Literature
The first texts in Friulan date back to the 13th century and are mainly commercial or juridical acts. We can see in these examples that Friulan was used together with Latin, which was still the administrative language. The prime examples of literature that have survived—much from this period has been lost—are poems from the 14th century, which are mainly dedicated to the theme of love and were probably inspired by the Italian poetic movement Dolce Stil Novo. The most notable work is Piruç myò doç inculurit (which means "My sweet, coloured pear"), composed by an anonymous author from Cividale, probably in 1380.
| Original text | Version in modern Friulan |
|---|---|
| Piruç myò doç inculurit
quant yò chi viot, dut stoi ardit |
Piruç gno dolç inculurît
cuant che jo ti viôt, dut o stoi ardît |
There are few differences in the first two rows, which demonstrates that there has not been a great evolution in the language except for several words which are no longer used (for example, dum(n) lo, a word which means "child", which was used frequently in the past). A modern Friulan speaker can understand these texts with only a little difficulty.
The second important period for Friulan literature is the 16th century. The main author of this period was Ermes di Colorêt, who composed over 200 poems.
| Name | Century |
|---|---|
| Ermes di Colorêt | 16th |
| Pietro Zorutti | 19th |
| Pier Paolo Pasolini | 20th |
Read more about this topic: Friulian Language
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“A people’s literature is the great textbook for real knowledge of them. The writings of the day show the quality of the people as no historical reconstruction can.”
—Edith Hamilton (1867–1963)