english | furlan

Published Materials: articles

An Interview with Sandri Carrozzo:
Serling, lavorâ cu la lenghe furlane
Serling, Working with the Friulian Language
Il Diari (2008).

Serling was started by a small group of rather young workers who had already been busy for a number of years in the field of Friulian linguistics, with the intention of uniting and increasing their skills in a stable professional environment that would allow them to work in the field of their interest. In fact, before 2001 the only organization that provided more or less stable employment in this field was Informazion Furlane, which operates Radio Onde Furlane. Apart from that, those working in Friulian linguistics had to carry on their activity as a secondary occupation or in their free time, a situation which did not foster professional-quality work. We work in various sectors of Friulian linguistics and on diverse projects: some yield immediate economic results, others are investments in innovation. In fact Serling never operates with direct public funding, but only gets paid according to the services it provides: this is an important new development in Friulian linguistics.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
Cualchi peraule di introduzion prime dal studi de lenghe furlane di riferiment e de grafie uficiâl
Some words of introduction before studying the Friulian language of reference and the official orthography
www.serling.org (2008).

The koine or common language, or standard language or language of reference, is the model for the written language, and in some cases for the spoken language, used as a point of reference for a language community. All language systems that are in some way official or that need to be taught in schools have a common language. The Italian koine derived from Tuscan, the Spanish from Castilian, the German from High German, etc. Even for Friulian there is a koine, based on the model of Central Friulian. The Friulian literary koine has existed at least since the 18th century. It was the poet Ermes di Colorêt (1622-1692) who, without being aware of it, "invented" the Friulian literary koine. The poets who came after him followed his example not only of poetic form, but also of language form. Friulian poets and writers who didn't speak the Central variety of the language began to use the koine without any external pressure from institutions, which at the time didn't even exist.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
Furlan e iperfurlan (o furlan iperpûr)
Friulian and Hyper-Friulian (or Hyper-pure Friulian)
www.serling.org (2007).

Looking at other minority languages, and even some major ones, we see that most have passed through a hyper-pure phase: those who devised these systems to highlight and contrast differences are certainly not to be blamed; rather, this hyper-purism is an effect of certain sociopolitical situations which in Friuli no longer exist and in all cases can be left behind. Friulians need a reference language with rules that reflect how the language actually works, not one that exalts some superficial feature to distort it in an arbitrary and unbalanced way.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
Lenghe e culture furlane o lenghe furlane e culture?
Friulian "Language and Culture", or "Friulian Language" and "Culture"?
www.serling.org (2007).

Friulian society - and primarily its cultural elements - needs to learn how to distinguish the concept of "language" from that of "culture". On the level of action these elements can be united, but this isn't necessary, and in some cases it can even be harmful: as experience has made clear, a new law for the preservation of Friulian can only work if it no longer speaks of "Friulian language and culture" but simply of "the Friulian language".

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
Riflessions par une planificazion linguistiche de lenghe furlane
Reflections on Friulian Language Planning
www.serling.org (2007).

The concept of language planning is very little understood in Italian politics, even at the level of high culture: according to the official Italian culture, the linguistic situation isn't determined politically but instead follows natural attitudes. This illusion stems from the fact that in the past few years Italian language planning has been concealed, but the reality is very different: in complex societies the state of the language is a matter of policy, just like the state of cities, of industry, of agriculture, of the environment, of the economy, etc.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
Zuan Lurinçon tradutôr dal latin
Zuan Lurinçon: Latin Translator
www.serling.org (2006).

This article presents a translator of Latin into Friulian, Zuan Lurinçon, one of the leading Friulian intellectuals of the first half of the nineteenth century. Lurinçon may have been the first Friulian translator from a Classical language to keep poetic elements ordered in their place, and for this he remains even today an example for those who translate poetry from Classical languages.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
Paolo e Francesca voltâts par furlan
Paolo and Francesca translated into Friulian
www.serling.org (2006).

