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From: EURMXK@sdcmvs.mvs.sas.com
Subject: Re: Friulano
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Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 08:37:00 GMT
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In article <328939D9.69C0@msmlab.byu.edu>,
Mike Felix <mikef@msmlab.byu.edu> writes:
 
>I have a question:
>
>I lived in northeastern Italy for a few months, and I seem to recall
>hearing someone say something while I was there about a certain valley,
>or maybe just a small area, of Friuli (up near Austria, it seems to me
>now, but I could be wrong) which had undergone some Russian
>influence--maybe some Russians immigrated and brought their language
>with them, I can't remember.  But I recall hearing that there was this
>place where they speak a dialect very similar to Russian, and someone
>told me a story about a Russian girl in Italy who came down with a
>disease or was hurt in some way, and the only way they could communicate
>with her was through a native of this region of (I think) Friuli, whose
>dialect was close enough to Russian to be understood by the girl.
>Does this have any basis in reality, or am I just remembering some crazy
>dream I had while my head lolled in sleep during class yesterday? I
>didn't listen very well when I first heard the story, months ago, but
>now it intrigues me.  Does anyone know anything about such a place?
>
>While we're at it, could someone tell me why the Friulano dialect
>differs so much from other Italian dialects?
>
>Mike Felix
 
I bet this wasn't Russian but Slovenian (another Slavic language)
because there is a Slovenian-speaking minority in this part of Italy
(Trieste and Gorizia) and since the Slavic languages are relatively
close to each other it does not seem improbable that the Russian girl
could make herself understood.
Friulian itself is a Romanic language (distinct from Italian) related
to Romansch (Rhaeto-Romance) and Ladin.
 
Regards, 
Manfred Kiefer
