#friulan

di muartis estàs,

i vuardi la ploja

li fuèjs, i gris.

(for my anon!)

Like Catalan in Catalunya, Spain, and Frisian languages in Germany/Netherlands, Friulian too is a minority language.

In Italy there are many dialects, plus two minority languages: Sardinian (in Sardinia) and Friulian, or Friulan or "Furlan" (spoken in Friuli, mostly in the province of Udine, where I'm from).

now a little wikipedia LOL:

Friulan has around 800,000 speakers, the vast majority of whom also speak Italian. It shares the same roots as Ladin, although over the centuries it has diverged under the influence of surrounding languages, including German, Italian, Venetian, and Slovene. Documents in Friulan are attested from the 11th century, and poetry and literature dating as far back as 1300. By the 20th century, there was a revival of interest in the language, which has continued to this day.

My grandparents only spoke Friulan as a first language, they only learned a little Italian in school. My parents were perfectly bilingual. Me and my sister have been raised only speaking Italian (as most of my generation).

Personally, I never learned to speak it, because my parents only spoke to me in Italian; nevertheless I understand it, because my parents mainly spoke Friulan between themselves or with family/friends.

Friulan is a little rough, as it is spoken mostly by farmers in the country or in the mountains, but it's a beautiful language in its own way. One of Italian's best artists ever, poet/writer/filmmaker/journalist/intellectual/linguist/activist Pier Paolo Pasolini, wrote beautiful and moving poetry in Friulan.

Here's a little example (the first 35 seconds are in Friulan, the rest is in Italian)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi9tV4Xs3Qc

And here's a song by Lino Straulino, a Friulan singer.