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Latest revision as of 17:14, 23 December 2024editundoMirkoS18 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users35,154 edits The same argument as in the infobox. Probably situation is different considering Albanian being dominant official language in Kosovo and smaller official language in Montenegro and North Macedonia. Yet, situation in Albania and Kosovo should be differentiated as this may misleadingly imply Albanian is the sole official language in Kosovo.
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| nation = {{flag|Albania}}<br/>{{flag|Kosovo}}<br/>{{flag|Montenegro}}<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=187544|title=Constitution of Montenegro|chapter-url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=187544#LinkTarget_1506|chapter=Language and alphabet Article 13|publisher=]|date=19 October 2007|quote=Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian and Croatian shall also be in the official use.}}</ref>
| nation = {{ubl|{{flag|Albania}}|{{flag|Kosovo}} <small>(co-official)</small>|{{flag|North Macedonia}} <small>(co-official)</small>|{{flag|Montenegro}} <small>(co-official)</small><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=187544|title=Constitution of Montenegro|chapter-url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=187544#LinkTarget_1506|chapter=Language and alphabet Article 13|publisher=]|date=19 October 2007|quote=Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian and Croatian shall also be in the official use.}}</ref>}}
| minority = {{flag|Italy}}<ref name="Franceschini533534">{{harvnb|Franceschini|2014|pp=533–534 </ref><br/>{{flag|Serbia}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/minlang/Report/EvaluationReports/SerbiaECRML2_en.pdf|title=Application of the Charter in Serbia|publisher=European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages|date=11 June 2013|pages=4–5, 9}}</ref><br/>{{flag|Croatia}}<ref name="Franceschini546">{{cite book|last=Franceschini|first=Rita|chapter=Italy and the Italian-Speaking Regions|editor-last=Fäcke|editor-first=Christiane|title=Manual of Language Acquisition|year=2014|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH|isbn=9783110394146|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zM_mBQAAQBAJ&q=Manual+of+Language+Acquisition&pg=PA1|pages=546}}</ref><br/>{{flag|Romania}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Reservations and Declarations for Treaty No.148 – European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages|url=http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/148/declarations?p_auth=63PpH3zN|website=Council of Europe|publisher=Council of Europe|access-date=3 December 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208122308/http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/148/declarations?p_auth=63PpH3zN|archive-date=8 December 2015}}</ref>
| minority = {{ubl|{{flag|Italy}}<ref name="Franceschini533534">{{harvnb|Franceschini|2014|pp=533–534 }}</ref>|{{flag|Serbia}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/minlang/Report/EvaluationReports/SerbiaECRML2_en.pdf|title=Application of the Charter in Serbia|publisher=European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages|date=11 June 2013|pages=4–5, 9}}</ref>|{{flag|Croatia}}<ref name="Franceschini546">{{cite book|last=Franceschini|first=Rita|chapter=Italy and the Italian-Speaking Regions|editor-last=Fäcke|editor-first=Christiane|title=Manual of Language Acquisition|year=2014|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH|isbn=9783110394146|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zM_mBQAAQBAJ&q=Manual+of+Language+Acquisition&pg=PA1|pages=546}}</ref>|{{flag|Romania}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Reservations and Declarations for Treaty No.148 – European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages|url=http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/148/declarations?p_auth=63PpH3zN|website=Council of Europe|access-date=3 December 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208122308/http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/148/declarations?p_auth=63PpH3zN|archive-date=8 December 2015}}</ref>}}
| agency = ]<br>]
| agency = ]<br>]
| iso1 = sq
| iso1 = sq
| iso2b = alb
| iso2b = alb
Line 37:
Line 45:
| glotto = alba1267
| glotto = alba1267
| glottorefname = Albanian
| glottorefname = Albanian
| map = Albanian dialects.svg
| map = Albanian language map en.svg
| mapcaption = {{center|The ] of the Albanian language.<br />{{small|(The map does not indicate where the language is majority or minority.)}}}}
| mapcaption = The ] of the Albanian language in Southern Europe.<ref name="Northern Tosk Albanian">{{Cite journal|last1=Coretta|first1=Stefano|title=Northern Tosk Albanian|last2=Riverin-Coutlée|first2=Josiane|last3=Kapia|first3=Enkeleida|last4=Nichols|first4=Stephen|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association|year=2022|volume=53|issue=3|location=Illustration of the IPA|pages=1–23|doi=10.1017/S0025100322000044|doi-access=free|hdl=20.500.11820/ebce2ea3-f955-4fa5-9178-e1626fbae15f|hdl-access=free}}</ref>{{NoteTag|The map does not indicate where the language is majority or minority.}}
| notice = IPA
| notice = IPA
}}
}}
'''Albanian''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|l|ˈ|b|eɪ|n|i|ə|n}}; {{lang|sq|shqip}}, {{IPA-sq|ʃc͡çip|}} or {{lang|sq|gjuha shqipe}}, {{IPA-sq|ɟ͡ʝuha ˈʃc͡çipɛ|}}) is an ] spoken by the ] in the ] and the ] in the ], ] and ].<ref name="KlBrFr1800"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Fatjona Mejdini|url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-registers-diaspora-after-more-than-two-decade-12-14-2015|title=Albania Aims to Register its Huge Diaspora|publisher=Balkan Insight|date=3 May 2013|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref> Withabout 7.5 million speakers,{{sfn|Rusakov|2017|p=552}}<ref name="KlBrFr1800"/> it comprises an independent branch within the Indo-European languages and is not closely related to any other language.{{sfn|Fortson IV|2011|p=446}}
'''Albanian''' (]: {{lang|sq|shqip}} {{IPA-sq|ʃcip||sq-shqip.oga}}, {{lang|sq|gjuha shqipe}} {{IPA-sq|ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ|}}, or {{lang|sq|arbërisht}} {{IPA-sq|aɾbəˈɾiʃt|}}) is an ] language and the only surviving representative of the ], which belongs to the ].<ref>{{harvnb|Orel|2000|p=12}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2018|p=1790}}; {{harvnb|Matasović|2019|p=39}}; {{harvnb|Hamp|1963|p=104}}; {{harvnb|Katicic|2012|p=184|ps=: "And yet we know that it is the continuation of a language spoken in the Balkans already in ancient times. This has been proved by the fact that there are Ancient Greek loan words in Albanian".}}</ref> It is the native language of the ]. Standard Albanian is the ] of ] and a co-official language in ], ] and ], as well as a recognized ] of ], ], ] and ]. It is also spoken in ] and by the ], which is generally concentrated in the ], ] and ].<ref name="KlBrFr1800"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Fatjona Mejdini|url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-registers-diaspora-after-more-than-two-decade-12-14-2015|title=Albania Aims to Register its Huge Diaspora|publisher=Balkan Insight|date=3 May 2013|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref> Albanian is estimated to have as many as 7.5 million native speakers.{{sfn|Rusakov|2017|p=552}}<ref name="KlBrFr1800"/>
Albanian and other ] had their formative core in the ] after the ] in the region.<ref name=Friedman>{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Victor|title=The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact: Volume 1: Population Movement and Language Change|series=Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics|chapter=The Balkans|editor=Salikoko Mufwene, Anna Maria Escobar|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2022|isbn=9781009115773|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jWB2EAAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref name=Lazaridis_et_al.>{{cite journal|author-last1= Lazaridis|author-first1= Iosif|author-last2= Alpaslan-Roodenberg|author-first2=Songül|display-authors=et al.|title=The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe|journal=Science|volume=377|issue=6609|date=26 August 2022|pages=eabm4247|pmid=36007055|pmc=10064553| doi=10.1126/science.abm4247|bibcode=|s2cid=251843620}}</ref> Albanian in antiquity is often thought to have been an ] for obvious geographic and historical reasons,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Coretta|first1=Stefano|last2=Riverin-Coutlée|first2=Josiane|last3=Kapia|first3=Enkeleida|last4=Nichols|first4=Stephen|title=Northern Tosk Albanian|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association|date=16 August 2022|volume=53|issue=3|pages=1122–1144|doi=10.1017/S0025100322000044|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/northern-tosk-albanian/D27484BD90369B3BC0FBA9479074ED88|quote=Though the origin of the language has been debated, the prevailing opinion in the literature is that it is a descendant of Illyrian (Hetzer 1995).|hdl=20.500.11820/ebce2ea3-f955-4fa5-9178-e1626fbae15f|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Matasović|2019|p=5|ps=: "Much has been written about the origin of the Albanian language. The most probable predecessor of Albanian was Illyrian, since much of the present-day Albania was inhabited by the Illyrians during the Antiquity, but the comparison of the two languages is impossible because almost nothing is known about Illyrian, despite the fact that two handbooks of that language have been published (by Hans Krahe and Anton Mayer)... examination of personal names and toponyms from Illyricum shows that several onomastic areas can be distinguished, and these onomastic areas just might correspond to different languages spoken in ancient Illyricum. If Illyrians actually spoke several different languages, the question arises -from which 'Illyrian' language did Albanian develop, and that question cannot be answered until new data are discovered. The single "Illyrian" gloss preserved in Greek (rhínon 'fog') may have the reflex in Alb. (Gheg) re͂ 'cloud' (Tosk re)< PAlb. *ren-."}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{harvnb|Beekes|2011|p=25}}: "It is often thought (for obvious geographic reasons) that Albanian descends from ancient Illyrian (see above), but this cannot be ascertained as we know next to nothing about Illyrian itself."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fortson|2010|p=446}}: "Albanian forms its own separate branch of Indo-European; it is the last branch to appear in written records. This is one of the reasons why its origins are shrouded in mystery and controversy. The widespread assertion that it is the modern–day descendant of Illyrian, spoken in much the same region during classical times (), makes geographic and historical sense but is linguistically untestable since we know so little about Illyrian."</ref>{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|1997|p=11|ps=: "Although there are some lexical items that appear to be shared between Romanian (and by extension Dacian) and Albanian, by far the strongest connections can be argued between Albanian and Illyrian. The latter was at least attested in what is historically regarded as Albanian territory and there is no evidence of any major migration into Albanian territory since our records of Illyrian occupation. The loan words from Greek and Latin date back to before the Christian era and suggest that the ancestors of the Albanians must have occupied Albania by then to have absorbed such loans from their histori-cal neighbors. As the Illyrians occupied Albanian territory at this time, they are the most likely recipients of such loans."}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Villar|first=Francisco|title=Los indoeuropeos y los orígenes de Europa|language=es|publisher=Gredos|place=Madrid|year=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5NbPAAACAAJ|isbn=84-249-1787-1|pages=313–314, 316}}</ref> or otherwise an unmentioned Balkan Indo-European language that was closely related to Illyrian and ].{{sfn|Friedman|2020|p=388}}{{sfn|Matzinger|2018|p=1790}}{{sfn|Ismajli|2015|p=45}}{{sfn|Hamp|Adams|2013|p=8}} The Indo-European subfamily that gave rise to Albanian is called ] in reference to a specific ethnolinguistically pertinent and historically compact language group.{{sfn|Trumper|2018|p=385}} Whether descendants or sisters of what was called ']' by classical sources, Albanian and ], on the basis of shared features and innovations, are grouped together in a common branch in the current phylogenetic classification of the Indo-European language family.{{sfn|Hyllested|Joseph|2022|p=235}}{{sfn|Friedman|2020|p=388}}{{sfn|Trumper|2018|p=385}}{{sfn|Ismajli|2015|p=45}}{{sfn|Hamp|Adams|2013|p=8}}
] in the 15th century, it is the last Indo-European branch to appear in written records. This is one of the reasons why its still-unknown origin has long been a matter of dispute among ] and ].{{sfn|Fortson IV|2011|p=446}} Albanian is considered to be the descendant of one of the ] of antiquity. For more historical and geographical reasons than specifically linguistic ones, there are various modern historians and linguists who believe that the Albanian language may have descended from a southern ] dialect<ref>
*{{citation|last=Ceka|first=Neritan|author-link=Neritan Ceka|title=The Illyrians to the Albanians|publisher=Publ. House Migjeni|year=2005|isbn=99943-672-2-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r8oeOwAACAAJpages}}
*Thunmann, Johannes E. "Untersuchungen uber die Geschichte der Oslichen Europaischen Volger". Teil, Leipzig, 1774.
*see Malcolm, Noel. ''Origins: Serbs, Vlachs, and Albanians.'' Malcolm is of the opinion that the Albanian language was an Illyrian dialect preserved in Dardania and then it (re-?)conquered the Albanian lowlands
*Indo-European language and culture: an introduction By Benjamin W. Fortson Edition: 5, illustrated Published by Wiley-Blackwell, 2004 {{ISBN|1-4051-0316-7}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4051-0316-9}}
*Stipčević, Alexander. Iliri (2nd edition). Zagreb, 1989 (also published in Italian as "Gli Illiri")
*NGL Hammond The Relations of Illyrian Albania with the Greeks and the Romans. In Perspectives on Albania, edited by Tom Winnifrith, St. Martin's Press, New York 1992
*Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture By J. P. Mallory, Douglas Q. Adams Edition: illustrated Published by Taylor & Francis, 1997 {{ISBN|1-884964-98-2}}, {{ISBN|978-1-884964-98-5}}</ref> spoken in much the ] in ]. Alternative hypotheses hold that Albanian may have descended from ] or ], other ancient languages spoken farther east than Illyrian.{{sfn|Fortson IV|2011|p=446}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Villar|first=Francisco|title=Los indoeuropeos y los orígenes de Europa|language=es|publisher=Gredos|place=Madrid|year=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5NbPAAACAAJ|isbn=84-249-1787-1|page=313–314, 316}}</ref>
Not enough is known of these languages to completely prove or disprove the various hypotheses.<ref>{{harvnb|Mallory|Adams|1997|p=9}}; {{harvnb|Fortson|2004}}</ref>
The two main ], ] and ], are primarily distinguished by ] differences and are mutually intelligible,<ref name=DemirajEsposito>{{cite book | last1=Demiraj| first1=B. | last2=Esposito|first2=A.|editor1-last=Brown|editor1-first=Keith|editor2-last=Ogilvie|editor2-first=Sarah|title=ConciseEncyclopediaofLanguages of the World| url=https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope00brow_869|url-access=limited|publisher=Elsevier|year=2009|page=|chapter=Albanian|isbn=978-0-08-087774-7 }}</ref><ref name=Fortson390/> with Gheg spoken to the north and Tosk spoken to the south of the ].<ref name=DemirajEsposito/> Their characteristics<ref>''InTosk /a/ before a nasal hasbecome a centralvowel (shwa), andintervocalic /n/ hasbecome /r/. Thesetwosoundchangeshaveaffectedonly the pre-Slavstratum of the Albanian lexicon, thatis the native words andloanwords from Greek and Latin'' (page23) ''ConciseEncyclopedia of Languages of theWorld''ByKeithBrown,SarahOgilvieContributorKeithBrown,SarahOgilvieEdition:illustratedPublishedbyElsevier,2008 {{ISBN|0-08-087774-5}}, {{ISBN|978-0-08-087774-7}}</ref> in the treatment of both native words and loanwords indicatethedialectal split occurred after ] of the region (4th century AD) and at the time of the ],<ref name="Adams1997">{{cite book|author=Douglas Q. Adams|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&pg=PA11|date=January 1997|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5|pages=9, 11|quote=The Greek and Latin loans have undergone most of the far-reaching phonological changes which have so altered the shape of inherited words while Slavic and Turkish words do not show those changes. Thus Albanian must have acquired much of its present form by the time Slavs entered into Balkans in the fifth and sixth centuries AD borrowed words from Greek and Latin date back to before Christian era Even very common words such as mik "friend" (<Lat. amicus) or këndoj "sing" (<Lat.cantare) come from Latin and attest to a widespread intermingling of pre-Albanian and Balkan Latin speakers during the Roman period, roughly from the second century BC to the fifth century AD.}}</ref><ref>''The dialectal split into Geg and Tosk happened sometime after the region becomeChristianised in the fourth century AD; Christian Latin loanwords show Tosk rhotacism, such as Tosk murgu "monk" (Geg mungu) from Lat. monachus.'' (page 392) ByBenjaminW.FortsonEdition:5, illustrated Published by Wiley-Blackwell, 2004 {{ISBN|1-4051-0316-7}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4051-0316-9}}</ref> withthehistoricboundarybetweenGheg and Toskbeing the Shkumbin<refname=brown23>''TheriverShkumbinincentralAlbaniahistoricallyformstheboundarybetweenthosetwodialects,with the population on the north speaking varieties of Geg and thepopulationonthesouthvarietiesof Tosk.''(page23)ByKeithBrown,SarahOgilvieContributorKeithBrown,SarahOgilvieEdition:illustratedPublishedbyElsevier,2008{{ISBN|0-08-087774-5}},{{ISBN|978-0-08-087774-7}}</ref>whichstraddled the ].<ref name="ReferenceB" /><ref>See also Hamp 1963 ''The isogloss is clear in all dialects I have studied, which embrace nearly all types possible. It must be relatively old, that is, dating back into the post-Roman first millennium. As a guess, it seems possible that this isogloss reflects a spread of the speech area, after the settlement of the Albanians in roughly their present location, so that the speech area straddled the Jireček Line.''</ref> ]isastandardisedformofspokenAlbanianbasedonthe].It is the ] of ] and ]{{efn|name=status|{{Kosovo-note}}}}anda]of],],] and ].
The first written mention of Albanian was in 1284 in a witness testimony from the ], while a letter written by Dominican Friar Gulielmus Adea in 1332 mentions the Albanians using the Latin alphabet in their writings. The oldest surviving attestation of modern Albanian is from 1462.{{sfn|Matasović|2019|p=39}} The two main ] (or ]), ] and ], are primarily distinguished by ] differences and are ] in their standard varieties,<ref>{{harvnb|Demiraj|Esposito|2009|p=}}: {{blockquote|"...these innovations, as those that are also evident in different varieties of Gheg, are not such as to impede communication between speakers of the two dialects. Furthermore, the major part of the Albanian lexicon is common to the two dialects."}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fortson|2010|p=446}}: "The two dialects are mutually intelligible in their standard varieties, although numerous subdialects exist that show considerable variation, especially in the north and northeast of the Geg–speaking area."</ref> with Gheg spoken to the north and Tosk spoken to the south of the ].<ref>{{harvnb|Demiraj|Esposito|2009|p=}}: {{blockquote|"The river Shkumbin in central Albania historically forms the boundary between those two dialects, with the population on the north speaking varieties of Geg and the population on the south varieties of Tosk."}}</ref> Their characteristics<ref>{{harvnb|Demiraj|2006|p=102}}: {{blockquote|"It is the case of the evolution of stressed /a-/ and partly stressed /e-/ in front of a nasal consonant to /ë-/ in thee southern dialect. While the evolution /a-/ > /ë/ in front of a nasal consonant has involved the southern dialect, the evolution /e-/ > /-ë/ in the same phonetic conditions has not taken place in the northern part and partly in the eastern part of that dialect (...). This phonetic phenomenon has appeared earlier than rhotacism, as it is clearly evidenced in such examples as ''llanë'' > ''llërë'', ''ranë'' > ''rërë'' etc., in which the evolution /a-/ > /ë-/ could not take place before /-r-/. Since this phonetic change has not appeared in the Slavic loanwords of Albanian, but has involved mainly the I.E. inherited words as well as the loans from Old Greek (compare ''mokënë'' > ''mokërë'' < ''māk<sup>h</sup>anāʼ'' etc.) and from Latin (compare ''ranë'' > ''rërë'' > ''arena'' etc.), it has generally been acknowledged that it has taken place in the pre-Slavic period of Albanian. Its sporadic appearance in a very reduced number of Slavic loanwords is due to the action of analogy with similar cases of inherited or more ancient loans of Albanian."}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Demiraj|Esposito|2009|p=}}: {{blockquote|"In Tosk /a/ before a nasal has become a central vowel (shwa), and intervocalic /n/ has become /r/. These two sound changes have affected only the pre-Slav stratum of the Albanian lexicon, that is the native words and loanwords from Greek and Latin."}}</ref> in the treatment of both native words and loanwords provide evidence that the split into the northern and the southern dialects occurred after ] of the region (4th century AD),<ref name="Adams1997">{{cite book|author=Douglas Q. Adams|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&pg=PA11|date=January 1997|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5|pages=9, 11|quote=The Greek and Latin loans have undergone most of the far-reaching phonological changes which have so altered the shape of inherited IE words while Slavic and Turkish words do not show these changes. Thus Albanian must have acquired much of its present form by the time Slavs entered into the Balkans in the fifth and sixth centuries AD The loan words from Greek and Latin date back to before the Christian era Even very common words such as ''mik'' ʻfriendʼ (< Lat ''amicus'') or ''këndoj'' ʻI sing; readʼ (< Lat ''cantāre'') come from Latin and attest to a widespread intermingling of pre-Albanian and Balkan Latin speakers during the Roman period, roughly from the second century BC to the fifth century AD. }}</ref><ref name="Fortson2010–448">{{harvnb|Fortson|2010|p=448}}: "The dialectal split into Geg and Tosk happened sometime after the region became Christianized in the fourth century AD: Christian Latin loanwords show Tosk rhotacism, such as Tosk ''murgu'' 'monk' (Geg ''mungu'') from Lat. ''monachus''."</ref> and most likely not later than the 6th century AD,<ref>{{harvnb|Demiraj|2010|pp=77–78}}</ref>{{sfn|Rusakov|2017|p=559}}<ref>{{harvnb|Demiraj|2006|pp=102–103}}: {{blockquote|"...such sporadic analogical cases do not reverse the generally acknowledged conclusion that this dialectal peculiarity as a phonetic process has appeared in pre-Slavic period of Albanian and is relatively more ancient than the rhotacism. It has most probably appeared not later than the V-VI centuries A.D."}}</ref> hence possibly occupying roughly their present area divided by the Shkumbin river since the Post-Roman and Pre-Slavic period, straddling the ].<ref>See also Hamp 1963 ''The isogloss is clear in all dialects I have studied, which embrace nearly all types possible. It must be relatively old, that is, dating back into the post-Roman first millennium. As a guess, it seems possible that this isogloss reflects a spread of the speech area, after the settlement of the Albanians in roughly their present location, so that the speech area straddled the Jireček Line.''</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Demiraj|2006|p=103}}: {{blockquote|"And, as it was pointed out in §3, since the dialectal differentiations have appeared in a certain geographical area, one is entitled to draw the conclusion that the speakers of the northern and southern dialects have been present in their actual areas in the Post-Roman and Pre-Slavic period of Albanian."}}</ref>
Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian dialects can be found scattered in ] (the ]), ] (the ] and some communities in ], ] and ]),<ref name=Euromosaic>{{cite web|url=http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/albanes/fr/i2/i2.html|title=L'arvanite/albanais en Grèce|access-date=5 December 2016|author=Euromosaic project|year=2006|publisher=]|location=Brussels|language=fr}}</ref> ] (the ])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minorityrights.org/1617/italy/albanians.html|title=Archivedcopy |access-date=2 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121173237/http://www.minorityrights.org/1617/italy/albanians.html|archive-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> as well as in ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.albanianlanguage.net/|title=Robert Elsie|publisher=The Albanian Language|date=25 November 1972|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref> Two varieties of the Tosk dialect, ] in Greece and ] in Southern Italy, have preserved archaic elements of the language.{{sfn|Demiraj|Esposito|2009|p=23}}
Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian dialects can be found scattered in ] (the ] and some communities in ], ] and ]),<ref name=Euromosaic>{{cite web|url=http://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/albanes/fr/i2/i2.html|title=L'arvanite/albanais en Grèce|access-date=5 December 2016|author=Euromosaic project|year=2006|publisher=]|location=Brussels|language=fr}}</ref> ] (the ]), ] (the ])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minorityrights.org/1617/italy/albanians.html|title=Albanians in Italy|access-date=2 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121173237/http://www.minorityrights.org/1617/italy/albanians.html|archive-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> as well as in ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.albanianlanguage.net/|title=Robert Elsie|publisher=The Albanian Language|date=25 November 1972|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref> The ]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dedvukaj|first1=Lindon|last2=Ndoci|first2=Rexhina|title=Linguistic variation within the Northwestern Gheg Albanian dialect|journal=Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America|publisher=]|doi=10.3765/plsa.v8i1.5501|volume=8|number=1|year=2023|page=5501 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dedvukaj|first1=Lindon|last2=Gehringer|first2=Patrick|title=Morphological and phonological origins of Albanian nasals and its parallels with other laws|journal=Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America|publisher=]|doi=10.3765/plsa.v8i1.5508|volume=8|number=1|year=2023|page=5508 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and two varieties of the Tosk dialect, ] in Greece and ] in southern Italy, have preserved archaic elements of the language.<ref>{{harvnb|Demiraj|Esposito|2009|p=}}.</ref> ] constitute a large ], with many having long assimilated in different cultures and communities. Consequently, Albanian-speakers do not correspond to the total ethnic Albanian population, as many ethnic Albanians may identify as Albanian but are unable to speak the language.<ref>Mai, Nicola. "The Albanian diaspora-in-the-making: media, migration and social exclusion." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 31, no. 3 (2005): 543–561.</ref><ref>de Rapper, Gilles. "Albanians facing the Ottoman past: the case of the Albanian diaspora in Turkey." (2005).</ref><ref>Gkaintartzi, Anastasia, Aspasia Chatzidaki, and Roula Tsokalidou. "Albanian parents and the Greek educational context: Who is willing to fight for the home language?." International Multilingual Research Journal 8, no. 4 (2014): 291–308.</ref>
] is a standardised form of spoken Albanian based on ].
