The Friulian Language in Italy: Paths to a Value-Added Poistion

This paper is dedicated to Friulian, a minority language belonging to the Rhaetian family, spoken in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Northeastern Italy. Recently recognized (1996) as an official minority language in Friuli, Friulian can serve as a good example of the revival process of regional minorities in the globalized world. After describing the peculiar linguistic situation of Italy, we will examine the main linguistic features that characterize Friulian as opposed to Italian, as well as the language planning initiatives, and the political measures that have been taken to protect and revitalize it, since its official recognition as a minority language by a regional deliberation in 1996.