As a crossroads between Eastern and Western Europe, throughout its history Friuli Venezia Giulia has always been a strategic political and economic site and has had several rulers (German patriarchs, Venetians, etc.). Consequently, the language of the ruling classes usually differed from that of the common people. Friulian was mostly considered the language of the lower classes and restricted to non-official and familiar circumstances. This attitude still persists today towards Italian, the official language, and some people feel uncomfortable using Friulian on official and formal occasions. Friulian speakers can, however, be considered bilingual speakers of Italian and Friulian. In fact, the use of Friulian, also in official contexts has always been an outstanding cultural and social issue which has raised very strong feelings both in favour of and against it. This essay presents and discusses plurilingualism and language contact in Friuli Venezia Giulia and focuses on the relations among the Friulian language and the other historical minorities (such as the Slovene and the German idioms) and the 'new' minorities (the so-called immigrant languages). It also describes the important language contact phenomena between Friulian and Italian which constitute an interesting sociolinguistic reality since the two languages are not always in opposition. The aim is to present a sociolinguistic study which wants to be a useful tool for measuring and assessing the state of languages in the Friulian community. It can also provide crucial information to those who are concerned with linguistic policy and planning, by offering hints that will enable them to develop appropriate actions within this protected territory.