] constitute a large ], with many having long assimilated in different cultures and communities. Consequently, Albanian speakers do not correspond to the total ethnic Albanian population, as many ethnic Albanians may identify as Albanian but are unable to speak the language.<ref>Mai, Nicola. "The Albanian diaspora-in-the-making: media, migration and social exclusion." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 31, no. 3 (2005): 543-561.</ref><ref>de Rapper, Gilles. "Albanians facing the Ottoman past: the case of the Albanian diaspora in Turkey." (2005).</ref><ref>Gkaintartzi, Anastasia, Aspasia Chatzidaki, and Roula Tsokalidou. "Albanian parents and the Greek educational context: Who is willing to fight for the home language?." International Multilingual Research Journal 8, no. 4 (2014): 291-308.</ref>
==Geographic distribution==
==Geographic distribution==
{{Main|Albanians}}
{{Main|Albanians}}
[[File:Recognized Albanian Language Map.png|thumb|Map of countries where Albanian holds official status: {{legend|#ff0000|Official language}}
{{legend|#ff8080|Recognised minority language}}]]
]
The language is spoken by approximately 6 million people in the Balkans, primarily in Albania, ], ], ], ] and ].{{sfn|Rusakov|2017|p=552}} However, due to old communities in ] and the large ], the worldwide total of speakers is much higher than in ] and numbers approximately 7.5 million.{{sfn|Rusakov|2017|p=552}}<ref name="KlBrFr1800">{{cite book|last1=Klein|first1=Jared|last2=Brian|first2=Joseph|last3=Fritz|first3=Matthias|title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics|year=2018|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110542431|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SuR8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1800|pages=1800}}</ref>
The language is spoken by approximately 6 million people in the Balkans, primarily in Albania, ], ], ] and ].{{sfn|Rusakov|2017|p=552}} However, due to old communities in ] and the large ], the worldwide total of speakers is much higher than in ] and numbers approximately 7.5 million.{{sfn|Rusakov|2017|p=552}}<ref name="KlBrFr1800">{{cite book|last1=Klein|first1=Jared|last2=Brian|first2=Joseph|last3=Fritz|first3=Matthias|title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics|year=2018|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110542431|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SuR8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1548|pages=1800}}</ref>
===Europe===
===Europe===
The Albanian language is the official language of ] and ]. Albanian is a recognised minority language in ], ], ], ] and in ]. Albanian is also spoken by a ], specifically in the ] and ] regional units and in a few villages in ] and ] regional units in Greece.<ref name="Euromosaic" /> It is also spoken by 450,000 Albanian immigrants in Greece.
The Albanian language is the official language of ] and ] and a co-official language in ] and ].<ref>{{Cite web|orig-date=September 2020|title=Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo (with amendments I-XXVI)|url=https://guides.loc.gov/law-kosovo/constitution|website=]|quote=Article 5 1. The official languages in the Republic of Kosovo are Albanian and Serbian.{{nbsp}}...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Trandafili|first1=Evis|last2=Meçe|first2=Elinda Kajo|last3=Duka|first3=Enea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=li3KDwAAQBAJ|title=Complex Pattern Mining: New Challenges, Methods and Applications|date=2020|publisher=]|isbn=978-3-030-36617-9|page=89|language=en|quote=It is the official language of Albania, the co-official language of Kosovo, and the co-official language of many western municipalities of the Republic of Macedonia. Albanian is also spoken widely in some areas in Greece, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia, and in some towns in southern Italy and Sicily.|editor-last=Appice|editor-first=Annalisa|editor-last2=Ceci|editor-first2=Michelangelo|editor-last3=Loglisci|editor-first3=Corrado|editor-last4=Manco|editor-first4=Giuseppe|editor-last5=Masciari|editor-first5=Elio|editor-last6=Ras|editor-first6=Zbigniew W.}}</ref> Albanian is a recognised minority language in ], ], ] and in ]. Albanian is also spoken by a ], specifically in the ] and ] regional units and in a few villages in ] and ] regional units in Greece.<ref name="Euromosaic" /> It is also spoken by 450,000 Albanian immigrants in Greece, making it one of the commonly spoken languages in the country after Greek.
Albanian is the third most spokenlanguage in ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Linguistic diversity among foreign citizens in Italy|url=http://www.istat.it/en/archive/129304|publisher=Statistics of Italy|access-date=1 April 2015|date=25 July 2014}}</ref> This is due to a substantial Albanian immigration to Italy. Italy has a historical Albanian minority of about 500,000, scattered across Southern Italy, known as ]. Approximately 1 million Albanians from Kosovo are dispersed throughout ], ] and ]. These are mainly immigrants from Kosovo who migrated during the 1990s. In ], the Albanian language is the ] with 176,293 native speakers.
Albanian is the third most common mother tongue among foreign residents in ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Linguistic diversity among foreign citizens in Italy|url=http://www.istat.it/en/archive/129304|publisher=Statistics of Italy|access-date=1 April 2015|date=25 July 2014}}</ref> This is due to a substantial Albanian immigration to Italy. Italy has a historical Albanian minority of about 500,000, scattered across southern Italy, known as ]. Approximately 1 million Albanians from Kosovo are dispersed throughout ], ] and ]. These are mainly immigrants from Kosovo who migrated during the 1990s. In ], the Albanian language is the ] with 176,293 native speakers.
Albanian became an official language in North Macedonia on 15 January 2019.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/macedonia-s-albanian-language-bill-becomes-law/29711502.html|title=Macedonia's Albanian-Language Bill Becomes Law| newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty| date=15 January 2019}}</ref>
===Americas===
===Americas===
There are large numbers of Albanian speakers in the ], ], ], ] and ]. Some of the first ethnic Albanians to arrive in the United States were Arbëreshë. Arbëreshe have a strong sense of identity and are unique in that they speak an archaic dialect of ] called ].
There are large numbers of Albanian speakers in the United States, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and ]. Some of the first ethnic Albanians to arrive in the United States were the Arbëreshë. The Arbëreshë have a strong sense of identity and are unique in that they speak an archaic dialect of ] called ].
In the United States and Canada, there are approximately 250,000 ] speakers. It is spoken in the easternarea of the United States in cities like ], ], ], ], ] and ], as well as in parts of the states of ] and ].
In the United States and Canada, there are approximately 250,000 ] speakers. It is primarily spoken on the East Coast of the United States, in cities like New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, as well as in parts of the states of New Jersey, Ohio, and Connecticut.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}
In ], there are nearly ], mostly in ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/HALCoRe_derivate_00003672/Albanianmigration.pdf|title=Archived copy |access-date=9 July 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916221528/http://edoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/HALCoRe_derivate_00003672/Albanianmigration.pdf|archive-date=16 September 2016}}</ref>
In Argentina, there are nearly ], mostly in Buenos Aires.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/HALCoRe_derivate_00003672/Albanianmigration.pdf|title=Albanian migration|access-date=9 July 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916221528/http://edoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/HALCoRe_derivate_00003672/Albanianmigration.pdf|archive-date=16 September 2016}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=April 2022}}
===Asia and Oceania===
===Asia and Africa===
Approximately 1.3 million people of Albanian ancestry live in ], and more than 500,000 recognising their ancestry, language and ]. There are other estimates, however, that place the number of people in Turkey with Albanian ancestry and or background upward to 5 million. However, the vast majority of this population is ] and no longer possesses fluency in the Albanian language, though a vibrant Albanian community maintains its distinct identity in ] to this day.
Approximately 1.3 million people of Albanian ancestry live in ], with more than 500,000 recognizing their ancestry, language and ]. There are other estimates, however, that place the number of people in Turkey with Albanian ancestry and or background upward to 5 million. However, the vast majority of this population is ] and no longer possesses fluency in the Albanian language, though a vibrant Albanian community maintains its distinct identity in ] to this day.
In ] therearearound 18,000 Albanians, mostly ] speakers.<ref name="Saunders98">{{cite book|last=Saunders|first=Robert A.|title=Ethnopolitics in Cyberspace: The Internet, Minority Nationalism, and the Web of Identity|year=2011|location=Lanham|publisher=Lexington Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vM5hZEsdz94C&pg=PA98|isbn=9780739141946|page=98|quote= "In addition to the recent emigrants, there are older diasporic communities around the world. There are upwards of 5 million ethnic Albanians in the Turkish Republic; however, the vast majority of this population is assimilated and no longer possesses fluency in the language, though a vibrant Albanian community maintains its distinct identity in Istanbul to this day. Egypt also lays claim to some 18,000 Albanians, supposedly lingering remnants of Mohammad Ali's army."}}</ref> Many are descendants of the ] of ], an Albanian who became ], and self-declared ] of Egypt and ]. In addition to the ] that he established, a large part of the former Egyptian and Sudanese ] was of Albanian origin. In addition to the recent emigrants, there are older diasporic communities around the world.
] also lays claim to about 18,000 Albanians, mostly ] speakers.<ref name="Saunders98">{{cite book|last=Saunders|first=Robert A.|title=Ethnopolitics in Cyberspace: The Internet, Minority Nationalism, and the Web of Identity|year=2011|location=Lanham|publisher=Lexington Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vM5hZEsdz94C&pg=PA98|isbn=9780739141946|page=98|quote= "In addition to the recent emigrants, there are older diasporic communities around the world. There are upwards of 5 million ethnic Albanians in the Turkish Republic; however, the vast majority of this population is assimilated and no longer possesses fluency in the language, though a vibrant Albanian community maintains its distinct identity in Istanbul to this day. Egypt also lays claim to some 18,000 Albanians, supposedly lingering remnants of Mohammad Ali's army."}}</ref> Many are descendants of the ] of ], an Albanian who became ], and self-declared ] of Egypt and ]. In addition to the ] that he established, a large part of the former Egyptian and Sudanese ] was of Albanian origin. In addition to the recent emigrants, there are older diasporic communities around the world.
===Oceania===
Albanian is also spoken by Albanian diaspora communities residing in ] and ].
Albanian is also spoken by Albanian diaspora communities residing in ] and ].
== Dialects ==
== Dialects ==
{{Main|Albanian dialects}}
{{Main|Albanian dialects}}]{{tree list}}
* '''Albanian'''
]
** ]
*** Northern Tosk
*** ]
*** ]
*** ]
*** ]
** ]
*** Northwest Gheg
*** Northeast Gheg
*** Central Gheg
*** Southern Gheg
{{tree list/end|style=}}
The Albanian language has two distinct dialects, ] which is spoken in the south, and ] spoken in the north.<ref>Gjinari, Jorgji. Dialektologjia shqiptare</ref> Standard Albanian is based on the Tosk dialect. The ] is the rough dividing line between the two dialects.<ref name=brown23/>
The Albanian language has two distinct dialects, ] which is spoken in the south, and ] spoken in the north.<ref>Gjinari, Jorgji. Dialektologjia shqiptare</ref> Standard Albanian is based on the Tosk dialect. The ] is the rough dividing line between the two dialects.<ref name=brown23>''The river Shkumbin in central Albania historically forms the boundary between those two dialects, with the population on the north speaking varieties of Geg and the population on the south varieties of Tosk.'' (page 23) By Keith Brown, Sarah Ogilvie Contributor Keith Brown, Sarah Ogilvie Edition: illustrated Published by Elsevier, 2008 {{ISBN|0-08-087774-5}}, {{ISBN|978-0-08-087774-7}}</ref>
] is divided into four sub-dialects, in Northwest Gheg, Northeast Gheg, Central Gheg, and Southern Gheg. It is primarily spoken in northern Albania and throughout ], ] and northwestern ]. One fairly divergent dialect is the ], which is however classified as Central Gheg. There is also a diaspora dialect in ], the ].
] is divided into four sub-dialects: Northwest Gheg, Northeast Gheg, Central Gheg and Southern Gheg. It is primarily spoken in northern Albania, ], and throughout ] and northwestern ]. One fairly divergent dialect is the ], which is however classified as Central Gheg. There is also a diaspora dialect in ], the ].
] is divided into five sub-dialects, including Northern Tosk (the most numerous in speakers), ], ], ], and ]. Tosk is spoken in southern Albania, southwestern North Macedonia and northern and southern Greece. Cham Albanian is spoken in North-western Greece,{{citationneeded|date=March2020}} while ] is spoken by the ] in southern Greece. In addition, ] is spoken by the ] people, descendants of 15th and 16th century migrants who settled in southeastern Italy, in small communities in the regions of ] and ].{{cn|date=October2020}}
] is divided into five sub-dialects, including Northern Tosk (the most numerous in speakers), ], ], ], and ]. Tosk is spoken in southern Albania, southwestern North Macedonia and northern and southern Greece. Cham Albanian is spoken in North-western Greece,<ref name="Prendergast 2017 87">{{cite thesis|last=Prendergast|first=Eric|date=2017|title=The Origin and Spread of Locative Determiner Omission in the Balkan Linguistic Area|type=Ph.D|publisher=University of California Berkeley|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7nk454x6|page=87}}</ref> while ] is spoken by the ] in southern Greece. In addition, ] is spoken by the ] people, descendants of 15th and 16th century migrants who settled in southeastern Italy, in small communities in the regions of ] and ].<ref>The Italo-Albanian villages of southern Italy Issue 25 of Foreign field research program, report, National Research Council (U.S.) Division of Earth Sciences Volume 1149 of Publication (National Research Council (U.S.)) Foreign field research program, sponsored by Office of Naval research, report; no.25 Issue 25 of Report, National Research Council (U.S.). Division of Earth Sciences Volume 1149 of (National Academy of Sciences. National Research Council. Publication) Author George Nicholas Nasse Publisher National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, 1964 page 24-25 link</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VjArAAAAYAAJ&dq=reres+demetrio&pg=PA24|title=The Italo-Albanian Villages of Southern Italy|isbn=9780598204004|last1=Nasse|first1=George Nicholas|year=1964| publisher=National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council}}</ref> These settlements originated from the (Arvanites) communities probably of Peloponnese known as Morea in the Middle Ages. Among them the Arvanites call themselves Arbëror and sometime Arbëresh. The Arbëresh dialect is closely related to the Arvanites dialect with more Italian vocabulary absorbed during different periods of time.
== Orthography ==
== Orthography ==
Line 102:
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].]]
].]]
The Albanian language has been written using many alphabets since the earliest records from the 14th century. The history of Albanian language orthography is closely related to the cultural orientation and knowledge of certain foreign languages among Albanian writers.{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=12}} The earliest written Albanian records come from the Gheg area in makeshift spellings based on Italian or Greek. Originally, the Tosk dialect was written in the ] and the Gheg dialect was written in the ]. Both dialects had also been written in the ] version of the ], ], and some local alphabets (], ], ], Veso Bey, Jan Vellara and others, see ]). More specifically, the writers from northern Albania and under the influence of the Catholic Church used Latin letters, those in southern Albania and under the influence of the Greek Orthodox church used Greek letters, while others throughout Albania and under the influence of Islam used Arabic letters. There were initial attempts to create an original Albanian alphabet during the 1750–1850 period. These attempts intensified after the ] and culminated with the ] held by Albanian intellectuals from 14 to 22 November 1908, in Manastir (present day ]), which decided on which alphabet to use, and what the standardised spelling would be for standard Albanian. This is how the literary language remains. The alphabet is the Latin alphabet with the addition of the letters <]>, <]>, and ten ]: ''dh'', ''th'', ''xh'', ''gj'', ''nj'', ''ng'', ''ll'', ''rr'', ''zh'' and ''sh''.
The Albanian language has been written using many alphabets since the earliest records from the 15th century. The history of Albanian language orthography is closely related to the cultural orientation and knowledge of certain foreign languages among Albanian writers.{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=12}} The earliest written Albanian records come from the Gheg area in makeshift spellings based on Italian or Greek. Originally, the Tosk dialect was written in the ] and the Gheg dialect was written in the ]. Both dialects had also been written in the ] version of the ], ], and some local alphabets (], ], ], Veso Bey, Jan Vellara and others, see ]). More specifically, the writers from northern Albania and under the influence of the Catholic Church used Latin letters, those in southern Albania and under the influence of the Greek Orthodox church used Greek letters, while others throughout Albania and under the influence of Islam used Arabic letters. There were initial attempts to create an original Albanian alphabet during the 1750–1850 period. These attempts intensified after the ] and culminated with the ] held by Albanian intellectuals from 14 to 22 November 1908, in Manastir (present day ]), which decided on which alphabet to use, and what the standardised spelling would be for standard Albanian. This is how the literary language remains. The alphabet is the Latin alphabet with the addition of the letters {{angbr|{{lang|sq|]}}}}, {{angbr|{{lang|sq|]}}}}, and ten ]: {{lang|sq|dh}}, {{lang|sq|th}}, {{lang|sq|xh}}, {{lang|sq|gj}}, {{lang|sq|nj}}, {{lang|sq|ng}}, {{lang|sq|ll}}, {{lang|sq|rr}}, {{lang|sq|zh}} and {{lang|sq|sh}}.
According to ]:<ref name=Elsie2017/>
According to ]:<ref name=Elsie2017>Elsie, Robert. (2017). ''Albanian Alphabets: Borrowed and Invented''. London, UK: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. {{ISBN|9781544294094}}.</ref>
<blockquote>The hundred years between 1750 and 1850 were an age of astounding orthographic diversity in Albania. In this period, the Albanian language was put to writing in at least ten different alphabets – most certainly a record for European languages. ... the diverse forms in which this old Balkan language was recorded, from the earliest documents to the beginning of the twentieth century ... consist of adaptations of the Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Cyrillic alphabets and (what is even more interesting) a number of locally invented writing systems. Most of the latter alphabets have now been forgotten and are unknown, even to the Albanians themselves.<ref name=Elsie2017>Elsie, Robert. (2017). ''Albanian Alphabets: Borrowed and Invented''. London, UK: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. {{ISBN|9781544294094}}.</ref></blockquote>
{{blockquote|The hundred years between 1750 and 1850 were an age of astounding orthographic diversity in Albania. In this period, the Albanian language was put to writing in at least ten different alphabets – most certainly a record for European languages. ... the diverse forms in which this old Balkan language was recorded, from the earliest documents to the beginning of the twentieth century ... consist of adaptations of the Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Cyrillic alphabets and (what is even more interesting) a number of locally invented writing systems. Most of the latter alphabets have now been forgotten and are unknown, even to the Albanians themselves.}}
== Classification ==
== Classification ==
]
Albanian constitutes one of the eleven major branches of the ],<ref name="Schumacher2020"/> within which it occupies an independent position.<ref>{{harvnb|Fortson|2010|p=446}}: "Albanian forms its own separate branch of Indo-European; it is the last branch to appear in written records."</ref> In 1854, Albanian was demonstrated to be an ] by the ] ]. Albanian was formerly compared by a few Indo-European linguists with ] and ], all of which share a number of ]es with Albanian.<ref>Watkins, Calvert. "Proto-Indo-European: Comparison and Reconstruction", in The Indo-European Languages, ] and Paolo Ramat, eds. London: Routledge, 1998.</ref> Other linguists linked the Albanian language with ], ] and ], while placing Germanic and Balto-Slavic in another branch of Indo-European.<ref name=mallory>, ] and Adams, D. Q.: The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World</ref><ref name=holm> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011121308/http://www.hjholm.de/SLRD.pdf|date=11 October 2017}}, Holm, Hans J.: The Distribution of Data in Word Lists and its Impact on the Subgrouping of Languages. In: Christine Preisach, Hans Burkhardt, Lars Schmidt-Thieme, Reinhold Decker (eds.): Data Analysis, Machine Learning, and Applications. Proc. of the 31st Annual Conference of the German Classification Society (GfKl), University of Freiburg, 7–9 March 2007. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg-Berlin</ref><ref name=holm2> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905220636/http://www.hjholm.de/|date=5 September 2019}} A possible Homeland of the Indo-European Languages And their Migrations in the Light of the Separation Level Recovery (SLRD) Method – Hans J. Holm</ref> In current scholarship there is evidence that Albanian is closely related to Greek and Armenian, while the fact that it is a ] language is less significant.<ref name="Schumacher2020"/>
].]]
