Friulian and Italkian - A local language and an indigenous Jewish dialect

Friulian
Fruilian, or "furlan" as it is locally called, is the regional language spoken in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Though Friulian sounds suspiciously like Italian to the untrained ears of an English-speaking visitor, it is nevertheless a distinct language. Friulian is spoken by perhaps 500,000 people in the Udine province, and selectively across the border in Slovenia and further north in Germany.

There are several spoken Friulian dialects, known as East Central Friulian, Western Friulian and Carnico. Friulian is the most widely spoken of the Rhaeto-Romance language family, which also include Romansch and Ladin (Ladin is a language unrelated to the Spanish-Jewish Ladino).

Regional pride promotes Friulian primarily as a literary language. Due to the relatively small number of Friulian-speakers, UNESCO lists the language as endangered.

Italkian
Another almost extinct language is Judeo-Italian, or Italkian. Just as Yiddish is a mix between German and Hebrew and Ladino is a mix between Spanish and Hebrew, Italkian is a mix between Italian and Hebrew. Only a tiny number of people speak it fluently and not more than 4,000 people still use elements of it in their speech.

Related links:
Friulian in Unesco Red Book on Endangered Languages
Index of Unesco Red Book on Endangered Languages
Ethnologue - Languages of the World
Minority language resource list
Minority language press in Italy
La Patrie dal Friul - A Friulian portal (in Friuliani)