Editing Friulian language (section)

=== 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]].