{{cladogram
|caption =
Albanian in the Palaeo-Balkanic Indo-European branch based on the chapters "Albanian" ({{harvnb|Hyllested|Joseph|2022}}) and "Armenian" ({{harvnb|Olsen|Thorsø|2022}}) in Olander (ed.) ''The Indo-European Language Family''
|cladogram =
{{clade
| label1 =
]
| 1 =
{{clade
| 1 =
]
| label2 =
]
| 2 =
{{clade
| label1 =
]
| 1 =
{{clade
| 1 =
]
| 2 =
]<br><small>(extinct)</small>
}}
| label2 =
]
| 2 =
{{clade
| 1 =
]<br><small>(extinct)</small>
| label2 =
'''Albanian'''
| 2 =
{{clade
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]
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]
}}
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}}
}}
] is considered the closest language to Albanian,{{sfn|Hyllested|Joseph|2022|p=235}}{{sfn|Trumper|2018|p=385}}{{sfn|Friedman|2020|p=388}} grouped in a common branch titled ''Illyric'' in Hyllested & Joseph (2022).{{sfn|Hyllested|Joseph|2022|p=235}} Hyllested & Joseph (2022) in agreement with recent bibliography identify Greco-Phrygian as the IE branch closest to the Albanian-Messapic one. These two branches form an areal grouping – which is often called "Balkan IE" – with Armenian. The hypothesis of the "]" continuum posits a common period of prehistoric coexistence of several Indo-European dialects in the ] prior to 2000 BC. To this group would belong Albanian, ], ], ], fragmentary attested languages such as ], ], or ], and the relatively well-attested ] in Southern Italy. The common features of this group appear at the phonological, morphological, and lexical levels, presumably resulting from the contact between the various languages. The concept of this linguistic group is explained as a kind of language league of the ] (a specific ] phenomenon), although it also consisted of languages that were related to each other.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sowa|first=Wojciech|title=Thracian ''Tracio''|journal=Palaeohispanica|issn=1578-5386|doi=10.36707/palaeohispanica.v0i20.377|year=2020|pages=810–811|doi-access=free}}</ref> A common prestage posterior to ] comprising Albanian, Greek, and Armenian, is considered as a possible scenario. In this light, due to the larger number of possible shared innovations between Greek and Armenian, it appears reasonable to assume, at least tentatively, that Albanian was the first Balkan IE language to branch off. This split and the following ones were perhaps very close in time, allowing only a narrow time frame for shared innovations.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thorsø|first=Rasmus|chapter=Two Balkan Indo-European Loanwords|title=Dispersals and Diversification: Linguistic and Archaeological Perspectives on the Early Stages of Indo-European|editor1=Matilde Serangeli|editor2=Thomas Olander|volume=19|series=Brill's Studies in Indo-European Languages & Linguistics|publisher=Brill|year=2019|isbn=9789004416192|pages=251–262|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DHnEDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>
Albanian represents one of the core languages of the ].<ref name="Schumacher2020">{{cite book|first=Stefan|last=Schumacher|title=Perfects in Indo-European Languages and Beyond|date=2020|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|isbn=978-90-272-6090-1|language=en|chapter=The perfect system of Old Albanian (Geg variety)|editor1=Robert Crellin|editor2=Thomas Jügel|volume=352|series=Current Issues in Linguistic Theory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Zz6DwAAQBAJ}}</ref>
The Albanian language occupies an independent branch of the ] tree.<ref name=Fortson390>{{cite book |title=Indo-European language and culture: an introduction |last= Fortson |first= Benjamin W |year=2004 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |isbn=1-4051-0315-9|page=390 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5hOtPBF6XWwC&q='Indo-European+Language+and+Culture:++An+Introduction' |access-date=28 May 2010}} ''Albanian forms its own separate branch of Indo-European; it is the last branch to appear in written records''</ref> In 1854, Albanian was demonstrated to be an ] by the ] ]. Albanian was formerly compared by a few Indo-European linguists with ] and ], all of which share a number of ]es with Albanian.<ref>Watkins, Calvert. "Proto-Indo-European: Comparison and Reconstruction", in The Indo-European Languages, Anna Giacalone Ramat and Paolo Ramat, eds. London: Routledge, 1998.</ref> Other linguists linked the Albanian language with ], ] and ], while placing Germanic and Balto-Slavic in another branch of Indo-European.<ref name = mallory>, ] and Adams, D. Q.: The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World</ref><ref name = holm> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011121308/http://www.hjholm.de/SLRD.pdf |date=11 October 2017 }}, Holm, Hans J.: The Distribution of Data in Word Lists and its Impact on the Subgrouping of Languages. In: Christine Preisach, Hans Burkhardt, Lars Schmidt-Thieme, Reinhold Decker (eds.): Data Analysis, Machine Learning, and Applications. Proc. of the 31st Annual Conference of the German Classification Society (GfKl), University of Freiburg, 7–9 March 2007. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg-Berlin</ref><ref name = holm2> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905220636/http://www.hjholm.de/ |date=5 September 2019 }} A possible Homeland of the Indo-European Languages And their Migrations in the Light of the Separation Level Recovery (SLRD) Method – Hans J. Holm</ref>
Glottolog and Ethnologue recognize four Albanian languages. They are classified as follows:<ref>{{glottolog|alba1267|Albanian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroups/albanian|title=Albanian|website=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408170013/https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroups/albanian|archive-date=2022-04-08|url-status=live|publisher=]|year=2022|editor-last=Eberhard|editor-first=David M.|editor2-last=Simons|editor2-first=Gary F.|editor3-last=Fennig|editor3-first=Charles D.|edition=25th|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
{{Tree list}}
* Indo-European
** Albanian
*** Tosk
**** '''Northern Tosk Albanian'''
**** Southern Tosk
***** '''Arbëreshë Albanian'''
***** '''Arvanitika Albanian'''
*** '''Gheg Albanian'''
{{Tree list/end}}
== History ==
== History ==
{{Further|Proto-Albanian language|Albanoid|Paleo-Balkan languages|l1=Proto-Albanian|l2=Albanoid|l3=Palaeo Balkan languages}}
{{Indo-European topics}}
=== Historical documentation ===
=== Historical documentation ===
The first attested written mention of the Albanian language was on 14 July 1284 in ] in modern ] when a crime witness named Matthew testified: "I heard a voice shouting on the mountainside in the Albanian language" ({{lang-lat|Audivi unam vocem, clamantem in monte in lingua albanesca}}).<ref name="Hammond1976">{{cite book|author=Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond|title=Migrations and invasions in Greece and adjacent areas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O9saAAAAYAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Noyes Press|isbn=978-0-8155-5047-1|page=57}}</ref><ref name="Zeitschrift für Balkanologie">{{cite book|title=Zeitschrift für Balkanologie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iLkWAQAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=R. Trofenik|page=102}}</ref>
The first attested written mention of the Albanian language was on 14 July 1284 in ] in modern ] (]) when a crime witness named Matthew testified: "I heard a voice crying on the mountain in the Albanian language" ({{langx|la|Audivi unam vocem, clamantem in monte in lingua albanesca}}).<ref name="Hammond1976">{{cite book|author=Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond|title=Migrations and invasions in Greece and adjacent areas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O9saAAAAYAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Noyes Press|isbn=978-0-8155-5047-1|page=57}}</ref><ref name="Zeitschrift für Balkanologie">{{cite book|title=Zeitschrift für Balkanologie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iLkWAQAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=R. Trofenik|page=102}}</ref>
The Albanian language is also mentioned in the Descriptio Europae Orientalis<ref>Tibor Živković, Vladeta Petrović, Aleksandar Uzelac, Dragana Kunčer: Anonymi Descriptio Europae Orientalis : Anonimov opis istočne Evrope. January 2013. Edition: Izvori za srpsku istoriju. Publisher: Istorijski institut. Editor: Srđan Rudić. {{ISBN|978-86-7743-102-0}}</ref> dated in 1308:<blockquote>''Habent enim Albani prefati linguam distinctam a Latinis, Grecis et Sclauis ita quod in nullo se intelligunt cum aliis nationibus.''
The Albanian language is also mentioned in the '']''<ref>Tibor Živković, Vladeta Petrović, Aleksandar Uzelac, Dragana Kunčer: Anonymi Descriptio Europae Orientalis : Anonimov opis istočne Evrope. January 2013. Edition: Izvori za srpsku istoriju. Publisher: Istorijski institut. Editor: Srđan Rudić. {{ISBN|978-86-7743-102-0}}</ref> dated in 1308:<blockquote>''{{lang|la|Habent enim Albani prefati linguam distinctam a Latinis, Grecis et Sclauis ita quod in nullo se intelligunt cum aliis nationibus.}}''
(Namely, the above-mentioned Albanians have a language that is different from the languages of Latins, Greeks and Slavs, so that they do not understand each other at all.)</blockquote>The oldest attested document written in Albanian dates back to 1462,{{sfn|Fortson IV|2011|p=446}} while the first audio recording in the language was made by ] on 4 April 1914 in ].<ref name="Elsie2010">{{cite book|author =Robert Elsie|author-link=Robert Elsie|title=Historical Dictionary of Albania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6inIiCF_930C&pg=PA216|year=2010|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8108-6188-6|page=216}}</ref>
(Namely, the above-mentioned Albanians have a language that is different from the languages of Latins, Greeks and Slavs, so that they do not understand each other at all.)</blockquote>The oldest attested document written in Albanian dates to 1462,<ref name="Fortson2010–446">{{harvnb|Fortson|2010|p=446}}</ref> while the first audio recording in the language was made by ] on 4 April 1914 in ].<ref name="Elsie2010">{{cite book|author =Robert Elsie|author-link=Robert Elsie|title=Historical Dictionary of Albania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6inIiCF_930C&pg=PA216|year=2010|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8108-6188-6|page=216}}</ref>
However, as Fortson notes, Albanian written works existed before this point; they have simply been lost. The existence of written Albanian is explicitly mentioned in a letter attested from 1332, and the first preserved books, including both those in Gheg and in Tosk, share orthographic features that indicate that some form of common literary language had developed.<ref>{{cite book|pages=391|quote="But weknow there were earlier works which have vanished withoutatrace:theexistenceofwrittenAlbanianisalreadymentionedinaletter of 1332, and thefirstpreservedbooksinbothGegandTosksharefeaturesofspelling that indicatesome kind of commonliterary language hadalreadydeveloped."|author=BenjaminW.FortsonIV|title=Indo-EuropeanLanguageandCulture:AnIntroduction|ISBN=978-1-4051-0315-2|date=2005|publisher=BlackwellPublishingLtd}}</ref>
However, as Fortson notes, Albanian written works existed before this point; they have simply been lost. The existence of written Albanian is explicitly mentioned in a letter attested from 1332, and the first preserved books, including both those in Gheg and in Tosk, share orthographic features that indicate that some form of common literary language had developed.<ref>{{harvnb|Fortson|2010|pp=447–448}}: "But it is likely that there were earlier works which have vanished. The earliest preserved books both in Geg and in Tosk share features of spelling that point to some kind of common literary language having already developed, and a letter written by a Dominican friar named Gulielmus Adea in 1332 says that the inhabitants of Albania had a language very different from Latin but used the Latin alphabet in their writings, suggesting (if not proving) an already–existing written Albanian tradition."</ref>
By the ], during the period of ] and the ], the term {{lang|it|lingua epirotica}} {{gloss|Epirotan language}} was preferred in the intellectual, literary, and clerical circles of the time, and used as a synonym for the Albanian language.{{sfn|Demiraj|2012|pp=132–133}} Published in Rome in 1635, by the Albanian bishop and writer Frang Bardhi, the first dictionary of the Albanian language was titled {{langx|la|Dictionarium latino-epiroticum}} {{gloss|Latin-Epirotan dictionary}}.{{sfn|Bihiku|1980|pp=14–15}}<ref name="Bartl">{{Cite book|last=Bartl|first=Peter|title=Albanien: vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart|publisher=Pustet|year=1995|isbn=9783791714516|location=Michigan|pages=86|language=De}}</ref>
During the five-century period of the ] in ], the language was not officially recognised until 1909, when the ] decided that Albanian schools would finally be allowed.<ref name="Torte">{{cite web |last=Torte |first=Rexhep |url=http://www.albaniapress.com/lajme/9518/Perfundoi-shenimi-i-100-vjetorit-te-Kongresit-te-Dibres.html |title=Përfundoi shënimi i 100-vjetorit të Kongresit të Dibrës |publisher=Albaniapress |date=4 August 2009}}</ref>
During the five-century period of the ] in ], the language was not officially recognised until 1909, when the ] decided that Albanian schools would finally be allowed.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024|reason=The previous footnote here was about a celebration of the Congress of Dibra, but didn't say anything about what happened at the Congress; also, it's not really a WP:RS.}}
=== Linguistic affinities ===
=== Linguistic affinities ===
{{See also|Illyrian languages}}
{{See also|Illyrian language}}
Albanian is an ] within the Indo-European language family; no other language has been conclusively linked to its ]. The only other languages that are the sole surviving members of a branch of Indo-European are ] and Greek.<ref name=Prltsvg-2012>{{cite book|last=Pereltsvaig|first=Asya|author-link=Asya Pereltsvaig|year=2012|chapter=Indo-European languages|title=Languages of the World: An introduction|publisher=]|isbn=978-1-107-37791-2|pages=30–31|language=en|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R5ogAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31}}</ref>{{efn|
"... in Figure 2.1 are listed three subfamilies which contain only one language each: the Albanian, Hellenic, and Armenian subfamilies. These three languages – Albanian, Greek, and Armenian – are isolates within the Indo-European family showing no closer connection to any other Indo-European languages or to each other." — Pereltsvaig (2012) pp. 30–31<ref name=Prltsvg-2012/>
}}
The Albanian language is part of the ] ] and the only surviving representative of ], which belongs to the ].{{sfn|Sowa|2020|pp=810–811}}{{sfn|Hyllested|Joseph|2022|p=235}}<ref name=fine10-11>{{cite book|last=Fine|first=J.A.|year=1991|title=The Early Medieval Balkans|publisher=University of Michigan Press|pages=10–11|isbn=9780472081493|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbS9QmwDC58C|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>In his latest book, ] supports the thesis that the Illyrian language belongs to the Northwestern group, that the Albanian language is descended from Illyrian, and that Albanian is related to Messapic which is an earlier Illyrian dialect (''Comparative Studies on Albanian'', 2007).</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Roger D.|last=Woodard|year=2008|title=The Ancient Languages of Europe|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521684958|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientlanguages00roge|url-access=registration|quote=The modern Albanian language, it has been conjectured, is descendent directly from ancient Illyrian ...}}</ref> Although it is still uncertain which ancient mentioned language of the Balkans it continues, or where in the region its speakers lived.{{efn|
Albanian is considered an ] within the Indo-European language family; no other language has been conclusively linked to its ]. The only other languages that are sole surviving members of a branch of Indo-European are ] and ].
"It is generally accepted that Albanians continue one of the ancient languages of the Balkans, although scholars disagree on which language they spoke and what area of the Balkans they occupied before the Slavs' migration to the Balkans." — Curtis (2011) p. 16<ref name=Curtis-2011>
{{cite book|last1=Curtis|first1=Matthew Cowan|date=30 November 2011|title=Slavic-Albanian Language Contact, Convergence, and Coexistence|isbn=9781267580337|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED546136|access-date=31 March 2017|language=en}}
The Albanian language is part of the ] ] and is considered to have evolved from one of the ] of antiquity,<ref name=fine10-11>Fine, JA. ''The Early medieval Balkans''. University of Michigan Press, 1991. pp. 10–11. </ref><ref>In his latest book, ] supports the thesis that the Illyrian language belongs to the Northwestern group, that the Albanian language is descended from Illyrian, and that Albanian is related to Messapic which is an earlier Illyrian dialect (''Comparative Studies on Albanian'', 2007).</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The ancient languages of Europe |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientlanguages00roge |url-access=registration |author=Roger D. Woodard |quote=The modern Albanian language, it has been conjectured, is descendent directly from ancient Illyrian ...|year=2008 }}</ref>
</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= 16}}
although it is still uncertain which particular Paleo-Balkan language represents the ancestor of Albanian, or where in Southern Europe that population lived.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Curtis|first1=Matthew Cowan |title=Slavic-Albanian Language Contact, Convergence, and Coexistence |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED546136 |access-date=31 March 2017 |page=16 |language=en |quote=It is generally accepted that Albanians continue one of the ancient languages of the Balkans, although scholars disagree on which language they spoke and what area of the Balkans they occupied before the Slavs' migration to the Balkans.|isbn=9781267580337 |date=30 November 2011 }}</ref> In general there is insufficient evidence to connect Albanian with one of those languages, whether one of the ] (which historians mostly confirm),{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} or ] and ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Curtis|first1=Matthew Cowan |title=Slavic-Albanian Language Contact, Convergence, and Coexistence |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED546136|access-date=31 March 2017 |page=18 |language=en |quote=So while linguists may debate about the ties between Albanian and older languages of the Balkans, and while most Albanians may take the genealogical connection to Illyrian as incontrovertible, the fact remains that there is simply insufficient evidence to connect Illyrian, Thracian, or Dacian with any language, including Albanian|isbn=9781267580337 |date=30 November 2011 }}</ref> Among these possibilities, Illyrian is typically held to be the most probable, though insufficient evidence still clouds the discussion.<ref>{{cite news |author=Ranko Matasovic |title=A grammatical sketch of Albanian for students of Indo-European |year=2012 |quote="The most probable predecessor of Albanian was Illyrian, since much of the present-day Albania was inhabited by the Illyrians during the Antiquity, but the comparison of the two languages is impossible because almost nothing is known about Illyrian ... It is a-priori less probable to assume that a single language was spoken in the whole Illyricum, from the river Arsia in Istria, to Epirus in Greece, when such a linguistic uniformity is found nowhere else in Europe before the Roman conquest. Moreover, the examination of personal names and toponyms from Illyricum shows that several onomastic areas can be distinguished, and these onomastic areas just might correspond to different languages spoken in ancient Illyricum. If Illyrians actually spoke several different languages, the question arises – From which '''Illyrian''' language did Albanian develop? – and that question cannot be answered until new data are discovered."}}</ref>
}} In general, there is insufficient evidence to connect Albanian with one of those languages, whether ], ], or ].{{efn|
"So while linguists may debate about the ties between Albanian and older languages of the Balkans, and while most Albanians may take the genealogical connection to Illyrian as incontrovertible, the fact remains that there is simply insufficient evidence to connect Illyrian, Thracian, or Dacian with any language, including Albanian." — Curtis (2011) p. 18<ref name=Curtis-2011/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 18}}
}}Among these possibilities, Illyrian is the most probable.{{efn|
"The most probable predecessor of Albanian was Illyrian since much of present-day Albania was inhabited by the Illyrians during the Antiquity, but the comparison of the two languages is impossible because almost nothing is known about Illyrian ... It is a-priori less probable to assume that a single language was spoken in the whole Illyricum, from the river Arsia in Istria, to Epirus in Greece, when such a linguistic uniformity is found nowhere else in Europe before the Roman conquest. Moreover, the examination of personal names and toponyms from Illyricum shows that several onomastic areas can be distinguished, and these onomastic areas just might correspond to different languages spoken in ancient Illyricum. If Illyrians actually spoke several different languages, the question arises: From which ''Illyrian'' language did Albanian develop? – and that question cannot be answered until new data are discovered." — Ranko (2012)<ref>
{{cite news|first=Ranko|last=Matasovic|year=2012|title=A grammatical sketch of Albanian for students of Indo-European}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2023}}{{full citation needed|date=July 2023|reason=Publisher, ISBN, medium (book/magazine/journal/webpage ...) "cite news" seems wrong.}}
}}
Although Albanian shares lexical ]es with ], ], and to a lesser extent ], the vocabulary of Albanian is quite distinct.<ref>{{cite web|title=Introduction to Albanian|website=lrc.la.utexas.edu|url=https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/albol|access-date=2023-06-09}}</ref> In 1995, Taylor, ], and ] used ] techniques that appeared to obtain an Albanian subgrouping with Germanic, a result which the authors had already reasonably downplayed.{{Clarify|reason=What does "reasonably downplayed" mean??|date=January 2024}}<ref name="TRW">{{cite conference|first1=Ann|last1=Taylor|first2=Donald|last2=Ringe|author2-link=Donald Ringe|first3=Tandy|last3=Warnow|author3-link=Tandy Warnow|date=August 1995|chapter=Character based reconstruction of a linguistic cladogram|editor1-last=Smith|editor1-first=John Charles|editor2-last=Bentley|editor2-first=Delia|publication-date=2000|conference=12th International Conference on Historical Linguistics|place=Manchester, UK|book-title=Historical Linguistics 1995: Selected papers.|volume=1 – General issues and non-Germanic Languages|publication-place=Amsterdam, NL|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|page=400|isbn=9027236666|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtsLKLhCZ0EC&q=Character+Based+Reconstruction+of+a+Linguistic+Cladogram+Albanian&pg=PA392}}</ref>{{sfn|Hyllested|Joseph|2022|p=225}} Indeed, the Albanian and Germanic branches share a relatively moderate number of lexical cognates. Many shared grammatical elements or features of these two branches do not corroborate the lexical isoglosses.{{sfn|Hyllested|Joseph|2022|p=225}} Albanian also shares ] linguistic affinity with Latin and Romance languages.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Vermeer|first=Willem|year=2008|title=The prehistory of the Albanian vowel system: A preliminary exploration|journal=Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics|volume=32|pages=591–608|jstor=40997529 |issn=0169-0124}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Sampson|first=Rodney|year=1997|title=Rebecca Posner, ''The Romance Languages''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, xvi + 376 pp. {{nobr|0 521 28139 3}}|type=book review|journal=Journal of French Language Studies|volume=7|issue=2|pages=227–229|language=en|doi=10.1017/S0959269500003793|s2cid=230472704|issn=1474-0079|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-french-language-studies/article/abs/rebecca-posner-the-romance-languages-cambridge-cambridge-university-press-1996-xvi-376-pp-0-521-28139-3/745EC424E67AB30625B74A023ABB9326}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Posner|first=Rebecca|year=1966|title=The Romance Languages: A linguistic introduction|edition=1st|publisher=Anchor Books|isbn=084460853X|location=United States of America|pages=3|language=en}}</ref> Sharing linguistic features unique to the ], Albanian also forms a part of the ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Friedman|first=Victor A.|year=2011|title=The Balkan languages and Balkan linguistics|journal=Annual Review of Anthropology|volume=40|pages=275–291|doi=10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145932|jstor=41287733|issn=0084-6570}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Lindstedt|first=Jouko|year=2000|title=Linguistic balkanization: Contact-induced change by mutual reinforcement|journal=Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics|volume=28|pages=231–246|issn=0169-0124|jstor=40997168}}</ref>
Although Albanian shares lexical ]es with ], ], and to a lesser extent ], the vocabulary of Albanian is quite distinct. In 1995, Taylor, ] and ], using ] techniques, found that Albanian appears to comprise a "subgroup with Germanic". However, they argued that this fact is hardly significant, as Albanian has lost much of its original vocabulary and morphology, and so this "apparently close connection to Germanic rests on only a couple of lexical cognates – hardly any evidence at all".<ref name="TRW">{{cite book |author1=Ann Taylor |author2=Donald Ringe |author3=Tandy Warnow |year=2000 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtsLKLhCZ0EC&q=Character+Based+Reconstruction+of+a+Linguistic+Cladogram+Albanian&pg=PA392 |chapter=Character based reconstruction of a linguistic cladogram |editor1=John Charles Smith |editor2=Delia Bentley |series=Historical Linguistics 1995. Selected papers from the 12th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Manchester, August 1995 |title=General issues and non-Germanic Languages |volume=1 |place=Amsterdam |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |page=400|isbn=9027236666 }}</ref>
=== Historical presence and location ===
=== Historical presence and location ===
{{Main|Origin of the Albanians}}
{{Main|Origin of the Albanians}}
The place and the time that the Albanian language was formed are uncertain.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Mythifying the Albanians: A Historiographical Discussion on Vasa Efendi's "Albania and the Albanians"|volume=XIII|issue=1–2|url=https://balkanologie.revues.org/2272|journal=Balkanologie. Revue d'Études Pluridisciplinaires|date=15 December 2011|last1=Bayraktar|first1=Uğur Bahadır|doi=10.4000/balkanologie.2272|doi-access=free}}</ref> The American linguist ] has said that during an unknown chronological period a pre-Albanian population (termed as "Albanoid" by Hamp) inhabited areas stretching from ] to the southwestern Balkans.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Curtis|first1=Matthew Cowan|title=Slavic-Albanian Language Contact, Convergence, and Coexistence|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED546136|page=17|language=en|quote=... for example, argues that from some indeterminate time a pre-Albanian (in Hamp's terms, Albanoid) population inhabited areas stretching from Poland to the current area|isbn=9781267580337|date=30 November 2011}}</ref> Further analysis has suggested that it was in a mountainous region rather than on a plain or seacoast. The words for plants and animals characteristic of mountainous regions are entirely original, but the names for fish and for agricultural activities (such as ]ing) are borrowed from other languages.<ref name=fine10-11/><ref name=hamp1963>, Eric Hamp, "The position of Albanian, Ancient IE dialects, Proceedings of the Conference on IE linguistics held at the University of California, Los Angeles, April 25–27, 1963, ed. By Henrik Birnbaum and Jaan Puhvel. "It is clear that in the Middle Ages the Albanians extended farther north (Jokl, Albaner §2); that there are persuasive arguments which have been advanced against their having extended as far as the Adriatic coast—the fact that Scodra 'Scutari' (Shkodër) shows un-Albanian development (see §6 below), that there is no demonstrated old maritime vocabulary (see above), and that there are few ancient Greek loans (Jokl, Albaner §5; but see §5 below)</ref>
A deeper analysis of the vocabulary, however, shows that could be a consequence of a prolonged ] domination of the coastal and plain areas of the country, rather than evidence of the original environment in which the Albanian language was formed. For example, the word for 'fish' is borrowed from Latin, but not the word for 'gills' which is native. Indigenous are also the words for 'ship', 'raft', 'navigation', 'sea shelves' and a few names of fish kinds, but not the words for 'sail', 'row' and 'harbor'; objects pertaining to navigation itself and a large part of sea fauna. This rather shows that Proto-Albanians were pushed away from coastal areas in early times (probably after the Latin conquest of the region) and thus lost a large amount (or the majority) of their sea environment lexicon. A similar phenomenon could be observed with agricultural terms. While the words for 'arable land', 'wheat', 'cereals', 'vineyard', 'yoke', 'harvesting', 'cattle breeding', etc. are native, the words for 'ploughing', 'farm' and 'farmer', agricultural practices, and some harvesting tools are foreign. This, again, points to intense contact with other languages and people, rather than providing evidence of a possible ] (also known as a ''Urheimat'').{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}
] ]
The place and the time where the Albanian language was formed is uncertain.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mythifying the Albanians: A Historiographical Discussion on Vasa Efendi's "Albania and the Albanians" |issue=Vol. XIII, n° 1–2 |url=https://balkanologie.revues.org/2272 |journal=Balkanologie. Revue d'Études Pluridisciplinaires|date=15 December 2011 |last1=Bayraktar |first1=Uğur Bahadır }}</ref> American linguist ] stated that during an unknown chronological period a pre-Albanian population (termed as "Albanoid" by Hamp) inhabited areas stretching from ] to the southwestern Balkans.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=Matthew Cowan |title=Slavic-Albanian Language Contact, Convergence, and Coexistence |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED546136 |page=17 |language=en |quote=... for example, argues that from some indeterminate time a pre-Albanian (in Hamp's terms, Albanoid) population inhabited areas stretching from Poland to the current area|isbn=9781267580337 |date=30 November 2011 }}</ref> Further analysis has suggested that it was in a mountainous region rather than on a plain or seacoast: while the words for plants and animals characteristic of mountainous regions are entirely original, the names for fish and for agricultural activities (such as ]ing) are borrowed from other languages.<ref name=fine10-11/><ref name=hamp1963>, Eric Hamp, "The position of Albanian, Ancient IE dialects, Proceedings of the Conference on IE linguistics held at the University of California, Los Angeles, April 25–27, 1963, ed. By Henrik Birnbaum and Jaan Puhvel. "It is clear that in the Middle Ages the Albanians extended farther north (Jokl, Albaner §2); that there are persuasive arguments which have been advanced against their having extended as far as the Adriatic coast—the fact that Scodra 'Scutari' (Shkodër) shows un-Albanian development (see §6 below), that there is no demonstrated old maritime vocabulary (see above), and that there are few ancient Greek loans (Jokl, Albaner §5; but see §5 below)</ref>
A deeper analysis of the vocabulary, however, shows that this could be a consequence of a prolonged ] domination of the coastal and plain areas of the country, rather than evidence of the original environment where the Albanian language was formed. For example, the word for 'fish' is borrowed from Latin, but not the word for 'gills', which is native. Indigenous are also the words for 'ship', 'raft', 'navigation', 'sea shelves' and a few names of fish kinds, but not the words for 'sail', 'row' and 'harbor' – objects pertaining to navigation itself and a large part of sea fauna. This rather shows that Proto-Albanians were pushed away from coastal areas in early times (probably after the Latin conquest of the region) thus losing large parts (or the majority) of sea environment lexicon. A similar phenomenon could be observed with agricultural terms. While the words for 'arable land', 'corn', 'wheat', 'cereals', 'vineyard', 'yoke', 'harvesting', 'cattle breeding', etc. are native, the words for 'ploughing', 'farm' and 'farmer', agricultural practices, and some harvesting tools are foreign. This, again, points to intense contact with other languages and people, rather than providing evidence of a possible ''Urheimat''.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}
]
]
The centre of Albanian settlement remained the ] river. In 1079, they were recorded farther south in the valley of the ] river.<ref>Kazhdan, Alexander (Ed.) (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. pp. 52–53. {{ISBN|978-0-19-504652-6}}.</ref> The Shkumbin, a seasonalstream that lies near the old ], is approximately the boundary of the primary dialect division for Albanian, ] and ]. The characteristics of Tosk and Gheg in the treatment of the native and loanwords from other languages are evidence that the dialectal split preceded the ],<ref name=brown23/>{{sfn|Fortson|2004 |p=392}}{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|1997|p=9}} which means that in that period (the 5th to 6th centuries AD), Albanians were occupying nearly the same area around the Shkumbin river, which straddled the ].<ref>Demiraj, Shaban. Prejardhja e shqiptarëve në dritën e dëshmive të gjuhës shqipe.(Origin of Albanians through the testimonies of the Albanian language) Shkenca (Tirane) 1999</ref><ref name=hamp1963/>
The centre of Albanian settlement remained the ] River. In 1079, the Albanians were recorded farther south in the valley of the ] River.<ref>Kazhdan, Alexander (Ed.) (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. pp. 52–53. {{ISBN|978-0-19-504652-6}}.</ref> The Shkumbin, a 181 km long river that lies near the old ], is approximately the boundary of the primary dialect division for Albanian, ] and ]. The characteristics of Tosk and Gheg in the treatment of the native words and loanwords from other languages are evidence that the dialectal split preceded the ],<ref name="brown23"/><ref name="Fortson2010–448" />{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|1997|p=9}} which means that in that period (the 5th to 6th centuries AD), Albanians were occupying nearly the same area around the Shkumbin river, which straddled the ].<ref>Demiraj, Shaban. Prejardhja e shqiptarëve në dritën e dëshmive të gjuhës shqipe.(Origin of Albanians through the testimonies of the Albanian language) Shkenca (Tirane) 1999</ref><ref name=hamp1963/>
References to the existence of Albanian as a distinct language survive from the 14th century, but they failed to cite specific words. The oldest surviving documents written in Albanian are the "]" (Baptismal formula), ''Un'te paghesont' pr'emenit t'Atit e t'Birit e t'Spertit Senit''. ("I baptize thee in ]") recorded by Pal Engjelli, Bishop of Durrës in 1462 in the Gheg dialect, and some ] verses from that period.
