I love you. How is this said in Friulian? This is part 1 of a series of entries on the subject.
The verb amâ means to love, so, to say I love you in Friulian, we should expect ti ami. But Fr. Antoni Beline, who was one of the translators of the Bible in Friulian, had this to say about it:
Poben un furlan gjenuin al doprarà la peraule amôr e i siei derivâts, come amâ e vie, mancul ch'al po o nancje mai, parcè che nô furlans, te nestre concrete e prosaicitât, no disìn ti ami, ma ti vuei ben, lant subit a la sostance de cuistion. E il bonvolê e je l'espression juste par fevelâ di chest motôr universâl.
[Now, a genuine Friulian will use the word amôr and its derivatives, like amâ and so on, as little as he can or even never, because we Friulians, in our concrete and prosaic nature, never say ti ami, but rather ti vuei ben, getting straight to the point. And benevolence is the right expression to speak of this universal driving force.]
You can read all of what Beline had to say here, but I have also copied the text into the comments section below, for reference.
Ti vuei ben. Beline asserts that, by way of this usage, the ever down-to-earth Friulian is able to get to the point. But what is this point that he speaks of? It is this, that if we mean to express love unconcerned with self, then we say ti vuei ben, for this is precisely what it so matter-of-factly expresses, without pretense: benevolent love for the other; and not only does it align with the Friulian temperament of straightforwardness, but, as we read below, it also expresses the sort of love that follows on from the model of love that Christ had for the Church.
Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians (chapter 5, verses 25-33), speaks of the duty of husbands and wives. Husbands are to love their wives with a selfless, sacrificial love, just as Christ loved the Church. And how did Christ love the Church? Christ gave Himself for Her, which is the strongest love possible. This is our model of conjugal love, and it is to this same degree that a husband ought to love his wife. This love which God requires of the husband for his wife is compensated for by the submission that He requires of the wife for her husband. The subjection of a wife to her husband is made easy by the Christ-like love that the husband has for her, which leads the husband to deny himself for her welfare. In Friulian, we read:
Oms, volêt ben a lis vuestris feminis come che Crist i à volût ben a la Glesie e si è ufiert par jê par fâle sante, smondeantle cu la purificazion da l'aghe compagnade de peraule, e par vê dongje di sè cheste Glesie, sflandorose, cence magle o grispe o alc altri dal gjenar, ma sante e imacolade. Cussì ancje i oms a àn di volêur ben a lis lôr feminis, come ai lôr cuarps. Chel che i vûl ben a la sô femine si vûl ben a sè: di fat nissun nol à mai odeade la sô stesse cjar; che anzit le nudrìs e le trate cun cure, come che al fâs ancje Crist cu la sô Glesie, parcè che o sin parts dal so cuarp. Par chel l'om al bandonarà so pari e sô mari e si tirarà dongje de sô femine e i doi a deventaran une cjar sole. Chest misteri al è grant: lu dîs sul cont di Crist e de Glesie. In ogni câs, ancje ognidun di vualtris al à di volêi ben a la sô femine come a sè e la femine e à di rispietâ il so om. / Efesins 5, versets 25-33.
Here we note that Beline used volê ben to render the concept of this selfless, sacrificial love: Just as Christ loved the Church (come che Crist i à volût ben a la Glesie) / so also ought men to love their wives (cussì ancje i oms a àn di volêur ben a lis lôr feminis).
In fact, volê ben is used throughout the scriptures: for love of God, spouse, parent, sibling, child; indeed for anybody with whom the bond of sacrificial love exists. Examples:
Jacop i voleve plui ben a Josef che no a ducj chei altris fîs. [Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons.] Gjenesi 37,3.
Ancje lis feminis in etât a àn di vê chel compuartament che si conven ai sants; no àn di jessi peteçonis, ni masse sclavis dal vin, ma pluitost mestris di bontât, par insegnâur a lis zovinis a vê sintiment, a volêur ben ai lôr oms e ai lôr fîs... [Likewise the aged women ought to have such behaviour as becometh saints; they ought not be gossips nor too enslaved to wine, but rather teachers of good, that they may instruct the young women to be wise, to love their husbands and children...] Tito 2,3-4.
Jonate, fi di Saul, i voleve un ben di vite a David. [Jonathan, son of Saul, loved David dearly.] 1 Samuel 19,1.
Jonate al tornà di gnûf a fâi zurâ a David, parcè che i voleve ben cun dut il cûr. [Jonathan made David swear again because he loved him with all his heart.] 1 Samuel 20,17.
Jesù i dîs a Simon Pieri: Simon di Zuan, mi vuelistu ben plui di chei chi? I rispuint: Sì, Signôr, tu sâs che ti vuei ben. [Jesus saith to Simon Peter: Simon of John, lovest thou me more than these? He respondeth to him: Yes, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.] Zuan 21,15.
Se un al disès: Jo i vuei ben a Diu, e al odeàs so fradi, al sarès un bausâr. Di fat chel che no i vûl ben a so fradi che lu viôt, nol pò volêi ben a Diu che no lu viôt. [If a man say: I love God, but he hateth his brother, he would be a liar. For he who loveth not his brother whom he seeth cannot love God whom he seeth not.] 1 Zuan 4,20.
La gracie che e sedi cun ducj chei che i vuelin ben al Signôr nestri Jesù Crist cuntun amôr sclet. [May grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a sincere love.] Efesins 6,24.
There is also the example of where God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. God says to Abraham: Cjape sù to fi, che tu âs dome chel e che tu i vuelis un ben di vite, Isac... e tu mal ufrissarâs in sacrifici... [Take thy son, that thou hast only him and whom thou lovest dearly, Isaac... and thou shalt offer him to me in sacrifice...] Gjenesi 22,2.
Many more examples of the sort are to be found in the Bible in Friulian, but I think the point has been made.
Ti vuei un ben di vite.
I love you dearly.
Ti vuei un grant ben.
I love you dearly.
Ti vuei ben cun dut il cûr.
I love you with all my heart.
Or just as Christ loved his own who were in this world (Zuan 13,1), we can love to the uttermost, or all the way:
Ti vuei ben fin al colm.
I love you to the uttermost.
All this having been said, there are indeed examples of amâ in the Bible in Friulian. One of these is in the command to love one's neighbour: Tu amarâs il to prossim come te in persone (Levitic 19,18), meaning: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Here a broader, ethical love for neighbour is called for, whereas it is a Christ-like, sacrificial love in Ephesians and other examples above.
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