Friulan: Language and Literature

The debris of Latin litter the former territory of the Western Roman Empire as celestial bodies lie scattered throughout the solar system. History and politics have promoted some of these fragments to national tongues, the vehicles of government and the carriers of great literatures: these are the planets of the Romance system. But it has its asteroids too, the forms assumed by Latin in the narrow areas which never extended their boundaries: the dialects. The name must not mislead us: they too are languages , and man’s creative instinct being what it is, they have their literatures. One such is presented in this book, both to linguists, interested in language as a mechanism; and to phoneticians, on the lookout for new sounds; and to men of letters, curious about literary work wherever it is found; and to poets, always able to learn from fresh poetic voices (even if these are muffled in translation): and finally even to tourists, hitherto unaware that in passing eastward over the River Livenza they have been crossing a frontier. D.B. Gregor was a professional teacher of classics and Romance languages. This work sits alongside his Romagnol: Language and Literature (9780902675124) and Romontsch: Language and Literature (9780900891397). Part of the Oleander Classics series, this title has been reproduced using the highest-quality modern scanning technology. This is done in order to keep important works from the Press’s 50-year history from going out of print. In this way, the invaluable resources provided by this and other books in the series remain available for general readers, academics and other interested parties.