References to the existence of Albanian as a distinct language survive from the 14th century, but they failed to cite specific words. The oldest surviving documents written in Albanian are the "{{lang|sq|]}}" (Baptismal formula), ''{{lang|sq|Un'te paghesont' pr'emenit t'Atit e t'Birit e t'Spertit Senit}}''. ("I baptize thee in ]") recorded by Pal Engjelli, Bishop of Durrës in 1462 in the Gheg dialect, and some ] verses from that period.
Linguists Stefan Schumacher and Joachim Matzinger (University of Vienna) assert that the first literary records of Albanian date from the 16th century.<ref></ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/25120826|title=Word-Formation: An International Handbook of the Languages of Europe|date=2016|publisher=De Gruyter|editor-last=Müller|editor-first=Peter O.|volume=5|location=Berlin, Boston|pages=3124|chapter=171. Albanian|doi=10.1515/9783110424942|editor-last2=Ohnheiser|editor-first2=Ingeborg|editor-last3=Olsen|editor-first3=Susan|editor-last4=Rainer|editor-first4=Franz|isbn=9783110424942}}</ref> The oldest known Albanian printed book, '']'', or "missal", was written in 1555 by ], a ] cleric. In 1635 ] wrote the first Latin–Albanian dictionary. The first Albanian school is believed to have been opened by ]s in 1638 in ].
The linguists Stefan Schumacher and Joachim Matzinger (University of Vienna) assert that the first literary records of Albanian date from the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/32361769|chapter=The development of the PIE middle in Albanian|editor1=Bjarne Simmelkjær Sandgaard Hansen|editor2=Benedicte Nielsen Whitehead|editor3=Thomas Olander|editor4=Birgit Anette Olsen|title=Etymology and the European Lexicon: Proceedings of the 14th Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft, 17–22 September 2012, Copenhagen|location=Wiesbaden|publisher=Reichert|date=2016|first=Stefan|last=Schumacher|via=Academia.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/25120826|title=Word-Formation: An International Handbook of the Languages of Europe|date=2016|publisher=De Gruyter|editor-last=Müller|editor-first=Peter O.|volume=5|location=Berlin, Boston|pages=3124|chapter=171. Albanian|doi=10.1515/9783110424942|editor2-last=Ohnheiser|editor2-first=Ingeborg|editor3-last=Olsen|editor3-first=Susan|editor4-last=Rainer|editor4-first=Franz|isbn=9783110424942}}</ref> The oldest known Albanian printed book, '']'', or "missal", was written in 1555 by ], a ] cleric. In 1635, ] wrote the first Latin–Albanian dictionary. The first Albanian school is believed to have been opened by ] in 1638 in {{lang|sq|]}}.
One of the earliest dictionaries of Albanian language was written in 1693 which was an ] manuscript authored by Montenegrin sea captain ] ''Pratichae Schrivaneschae'' and includes a multilingual dictionary of hundreds of the most often used words in everyday life in the Italian, Slavic, Greek, Albanian and ] languages.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pantić|first=Miroslav|title=Književnost na tlu Crne Gore i Boke Kotorske od XVI do XVIII veka|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5FiAAAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Srpskaknjiževna zadruga |page=98|isbn=9788637901907}}</ref>
One of the earliest Albanian dictionaries was written in 1693; it was the ] manuscript ''Pratichae Schrivaneschae'' authored by the Montenegrin sea captain ] and includes a multilingual dictionary of hundreds of the most frequently used words in everyday life in Italian, Slavic, Greek, Albanian, and ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Pantić|first=Miroslav|title=Književnost na tlu Crne Gore i Boke Kotorske od XVI do XVIII veka|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5FiAAAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=]|page=98|isbn=9788637901907}}</ref>
===Pre-Indo-European substratum===
===Pre-Indo-European substratum===
Pre-Indo-European (PreIE) sites are found throughout the territory of Albania. Such PreIE sites existed in Maliq, Vashtëm, Burimas, Barç, Dërsnik in ], Kamnik in ], Kolsh in ], Rashtan in ] and Nezir in ].{{Sfn|Demiraj|2006|pp=42–43}} As in other parts of Europe, these PreIE people joined the migratory Indo-European tribes that entered the Balkans and contributed to the formation of the historical Paleo-Balkan tribes. In terms of linguistics, the pre-Indo-European substrate language spoken in the southern Balkans has probably influenced ], the ancestor idiom of Albanian.{{Sfn|Demiraj|2006|pp=42–43}} The extent of this linguistic impact cannot be determined with precision due to the uncertain position of Albanian among ] and their scarce attestation.{{Sfn|Demiraj|2006|pp=44–45}} Some loanwords, however, have been proposed such as ''shegë''("]") or ''lëpjetë''("]", compare with Pre-Greek ''lápathon'', ''λάπαθον'',"]").{{Sfn|Orel|1998|pp=225, 409}}{{Sfn|Demiraj|2006|pp=42–43}}
Pre-Indo-European (PreIE) sites are found throughout the territory of Albania. Such PreIE sites existed in ], ], ], ], ] in the ], ] in ], Kolsh in the ], Rashtan in ], and Nezir in the ].{{Sfn|Demiraj|2006|pp=42–43}} As in other parts of Europe, these PreIE people joined the migratory Indo-European tribes that entered the Balkans and contributed to the formation of the historical Paleo-Balkan tribes. In terms of linguistics, the pre-Indo-European substrate language spoken in the southern Balkans probably influenced ], the ancestor idiom of Albanian.{{Sfn|Demiraj|2006|pp=42–43}} The extent of this linguistic impact cannot be determined with precision due to the uncertain position of Albanian among ] and their scarce attestation.{{Sfn|Demiraj|2006|pp=44–45}} Some loanwords, however, have been proposed, such as {{lang|sq|shegë}} ']' or {{lang|sq|lëpjetë}} ']'; compare Pre-Greek {{lang|el|λάπαθον}}, ''lápathon'' ']'.{{Sfn|Orel|1998|pp=225, 409}}{{Sfn|Demiraj|2006|pp=42–43}}
=== Proto-IEfeatures===
== Literary tradition ==
] of ] 1554–1555|334x334px]]
Although Albanian has several words that do not correspond to IE cognates, it has retained many proto-IE features: for example, the demonstrative pronoun *''ḱi-'' is ancestral to Albanian ''ky/kjo'', English ''he'', and Russian ''sej'' but not to English ''this'' or Russian ''etot''.
=== Earliest undisputed texts ===
Albanian is compared to other Indo-European languages below, but note that Albanian has exhibited some notable instances of ], such as ''motër'' meaning "sister" rather than "mother".
The earliest known texts in Albanian:
* the {{lang|sq|]}} (Baptismal Formula), which dates back to 1462 and was authored by ] (or Paulus Angelus) ({{Circa|1417}} – 1470), Archbishop of ]. Engjëlli was a close friend and counsellor of ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Newmark |first1=Leonard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hqlYbhnII3QC&q=Pal+Engj%C3%ABlli&pg=PA3 |title=Standard Albanian: a reference grammar for students |last2=Hubbard |first2=Philip |last3=Prifti |first3=Peter R. |publisher=Andrew Mellon Foundation |year=1982 |isbn=9780804711296 |page=3 |access-date=2010-05-28}}</ref> It was written in a pastoral letter for a synod at the Holy Trinity in Mat and read in Latin characters as follows: {{lang|sq|Unte paghesont premenit Atit et Birit et Spertit Senit}} (standard Albanian: {{lang|sq|Unë të pagëzoj në emër të Atit, të Birit e të Shpirtit të Shenjtë}}; English: "I baptise you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit"). It was discovered and published in 1915 by ].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Francisc Pall |year=1971 |title=Di nuovo sulle biografie scanderbegiane del XVI secolo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uvAXAAAAIAAJ&q=paolo+angeli+iorga |journal=Revue des études sud-est européennes |language=fr |publisher=Academia Republicii Socialiste România, Academia Republicii Populare Romîne |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=102 |access-date=2010-05-28}}</ref>
* the {{lang|sq|]}} (]), a short list of Albanian phrases with German glosses, dated 1496.<ref>{{cite book |last=Anamali |first=Skënder |title=Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime |publisher=Botimet Toena |year=2002 |volume=I |page=311 |language=sq |oclc=52411919}}</ref>
* a song, recorded in the Greek alphabet, retrieved from an old ] that was written in Greek. The document is also called {{lang|sq|Perikopeja e Ungjillit të Pashkëve}} or {{lang|sq|Perikopeja e Ungjillit të Shën Mateut}} ("The Song of the Easter Gospel, or "The Song of Saint Matthew's Gospel"). Although the codex is dated to during the 14th century, the song, written in Albanian by an anonymous writer, seems to be a 16th-century writing. The document was found by ] people who had emigrated to Italy in the 15th century.{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=97}}
* ]]The first book in Albanian is the ] ("The Missal"), written by ] between 20 March 1554 and 5 January 1555. The book was written in the ] dialect in the ] with some Slavic letters adapted for Albanian vowels. The book was discovered in 1740 by ], the Albanian ] of ]. It contains the liturgies of the main ]s. There are also texts of prayers and rituals and ] texts. The grammar and the vocabulary are more archaic than those in the Gheg texts from the 17th century. The 188 pages of the book comprise about 154,000 words with a total vocabulary of c. 1,500 different words. The text is archaic yet easily interpreted because it is mainly a translation of known texts, in particular portions of the ]. The book also contains passages from the ]s, the ], the ], the ], and many illustrations. The uniformity of spelling seems to indicate an earlier tradition of writing. The only known copy of the Meshari is held by the ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Meshari |url=http://www.bksh.al/gsdl/cgi-bin/library.exe?e=d-01000-00---off-0antikuar--00-1--0-10-0---0---0prompt-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-3-1-00-0-0-11-1-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&c=antikuar&cl=CL2.3 |access-date=14 May 2010 |publisher=]}}</ref> In 1968 the book was published with transliterations and comments by linguists.
* The first printed work in Tosk Albanian is the ''Mbsuame e krështerë'' (in Italian: ''Dottrina cristiana'') by Lekë Matrënga or (in Italian) ]. It was published in 1592 and is written in an early form of the ] (also known as Italo-Albanian).
Albanian scripts were produced earlier than the first attested document, {{lang|sq|formula e pagëzimit}}, but none yet have been discovered. We know of their existence by earlier references. For example, a French monk signed as "Broccardus" notes, in 1332, that "Although the Albanians have another language totally different from Latin, ''they still use Latin letters in all their books''".<ref>Demiraj, Shaban. "Albanian". In Ramat and Ramat (2006), ''The Indo-European Languages''. Page 480</ref>
=== Disputed earlier texts ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Vocabulary of Albanian and other ]
In 1967 two scholars claimed to have found a Letter text in Albanian inserted into the ] text, a book written in Latin dating to 1402–1405.<ref>Dumitru Todericiu, ''An Albanian text older than the "Christening Formula" of 1462'', in "Magazin Istoric", nr. 8, Bucharest, November 1967.</ref>
<!-- Please, do not add more languages to the table — it's meant to give a notion of Albanian's place within the IE, so one language from each sub-branch is enough. Adding Tocharian might be OK, but not another Germanic or Celtic language. -->
], a specialist in Albanian studies, considers that "The Todericiu/Polena Romanian translation of the non-Latin lines, although it may offer some clues if the text is indeed Albanian, is fanciful and based, among other things, on a false reading of the manuscript, including the exclusion of a whole line."<ref>Robert Elsie, '''' in "Zeitschrift für Balkanologie", Berlin, 22 February 1986, p. 158-162.</ref>
In 1635, ] (1606–1643) published in ] his {{lang|la|Dictionarum latinum-epiroticum}}, the first known Latin-Albanian dictionary. Other scholars who studied the language during the 17th century include ] (1600–1685), author of the first Latin-Albanian grammar book, ] (1637–1694) and others.<ref>{{cite book |last=Marmullaku |first=Ramadan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v3S4AAAAIAAJ&q=Andre+Bogdani |title=Albania and the Albanians |publisher=C. Hurst |year=1975 |isbn=0903983133 |pages=17}}</ref>
Phonologically, Albanian is not so conservative. Like many IE stocks, it has merged the two series of voiced stops (e.g. both *''d'' and *''dʰ'' became ''d''). In addition, voiced stops tend to disappear in between vowels. There is almost complete loss of final syllables and very widespread loss of other unstressed syllables (e.g. ''mik'' 'friend' from Lat. ''amicus''). PIE *''o'' appears as ''a'' (also as ''e'' if a high front vowel ''i'' follows), while *''ē'' and *''ā'' become ''o'', and PIE *''ō'' appears as ''e''.
Phonologically, Albanian is not so conservative. Like many IE stocks, it has merged the two series of voiced stops (e.g. both PIE {{lang|ine-x-proto|d}} and {{lang|ine-x-proto|dʰ}} became {{langx|sq|d}}). In addition, voiced stops tend to disappear in between vowels. There is almost complete loss of final syllables and very widespread loss of other unstressed syllables (e.g. {{lang|sq|mik}} 'friend' from Lat. {{lang|la|amicus}}). PIE {{lang|ine-x-proto|o}} appears as {{lang|sq|a}} (also as {{lang|sq|e}} if a high front vowel {{lang|sq|i}} follows), while PIE {{lang|ine-x-proto|ē}} and {{lang|ine-x-proto|ā}} become {{lang|sq|o}}, and PIE {{lang|ine-x-proto|ō}} appears as {{lang|sq|e}}.
The palatals, velars, and labiovelars show distinct developments, with Albanian showing the three-way distinction also found in ].<ref name=OrelVelars>{{harvnb|Orel|2000|pages=, 70-71}}</ref><ref name="NeitherCentumNorSatem">{{cite book|author1=Bardhyl Demiraj|editor1-last=Fritz|editor1-first=Matthias|editor2-last=Joseph|editor2-first=Brian|editor3-last=Klein|editor3-first=Jared|title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics|date=2018|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|isbn=978-3-11-054036-9|chapter=100. The evolution of Albanian|quote="and the outcomes of the three dorsal series suggest that Albanian, like Luwian, may have origi- nally retained this three-way opposition intact and therefore is neither centum nor satem, despite the clear satem-like outcome of its palatal dorsals in most instances"}}</ref> Labiovelars are for the most part differentiated from all other Indo-European velar series before front vowels, but they merge with the "pure" (back) velars elsewhere.<ref name=OrelVelars/> The palatal velar series, consisting of Proto-Indo-European *''ḱ'' and the merged *''ģ'' and ''ģʰ'', usually developed into ''th'' and ''dh'', but were depalatalised to merge with the back velars when in contact with ]s.<ref name=OrelVelars/> Because the original Proto-Indo-European tripartite distinction between dorsals is preserved in such reflexes, Albanian is therefore neither ], despite having a "satem-like" realization of the palatal dorsals in most cases.<ref name="NeitherCentumNorSatem"/> Thus PIE *''ḱ'', *''k'', and *''kʷ'' become ''th'', ''q'', and ''s'', respectively (before back vowels *''ḱ'' becomes ''th'', while *''k'' and *''kʷ'' merge as ''k'').
The palatals, velars, and labiovelars show distinct developments, with Albanian showing the three-way distinction also found in ].<ref name="OrelVelars">{{harvnb|Orel|2000|pages=, 70–71}}</ref><ref name="NeitherCentumNorSatem">{{cite book|author1=Bardhyl Demiraj|editor1-last=Fritz|editor1-first=Matthias|editor2-last=Joseph|editor2-first=Brian|editor3-last=Klein|editor3-first=Jared|title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics|date=2018|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|isbn=978-3-11-054036-9|chapter=100. The evolution of Albanian|quote="and the outcomes of the three dorsal series suggest that Albanian, like Luwian, may have origi- nally retained this three-way opposition intact and therefore is neither centum nor satem, despite the clear satem-like outcome of its palatal dorsals in most instances"}}</ref> Labiovelars are for the most part differentiated from all other Indo-European velar series before front vowels, but they merge with the "pure" (back) velars elsewhere.<ref name="OrelVelars" /> The palatal velar series, consisting of Proto-Indo-European {{lang|ine-x-proto|ḱ}} and the merged {{lang|ine-x-proto|ģ}} and {{lang|ine-x-proto|ģʰ}}, usually developed into {{lang|ine-x-proto|th}} and {{lang|ine-x-proto|dh}}, but were depalatalised to merge with the back velars when in contact with ]s.<ref name="OrelVelars" /> Because the original Proto-Indo-European tripartite distinction between dorsals is preserved in such reflexes, Albanian is therefore neither ], despite having a "satem-like" realization of the palatal dorsals in most cases.<ref name="NeitherCentumNorSatem" /> Thus PIE {{lang|ine-x-proto|ḱ}}, {{lang|ine-x-proto|k}}, and {{lang|ine-x-proto|kʷ}} become {{lang|sq|th}}, {{lang|sq|q}}, and {{lang|sq|s}}, respectively (before back vowels PIE {{lang|ine-x-proto|ḱ}} becomes {{lang|sq|th}}, while {{lang|ine-x-proto|k}} and {{lang|ine-x-proto|kʷ}} merge as {{lang|sq|k}}).
