My mother never taught us the language; mostly when I heard it spoken as a kid, it was when she was talking to my grandparents about the children and didn't want us to understand what was being said. (Or so I always assumed.) And living over a thousand kilometers away as I do right now, it's not like I can just commute in for lessons. So if I could find a book, that would be great.

As far as I can tell, though, no such book exists. It's hard finding language books on Amazon -- they don't seem to put them anywhere obvious. Powells and Chapters are better, in that they quickly lead me to the conclusion that there are no Learn Friulano in 30 Days books available. I suppose it's not much of a surprise -- it's not like Furlan's a terribly popular language. But if I ever do get a chance to visit Italy, it'd be nice to speak to any random cousins I might run into in their own tongue.

Comments (3 comments so far)
The only English-language book devoted to the language is D.B. Gregor's "Friulan Language and Literature", published by Oleander Press back in 1975. Doesn't look very "slick" (typeset using a typewriter), but its coverage is quite thorough. Includes substantial intro, grammar, and an anthology. You may be able to find a copy online somewhere. There's a fair bit of stuff on the web, too, including http://www.geocities.com/rpontisso Mandi
Posted 2005/4/11 20:09:30 by
"Friulan Language and Literature
I don't know if you'll see this, but I was able to get a copy of this book in 1998 from Oleander Press 17 Stansgate Avenue Cambridge, CB2 2QZ, England Telephone Cambridge (0223) 244688 My father was born in the Friuli in Orcenico Superiore in the province of Pordenone. It's the only book on this region that I am aware of.
Posted 2005/5/28 18:37:27 by Maddalena
Si prega di visitare il sito che segue per un annuncio sulle recenti traduzioni in furlan della Divina commedia e di Don Quijote della Mancha. (Announcement on a recent translation in Friulan od Dante & Cervantes.) http://www.h-net.msu.edu/announce/show.cgi?ID=149044. Mandi! Ermes Culos
Posted 2006/1/6 12:29:46 by Ermes Culos
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