This article does not presume to be a treatise on translation, but seeks merely to give examples of how a single text can be approached from different angles and to indicate solutions that work best in a given case. In the teaching and in the practice of translation, comparing several versions of the same piece is surely one of the most helpful tools in getting a sense of translation decisions, their consistency, and how well they suit the original.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
Di VIDEO a viôt e di CREDO a crôt: une ipotesi di derivazion
From VIDEO to viôt and from CREDO to crôt: a hypothesis of derivation
www.serling.org (2006).

The verbal forms viôt and crôt, derived from the Latin VIDEO and CREDO, present problems regarding their phonetic development from Latin.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
Planificazion linguistiche intal mont de sanitât
Language Planning in the Field of Public Health
Conference paper (2005).

Health is one of the primary concerns of individuals and of society as a whole, and so it must be one of the key elements in any language planning that seeks the recovery and growth of minority languages. Furthermore, it can be clearly seen precisely in the field of public health that the values of multilingualism and the recovery and development of minority languages are not merely of interest to a few intellectuals, but may well benefit all of society.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Matteo Fogale, Carlo Cecchini:
Une esperience di plurilinguisim inte didatiche de matematiche
An experience in multilingual mathematics teaching
Gjornâl Furlan des Siencis - Friulian Journal of Science, Udin (2004).

Can multilingualism be of use in teaching mathematics? And can the language of mathematics help change perceptions of minority languages? We present in brief the results of a small teaching experiment carried out in a high school in a bilingual area (Friulian-Italian), in which we sought to explore some of the opportunities offered by a multilingual approach to mathematical teaching.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
Modei di lenghe scrite e imprescj linguistics
Written-language Models and Language Tools
Gnovis Pagjinis Furlanis (2004).

In this day and age it is very difficult to write in Friulian without doing so clumsily and jarringly, given that writing and composition are not natural faculties but technical skills that have to be learned. In our society the most important place where such skills are learned is school. For more than a century now schools in Friuli have imposed the Italian language and have shut the door on Friulian, perhaps leaving only some small window open in some lucky instances, and even here only a crack. Hoping that things will improve in the world of education, especially thanks to the regulations for the conservation of minority languages, it is worth looking at what has been happening in Friulian writing in the past few years.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
Liniis pe formazion dai neologjisims furlans
Guidelines for the Formation of Friulian Neologisms
Sot la Nape (2004).

The formation of neologisms in Friulian, as in all languages, especially minority languages, is one of the most important factors in the conservation and evolution of the language. This is one of the activities that must be guided by careful and reasoned language policy, lest faulty linguistic models arise that may cause damage to Friulian.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Sandri Carrozzo:
La elaborazion resinte di imprescj lessicografics furlans
The Recent Development of Friulian Lexicographical Tools
Sot la nape (2003).

Given the absence of a high-quality dictionary of the language of reference using the official orthography, the University of Udine and various associations active in the field of Friulian linguistics have formed the Centri Friûl Lenghe 2000 (CFL 2000), a consortium specifically put together to undertake this task in response to a call from the language policy bodies of the Autonomous Region of Friuli - Venezia Giulia.

Download the article in *.pdf format

Carli Pup:
Là che la scuele si clame ikastola
Where School is Called Ikastola
Il Nuovo Friuli - Il Gnûf Friûl (2002).

The ikastolas (schools where teaching is conducted in Basque) have been an important model for many minority groups in Europe whose local language is forbidden or strongly opposed in public schools. Consider the Occitan calandretas, the Breton diwan or, without having to go so far afield, the experience of the Istitût di Sant Pieri dal Nadison, where the will and sacrifices of the community put together a program that the State and public school refused to offer. How are the ikastolas organized, and how do they operate? The questions were put to Edurne Arruti, director of the Mariaren Bihotza Ikastola of Donostia, in an interview conducted on the 29th of October, 2001.

Download the article in *.pdf format