A minority of scholars reconstruct a fourth ] *''h<sub>4</sub>'' allegedly surfacing as Alb. ''h'' word-initially, e.g. Alb. ''herdhe'' 'testicles' presumably from PIE *''h<sub>4</sub>órǵʰi-''<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture|author1=J. P. Mallory|author2=Douglas Q. Adams|publisher=]|year=1997|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5}} {{ISBN|1-884964-98-2}}, {{ISBN|978-1-884964-98-5}}</ref> (rather than the usual reconstruction *''h<sub>3</sub>erǵʰi-''), but this is generally not followed elsewhere, as ''h-'' has arisen elsewhere idiosyncratically (for example ''hark'' < Latin''arcus'').<ref>*{{Cite book|last=de Vaan|first=Carlo|title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics|date=2018|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|volume=3|editor-last=Klein|editor-first=Jared|pages=1757|language=en|chapter=The phonology of Albanian|editor-last2=Joseph|editor-first2=Brian|editor-last3=Fritz|editor-first3=Matthias|quote=but ''h-'' has arisen secondarily in words such as ''hark'' 'curve' ← Latin ''arcus'', which renders ''h-'' non-probative}}</ref><ref>Schumacher/Matzinger 2013, p. 267.</ref>
A minority of scholars reconstruct a fourth ] {{lang|ine-x-proto|h₄}} allegedly surfacing as Alb. {{lang|sq|h}} word-initially, e.g. Alb. {{lang|sq|herdhe}} 'testicles' presumably from PIE {{lang|ine-x-proto|h₄órǵʰi-}}<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture|author1=J. P. Mallory|author2=Douglas Q. Adams|publisher=]|year=1997|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5}} {{ISBN|1-884964-98-2}}, {{ISBN|978-1-884964-98-5}}</ref> (rather than the usual reconstruction {{lang|ine-x-proto|h₃erǵʰi-}}), but this is generally not followed elsewhere, as {{lang|sq|h-}} has arisen elsewhere idiosyncratically (for example Alb. {{lang|sq|hark}} < Lat. {{lang|la|arcus}}).<ref>{{Cite book|last=de Vaan|first=Michiel|title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics|date=2018|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|volume=3|editor-last=Klein|editor-first=Jared|pages=1757|language=en|chapter=The phonology of Albanian|editor2-last=Joseph|editor2-first=Brian|editor3-last=Fritz|editor3-first=Matthias|quote=but ''h-'' has arisen secondarily in words such as ''hark'' 'curve' ← Latin ''arcus'', which renders ''h-'' non-probative}}</ref><ref>Schumacher/Matzinger 2013, p. 267.</ref>
| || d<ref group=*>Syllable-initial and followed by ]</ref> || ''*'''ǵʰ'''r̥sdʰi'' 'grain, barley' || '''''d'''rithë'' 'grain'
| || d<ref group="*">Syllable-initial and followed by ]</ref> || {{lang|ine-x-proto|'''ǵʰ'''r̥sdʰi}} 'grain, barley' || {{lang|sq|'''d'''rithë}} 'grain'
| || i || ''*m'''uh<sub>2</sub>'''s'' 'mouse' || ''m'''i''''' 'mouse'
| || i || {{lang|ine-x-proto|m'''uh<sub>2</sub>'''s}} 'mouse' || {{lang|sq|m'''i'''}} 'mouse'
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Reflexes of PIE diphthongs in Albanian{{sfn|Matasović|2019|p=11}}
!PIE
!Albanian
!PIE
!Albanian
|-
|*ey, *h1ey
|i
|{{lang|ine-x-proto|g'heymōn}}
|{{lang|sq|dimër}}
|-
|*ay, *h2ey
|e
|
|
|-
|*oy, *h3ey
|e
|{{lang|ine-x-proto|stoygho-}}
|{{lang|sq|shteg}}
|-
|*ew, *h1ew
|a
|
|
|-
|*aw, *h2ew
|a
|{{lang|ine-x-proto|h2ewg-}}
|{{lang|sq|agim}}
|-
|*ow, *h3ew
|a, ve-
|
|
|}
|}
== Standard Albanian ==
== Standard Albanian ==
Since ], standard Albanian used in Albania has been based on the Tosk dialect. Kosovo and other areas where Albanian is official adopted the Tosk standard in 1969.<ref name="Agim">Agim Morina, "Udhërrëfyes i shkurtë i historisë së standardizimit të shqipes," , also in .</ref>
Since ], standard Albanian used in Albania has been based on the Tosk dialect. Kosovo and other areas where Albanian is official adopted the Tosk standard in 1969.
=== Elbasan-based standard ===
=== Elbasan-based standard ===
Until the early 20th century, Albanian writing developed in three main literary traditions: ], ], and ]. Throughout this time, anintermediate subdialect spoken around ] served as ''lingua franca'' among the Albanians, but was less prevalent in writing. The ] of Albanian writers held in 1908 recommended the use of the Elbasan subdialect for literary purposes and as a basis of a unified national language. While technically classified as a southern Gheg variety, the Elbasan speech is closer to Tosk in phonology and practically a hybrid between other Gheg subdialects and literary Tosk.<ref name=Agim />
Until the early 20th century, Albanian writing developed in three main literary traditions: ], ], and ]. Throughout this time, a Gheg subdialect spoken around ] served as ''lingua franca'' among the Albanians, but was less prevalent in writing. The ] of Albanian writers held in 1908 recommended the use of the Elbasan subdialect for literary purposes and as a basis of a unified national language. While technically classified as a southern Gheg variety, the Elbasan speech is closer to Tosk in phonology and practically a hybrid between other Gheg subdialects and literary Tosk.
Between 1916 and 1918, the ] met in Shkodër under the leadership of ] with the purpose of establishing a unified orthography for the language. The commission, made up of representatives from the north and south of Albania, reaffirmed the Elbasan subdialect as the basis of a national tongue. The rules published in 1917 defined spelling for the Elbasan variety for official purposes. The Commission did not, however, discourage publications in one of the dialects, but rather laid a foundation for Gheg and Tosk to gradually converge into one.<ref name="Agim"/>
Between 1916 and 1918, the ] met in Shkodër under the leadership of ] with the purpose of establishing a unified orthography for the language. The commission, made up of representatives from the north and south of Albania, reaffirmed the Elbasan subdialect as the basis of a national tongue. The rules published in 1917 defined spelling for the Elbasan variety for official purposes. The commission did not, however, discourage publications in one of the dialects, but rather laid a foundation for Gheg and Tosk to gradually converge into one.
When the Congress of Lushnje met in the aftermath of World War I to form a new Albanian government, the 1917 decisions of the Literary Commission were upheld. The Elbasan subdialect remained in use for administrative purposes and many new writers embraced for creative writing. Gheg and Tosk continued to develop freely and interaction between the two dialects increased.
When the Congress of Lushnje met in the aftermath of World War I to form a new Albanian government, the 1917 decisions of the Literary Commission were upheld. The Elbasan subdialect remained in use for administrative purposes and many new writers embraced it for creative writing. Gheg and Tosk continued to develop freely and interaction between the two dialects increased.
=== Tosk standard ===
=== Tosk standard ===
{{further|Albanian Orthography Congress}}At the end of World War II, however, the new communist regime radically imposed the use of the Tosk dialect in all facets of life in Albania: administration, education, and literature. Most Communist leaders were Tosks from the south.<ref name="Agim" /> Standardisation was directed by the ] of the ].{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=10}} Two dictionaries were published in 1954: an Albanian language dictionary and a Russian–Albanian dictionary. New orthography rules were eventually published in 1967{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=10}} and 1973 ''Drejtshkrimi i gjuhës shqipe'' (Orthography of the Albanian Language).<ref>{{cite book|title=Drejtshkrimi i gjuhës shqipe|last=Kostallari|first=Androkli|year=1973|publisher="Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë" ( in "Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë", today "Akademia e Shkencave e Republikës së Shqipërisë")|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4LLPwAACAAJ&q=Drejtshkrimi+i+gjuh%C3%ABs+shqipe|ref=Drejtshkrimi i gjuhës shqipe}}</ref>
{{further|Albanian Orthography Congress}}At the end of World War II, however, the new communist regime radically imposed the use of the Tosk dialect in all facets of life in Albania: administration, education, and literature. Most Communist leaders were Tosks from the south. Standardisation was directed by the ] of the ].{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=10}} Two dictionaries were published in 1954: an Albanian language dictionary and a Russian–Albanian dictionary. New orthography rules were eventually published in 1967{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=10}} and in 1973 with the ''Drejtshkrimi i gjuhës shqipe'' (Orthography of the Albanian Language).<ref>{{cite book|title=Drejtshkrimi i gjuhës shqipe|last=Kostallari|first=Androkli|year=1973|publisher="Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë" ( in "Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë", today "Akademia e Shkencave e Republikës së Shqipërisë")|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4LLPwAACAAJ&q=Drejtshkrimi+i+gjuh%C3%ABs+shqipe|ref=Drejtshkrimi i gjuhës shqipe}}</ref>
Until 1968, Kosovo and other Albanian-speaking areas in Yugoslavia followed the 1917 standard based on the Elbasan dialect, though it was gradually infused with Gheg elements in an effort to develop a Kosovan language separate from communist Albania's Tosk-based standard.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kamusella|first=Tomasz|s2cid=55005555|year=2016|title=The idea of a Kosovan language in Yugoslavia's language politics|url=https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/11804/Kamusella_2016_IJSL_KosovanLanguage_VoR.pdf |journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language |volume=2016 |issue=242|pages=217–237|doi=10.1515/ijsl-2016-0040|hdl=10023/11804 }}</ref> Albanian intellectuals in the former Yugoslavia consolidated the 1917 twice in the 1950s, culminating with a thorough codification of orthographic rules in 1964.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wikisource.org/Drejtshkrimi_Prishtin%C3%AB_1964|title=Drejtshkrimi Prishtinë 1964 – Wikisource|website=wikisource.org|language=en|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref> The rules already provided for a balanced variety that accounted for both Gheg and Tosk dialects, but only lasted through 1968. Viewing divergences with Albania as a threat to their identity, Kosovars arbitrarily adopted the Tosk project that Tirana had published the year before. Although it was never intended to serve outside of Albania, the project became the "unified literary language" in 1972, when approved by a rubberstamp ].<ref name="Agim" /> Only about 1 in 9 participants were from Kosovo. The Congress, held at Tirana, authorized the orthography rules that came out the following year, in 1973.
Until 1968, Kosovo and other Albanian-speaking areas in Yugoslavia followed the 1917 standard based on the Elbasan dialect, though it was gradually infused with Gheg elements in an effort to develop a Kosovan language separate from communist Albania's Tosk-based standard.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kamusella|first=Tomasz|s2cid=55005555|year=2016|title=The idea of a Kosovan language in Yugoslavia's language politics|url=https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/11804/Kamusella_2016_IJSL_KosovanLanguage_VoR.pdf |via=St Andrews Research Repository |s2cid-access=free |journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language|issue=242|pages=217–237|doi=10.1515/ijsl-2016-0040|hdl=10023/11804|hdl-access=free |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106061914/https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/11804/Kamusella_2016_IJSL_KosovanLanguage_VoR.pdf |archive-date= Jan 6, 2024 }}</ref> Albanian intellectuals in the former Yugoslavia consolidated the 1917 standard twice in the 1950s, culminating with a thorough codification of orthographic rules in 1964.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wikisource.org/Drejtshkrimi_Prishtin%C3%AB_1964|title=Drejtshkrimi Prishtinë 1964 |website=Wikisource |language=en|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref> The rules already provided for a balanced variety that accounted for both Gheg and Tosk dialects, but only lasted through 1968. Viewing divergences with Albania as a threat to their identity, Kosovars arbitrarily adopted the Tosk project that Tirana had published the year before. Although it was never intended to serve outside of Albania, the project became the "unified literary language" in 1972, when approved by a rubberstamp ]. Only about 1 in 9 participants were from Kosovo. The Congress, held at Tirana, authorized the orthography rules that came out the following year, in 1973.
More recent dictionaries from the Albanian government are ''Fjalori Drejtshkrimor i Gjuhës Shqipe'' (1976) (Orthographic Dictionary of the Albanian Language)<ref>{{cite book|title=Fjalori drejtshkrimor i gjuhës shqipe|last=Kostallari|first=Androkli|year=1976|publisher="Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë" (in "Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë", today "Akademia e Shkencave e Republikës së Shqipërisë")|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3MilQQAACAAJ&q=Fjalori+drejtshkrimor+i+gjuh%C3%ABs+shqipe|ref=Fjalori Drejtshkrimor i Gjuhës Shqipe}}{{dead link|date=August 2019}}</ref> and ''Dictionary of Today's Albanian language'' (''Fjalori Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe'') (1980).{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=10}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Fjalori i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe|authors="Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë", today "Akademia e Shkencave e Republikës së Shqipërisë", "Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë" (Albania). |year=1980|publisher=]|location=Tirana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IrsAGwAACAAJ&q=Fjalor+i+gjuhes+se+sotme+shqipe}}</ref> Prior to World War II, dictionaries consulted by developers of the standard have included ''Lexikon tis Alvanikis glossis'' (Albanian: ''Fjalori i Gjuhës Shqipe'' (], 1904),{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=9}} ''Fjalori i Bashkimit'' (1908),{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=9}} and ''Fjalori i Gazullit'' (1941).{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=12}}
More recent dictionaries from the Albanian government are {{lang|sq|Fjalori Drejtshkrimor i Gjuhës Shqipe}} (1976) (Orthographic Dictionary of the Albanian Language)<ref>{{cite book|title=Fjalori drejtshkrimor i gjuhës shqipe|last=Kostallari|first=Androkli|year=1976|publisher="Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë" (in "Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë", today "Akademia e Shkencave e Republikës së Shqipërisë")|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3MilQQAACAAJ&q=Fjalori+drejtshkrimor+i+gjuh%C3%ABs+shqipe|ref=Fjalori Drejtshkrimor i Gjuhës Shqipe}}{{dead link|date=August 2019}}</ref> and ''Dictionary of Today's Albanian language'' ({{lang|sq|Fjalori i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe}}) (1980).{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=10}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Fjalori i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe|author=Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë|year=1980|publisher=]|location=Tirana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IrsAGwAACAAJ&q=Fjalor+i+gjuhes+se+sotme+shqipe}}</ref> Prior to World War II, dictionaries consulted by developers of the standard have included {{transliteration|el|Lexikon tis Alvanikis glossis}} (Albanian: {{lang|sq|Fjalori i Gjuhës Shqipe}} (], 1904),{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=9}} {{lang|sq|Fjalori i Bashkimit}} (1908),{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=9}} and {{lang|sq|Fjalori i Gazullit}} (1941).{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=12}}
=== Calls for reform ===
=== Calls for reform ===
Since the fall of the communist regime, Albanian orthography has stirred heated debate among scholars, writers, and public opinion in Albania and Kosovo, with hardliners opposed to any changes in the orthography, moderates supporting varying degrees of reform, and radicals calling for a return to the Elbasan dialect. Criticism of Standard Albanian has centred on the exclusion of the 'me+' infinitive and the Gheg lexicon. Critics say that Standard Albanian disenfranchises and stigmatises Gheg speakers, affecting the quality of writing and impairing effective public communication. Supporters of the Tosk standard view the ] as a milestone achievement in Albanian history and dismiss calls for reform as efforts to "divide the nation" or "create two languages." Moderates, who are especially prevalent in Kosovo, generally stress the need for a unified Albanian language, but believe that the 'me+' infinitive and Gheg words should be included. Proponents of the Elbasan dialect have been vocal, but have gathered little support in the public opinion. In general, those involved in the language debate come from diverse backgrounds and there is no significant correlation between one's political views, geographic origin, and position on Standard Albanian.
Since the fall of the communist regime, Albanian orthography has stirred heated debate among scholars, writers, and public opinion in Albania and Kosovo, with hardliners opposed to any changes in the orthography, moderates supporting varying degrees of reform, and radicals calling for a return to the Elbasan dialect. Criticism of Standard Albanian has centred on the exclusion of the 'me + participle' infinitive and the Gheg lexicon. Critics say that Standard Albanian disenfranchises and stigmatises Gheg speakers, affecting the quality of writing and impairing effective public communication. Supporters of the Tosk standard view the ] as a milestone achievement in Albanian history and dismiss calls for reform as efforts to "divide the nation" or "create two languages." Moderates, who are especially prevalent in Kosovo, generally stress the need for a unified Albanian language, but believe that the 'me + participle' infinitive and Gheg words should be included. Proponents of the Elbasan dialect have been vocal, but have gathered little support in the public opinion. In general, those involved in the language debate come from diverse backgrounds and there is no significant correlation between one's political views, geographic origin, and position on Standard Albanian.
Many writers continue to write in the Elbasan dialect but other Gheg variants have found much more limited use in literature. Most publications adhere to a strict policy of not accepting submissions that are not written in Tosk. Some print media even translate direct speech, replacing the 'me+' infinitive with other verb forms and making other changes in grammar and word choice. Even authors who have published in the Elbasan dialect will frequently write in the Tosk standard.
Many writers continue to write in the Elbasan dialect but other Gheg variants have found much more limited use in literature. Most publications adhere to a strict policy of not accepting submissions that are not written in Tosk. Some print media even translate direct speech, replacing the 'me + participle' infinitive with other verb forms and making other changes in grammar and word choice. Even authors who have published in the Elbasan dialect will frequently write in the Tosk standard.
In 2013, a group of academics for Albania and Kosovo proposed minor changes to the orthography.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://plisi.org/gjuhsi/sugjerime-verejtje-ndryshimeve-drejtshkrim/|title=Sugjerime e vërejtje rreth ndryshimeve në drejtshkrim|last=Morina|first=Agim|date=16 March 2016|website=Plisi.org}}</ref> Hardline academics boycotted the initiative,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sot.com.al/kultura-intervista/emil-lafe-k%c3%abshilli-nd%c3%abrakademik-p%c3%abr-gjuh%c3%abn-shqipe-ec%c3%abn-pa-busull-ende-pa-nj%c3%ab|title=Emil Lafe: Këshilli Ndërakademik për Gjuhën Shqipe ecën pa busull, ende pa një platformë shkencore të miratuar njëzëri|last=Vrapi|first=Julia|date=27 April 2013|website=Sot.com.al}}</ref> while other reformers have viewed it as well-intentioned but flawed and superficial.<ref name=":0" /> Media such as Rrokum and ''Java'' have offered content that is almost exclusively in the Elbasan dialect. Meanwhile, author and linguist ] has promoted ''Shqipe e Përbashkët'' or Common Albanian, a neostandard or a reformed version of the Tosk standard that aims at reflecting the natural development of the language among all Albanians.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://plisi.org/gjuhsi/libri-mary-motesit-kosoven-shqip-paskajore/|title=Libri i Mary Motesit për Kosovën: Shqip me paskajore|last=Morina|first=Agim|date=10 October 2017|website=Plisi.org}}</ref><ref name="Agim" /> Common Albanian incorporates the 'me+' infinitive, accommodates for Gheg features, provides for dialect-neutral rules that favor simplicity, predictability, and usage trends.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://plisi.org/gjuhsi/ekonomizimi-pjesores-mundesi-shqipen-perbashket/|title=Ekonomizimi i pjesores – mundësi për shqipen e përbashkët|last=Bërlajolli|first=Gazmend|date=13 August 2014|website=Plisi.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://plisi.org/gjuhsi/standardi-gegnishtja/|title=Standardi dhe gegnishtja|last=Bërlajolli|first=Gazmend|date=17 July 2016|website=Plisi.org}}</ref> Many modern writers have embraced Common Albanian to various extents, especially in less formal writing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://plisi.org/gjuhsi/ndryshon-shqipja-standarde/|title=Po ndryshon shqipja standarde|last=Mjeku|first=Getoar|date=24 April 2016|website=Plisi.org}}</ref>
In 2013, a group of academics for Albania and Kosovo proposed minor changes to the orthography. Hardline academics boycotted the initiative,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sot.com.al/kultura-intervista/emil-lafe-k%c3%abshilli-nd%c3%abrakademik-p%c3%abr-gjuh%c3%abn-shqipe-ec%c3%abn-pa-busull-ende-pa-nj%c3%ab|title=Emil Lafe: Këshilli Ndërakademik për Gjuhën Shqipe ecën pa busull, ende pa një platformë shkencore të miratuar njëzëri|last=Vrapi|first=Julia|date=27 April 2013|website=Sot.com.al}}</ref> while other reformers have viewed it as well-intentioned but flawed and superficial.
=== Education ===
=== Education ===
Line 414:
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== Phonology ==
== Phonology ==
Standard Albanian has seven ]s and 29 ]s. Like English, Albanian has dental fricatives {{IPA|/θ/}} (like the ''th'' in ''thin'') and {{IPA|/ð/}} (like the ''th'' in ''this''), written as ''th'' and ''dh,'' which are rare cross-linguistically.
Standard Albanian has seven ]s and 29 ]s. Like English, Albanian has dental fricatives {{IPA|/θ/}} (like the ''th'' in ''thin'') and {{IPA|/ð/}} (like the ''th'' in ''this''), written as {{Angle bracket|th}} and {{Angle bracket|dh}}, which are rare cross-linguistically.
] uses ] and ]s, which are absent in ], and the mid-central vowel ''ë'' is lost at the end of the word. The stress is fixed mainly on the last syllable. Gheg ''n'' (''femën'': compare English ''feminine'') changes to ''r'' by ] in Tosk (''femër'').
] uses ] and ]s, which are absent in ], and the mid-central vowel {{lang|sq|ë}} is lost at the end of the word. The stress is fixed mainly on the last syllable. Gheg {{lang|aln|n}} ({{lang|aln|femën}}: compare English ''feminine'') changes to {{lang|als|r}} by ] in Tosk ({{lang|als|femër}}).
* The contrast between flapped {{lang|sq|r}} and trilled {{lang|sq|rr}} is the almost the same as in Spanish or ]. However, in most of the dialects, as also in standard Albanian, the single {{lang|sq|r}} changes from an alveolar flap {{IPA|/ɾ/}} to an alveolar approximant {{IPA|}}.
* The palatal nasal {{IPA|/ɲ/}} corresponds to the Spanish {{lang|es|ñ}} and the French and Italian ''gn''. It is pronounced as one sound, not a nasal plus a glide.
* The contrast between flapped ''r'' and trilled ''rr'' is the same as in Spanish or ]. In most of the dialects, as also in standard Albanian, the single "r" changes from an alveolar flap {{IPA|/ɾ/}} into a retroflex flap {{IPA|}}, or even an alveolar approximant {{IPA|}} when it is at the end of a word.
* The {{lang|sq|ll}} sound is a velarised lateral, close to English ].
* The palatal nasal {{IPA|/ɲ/}} corresponds to the Spanish ''ñ'' and the French and Italian ''gn''. It is pronounced as one sound, not a nasal plus a glide.
* The letter {{lang|sq|ç}} is sometimes written ''ch'' due to technical limitations, in analogy to the other digraphs {{lang|sq|xh}}, {{lang|sq|sh}}, and {{lang|sq|zh}}. Usually it is written simply {{lang|sq|c}} or more rarely {{lang|sq|q}} with context resolving any ambiguities.
* The ''ll'' sound is a velarised lateral, close to English '']''.
* The sounds spelled with {{lang|sq|q}} and {{lang|sq|gj}} show variation. They may range between occurring as palatal affricates {{IPA|}} or as palatal stops {{IPA|}} among dialects. Some speakers merge them into the palatoalveolar sounds {{lang|sq|ç}} and {{lang|sq|xh}}. This is especially common in Northern Gheg, but is increasingly the case in Tosk as well.<ref>Kolgjini, Julie M. (2004). ''Palatalisation in Albanian : an acoustic investigation of stops and affricates.'' PhD Dissertation, University of Texas at Arlington. {{ISBN|0496859366}}.</ref> Other speakers reduced them into {{IPA|/j/}} in consonant clusters, such as in the word {{lang|sq|fjollë}}, which before standardisation was written as {{lang|sq|fqollë}} ( < Medieval Greek {{lang|el|φακιολης}}).
* The letter ''ç'' is sometimes written ''ch'' due to technical limitations because of its use in English sound and its analogy to the other ]s ''xh'', ''sh'', and ''zh''. Usually it is written simply ''c'' or more rarely ''q'' with context resolving any ambiguities.
* The {{lang|sq|ng}} can be pronounced as {{IPA|/ŋ/}} in final position, otherwise it is an allophone of {{lang|sq|n}} before {{lang|sq|k}} and {{lang|sq|g}}.
* The position of ''q'' and ''gj'' sound is not clear. Many speakers merge them into the palatoalveolar sounds ''ç'' and ''xh''. This is especially common in Northern Gheg, but is increasingly the case in Tosk as well.<ref>Kolgjini, Julie M. (2004). ''Palatalisation in Albanian : an acoustic investigation of stops and affricates.'' PhD Dissertation, University of Texas at Arlington. {{ISBN|0496859366}}.</ref> Other speakers reduced them into {{IPA|/j/}} in consonant clusters, such as in the word ''fjollë,'' which before standardisation was written as ''fqollë'' ( < Medieval Greek φακιολης).
* Before {{lang|sq|q}} and {{lang|sq|gj}}, {{lang|sq|n}} is always pronounced {{IPA|/ɲ/}} but this is not reflected in the orthography.
* The ''ng'' can pronounced as {{IPA|/ŋ/}} in final position, otherwise is an allophone of ''n'' before ''k'' and ''g''.
* Before ''q'' and ''gj,'' the ''n'' is always pronounced {{IPA|/ɲ/}} but this is not reflected in the orthography.
