Friulian phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes in Central Friulian

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	c	k
	voiced	b	d	ɟ	ɡ
Affricate	voiceless		ts	tʃ
	voiced		dz	dʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ	x
	voiced	v	z	ʒ	ɣ
Trill		ʙ	r
Approximant		w	l	j	ʟ

Notes:

• /m, p, b/ are bilabial, whereas /f, v/ are labiodental and /w/ is labiovelar.
• Note that, in the standard language, a phonemic distinction exists between true palatal stops [c ɟ] and palatoalveolar affricates [tʃ dʒ]. The former (written ⟨cj gj⟩) originate from Latin ⟨c g⟩ before ⟨a⟩, whereas the latter (written ⟨c/ç z⟩, where ⟨c⟩ is found before ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩, and ⟨ç⟩ is found elsewhere) originate primarily from Latin ⟨c g⟩ before ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩. The palatalization of Latin ⟨c⟩ and ⟨g⟩ before ⟨a⟩ is characteristic of the Rhaeto-Romance languages and is also found in French and some Occitan varieties. In some Friulian dialects (e.g. Western dialects), corresponding to Central [c ɟ tʃ dʒ] are found [tʃ dʒ s z]. Note in addition that, due to various sound changes, these sounds are all now phonemic; note, for example, the minimal pair cjoc "drunk" vs. çoc "log".

Vowels

Vowel phonemes

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i	iː	ɨ	ɨː	u	uː
Close-mid	e	eː			o	oː
Open mid	ɛ	ɛː			ɔ	ɔː
Open	æ	æː	a	aː	ɒ	ɒː

Orthography

Some notes on orthography (from the perspective of the standard, i.e. Central, dialect):

• Long vowels are indicated with a circumflex: ⟨â ê î ô û⟩.
• ⟨e⟩ is used for both /ɛ/ (which only occurs in stressed syllables) and /e/; similarly, ⟨o⟩ is used for both /ɔ/ and /o/.
• /j/ is spelled ⟨j⟩ word-initially, and ⟨i⟩ elsewhere.
• /w/ occurs primarily in diphthongs, and is spelled ⟨u⟩.
• /s/ is normally spelled ⟨s⟩, but is spelled ⟨ss⟩ between vowels (in this context, a single ⟨s⟩ is pronounced /z/).
• /ɲ/ is spelled ⟨gn⟩, which can also occur word-finally.
• [ŋ] is an allophone of /n/, found word-finally, before word-final -s, and often in the prefix in-. Both sounds are spelled ⟨n⟩.
• /k/ is normally spelled ⟨c⟩, but ⟨ch⟩ before ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩, as in Italian.
• /ɡ/ is normally spelled ⟨g⟩, but ⟨gh⟩ before ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩, again as in Italian.
• The palatal stops /c ɟ/ are spelled ⟨cj gj⟩. Note that in some dialects, these sounds are pronounced [tʃ dʒ], as described above.
• /tʃ/ is spelled ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩, ⟨ç⟩ elsewhere. Note that in some dialects, this sound is pronounced [s].
• /dʒ/ is spelled ⟨z⟩. Note that in some dialects, this sound is pronounced [z].
• ⟨z⟩ can also represent /ts/ or /dz/ in certain words (e.g. nazion "nation", lezion "lesson").
• ⟨h⟩ is silent.
• ⟨q⟩ is no longer used except in the traditional spelling of certain proper names; similarly for ⟨g⟩ before ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩.

Long vowels and their origin

Long vowels are typical of the Friulian language and greatly influence the Friulian pronunciation of Italian.

Friulian distinguishes between short and long vowels: in the following minimal pairs (long vowels are marked in the official orthography with a circumflex accent):

lat (milk)

lât (gone)

fis (fixed, dense)

fîs (sons)

lus (luxury)

lûs (light n.)

