Friulian Language - History

History

A question which 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 Friulan. Epigraphs and inscriptions from that period show some variants if compared to the standard Latin language, but most of these are common to other areas of the Roman Empire; often it is cited that Fortunatianus, bishop of Aquileia from 342 till circa 357, wrote a commentary to the Gospel in sermo rusticus, that is, in the language spoken by the people, which therefore should have been quite different from Standard Latin. We don't know the language of the text, but it shows a shift between languages that didn't exist for example in other important communities of Northern Italy. The language spoken before the arrival of the Romans in 181 BC was of Celtic origin, since the inhabitants belonged to the Carni, a Celtic population. In modern Friulan the words of Celtic origins are few, while much influence of the original population is shown in toponyms (names of villages which end in -acco, -icco are an example). Even influences from Longobardic language—Friuli was one of their strongholds—are very few. From this evidence, scholars today agree that the formation of Friulan dates back to around 1000, at the same time as other dialects derived from Latin (see Vulgar Latin). The first written records of Friulan have been found in administrative acts of the 13th century, but these documents became more frequent in the following century, when literary works also emerged (Frammenti letterari for example). The main center at that time was Cividale. The Friulan language has never acquired official status: legal statutes were first written in Latin, then in Venetian, and finally in Italian.