* {{lang|sq|ë}} can also range to an open-mid sound {{IPA|}} in the Northern Tosk dialect.<ref name="Northern Tosk Albanian">{{Cite journal|last1=Coretta|first1=Stefano|title=Northern Tosk Albanian|last2=Riverin-Coutlée|first2=Josiane|last3=Kapia|first3=Enkeleida|last4=Nichols|first4=Stephen|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association|year=2022|volume=53|issue=3|location=Illustration of the IPA|pages=1–23|doi=10.1017/S0025100322000044|doi-access=free|hdl=20.500.11820/ebce2ea3-f955-4fa5-9178-e1626fbae15f|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
* Mid sounds {{IPA|/e, o/}} can also be heard as more open-mid sounds {{IPA|}}, in free variation.{{Sfn|Buchholz|Fiedler|1987|p=28-31}}
==== Schwa ====
==== Schwa ====
Although the Indo-European ] (''ə'' or -''h<sub>2</sub>''-) was preserved in Albanian, in some cases it was lost, possibly when a ] preceded it.{{sfn|Orel|2000|p=}} Until the standardisation of the modern ], in which the schwa is spelled as ''ë'', as in the work of ] in the 16th century, various vowels and ]s were employed, including ''ae'' by ] and ''é'' by ] in the late 16th and early 17th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/1887/14920/2/de+Vaan+-+PIE+e+in+Albanian.pdf|title=PIE *e in Albanian|last=de Vaan|first=Michiel|page=72|access-date=16 December 2010}}</ref><ref name="Elsie(London2005">{{cite book|last1=Elsie|first1=Robert|last2=London Centre for Albanian Studies|title=Albanian literature: a short history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ox3Wx1Nl_2MC&q=schwa+albanian&pg=PA16|year=2005|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-84511-031-4|page=16}}</ref> The schwa in Albanian has a great degree of variability from extreme back to extreme front articulation.<ref name="schwa">{{cite web|url=http://www.kfs.oeaw.ac.at/publications/2001_granser_moosmueller_the_schwa_in_albanian.pdf|title=The schwa in Albanian|last1=Granser|first1=Thedor|last2=Moosmüller|first2=Sylvia|publisher=Institute of Acoustics of the Austrian Academy of Sciences|access-date=15 December 2010}}</ref> Within the borders of Albania, the phoneme is pronounced about the same in both the Tosk and the Gheg dialect due to the influence of standard Albanian. However, in the Gheg dialects spoken in the neighbouring Albanian-speaking areas of Kosovo and North Macedonia, the phoneme is still pronounced as back and rounded.<ref name="schwa"/>
The schwa in Albanian has a great degree of variability from extreme back to extreme front articulation.<ref name="schwa">{{cite web|url=http://www.kfs.oeaw.ac.at/publications/2001_granser_moosmueller_the_schwa_in_albanian.pdf|title=The schwa in Albanian|last1=Granser|first1=Thedor|last2=Moosmüller|first2=Sylvia|publisher=Institute of Acoustics of the Austrian Academy of Sciences|access-date=15 December 2010}}</ref> Although the Indo-European ] ({{lang|ine-x-proto|ə}} or {{lang|ine-x-proto|-h₂-}}) was preserved in Albanian, in some cases it was lost, possibly when a ] preceded it.{{sfn|Orel|2000|p=}} Until the standardisation of the modern ], in which the schwa is spelled as {{angbr|ë}}, as in the work of ] in the 16th century, various vowel letters and digraphs were employed, including {{angbr|ae}} by ] and {{angbr|é}} by ] in the late 16th and early 17th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/1887/14920/2/de+Vaan+-+PIE+e+in+Albanian.pdf|title=PIE *e in Albanian|last=de Vaan|first=Michiel|page=72|access-date=16 December 2010}}</ref><ref name="Elsie(London2005">{{cite book|last1=Elsie|first1=Robert|last2=London Centre for Albanian Studies|title=Albanian literature: a short history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ox3Wx1Nl_2MC&q=schwa+albanian&pg=PA16|year=2005|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-84511-031-4|page=16}}</ref> Within the borders of Albania, the phoneme is pronounced about the same in both the Tosk and the Gheg dialect due to the influence of standard Albanian. However, in the Gheg dialects spoken in the neighbouring Albanian-speaking areas of Kosovo and North Macedonia, the phoneme is still{{clarify|date=June 2023}} pronounced as back and rounded.<ref name="schwa" />
== Grammar ==
== Grammar ==
{{see also|Albanian morphology}}
{{see also|Albanian morphology}}
Albanian has a canonical word order of ] (subject–verb–object) like English and many other Indo-European languages.<ref>Maxwell, Daniel Newhall. (1979). A Crosslinguistic Correlation between Word Order and Casemarking
Albanian has a canonical word order of ] (subject–verb–object) like English and many other Indo-European languages.<ref>Maxwell, Daniel Newhall. (1979). A Crosslinguistic Correlation between Word Order and Casemarking
institution. Bloomington: Indiana University Pub.</ref> Albanian ]s are categorised by ] (masculine, feminine and neuter) and ] for ] (singular and plural) and ]. There are five ]s and six cases (], ], ], ], ], and ]), although the vocative only occurs with a limited number of words, and the forms of the genitive and dative are identical (a genitive is producedwhen the prepositions ''i/e/të/së''are used with the dative). Some dialects also retain a locative case, which is not present in standard Albanian. The cases apply to both definite and indefinite nouns, and there are numerous cases of ].
institution. Bloomington: Indiana University Pub.</ref> Albanian ]s are categorised by ] (masculine, feminine and neuter) and ] for ] (singular and plural) and ]. There are five ]s and six cases (], ], ], ], ], and ]), although the vocative only occurs with a limited number of words (such as '{{lang|sq|bir}}' ("son"), vocative case: {{lang|sq|biro}}, {{lang|sq|zog}} ("bird") vocative case: {{lang|sq|zogo}}<ref name=":2">Breu, W. (2021) Italo-Albanian: Balkan Inheritance and Romance Influence p. 154</ref>), and the forms of the genitive and dative are identical (a genitive construction employs the prepositions {{lang|sq|i/e/të/së}} alongside dative morphemes). Some dialects also retain a locative case, which is not present in standard Albanian (e.g. "{{lang|sq|në malt}}" loc.sg.def<ref name=":2" />). The cases apply to both definite and indefinite nouns, and there are numerous cases of ].
The following shows the declension of ''mal'' (mountain), a masculine noun which takes "i" in the definite singular:
The following shows the declension of {{lang|sq|mal}} (mountain), a noun in the masculine class which takes "i" in the definite singular:
The definite article is placed after the noun as in many other ], like in ], ] and ].
The definite article is placed after the noun as in many other ], like in ], ] and ].
* The definite article can be in the form of noun suffixes, which vary with gender and case.
* The definite article can be in the form of noun suffixes, which vary with gender and case.
** For example, in singular nominative, masculine nouns add ''-i'', or those ending in -g/-k/-h take ''-u'' (to avoid palatalization):
** For example, in singular nominative, masculine nouns add {{lang|sq|-i}}, or those ending in {{lang|sq|-g}}/{{lang|sq|-k}}/{{lang|sq|-h}} take {{lang|sq|-u}} (to avoid palatalization):
***''mal'' (mountain) / ''mali'' (the mountain);
*** {{lang|sq|mal}} (mountain) / {{lang|sq|mali}} (the mountain);
*** ''libër'' (book) / ''libri'' (the book);
*** {{lang|sq|libër}} (book) / {{lang|sq|libri}} (the book);
*** ''zog'' (bird) / ''zogu'' (the bird).
*** {{lang|sq|zog}} (bird) / {{lang|sq|zogu}} (the bird).
** Femininenouns take the suffix ''-(i/j)a'':
** Nouns in the feminine class take the suffix {{lang|sq|-(i/j)a}}:
*** ''veturë'' (car) / ''vetura'' (the car);
*** {{lang|sq|veturë}} (car) / {{lang|sq|vetura}} (the car);
*** ''shtëpi'' (house) / ''shtëpia'' (the house);
*** {{lang|sq|shtëpi}} (house) / {{lang|sq|shtëpia}} (the house);
*** ''lule'' (flower) / ''lulja'' (the flower).
*** {{lang|sq|lule}} (flower) / {{lang|sq|lulja}} (the flower).
* Neuternouns take ''-t''.
* Nouns in the neuter class take {{lang|sq|-t}}.
Albanian has developed an analytical ]al structure in place of the earlier synthetic system, inherited from ]. Its complex system of ]s (six types) and ]s (three simple and five complex constructions) is distinctive among ]. There are two general types of ].
Albanian has developed an analytical ]al structure in place of the earlier synthetic system, inherited from ]. Its complex system of ]s (six types) and ]s (three simple and five complex constructions) is distinctive among ]. There are two general types of ].
Albanian has a series of ]s called miratives or ]s. These may express surprise on the part of the speaker, but may also have other functions, such as expressing ], ], or ].<ref>{{cite book|first=Victor A.|last=Friedman|chapter=Evidentiality in the Balkans: Bulgarian, Macedonian and Albanian|pages=168–187|title=Evidentiality: The Linguistic Coding of Epistemology|editor-first1=Wallace L.|editor-last1=Chafe|editor-first2=Johanna|editor-last2=Nichols|publisher=Ablex|year=1986|isbn=978-0-89391-203-1|chapter-url=http://mahimahi.uchicago.edu/media/faculty/vfriedm/040Friedman86.pdf|access-date=12 May 2023|archive-date=29 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329121918/http://mahimahi.uchicago.edu/media/faculty/vfriedm/040Friedman86.pdf|url-status=dead}} p. 180.</ref> The Albanian use of admirative forms is unique in the ]. In English, the expression of surprise can be rendered by 'oh, look!' or 'lookee there!'; the expression of doubt can be rendered by 'indeed!'; the expression of neutral reportedness can be rendered by 'apparently'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Victor|author-link=Victor Friedman|editor-last=Scaldaferri|editor-first=Nicola|title=Wild Songs, Sweet Songs: The Albanian Epic in the Collections of Milman Parry and Albert B. Lord|chapter=The Epic Admirative in Albanian|volume=5|series=Publications of the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature Series|others=In collaboration with Victor Friedman, John Kolsti, Zymer U. Neziri|publisher=Harvard University, Center for Hellenic Studies|year=2021|isbn=9780674271333|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WF-azgEACAAJ}}</ref>
Albanian verbs, like those of other Balkan languages, have an "]" mood (''mënyra habitore'') that is used to indicate surprise on the part of the speaker or to imply that an event is known to the speaker by report and not by direct observation. In some contexts, this mood can be translated using English "apparently".
* {{lang|sq|Rruga '''është''' e mbyllur.}} "The street '''is''' closed." (indicative)
* ''Rruga '''është''' e mbyllur.'' "The street '''is''' closed." (indicative)
* {{lang|sq|Rruga '''qenka''' e mbyllur.}} "'''(Apparently,)''' The street '''is''' closed." (admirative)
* ''Rruga '''qenka''' e mbyllur.'' "'''(Apparently,)''' The street '''is''' closed." (admirative)
For more information on verb conjugation and on inflection of other parts of speech, see ].
For more information on verb conjugation and on inflection of other parts of speech, see ].
=== Word order ===
=== Word order ===
Albanian word order is relatively free.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} To say 'Agim ate all the oranges' in Albanian, one may use any of the following orders, with slight pragmatic differences:
Albanian word order is relatively free.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} To say '{{lang|sq|Agim ate all the oranges}}' in Albanian, one may use any of the following orders, with slight pragmatic differences:
* ]: {{lang|sq|Agimi i hëngri të gjithë portokallët.}}
* ]: Agimi i hëngri të gjithë portokallët.
* ]: {{lang|sq|Agimi të gjithë portokallët i hëngri.}}
* ]: Agimi të gjithë portokallët i hëngri.
* ]: {{lang|sq|Të gjithë portokallët i hëngri Agimi.}}
* ]: Të gjithë portokallët i hëngri Agimi.
* ]: {{lang|sq|Të gjithë portokallët Agimi i hëngri.}}
* ]: {{lang|sq|I hëngri Agimi të gjithë portokallët.}}
* ]: Të gjithë portokallët Agimi i hëngri.
* ]: I hëngri Agimi të gjithë portokallët.
* ]: {{lang|sq|I hëngri të gjithë portokallët Agimi.}}
* ]: I hëngri të gjithë portokallët Agimi.
However, the most common order is ].
However, the most common order is ].
The verb can optionally occur in sentence-initial position, especially with verbs in the non-active form (''forma joveprore''):
The verb can optionally occur in sentence-initial position, especially with verbs in the passive form (''{{lang|sq|forma joveprore}}''):
* '''''Parashikohet''' një ndërprerje'' "An interruption '''is anticipated'''".
=== Negation ===
=== Negation ===
Verbal negation in Albanian is mood-dependent, a trait shared with some fellow ] such as ].
Verbal negation in Albanian is mood-dependent, a trait shared with some fellow ] such as ].
In indicative, conditional, or admirative sentences, negation is expressed by the particles ''nuk'' or ''s''' in front of the verb, for example:
In indicative, conditional, or admirative sentences, negation is expressed by the particles {{lang|sq|nuk}} or ''s''' in front of the verb, for example:
* ''{{lang|sq|Toni nuk flet anglisht}}'' "Tony does not speak English";
* ''Toni nuk flet anglisht'' "Tony does not speak English";
Subjunctive, imperative, optative, or non-finite forms of verbs are negated with the particle ''mos'':
Subjunctive, imperative, optative, or non-finite forms of verbs are negated with the particle ''mos'':
* ''{{lang|sq|Mos harro}}'' "Do not forget!".
== Numerals ==
* ''Mos harro'' "do not forget!".
=== Numerals ===
{|
{|
|-
|-
|valign="top"|
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
Line 749:
Line 896:
|-
|-
| tri/tre—three
| tri/tre—three
| '''njëzet'''—twenty
| njëzet—twenty
|-
|-
| katër—four
| katër—four
Line 761:
Line 908:
|-
|-
| shtatë—seven
| shtatë—seven
| dyzet/katërdhjetë—forty
| '''dyzet'''/katërdhjetë—forty
|-
|-
| tetë—eight
| tetë—eight
Line 795:
Line 942:
|}
|}
== Literary tradition ==
=== Notes ===
* In certain dialects, numerals with an extra syllable may undergo metrical syncope. For example, {{lang|sq|pesëmbëdhjetë}} becomes {{lang|sq|pesëmet}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hamp |first1=Eric Pratt |editor1-last=Gvozdanovic |editor1-first=Jadranka |title=Indo-European Numerals |date=3 June 2011 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-085846-4 |page=869 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HmbWRnaridAC |language=en |chapter=Albanian}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Vëzhgime rreth të folmëve të banorëve të Bregut të Matës, ishullit të Lezhës dhe ishullit të Shëngjinit |first=Gjovalin |last=Shkurtaj |date=1972 |journal=Studime Filologjike |issue=2 |publisher=Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH, Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë |page=96 |language=sq}}</ref>
=== Earliestundisputed texts ===
=== Vigesimal system ===
Beside the Indo-European decimal numeration, there are also remnants of the ], as {{lang|sq|njëzet}} {{gloss|twenty}} and {{lang|sq|dyzet}} {{gloss|forty}}. The ] in Italy and ] in Greece may still use {{lang|sq|trezet}} {{gloss|sixty}} and {{lang|sq|katërzet}} {{gloss|eighty}}. Albanian is the only Balkan language that has preserved the ] vigesimal system.{{sfn|Demiraj|2006|p=43}}
] of ] 1554–1555]]
The earliest known texts in Albanian:
* the "]" (Baptismal Formula), which dates back to 1462 and was authored by ] (or Paulus Angelus) (c. 1417 – 1470), Archbishop of ]. Engjëlli was a close friend and counsellor of ].<ref>{{cite book |title=Standard Albanian: a reference grammar for students |last1=Newmark |first1=Leonard |first2=Philip |last2=Hubbard |first3= Peter R. |last3=Prifti |year=1982 |publisher=Andrew Mellon Foundation |isbn= 9780804711296|page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hqlYbhnII3QC&q=Pal+Engj%C3%ABlli&pg=PA3 |access-date=2010-05-28}}</ref> It was written in a pastoral letter for a synod at the Holy Trinity in Mat and read in Latin characters as follows: ''Unte paghesont premenit Atit et Birit et Spertit Senit'' (standard Albanian: "Unë të pagëzoj në emër të Atit, të Birit e të Shpirtit të Shenjtë"; English: "I baptise you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit"). It was discovered and published in 1915 by ].<ref>{{cite journal |year= 1971 |title= Revue des études sud-est européennes |volume= 9 |page=102 |publisher=Academia Republicii Socialiste România, Academia Republicii Populare Romîne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uvAXAAAAIAAJ&q=paolo+angeli+iorga |language= fr |access-date=2010-05-28 }}</ref>
* the '']'' (]), a short list of Albanian phrases with German glosses, dated 1496.<ref>{{cite book|last=Anamali|first=Skënder|title=Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime|volume=I|year=2002|page=311|publisher=Botimet Toena|language=sq|oclc=52411919}}</ref>
* a song, recorded in the Greek alphabet, retrieved from an old ] that was written in Greek. The document is also called "Perikopeja e Ungjillit të Pashkëve" or "Perikopeja e Ungjillit të Shën Mateut" ("The Song of the Easter Gospel, or "The Song of Saint Matthew's Gospel"). Although the codex is dated to during the 14th century, the song, written in Albanian by an anonymous writer, seems to be a 16th-century writing. The document was found by ] people who had emigrated to Italy in the 15th century.{{sfn|Lloshi|2008|p=97}}
* The first book in Albanian is the ] ("The Missal"), written by ] between 20 March 1554 and 5 January 1555. The book was written in the ] dialect in the ] with some Slavic letters adapted for Albanian vowels. The book was discovered in 1740 by ], the Albanian ] of ]. It contains the liturgies of the main ]s. There are also texts of prayers and rituals and ] texts. The grammar and the vocabulary are more archaic than those in the Gheg texts from the 17th century. The 188 pages of the book comprise about 154,000 words with a total vocabulary of c. 1,500 different words. The text is archaic yet easily interpreted because it is mainly a translation of known texts, in particular portions of the ]. The book also contains passages from the ]s, the ], the ], the ], and many illustrations. The uniformity of spelling seems to indicate an earlier tradition of writing. The only known copy of the Meshari is held by the ].<ref>{{cite web | title=Meshari | url=http://www.bksh.al/gsdl/cgi-bin/library.exe?e=d-01000-00---off-0antikuar--00-1--0-10-0---0---0prompt-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-3-1-00-0-0-11-1-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&c=antikuar&cl=CL2.3 | publisher=] | access-date=14 May 2010}}</ref> In 1968 the book was published with transliterations and comments by linguists.
* The first printed work in Tosk Albanian is the ''Mbsuame e krështerë'' (in Italian: ''Dottrina cristiana'') by Lekë Matrënga or (in Italian) ]. It was published in 1592 and is written in an early form of the ] (also known as Italo-Albanian).
