Editing Friulian language (section)

== History ==
[[File:Bandiere dal Friûl.svg|thumb|Historical flag of Friûl and the Friulian people.]]
A question that causes many debates is the influence of the Latin spoken in [[Aquileia]] and surrounding areas. Some claim that it had peculiar features that later passed into Friulian. Epigraphs and inscriptions from that period show some variants if compared to the standard Latin language, but most of them are common to other areas of the Roman Empire. Often, it is cited that [[Fortunatianus of Aquileia|Fortunatianus]], the bishop of [[Aquileia]] {{circa}} 342–357 AD, wrote a commentary to the [[Gospel]] in ''sermo rusticus'' (the common/{{Wikt-lang|ang|rustic}} language), which, therefore, would have been quite divergent from the standard [[Latin language|Latin]] of administration.<ref name="RegionEFVG">{{Cite web |url=http://www.regionefvg.com/storiafriuli/05aquilcristiana/testoaqcristiana.htm |title=Aquileia Cristiana |website=www.regionefvg.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030405073256/http://www.regionefvg.com/storiafriuli/05aquilcristiana/testoaqcristiana.htm |archive-date=2003-04-05}}</ref> The text itself did not survive so its language cannot be examined, but its attested existence testifies to a shift of languages while, for example, other important communities of Northern Italy were still speaking Latin. The languages spoken before the arrival of the Romans in 181&nbsp;BC were [[Rhaetic]], [[Venetic]] and [[Celtic languages|Celtic]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Marchesini|first1=Simona|year=2019|title=L'onomastica nella ricostruzione del lessico: il caso di Retico ed Etrusco|url=http://journals.openedition.org/mefra/7613|journal=Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=École française de Rome|volume=131|issue=1|pages=123–136|doi=10.4000/mefra.7613|isbn=978-2-7283-1428-7|s2cid=214398787 |access-date=January 31, 2020|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>Schumacher, Stefan; Kluge, Sindy (2013–2017). Salomon, Corinna (ed.). "Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum". Department of Linguistics. of the University of Vienna</ref><ref name="Raetic script">{{cite web|url=https://tir.univie.ac.at/wiki/Script#Raetic_script|publisher=Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum|title=Script|access-date=2024-06-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author-first=Simona |author-last=Marchesini |translator-first=Melanie |translator-last=Rockenhaus|date=2018|title=Raetic  |url=http://mnamon.sns.it/index.php?page=Lingua&id=41&lang=en|access-date=26 July 2018|website=Mnamon - Ancient Writing Systems in the Mediterranean|publisher=Scuola Normale Superiore}}</ref> The inhabitants belonged to the [[Raeti]], a likely [[pre-Indo-European language]] population, the [[Italic languages|Italic]] [[Adriatic Veneti|Veneti]], and the [[Carni]], a Celtic population.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Marchesini|first1=Simona|year=2013|title=I rapporti etrusco/retico-italici nella prima Italia alla luce dei dati linguistici: il caso della "mozione" etrusca|journal=Rivista storica dell'antichità|location=Bologna|publisher=Pàtron editore|volume=43|pages=9–32|issn=0300-340X |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUlRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA139|title=The Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages|last1=Ledgeway|first1=Adam|last2=Maiden|first2=Martin|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199677108|pages=139|language=en}}</ref> In modern Friulian, the words of Rhaetic, Venetic or Celtic origin include terms referring to mountains, woods, plants, or animals, as well as local [[toponyms]] and [[onomastics]] (e.g. names of villages with ''-acco'', ''-icco'').<ref name="Raetic script"/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Marchesini|first1=Simona|year=2019|title=L'onomastica nella ricostruzione del lessico: il caso di Retico ed Etrusco|url=http://journals.openedition.org/mefra/7613|journal=Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=École française de Rome|volume=131|issue=1|pages=123–136|doi=10.4000/mefra.7613|isbn=978-2-7283-1428-7|s2cid=214398787 |access-date=January 31, 2020|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qmg6DfzFP9cC&pg=PA31|title=Our Italian Surnames|last=Fucilla|first=Joseph Guerin|date=1949|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com|isbn=9780806311876|pages=31|language=en}}</ref> Even influences from the [[Lombardic language]] — Friuli was one of [[Kingdom of the Lombards|their]] strongholds — are present. In a similar manner, there is a unique connection to the modern, nearby [[Lombard language]].

In Friulian, there is also a plethora of words of [[German language|German]], [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]] and [[Venetian language|Venetian]] origin. From that evidence, scholars today agree that the formation of new Friulian dates back to circa 500 AD, at the same time as other dialects derived from Latin (see [[Vulgar Latin]]). The first written records of new Friulian have been found in administrative acts of the 13th century, but the documents became more frequent in the following century, when literary works also emerged (''Frammenti letterari'' for example). The main centre at that time was [[Cividale del Friuli|Cividale]]. The Friulian language has never acquired primary official status: legal statutes were first written in Latin, then in Venetian and finally in Italian.

=== The "Ladin Question" ===
[[File:Ascoli.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Historical linguist [[Graziadio Isaia Ascoli]] presented the theory that Ladin, Romansh and Friulian are from the same family.]]
{{Main|Questione Ladina}}
The idea of unity among [[Ladin language|Ladin]], [[Romansh language|Romansh]] and Friulian comes from the Italian [[historical linguistics|historical linguist]] [[Graziadio Isaia Ascoli]], who was born in [[Gorizia]]. In 1871, he presented his theory that these three languages are part of one family, which in the past stretched from [[Switzerland]] to [[Muggia]] and perhaps also [[Istria]]. The three languages are the only survivors of this family and all developed differently. Friulian was much less influenced by [[German language|German]]. The scholar Francescato claimed subsequently that until the 14th century, the [[Venetian language]] shared many phonetic features with Friulian and Ladin and so he thought that Friulian was a much more [[conservative (language)|conservative]] language. Many features that Ascoli thought were peculiar to the Rhaeto-Romance languages can, in fact, be found in other languages of Northern [[Italy]].