Friulian dialects differ in their treatment of long vowels. In certain dialects, some of the long vowels are actually diphthongs. The following chart shows how six words (sêt thirst, pît foot, fîl "wire", pôc (a) little, fûc fire, mûr "wall") are pronounced in four dialects. Each dialect uses a unique pattern of diphthongs (yellow) and monophthongs (blue) for the long vowels:

	Latin origin	West	Codroipo	Carnia	Central
sêt "thirst"	SITIM	[seit]	[seːt]	[seit]	[seːt]
pît "foot"	PEDEM	[peit]	[peit]	[piːt]	[piːt]
fîl "wire"	FĪLUM	[fiːl]	[fiːl]	[fiːl]	[fiːl]
pôc "a little"	PAUCUM	[pouk]	[poːk]	[pouk]	[poːk]
fûc "fire"	FOCUM	[fouk]	[fouk]	[fuːk]	[fuːk]
mûr "wall"	MŪRUM	[muːr]	[muːr]	[muːr]	[muːr]

Note that the vowels î and û in the standard language (based on the Central dialects) correspond to two different sounds in the Western dialects (including Codroipo). These sounds are not distributed randomly but correspond to different origins: Latin short E in an open syllable produces Western [ei] but Central [iː], whereas Latin long Ī produces [iː] in both dialects. Similarly, Latin short O in an open syllable produces Western [ou] but Central [uː], whereas Latin long Ū produces [uː] in both dialects. The word mûr, for example, means both "wall" (Latin MŪRUM) and "(he, she, it) dies" (Vulgar Latin *MORIT from Latin MORITUR); both words are pronounced [muːr] in Central dialects, but respectively [muːr] and [mour] in Western dialects.

Long consonants (ll, rr, and so on), frequently used in Italian, are usually absent in Friulian.

Friulian long vowels originate primarily from vowel lengthening in stressed open syllables when the following vowel was lost. Friulian vowel length has no relation to vowel length in Classical Latin. For example, Latin valet yields vâl "it is worth" with a long vowel, but Latin vallem yields val "valley" with a short vowel. Long vowels aren't found when the following vowel is preserved, e.g.:

• before final -e < Latin -a, cf. short nuve "new (fem. sg.)" < Latin nova vs. long nûf "new (masc. sg.)" < Latin novum;
• before a non-final preserved vowel, cf. tivit /ˈtivit/ "tepid, lukewarm" < Latin tepidum, zinar /ˈzinar/ "son-in-law" < Latin generum, ridi /ˈridi/ "to laugh" < Vulgar Latin *rīdere (Classical rīdēre).

It is quite possible that vowel lengthening occurred originally in all stressed open syllables, and was later lost in non-final syllables. Evidence of this is found, for example, in the divergent outcome of Vulgar Latin */ɛ/, which becomes /jɛ/ in originally closed syllables but /i(ː)/ in Central Friulian in originally open syllables, including when non-finally. Examples: siet "seven" < Vulgar Latin */sɛtte/ < Latin SEPTEM, word-final pît "foot" < Vulgar Latin */pɛde/ < Latin PEDEM, non-word-final tivit /ˈtivit/ "tepid, lukewarm" < Vulgar Latin */tɛpedu/ < Latin TEPIDUM.

An additional source of vowel length is compensatory lengthening before lost consonants in certain circumstances, cf. pâri "father" < Latin patrem, vôli "eye" < Latin oc(u)lum, lîre "pound" < Latin libra. This produces long vowels in non-final syllables, and was apparently a separate, later development than the primary lengthening in open syllables. Note, for example, the development of Vulgar Latin */ɛ/ in this context: */ɛ/ > */jɛ/ > iê /jeː/, as in piêre "stone" < Latin PETRAM, differing from the outcome /i(ː)/ in originally open syllables (see above).

Additional complications:

• Central Friulian has lengthening before /r/ even in originally closed syllables, cf. cjâr /caːr/ "cart" < Latin carrum (homophonous with cjâr "dear (masc. sg.)" < Latin cārum). This represents a late, secondary development, and some conservative dialects have the expected length distinction here.
• Lengthening doesn't occur before nasal consonants even in originally open syllables, cf. pan /paŋ/ "bread" < Latin panem, prin /priŋ/ "first" < Latin prīmum.
• Special developments produced absolutely word-final long vowels and length distinctions, cf. fi "fig" < Latin FĪCUM vs. fî "son" < Latin FĪLIUM, no "no" < Latin NŌN vs. nô "we" < Latin NŌS.

Synchronic analyses of vowel length in Friulian often claim that it occurs predictably in final syllables before an underlying voiced obstruent, which is then devoiced. Analyses of this sort have difficulty with long-vowel contrasts that occur non-finally (e.g. pâri "father" mentioned above) or not in front of obstruents (e.g. fi "fig" vs. fî "son", val "valley" vs. vâl "it is worth").

External links

• Friulian language