Albanian scripts were produced earlier than the first attested document, "formula e pagëzimit", but none yet have been discovered. We know of their existence by earlier references. For example, a French monk signed as "Broccardus" notes, in 1332, that "Although the Albanians have another language totally different from Latin, ''they still use Latin letters in all their books''".<ref>Demiraj, Shaban. "Albanian". In Ramat and Ramat (2006), ''The Indo-European Languages''. Page 480</ref>
=== Disputed earlier texts ===
]
In 1967 two scholars claimed to have found a brief text in Albanian inserted into the ] text, a book written in Latin dating to 1402–1405.<ref>Dumitru Todericiu, ''An Albanian text older than the "Christening Formula" of 1462'', in "Magazin Istoric", nr. 8, Bucharest, November 1967.</ref>
{{quote|"A star has fallen in a place in the woods, distinguish the star, distinguish it.<br />
Distinguish the star from the others, they are ours, they are.<br />
Do you see where the great voice has resounded? Stand beside it<br />
That thunder. It did not fall. It did not fall for you, the one which would do it.<br />
...<br />
Like the ears, you should not believe ... that the moon fell when ...<br />
Try to encompass that which spurts far ...<br />
Call the light when the moon falls and no longer exists ..."}}
Dr. ], a specialist in Albanian studies, considers that "The Todericiu/Polena Romanian translation of the non-Latin lines, although it may offer some clues if the text is indeed Albanian, is fanciful and based, among other things, on a false reading of the manuscript, including the exclusion of a whole line."<ref>Dr. Robert Elsie, '''' in "Zeitschrift für Balkanologie", Berlin, 22 February 1986, p. 158-162..</ref>
=== Ottoman period ===
In 1635, ] (1606–1643) published in ] his ''Dictionarum latinum-epiroticum'', the first known Latin-Albanian dictionary. Other scholars who studied the language during the 17th century include ] (1600–1685), author of the first Latin-Albanian grammar book, ] (1637–1694) and others.<ref>{{cite book|last=Marmullaku|first=Ramadan|title=Albania and the Albanians|publisher=C. Hurst|year=1975|pages=17|isbn=0903983133|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v3S4AAAAIAAJ&q=Andre+Bogdani}}</ref>
== Lexicon ==
== Lexicon ==
{{Cleanup lang|section|date=April 2020}}
{{Cleanup lang|section|date=April 2020}}
Albanian is known within historical linguistics as a case of a language which, although surviving through many periods of foreign rule and multilingualism, saw a "disproportionately high" influx of ] from other languages augmenting and replacing much of its original ].<ref name=Matasovic6/> Some scholars suggest that Albanian seems to have lost more than 90% of its original vocabulary in favour of ], ], ], ] and ] loanwords,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Millar |first1=Robert McColl |last2=Trask |first2=Larry |title=Trask's Historical Linguistics |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317541776 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gGzABgAAQBAJ&pg=PA292 |page=292 |language=en |quote=Albanian seems to have lost more than 90 per cent of its original vocabulary in favour of loans from Latin, Greek, Hungarian, Slavonic, Italian and Turkish. }}</ref> but according to other scholars this percentage is definitely overstated.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/albol |title=Introduction to Albanian |last1=Joseph|first1=Brian|last2=Costanzo|first2=Angelo|last3=Slocum|first3=Jonathan|publisher=]|access-date=27 January 2020}}</ref> Of all the foreign influences in Albanian, the deepest reaching and most impactful was the absorption of loans from Latin in the Classical period and its Romance successors afterward,withover60%ofAlbanianvocabulary consisting of Latin roots,causing Albanian tooncehavebeenmistakenlyidentifiedasa Romance language.<ref name=Sawicka>Sawicka, Irena. Colloquia Humanistica. No. 2. Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 2013. Page 97: "Even according to Albanian linguists, Albanian vocabulary is composed in 60 percent of Latin words from different periods... When albanological studies were just emerging, it happened that Albanian was classified as a Romance language. Already there exists the idea of a common origin of both Albanian and Rumanian languages. The Rumanian grammar is almost identical to that of Albanian, but it may be as well the effect of later convergence within the Balkan Sprachbund.."</ref>
Albanian is known within historical linguistics as a case of a language which, although surviving through many periods of foreign rule and multilingualism, saw a "disproportionately high" influx of ] from other languages augmenting and replacing much of its original ].<ref name=Matasovic6/>{{clarify|date=September 2022}} Of all the foreign influences in Albanian, the deepest reaching and most impactful was the absorption of loans from Latin in the Classical period and its Romance successors afterward. Scholars have estimated a great number of Latin loanwords in Albanian, some even claiming 60% of the Albanian vocabulary.<ref name="Sawicka">]. Colloquia Humanistica. No. 2. Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 2013. Page 97: "Even according to Albanian linguists, Albanian vocabulary is composed in 60 percent of Latin words from different periods... When albanological studies were just emerging, it happened that Albanian was classified as a Romance language. Already there exists the idea of a common origin of both Albanian and Rumanian languages. The Rumanian grammar is almost identical to that of Albanian, but it may be as well the effect of later convergence within the Balkan Sprachbund.."</ref>
Major work in reconstructing Proto-Albanian has been done with the help of knowledge of the original forms of loans from Ancient Greek, Latin and Slavic, while Ancient Greek loanwords are scarce the Latin loanwords are of extreme importance in ].{{sfn|Orel|2000|p=}} The presence of loanwords from more well-studied languages from time periods before Albanian was attested, reaching deep back into the Classical Era, has been of great use in phonological reconstructions for earlier ancient and medieval forms of Albanian.<ref name=Matasovic6>Matasovic, Ranko (2018). . Page 6.</ref> Some words in the core vocabulary of Albanian have no known etymology linking them to Proto-Indo-European or any known source language, and as of 2018 are thus tentatively attributed to an unknown, unattested, pre-Indo-European substrate language; some words among these include {{lang|sq|zemër}} (heart) and {{lang|sq|hekur}} (iron).<ref>Matasovic, Ranko (2018). Page 35.</ref> Some among these putative pre-IE words are thought to be related to putative pre-IE substrate words in neighboring Indo-European languages, such as {{lang|sq|lule}} (flower), which has been tentatively linked to Latin {{lang|sq|lilia}} and Greek {{lang|el-Latn|leirion}}.{{sfn|Orel|2000|p=191}}
Major work in reconstructing Proto-Albanian has been done with the help of knowledge of the original forms of loans from Ancient Greek, Latin and Slavic, while Ancient Greek loanwords are scarce the Latin loanwords are of extreme importance in ].{{sfn|Orel|2000|p=}} The presence of loanwords from more well-studied languages from time periods before Albanian was attested, reaching deep back into the Classical Era, has been of great use in phonological reconstructions for earlier ancient and medieval forms of Albanian.<ref name=Matasovic6>Matasovic, Ranko (2018). . p. 6.</ref> Some words in the core vocabulary of Albanian have no known etymology linking them to Proto-Indo-European or any known source language, and as of 2018 are thus tentatively attributed to an unknown, unattested, pre-Indo-European substrate language; some words among these include {{lang|sq|zemër}} (heart) and {{lang|sq|hekur}} (iron).<ref>Matasovic, Ranko (2018). Page 35.</ref> Some among these putative pre-IE words are thought to be related to putative pre-IE substrate words in neighboring Indo-European languages, such as {{lang|sq|lule}} (flower), which has been tentatively linked to Latin {{lang|sq|lilia}} and Greek {{lang|el-Latn|leirion}}.{{sfn|Orel|2000|p=191}}
Lexical distance of Albanian in a ] analysis of the Ukrainian linguist Tyshchenko (the lower figure – the higher similarity): 49% ], 53% ], 56% ], 82% ], 86% ], 86% ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Excel File_Lexical-Distance-Matrix |url=https://alternativetransport.wordpress.com/lexical-distance-matrix/ |website=Alternative Transport |date=19 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=How much does language change when it travels? |url=https://alternativetransport.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/how-much-does-language-change-when-it-travels/ |website=Alternative Transport |date=4 May 2015}}</ref>
Lexical distance of Albanian to other languages in a ] analysis by Ukrainian linguist Tyshchenko shows the following results (the lower figure, the higher similarity): 49% ], 53% ], 56% ], 82% ], 86% ], 86% ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Excel File_Lexical-Distance-Matrix |url=https://alternativetransport.wordpress.com/lexical-distance-matrix/ |website=Alternative Transport |date=19 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=How much does language change when it travels? |url=https://alternativetransport.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/how-much-does-language-change-when-it-travels/ |website=Alternative Transport |date=4 May 2015}}</ref>
=== Cognates with Illyrian ===
=== Cognates with Illyrian ===
{{See also|Illyrian languages}}
{{See also|Proposed Illyrian vocabulary}}
{| class="wikitable"
* Andena/Andes/Andio/Antis — personal Illyrian names based on a root-word ''and-'' or ''ant-'', found in both the southern and the Dalmatian-Pannonian (including modern Bosnia and Herzegovina) onomastic provinces; cf. Alb. ''andë'' (northern Albanian dialect, or Gheg) and ''ëndë'' (southern Albanian dialect or Tosk) "appetite, pleasure, desire, wish"; ''Andi'' proper name, ''Andizetes'', an Illyrian people inhabiting the Roman province of Panonia.<ref name="balkancenter.org">{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/2490281 |title=Cultural Treasure of Bosnia and Herzegovina edition-Prehistoric and Ancient Period- Book 2- Illyrian Bosnia and Herzegovina-an Overview of a Cultural Legacy/ Ancient Illyrians of Bosnia and Herzegovina {{pipe}} Ardian Adžanela Adzanela Axhanela |website=Academia.edu |date=1 January 1970|last1=Adzanela |first1=Ardian }}</ref>
* ''Ardiaioi/Ardiaei'', name of an Illyrian people, cf. Alb. ''ardhja'' "arrival" or "descent", connected to ''hardhi'' "vine-branch, grape-vine", with a sense development similar to Germanic *stamniz, meaning both ''stem, tree stalk'' and ''tribe, lineage''. However, the insufficiency of this hypothesis is that so far there is no certainty as to the historical or etymological development of either ''ardhja/hardhi'' or ''Ardiaioi'', as with many other words.<ref name="balkancenter.org"/>
!description
* ''Bilia'' "daughter"; cf. Alb. ''bijë'', dial. ''bilë''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8D5mAAAAMAAJ&q=bilia+Illyrian+albanian |title=Sborník prací Filozofické fakulty brněnské univerzity : Řada klasická |date=3 June 2008 }}</ref>
!Corresponding Albanian term
* ''Bindo/Bindus'', an Illyrian deity from Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina; cf. Alb. ''bind'' "to convince" or "to make believe", ''përbindësh'' "monster".<ref>Ushaku, Ruzhdi, Hulumtime etnoliguistike, chapter: The continuation of Illyrian Bind in Albanian Mythology and Language, Fakulteti filologjise, Prishtine, 2000, p. 46-48</ref>
|-
* ''bounon'', "hut, cottage"; cf. Alb ''bun''<ref name="Mayani 1962">{{cite book |title=The Etruscans begin to speak |last=Mayani |first=Zĕchariă |year=1962 |publisher=Souvenir Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMMkAAAAMAAJ&q=drenis+%2B+Illyrian }}</ref>
* ''brisa'', "husk of grapes"; cf. Alb ''bërsí'' "lees, dregs; mash" ( < PA *''brutiā'')<ref name="IG">{{cite web|url=http://indoeuro.bizland.com/project/glossary/illy.html |title=Illyrian Glossary |publisher=bizland.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617033012/http://indoeuro.bizland.com/project/glossary/illy.html |archive-date=17 June 2011 }}</ref>
|Personal Illyrian names based on a root-word {{lang|sq|and-}} or {{lang|sq|ant-}}, found in both the southern and the Dalmatian-Pannonian (including modern Bosnia and Herzegovina) onomastic provinces
* ''Barba-'' "swamp", a toponym from ''Metubarbis''; possibly related to Alb. ''bërrakë'' "swampy soil"<ref name="IG"/>
|Alb. {{lang|sq|andë}} (northern Albanian dialect, or Gheg) and {{lang|sq|ëndë}} (southern Albanian dialect or Tosk) "appetite, pleasure, desire, wish"<ref name="balkancenter.org">{{cite journal |last1=Adzanela |first1=Ardian |date=1 January 1970 |title=Cultural Treasure of Bosnia and Herzegovina edition-Prehistoric and Ancient Period- Book 2- Illyrian Bosnia and Herzegovina-an Overview of a Cultural Legacy/ Ancient Illyrians of Bosnia and Herzegovina {{pipe}} Ardian Adžanela Adzanela Axhanela |url=https://www.academia.edu/2490281 |website=Academia.edu}}</ref>
* ''can-'' "dog"; related to Alb. ''qen''<ref name="IG"/>
|-
* ''Daesitiates'', a name of an Illyrian people, cf. Alb. ''dash'' "ram", corresponding contextually with south Slavonic ''dasa'' "ace", which might represent a borrowing and adaptation from Illyrian (or some other ancient language).<ref name="balkancenter.org"/>
|{{lang|xil|aran}}
* ''mal'', "mountain"; cf. Alb ''mal''<ref>{{cite book |title=The Illyrians: history and culture |last=Stipčević |first=Aleksandar |year=1977 |publisher=Noyes Press |isbn= 9780815550525|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLcWAQAAIAAJ&q=mal+%2B+Illyrian }}</ref>
|"field"
* ''bardi'', "white"; cf. Alb ''bardhë''<ref>{{cite book |title=Language, Volumes 1–3|author =Linguistic Society of America |year=1964 |publisher=Linguistic Society of America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_04AAAAMAAJ&q=bardi+%2B+Illyrian }}</ref>
|Alb. {{lang|sq|arë}}; plural {{lang|sq|ara}}<ref name="Mann1977">{{cite book |author=Suart E. Mann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3LJiAAAAMAAJ&q=aran+%2B+Illyrian |title=An Albanian Historical Grammar |publisher=Buske |year=1977 |isbn=978-3-87118-262-4}}</ref>
* ''drakoina'' "supper"; cf. Alb. ''darke'', ''dreke''<ref name="ReferenceB">{{Cite book |title=Albanian Etymological Dictionary |last=Orel |first=Vladimir E. |date=1998 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9004110240 |location=Leiden}}</ref>
* ''delme'' "sheep"; cf. Alb ''dele'', Gheg dialect ''delme''<ref name="Millennium Studies">{{cite book |title=Diokletian und die Tetrarchie: Aspekte einer Zeitenwende |year= 2004|publisher=Millennium Studies |isbn= 9783110182309|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSrxcnuJn44C&q=delme+%2B+Illyrian&pg=PA152 }}</ref>
|name of an Illyrian people
* ''dard'', "pear"; cf. Alb ''dardhë''<ref>{{cite book |title=Homeric whispers: intimations of orthodoxy in the Iliad and Odyssey |year= 2006|isbn= 9780910865111|page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4sYfFuSfekC&q=dardhe+%2B+illyrian&pg=PA72 |last1= Price|first1= Roberto Salinas}}</ref>
|connected to {{lang|sq|hardhi}} "vine-branch, grape-vine", with a sense development similar to Germanic *stamniz, meaning both {{lang|sq|stem, tree stalk}} and {{lang|sq|tribe, lineage}}.<!-- Do not add "ardhja", insufficient linguistical evidence -->{{citation needed|date=September 2011}}
* ''Hyllus'' (the name of an Illyrian king); cf. Alb. ''yll'' (''hyll'' in some northern dialects) "star", also Alb. ''hyj'' "god", ''Ylli'' proper name.<ref name="ReferenceB" />
|-
* ''sīca'', "dagger"; cf. Alb ''thikë'' or ''thika'' "knife"<ref>{{cite book |title=Albanien: Schätze aus dem Land der Skipetaren|year= 1988|isbn= 9783805309783|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MyOFAAAAIAAJ&q=sica+thika |last1= Eggebrecht|first1= Arne|author2= Roemer-Museum|author3= Pelizaeus-Museum}}</ref>
* ''loúgeon'', "pool"; cf. Alb ''lag'', ''legen'' "to wet, soak, bathe, wash" ( < PA *''lauga''), ''lëgatë'' "pool" ( < PA *''leugatâ''), ''lakshte'' "dew" ( < PA ''laugista'')<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3LJiAAAAMAAJ&q=lo%C3%BAgeon+%2B+Illyrian |title=An Albanian Historical Grammar |last=Suart E. |first=Mann |publisher=Buske |year=1977 |location=Hamburg |isbn=9783871182624 }}</ref>
|Alb. {{lang|sq|bijë}}, dial. {{lang|sq|bilë}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8D5mAAAAMAAJ&q=bilia+Illyrian+albanian |title=Sborník prací Filozofické fakulty brněnské univerzity : Řada klasická |date=3 June 2008}}</ref>
* ''mantía'' "bramblebush"; Old and dial. Alb ''mandë'' "berry, mulberry" (mod. Alb ''mën, man''){{citation needed|date=September 2011}}
|{{lang|xil|Bindo/]}}
* ''rhinos'', "fog, mist"; cf. Old Alb ''ren'' "cloud" (mod. Alb ''re, rê'') ( < PA *''rina'')<ref>Indo-European language and culture: an introduction Blackwell textbooks in linguistics Author Benjamin W. Fortson Edition 2, illustrated, reprint Publisher John Wiley and Sons, 2009 {{ISBN|1-4051-8896-0}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4051-8896-8}} p.465</ref>
|Alb. {{lang|sq|bind}} "to convince" or "to make believe", {{lang|sq|përbindësh}} "monster"<ref>Ushaku, Ruzhdi, Hulumtime etnoliguistike, chapter: The continuation of Illyrian Bind in Albanian Mythology and Language, Fakulteti filologjise, Prishtine, 2000, p. 46-48</ref>
|-
|''*''{{lang|xil|bounon}}
|"hut, cottage"
|Alb {{lang|sq|bun}}<ref name="Mayani 1962">{{cite book |last=Mayani |first=Zĕchariă |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMMkAAAAMAAJ&q=drenis+%2B+Illyrian |title=The Etruscans begin to speak |publisher=Souvenir Press |year=1962}}</ref>
|-
|''*''{{lang|xil|brisa}}
|"husk of grapes"
|Alb {{lang|sq|bërsí}} "lees, dregs; mash" ( < PA *{{lang|sq|brutiā}})<ref name="IG">{{cite web |title=Illyrian Glossary |url=http://indoeuro.bizland.com/project/glossary/illy.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617033012/http://indoeuro.bizland.com/project/glossary/illy.html |archive-date=17 June 2011 |publisher=bizland.com}}</ref>
|Alb. {{lang|sq|dash}} "ram", corresponding contextually with south Slavonic {{lang|sq|dasa}} "ace", which might represent a borrowing and adaptation from Illyrian or even Proto-Albanian<!-- Do not remove, that is what the source says -->.<ref name="balkancenter.org" />
|-
|''*{{lang|xil|mal}}''
|"mountain"
|Alb {{lang|sq|mal}} "mountain"<ref>{{cite book |last=Stipčević |first=Aleksandar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLcWAQAAIAAJ&q=mal+%2B+Illyrian |title=The Illyrians: history and culture |publisher=Noyes Press |year=1977 |isbn=9780815550525}}</ref>
|-
|''*''{{lang|xil|bardi}}
|"white"
|Alb {{lang|sq|bardhë}} "white"<ref>{{cite book |author=Linguistic Society of America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_04AAAAMAAJ&q=bardi+%2B+Illyrian |title=Language, Volumes 1–3 |publisher=Linguistic Society of America |year=1964}}</ref>
|Alb. {{Lang|sq|dele}}, Gheg {{Lang|sq|delme}} "sheep"<ref name="Millennium Studies">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSrxcnuJn44C&q=delme+%2B+Illyrian&pg=PA152 |title=Diokletian und die Tetrarchie: Aspekte einer Zeitenwende |publisher=Millennium Studies |year=2004 |isbn=9783110182309}}</ref>
|-
|''*''{{lang|xil|dard}}
|"pear"
|Alb. {{lang|sq|dardhë}} "pear"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Price |first1=Roberto Salinas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4sYfFuSfekC&q=dardhe+%2B+illyrian&pg=PA72 |title=Homeric whispers: intimations of orthodoxy in the Iliad and Odyssey |year=2006 |isbn=9780910865111 |page=72|publisher=Scylax Press}}</ref>
|-
|{{lang|xil|sīca}}
|"dagger"
|Alb indef. {{lang|sq|thikë}} or def. {{lang|sq|thika}} "knife"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eggebrecht |first1=Arne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MyOFAAAAIAAJ&q=sica+thika |title=Albanien: Schätze aus dem Land der Skipetaren |author2=Roemer-Museum |author3=Pelizaeus-Museum |year=1988 |publisher=P. von Zabern |isbn=9783805309783}}</ref>
The earliest ]s attested in Albanian come from ],<ref name="huld">{{cite journal
The earliest ]s attested in Albanian come from ],<ref name="huld">{{cite journal
|author=Huld, Martin E. |title=Accentual Stratification of Ancient Greek Loanwords in Albanian |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung |volume=99 |issue=2 |year=1986 |pages=245–253}}</ref> whereas the strongest influence came from ]. According to Matthew C. Curtis, the loanwords do not necessarily indicate the geographical location of the ancestor of Albanian language.<ref>{{cite book |last=Curtis |first=Matthew Cowan |title=Slavic-Albanian language contact, convergence, and coexistence |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED546136 |page=16 |language=en |quote=The number of loanwords is not necessarily a compelling argument for geographical placement, as loanwords may be replaced in subsequent developments of the language (especially considering the copious borrowing that Albanian later did from Latin and Slavic before any lexicon of Albanian was ever compiled) ... homeland of the Albanians.|isbn=9781267580337 |date=30 November 2011 }}</ref> However, according to other linguists, the borrowed words can help to get an idea about the place of origin and the evolution of the Albanian language.<ref>{{cite book |author=Douglas Q. Adams |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&pg=PA11 |date=January 1997 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-884964-98-5 |page=11 |quote=The loan words from Greek and Latin date back to before the Christian era and suggest that the ancestors of the Albanians must have occupied Albania by then to have absorbed such loans from their historical neighbours. As the Illyrians occupied the Albanian territory at this time, they are the most likely recipients of such loans.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Orel|2000|p=23 |ps=: "Latin loanwords are of extreme importance for the history of Albanian phonology, especially its vocalism. The duration of the borrowing was so long that loanwords reflect several distinct chronological stages."}}</ref> Some scholars argue that Albanian originated from an area located east of its present geographic spread due to the several ] found between the Albanian and ] languages. However it does not necessarily define the genealogical history of Albanian language, and it does not exclude the possibility of ] presence in both ] and ] territory.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=Matthew Cowan |title=Slavic-Albanian language contact, convergence, and coexistence |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED546136 |pages=17–18 |language=en |quote=One other point that some scholars make is the fact that Albanian and Romanian share many lexical items; this has led some to believe that Albanian originated east of its present geographical spread (Georgiev 1957; Hamp 1994)...it does not necessarily determine the genealogical history of the language, nor does it rule out the possibility of Proto-Albanian being present in both Illyrian and Thracian territory.|isbn=9781267580337 |date=30 November 2011}}</ref>
|author=Huld, Martin E. |title=Accentual Stratification of Ancient Greek Loanwords in Albanian |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung |volume=99 |issue=2 |year=1986 |pages=245–253}}</ref> whereas the strongest influence came from ].<ref>{{harvnb|Orel|2000|p=23 |ps=: "Latin loanwords are of extreme importance for the history of Albanian phonology, especially its vocalism. The duration of the borrowing was so long that loanwords reflect several distinct chronological stages."}}</ref> Some scholars argue that Albanian originated from an area located east of its present geographic spread due to the several ] found between the Albanian and ] languages. However it does not necessarily define the genealogical history of Albanian language, and it does not exclude the possibility of ] presence in both ] and ] territory.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=Matthew Cowan |title=Slavic-Albanian language contact, convergence, and coexistence |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED546136 |pages=17–18 |language=en |quote=One other point that some scholars make is the fact that Albanian and Romanian share many lexical items; this has led some to believe that Albanian originated east of its present geographical spread (Georgiev 1957; Hamp 1994)...it does not necessarily determine the genealogical history of the language, nor does it rule out the possibility of Proto-Albanian being present in both Illyrian and Thracian territory.|isbn=9781267580337 |date=30 November 2011}}</ref>
The period during which Proto-Albanian and Latin interacted was protracted, lasting from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD.{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|1997|p=9}} Over this period, the lexical borrowings can be roughly divided into three layers, the second of which is the largest. The first and smallest occurred at the time of less significant interaction. The final period, probably preceding the ], also has a notably smaller number of borrowings. Each layer is characterised by a different treatment of most vowels: the first layer follows the evolution of Early Proto-Albanian into Albanian; while later layers reflect vowel changes endemic to Late Latin (and presumably ]). Other formative changes include the syncretism of several noun case endings, especially in the plural, as well as a large-scale palatalisation.
The period during which Proto-Albanian and Latin interacted was protracted, lasting from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD.{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|1997|p=9}} Over this period, the lexical borrowings can be roughly divided into three layers, the second of which is the largest. The first and smallest occurred at the time of less significant interaction. The final period, probably preceding the ], also has a notably smaller number of borrowings. Each layer is characterised by a different treatment of most vowels: the first layer follows the evolution of Early Proto-Albanian into Albanian; while later layers reflect vowel changes endemic to Late Latin (and presumably ]). Other formative changes include the syncretism of several noun case endings, especially in the plural, as well as a large-scale palatalisation.
A brief period followed, between the 7th and the 9th centuries, that was marked by heavy borrowings from ], some of which predate the "o-a" shift common to the modern forms of this language group. Starting in the latter 9th century, there was a period characterised by protracted contact with the ] (or "]"), though lexical borrowing seems to have been mostly one sided: from Albanian into Romanian. Such borrowing indicates that the ] migrated from an area where the majority was Slavic (i.e. Middle Bulgarian) to an area with a majority of Albanian speakers (i.e. ], where Vlachs are recorded in the 10th century).{{citation needed |date=May 2017}} Their movement is presumably related to the expansion of the ] into Albania around that time.
A brief period followed, between the 7th and the 9th centuries, that was marked by heavy borrowings from ], some of which predate the "o-a" shift common to the modern forms of this language group.
==== Early Greek loans ====
==== Early Greek loans ====
There are some 30 ] loanwords in Albanian.<ref name="Linguistics p.412"/> Many of these reflect a dialect which voiced its aspirants, as did the Macedonian dialect. Other loanwords are Doric; these words mainly refer to commodity items and trade goods and probably came through trade with a now-extinct intermediary.<ref name="huld"/>
There are some 30 ] loanwords in ].<ref name="Linguistics p.412"/> Many of these reflect a dialect which voiced its aspirants, as did the Macedonian dialect. Other loanwords are Doric; these words mainly refer to commodity items and trade goods and probably came through trade with a now-extinct intermediary.<ref name="huld"/>
* {{lang|sq|drapër}}; "sickle" < (]) {{lang|grc|drápanon}}<ref name="Ancient Indo-European Dialects p.102">Ancient Indo-European dialects: proceedings, Volume 1963 Ancient Indo-European Dialects: Proceedings, University of California, Los Angeles. Center for Research in Languages and Linguistics Authors Henrik Birnbaum, Jaan Puhvel, University of California, Los Angeles. Center for Research in Languages and Linguistics Editors Henrik Birnbaum, Jaan Puhvel Publisher University of California Press, 1966 p.102</ref><ref name="huld"/>
* bletë; "hive, bee" < Attic ''mélitta'' "bee" (vs. Ionic ''mélissa'').<ref>{{harvnb|Orel|2000}} postulates a Vulgar Latin intermediary for no good reason. Mallory & Adams (1997) erroneously give the word as native, from *''melítiā'', the protoform underlying Greek ''mélissa''; however, this protoform gave Albanian ''mjalcë'' "bee", which is a natural derivative of Proto-Albanian *''melita'' "honey" (mod. ''mjaltë'').</ref>
* {{lang|sq|bletë}}; "hive, bee" < Attic {{lang|grc|mélitta}} "bee" (vs. Ionic {{lang|grc|mélissa}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Orel|2000}} postulates a Vulgar Latin intermediary for no good reason. Mallory & Adams (1997) erroneously give the word as native, from *{{lang|grc|melítiā}}, the protoform underlying Greek {{lang|grc|mélissa}}; however, this protoform gave Albanian {{lang|sq|mjalcë}} "bee", which is a natural derivative of Proto-Albanian * {{lang|sq|melita}}; "honey" (mod. {{lang|sq|mjaltë}}).</ref>
* drapër; "sickle" < (]) ''drápanon''<ref name="Ancient Indo-European Dialects p.102">Ancient Indo-European dialects: proceedings, Volume 1963 Ancient Indo-European Dialects: Proceedings, University of California, Los Angeles. Center for Research in Languages and Linguistics Authors Henrik Birnbaum, Jaan Puhvel, University of California, Los Angeles. Center for Research in Languages and Linguistics Editors Henrik Birnbaum, Jaan Puhvel Publisher University of California Press, 1966 p.102</ref><ref name="huld"/>
* leva (lyej); "to smear, oil" < *''liwenj'' < *''elaiwā'' < Gk ''elai(w)ṓn'' "oil"{{clarify|reason= elai(w)ṓn means olive-yard; élai(w)on means oil, olive oil. Also Beekes and Van Beek Dictionary (for example) reads both being derived from elai(w)ā (the olive tree), not the other way round.|date=September 2014}}
* mokër; "millstone" < (Northwest) ''mākhaná'' "device, instrument"<ref name="Linguistics p.412">The Field of Linguistics, Volume 2 Volume 1 of World of linguistics Authors Bernd Kortmann, Johan Van Der Auwera Editors Bernd Kortmann, Johan Van Der Auwera Publisher Walter de Gruyter, 2010 {{ISBN|3-11-022025-3}}, {{ISBN|978-3-11-022025-4}} p.412</ref><ref name="huld"/>
* {{lang|sq|mokër}}; "millstone" < (Northwest) {{lang|grc|mākhaná}} "device, instrument"<ref name="Linguistics p.412">The Field of Linguistics, Volume 2 Volume 1 of World of linguistics Authors Bernd Kortmann, Johan Van Der Auwera Editors Bernd Kortmann, Johan Van Der Auwera Publisher Walter de Gruyter, 2010 {{ISBN|3-11-022025-3}}, {{ISBN|978-3-11-022025-4}} p.412</ref><ref name="huld"/>
* mollë; "apple" < ''mēlon'' "fruit"<ref>{{Cite book |title=Les mots latins de l'albanais |last=Bonnet |first=Guillaum |publisher=L'Harmattan |year=1998 |location=Paris |pages=324}}</ref>
* {{lang|sq|mollë}}; "apple" < {{lang|grc|mēlon}} "fruit"<ref>{{Cite book |title=Les mots latins de l'albanais |last=Bonnet |first=Guillaum |publisher=L'Harmattan |year=1998 |location=Paris |pages=324}}</ref>
* {{lang|sq|pëllëmbë}}; "palm of the hand" < {{lang|grc|palámā}}{{sfn|Orel|1998|p=318}}
The following come from a Greek dialect without any significant attestation called "Makedonian" because it was akin to the native idiom of the Greek-speaking population in the Argead kingdom:<ref name="huld"/>
According to Huld (1986), the following come from a Greek dialect without any significant attestation called "Makedonian" because it was akin to the native idiom of the Greek-speaking population in the Argead kingdom:<ref name="huld"/>
* {{lang|sq|mëllagë}}; 'mallow' < *{{lang|grc|malákhā}} (with the reflex of /ɡ/ for Greek <χ> indicating a dialectal voicing of the what came as an aspirate stop from Greek)<ref name="huld"/>
* llërë; "elbow" < ''*ὠlénā''<ref name="huld"/>
* {{lang|sq|maraj}} "fennel" < *{{lang|grc|márathrion}} (cf Romanian {{lang|ro|mărar(iu)}}, Ionic {{lang|grc|márathron}}; with the Albanian simplification of -dri̯- to -j- reflecting that of earlier *{{lang|grc|udri̯om}} to {{lang|sq|ujë}} "water")<ref name="huld"/>
* ''mëllagë''; 'mallow' < ''*malákhā'' (with the reflex of /ɡ/ for Greek <χ> indicating a dialectal voicing of the what came as an aspirate stop from Greek)<ref name="huld"/>
* ''maraj'' "fennel" < ''*márathrion'' (cf Romanian ''marariu'', Ionic ''márathron''; with the Albanian simplification of -dri̯- to -j- reflecting that of earlier *udri̯om to ''ujë'' "water")<ref name="huld"/>
* ''bredh'' "fir tree" < ''brathy'' "savin", with Romanian ''brad'' having the same Greek dialectal origin, the Greek itself being of ultimate Semitic provenance<ref name="huld"/>
==== Latin influence ====
==== Latin influence ====
{{See also|Albanian-Romanian linguistic relationship}}
{{See also|Albanian–Romanian linguistic relationship}}
Intotal Latin rootscompriseover 60% of the Albanian lexicon.<ref name=Sawicka/> They include many frequently used core vocabulary items, including ''shumë'' ("very", from Latin ''summus''), ''pak'' ("few", Latin ''paucus''), ''ngushtë'' ("narrow", Latin ''angustus''), ''pemë'' ("tree", Latin ''poma''), ''vij'' ("to come", Latin ''venio''), ''rërë'' ("sand", Latin ''arena''), ''drejt'' ("straight", Latin "directus"), ''kafshë'' ("beast", Latin ''causa'', meaning "thing"), and ''larg'' ("far away", Latin ''largus'').
Scholars have estimated a great number of Latin loanwords in Albanian, some even claiming 60% of the Albanian vocabulary.<ref name=Sawicka/> They include many frequently used core vocabulary items, including {{lang|sq|shumë}} ("very", from Latin {{lang|la|summus}}), {{lang|sq|pak}} ("few", Latin {{lang|la|paucus}}), {{lang|sq|ngushtë}} ("narrow", Latin {{lang|la|angustus}}), {{lang|sq|pemë}} ("tree", Latin {{lang|la|poma}}), {{lang|sq|vij}} ("to come", Latin {{lang|la|veniō}}), {{lang|sq|rërë}} ("sand", Latin {{lang|la|arena}}), {{lang|sq|drejt}} ("straight", Latin {{lang|la|directus}}), {{lang|sq|kafshë}} ("beast", Latin {{lang|la|causa}}, meaning "thing"), and {{lang|sq|larg}} ("far away", Latin {{lang|la|largus}}).
] (1780–1844) was the first to note Latin's influence on Albanian and claimed "the Latin loanwords in the Albanian language had the pronunciation of the time of Emperor Augustus".{{sfn|Kopitar|1829|p=254}} Kopitar gave examples such as Albanian ''qiqer'' 'chickpea' from Latin ''cicer'', ''qytet'' 'city, town' from ''civitas'', ''peshk'' 'fish' from ''piscis'', and ''shigjetë'' 'arrow' from ''sagitta''. The hard pronunciations of Latin {{angle bracket|c}} and {{angle bracket|g}} are retained as palatal and velar stops in the Albanian loanwords. Gustav Meyer (1888)<ref>Meyer, Gustav. Die lateinischen Elemente im Albanesischen. (In: Grцbers Grundriss, I; I.Auflage) (1888), p. 805</ref> and ] (1914)<ref>Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm. Rumanisch, romanisch, albanesisch. (Mitteilungen des Romanischen Instituts an der Universitet Wien. I. Heilderberg 1914), p. 32</ref> later corroborated this. Meyer noted the similarity between the Albanian verbs ''shqipoj'' "to speak clearly, enunciate" and ''shqiptoj'' "to pronounce, articulate" and the Latin word ''excipio'' (meaning "to welcome"). Therefore, he believed that the word ''Shqiptar'' "Albanian person" was derived from ''shqipoj'', which in turn was derived from the Latin word ''excipere''. ], an Austrian linguist, had proposed the same hypothesis in 1854.<ref>{{cite book |title=Wir sind die Deinen. Studien zur albanischen Sprache, Literatur und Kulturgeschichte, dem Gedenken an Martin Camaj (1925–1992) gewidmet |author =Bardhyl Demiraj |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-06221-3 |date=2010}}</ref>
] (1780–1844) was the first to note Latin's influence on Albanian and claimed "the Latin loanwords in the Albanian language had the pronunciation of the time of Emperor Augustus".{{sfn|Kopitar|1829|p=254}} Kopitar gave examples such as Albanian {{lang|sq|qiqer}} 'chickpea' from Latin {{lang|la|cicer}}, {{lang|sq|qytet}} 'city, town' from {{lang|la|civitas}}, {{lang|sq|peshk}} 'fish' from {{lang|la|piscis}}, and {{lang|sq|shigjetë}} 'arrow' from {{lang|la|sagitta}}. The hard pronunciations of Latin {{angle bracket|c}} and {{angle bracket|g}} are retained as palatal and velar stops in the Albanian loanwords. Gustav Meyer (1888)<ref>Meyer, Gustav. Die lateinischen Elemente im Albanesischen. (In: Grцbers Grundriss, I; I.Auflage) (1888), p. 805</ref> and ] (1914)<ref>Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm. Rumanisch, romanisch, albanesisch. (Mitteilungen des Romanischen Instituts an der Universitet Wien. I. Heilderberg 1914), p. 32</ref> later corroborated this. Meyer noted the similarity between the Albanian verbs {{lang|sq|shqipoj}} "to speak clearly, enunciate" and {{lang|sq|shqiptoj}} "to pronounce, articulate" and the Latin word {{lang|la|excipiō}} (meaning "to welcome"). Therefore, he believed that the word ''Shqiptar'' "Albanian person" was derived from {{lang|sq|shqipoj}}, which in turn was derived from the Latin word {{lang|la|excipere}}. ], an Austrian linguist, had proposed the same hypothesis in 1854.<ref>{{cite book |title=Wir sind die Deinen. Studien zur albanischen Sprache, Literatur und Kulturgeschichte, dem Gedenken an Martin Camaj (1925–1992) gewidmet |author =Bardhyl Demiraj |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-06221-3 |date=2010}}</ref>
] also noticed, among other things, the archaic Latin elements in Albanian:<ref>Çabej, Eqrem. Karakteristikat e huazimeve latine të gjuhës shqipe. SF 1974/2 (In German RL 1962/1) pp. 13-51</ref>
] also noticed, among other things, the archaic Latin elements in Albanian:<ref>Çabej, Eqrem. Karakteristikat e huazimeve latine të gjuhës shqipe. SF 1974/2 (In German RL 1962/1) pp. 13-51</ref>
# Latin /au/ becomes Albanian /a/ in the earliest loanwords: ''aurum'' → ''ar'' 'gold'; ''gaudium'' → ''gaz'' 'joy'; ''laurus'' → ''lar'' 'laurel'. Latin /au/ is retained in later loans, but is altered in a way similar to ]: ''causa'' 'thing' → ''kafshë'' 'thing; beast, brute'; ''laud'' → ''lavd''.
# Latin /au/ becomes Albanian /a/ in the earliest loanwords: {{lang|la|aurum}} → {{lang|sq|ar}} 'gold'; {{lang|la|gaudium}} → {{lang|sq|gaz}} 'joy'; {{lang|la|laurus}} → {{lang|sq|lar}} 'laurel'. Latin /au/ is retained in later loans, but is altered in a way similar to ]: {{lang|la|causa}} 'thing' → {{lang|sq|kafshë}} 'thing; beast, brute'; {{lang|la|laud}} → {{lang|sq|lavd}}.
# Latin /oː/ becomes Albanian /e/ in the oldest Latin loans: ''pōmus'' → ''pemë'' 'fruit tree'; ''hōra'' → ''ora'''hour'. An analogous mutation occurred from Proto-Indo-European to Albanian; PIE ''*nōs'' became Albanian ''ne'' 'we', PIE ''*oḱtō'' + suffix ''-ti-'' became Albanian ''tetë'' 'eight', etc.
# Latin /oː/ becomes Albanian /e/ in the oldest Latin loans: {{lang|la|pōmus}} → {{lang|sq|pemë}} 'fruit tree'; {{lang|la|hōra}} → {{lang|sq|herë}} 'time, instance'. An analogous mutation occurred from Proto-Indo-European to Albanian; PIE {{lang|ine-x-proto|nōs}} became Albanian {{lang|sq|ne}} 'we', PIE {{lang|ine-x-proto|*oḱtṓw}} + suffix -ti- became Albanian {{lang|sq|tetë}} 'eight', etc.
# Latin unstressed internal and initial syllables become lost in Albanian: ''cubitus'' → ''kub'' 'elbow'; ''medicus'' → ''mjek'' 'physician'; ''palūdem'' 'swamp' → VL''padūle'' → ''pyll'' 'forest'. An analogous mutation occurred from Proto-Indo-European to Albanian. In contrast, in later Latin loanwords, the internal syllable is retained: ''paganus'' → ''pagan''; ''plaga'' → ''plagë'' 'wound', etc.
# Latin unstressed internal and initial syllables become lost in Albanian: {{lang|la|cubitus}} → {{lang|sq|kub}} 'elbow'; {{lang|la|medicus}} → {{lang|sq|mjek}} 'physician'; {{lang|la|palūdem}} 'swamp' → ] {{lang|la|*padūle}} → {{lang|sq|pyll}} 'forest'. An analogous mutation occurred from Proto-Indo-European to Albanian. In contrast, in later Latin loanwords, the internal syllable is retained: {{lang|la|paganus}} → {{lang|sq|pagan}}; {{lang|la|plaga}} → {{lang|sq|plagë}} 'wound', etc.
# Latin /tj/, /dj/, /kj/ palatalized to Albanian /s/, /z/, /c/: ''vitium'' → ''ves'' 'vice; worries'; ''rationem'' → ''arsye'' 'reason'; ''radius'' → ''rreze'' 'ray; spoke'; ''facies'' → ''faqe'' 'face, cheek'; ''socius'' → ''shok'' 'mate, comrade', ''shoq'' 'husband', etc. In turn, Latin /s/ was altered to /ʃ/ in Albanian.
# Latin /tj/, /dj/, /kj/ palatalized to Albanian /s/, /z/, /c/: {{lang|la|vitium}} → {{lang|sq|ves}} 'vice; worries'; {{lang|la|ratiōnem}} → {{lang|sq|arsye}} 'reason'; {{lang|la|radius}} → {{lang|sq|rreze}} 'ray; spoke'; {{lang|la|faciēs}} → {{lang|sq|faqe}} 'face, cheek'; {{lang|la|socius}} → {{lang|sq|shok}} 'mate, comrade', {{lang|sq|shoq}} 'husband', etc. In turn, Latin /s/ was altered to /ʃ/ in Albanian.
Haralambie Mihăescu demonstrated that:
Haralambie Mihăescu demonstrated that:
* Some 85 Latin words have survived in Albanian but not (as inherited) in any ]. A few examples include Late Latin {{lang|la|celsydri}} → dial. {{lang|sq|kulshedër}} → {{lang|sq|kuçedër}} 'hydra', {{lang|la|hībernus}} → {{lang|sq|vërri}} 'winter pasture', {{lang|la|sarcinārius}} 'used for packing, loading' → {{lang|sq|shelqëror}} 'forked peg, grapnel, forked hanger', {{lang|la|sōlānum}} 'nightshade', lit. 'sun plant' → ''{{lang|sq|shullë(r)}}'' 'sunny place out of the wind, sunbathed area', {{lang|la|splēnēticus}} → {{lang|sq|shpretkë}} 'spleen', {{lang|la|trifurcus}} → {{lang|sq|tërfurk}} 'pitchfork'.{{sfn|Mihăescu|1966|pp=1, 30}}
* 151 Albanian words of Latin origin were not inherited in Romanian. A few examples include Latin {{lang|la|amīcus}} → Albanian {{lang|sq|mik}} 'friend', {{lang|la|inimīcus}} → {{lang|sq|armik}} 'foe, enemy', {{lang|la|ratiōnem}} → {{lang|sq|arsye}}, {{lang|la|benedīcere}} → {{lang|sq|bekoj}}, {{lang|la|bubulcus}} 'ploughman, herdsman' → {{lang|sq|bulk}}, {{lang|sq|bujk}} 'peasant', {{lang|la|calicis}} → {{lang|sq|qelq}} 'drinking glass', {{lang|la|castellum}} → {{lang|sq|kështjellë}} 'castle', {{lang|la|centum}} → {{lang|sq|qind}} 'hundred', {{lang|la|gallus}} → {{lang|sq|gjel}} 'rooster', {{lang|la|iunctūra}} → {{lang|sq|gjymtyrë}} 'limb; joint', {{lang|la|medicus}} → {{lang|sq|mjek}} 'doctor', {{lang|la|retem}} → {{lang|sq|rrjetë}} 'net', {{lang|la|spērāre}} → dial. ''{{lang|sq|shp(ë)rej}}'', {{lang|sq|shpresoj}} 'to hope', {{lang|sq|pres}} 'to await', {{lang|la|voluntās}} ({{lang|la|voluntātis}}) → {{lang|sq|vullnet}} 'will; volunteer'.{{sfn|Mihăescu|1966|pp=1, 21}}
* Some Albanian church terminology has phonetic features which demonstrate their very early borrowing from Latin. A few examples include Albanian {{lang|sq|bekoj}} 'to bless' from {{lang|la|benedīcere}}, {{lang|sq|engjëll}} 'angel' from {{lang|la|angelus}}, {{lang|sq|kishë}} 'church' from {{lang|la|ecclēsia}}, ''{{lang|sq|i krishterë}}'' 'Christian' from {{lang|la|christiānus}}, {{lang|sq|kryq}} 'cross' from {{lang|la|crux}} ({{lang|la|crucis}}), (obsolete) {{lang|sq|lter}} 'altar' from Latin {{lang|la|altārium}}, {{lang|sq|mallkoj}} 'to curse' from {{lang|la|maledīcere}}, {{lang|sq|meshë}} 'mass' from {{lang|la|missa}}, {{lang|sq|murg}} 'monk' from {{lang|la|monachus}}, {{lang|sq|peshkëp}} 'bishop' from {{lang|la|episcopus}}, and {{lang|sq|ungjill}} 'gospel' from {{lang|la|ēvangelium}}.{{sfn|Mihăescu|1966|pp=1–2}}
Other authors<ref>A. Rosetti, Istoria limbii române, 1986, pp. 195–197</ref> have detected Latin loanwords in Albanian with an ancient sound pattern from the 1st century BC,{{clarify|reason=What in particular suggests the phonological system of 1st-century-BC Latin?|date=January 2017}}<!-- presumably the fact that */ɪ/ remains i-colored and has not merged with */eː/, and that */k/ remains unpalatalised before it, as opposed to every Romance language except Sardinian --> for example, Albanian ''{{lang|sq|qingël(ë)}}'' 'saddle girth; dwarf elder' from Latin {{lang|la|cingula}} and Albanian ''{{lang|sq|e vjetër}}'' 'old, aged; former' from {{lang|sq|vjet}} but influenced by Latin {{lang|la|veteris}}. The ] inherited these words from Vulgar Latin: {{lang|la|cingula}} became (via *''clinga'') Romanian {{lang|ro|chingă}} 'girdle; saddle girth', and '']'' became Romanian {{lang|ro|bătrân}} 'old'.
* Some 85 Latin words have survived in Albanian but not (as inherited) in any ]. A few examples include Late Latin ''celsydri'' → dial. ''kulshedër'' → ''kuçedër'' 'hydra', ''hībernus'' → ''vërri'' 'winter pasture', ''sarcinārius'' 'used for packing, loading' → ''shelqëror'' 'forked peg, grapnel, forked hanger', ''solanum'' 'nightshade', lit. 'sun plant' → ''shullë(r)'' 'sunny place out of the wind, sunbathed area', ''splēnēticus'' → ''shpretkë'' 'spleen', ''trifurcus'' → ''tërfurk'' 'pitchfork'.{{sfn|Mihăescu|1966|pp=1, 30}}
* 151 Albanian words of Latin origin were not inherited in Romanian. A few examples include Latin ''amicus'' → Albanian ''mik'' 'friend', ''inimicus'' → ''armik'' 'foe, enemy', ''rationem'' → ''arsye'', ''benedicere'' → ''bekoj'', ''bubulcus'' 'ploughman, herdsman' → ''bulk'', ''bujk'' 'peasant', ''calicis'' → ''qelq'' 'drinking glass', ''castellum'' → ''kështjellë'' 'castle', ''centum'' → ''qind'' 'hundred', ''gallus'' → ''gjel'' 'rooster', ''iunctūra'' → ''gjymtyrë'' 'limb; joint', ''medicus'' → ''mjek'' 'doctor', ''retem'' → ''rrjetë'' 'net', ''spērāre'' → dial. ''shp(ë)rej'' ''shpresoj'' 'to hope' ''pres'' 'await', ''voluntās'' (''voluntātis'') → ''vullnet'' 'will; volunteer'.{{sfn|Mihăescu|1966|pp=1, 21}}
* Some Albanian church terminology has phonetic features which demonstrate their very early borrowing from Latin. A few examples include Albanian ''bekoj'' 'to bless' from ''benedīcere'', ''engjëll'' 'angel' from ''angelus'', ''kishë'' 'church' from ''ecclēsia'', ''i krishterë'' 'Christian' from ''christiānus'', ''kryq'' 'cross' from ''crux'' (''crucis''), (obsolete) ''lter'' 'altar' from Latin ''altārium'', ''mallkoj'' 'to curse' from ''maledīcere'', ''meshë'' 'mass' from ''missa'', ''murg'' 'monk' from ''monacus'', ''peshkëp'' 'bishop' from ''episcopus'', and ''ungjill'' 'gospel' from ''ēvangelium''.{{sfn|Mihăescu|1966|pp=1–2}}
Albanian, ], and the surviving ] such as ] and ] are the non-Romance languages today that have this sort of extensive Latin element dating from ancient Roman times, which has undergone the sound changes associated with the languages. Other languages in or near the former Roman area either came on the scene later (Turkish, the Slavic languages, Arabic) or borrowed little from Latin despite coexisting with it (Greek, German), although German does have a few such ancient Latin loanwords ({{lang|de|Fenster}} 'window', {{lang|de|Käse}} 'cheese').
Other authors<ref>A. Rosetti, Istoria limbii române, 1986, pp. 195-197</ref> have detected Latin loanwords in Albanian with an ancient sound pattern from the 1st century BC,{{clarify|reason=What in particular suggests the phonological system of 1st-century-BC Latin?|date=January 2017}}<!-- presumably the fact that */ɪ/ remains i-colored and has not merged with */eː/, and that */k/ remains unpalatalised before it, as opposed to every Romance language except Sardinian --> for example, Albanian ''qingël(ë)'' 'saddle girth; dwarf elder' from Latin ''cingula'' and Albanian ''e vjetër'' 'old, aged; former' from ''vjet'' but influenced by Latin ''veteris''. The ] inherited these words from Vulgar Latin: ''cingula'' became Romanian ''chinga'' 'girdle; saddle girth', and Vulgar Latin '']'' became Romanian ''bătrân'' 'old'.
Albanian, ], and the surviving ] such as ] and ] are the non-Romance languages today that have this sort of extensive Latin element dating from ancient Roman times, which has undergone the sound changes associated with the languages. Other languages in or near the former Roman area either came on the scene later (Turkish, the Slavic languages, Arabic) or borrowed little from Latin despite coexisting with it (Greek, German), although German does have a few such ancient Latin loanwords (''Fenster'' 'window', ''Käse'' 'cheese', ''Köln'').
Romanian scholars such as Vatasescu and Mihaescu, using lexical analysis of the Albanian language, have concluded that Albanian was heavily influenced by an extinct Romance language that was distinct from both Romanian and ]. Because the Latin words common to only Romanian and Albanian are significantly fewer in number than those that are common to only Albanian and Western Romance, Mihaescu argues that the Albanian language evolved in a region with much greater contact with Western Romance regions than with Romanian-speaking regions, and located this region in present-day Albania, Kosovo and Western Macedonia, spanning east to ] and ].<ref name="MadgearuAlbanianRomans">{{cite book |author1=Madgearu, Alexandru |author2=Gordon, Martin |title=The Wars of the Balkan Peninsula: Their Medieval Origins |pages=146–147}}</ref>
Romanian scholars such as Vatasescu and Mihaescu, using lexical analysis of the Albanian language, have concluded that Albanian was heavily influenced by an extinct Romance language that was distinct from both Romanian and ]. Because the Latin words common to only Romanian and Albanian are significantly fewer in number than those that are common to only Albanian and Western Romance, Mihaescu argues that the Albanian language evolved in a region with much greater contact with Western Romance regions than with Romanian-speaking regions, and located this region in present-day Albania, Kosovo and Western Macedonia, spanning east to ] and ].<ref name="MadgearuAlbanianRomans">{{cite book |author1=Madgearu, Alexandru |author2=Gordon, Martin |title=The Wars of the Balkan Peninsula: Their Medieval Origins |pages=146–147}}</ref>
==== Otherloans ====
==== Slavic influence ====
After the ] arrived in the Balkans, the ] became an additional source of loanwords. Contact between Albanian with the Slavic languages lasted very intensively for almost four centuries, and continued even in the late Middle Ages. Slavic loanwords in Albanian constitute a less studied area in literature. Per ] (1998),{{sfn|Orel|1998}}{{Page needed|date=August 2024}} there are about 556 Slavic loanwords in Albanian.
It is assumed{{by whom|date=January 2017}} that ] and ] (the ancestor of Romanian and other Balkan Romance languages) exerted a great influence on Albanian. Examples of words borrowed from Latin: ''qytet < civitas'' (city), ''qiell < caelum'' (sky), ''mik < amicus'' (friend), ''kape ditën < carpe diem'' (seize the day).
==== Turkish influence ====
After the ] arrived in the ], the ] became an additional source of loanwords. The rise of the ] meant an influx of ] words; this also entailed the borrowing of Persian and Arabic words through Turkish. Some Turkish personal names, such as ''Altin'', are common. There are some loanwords from Modern Greek, especially in the south of Albania. Many borrowed words have been replaced by words with Albanian roots or modern Latinised (international) words.
The rise of the ] meant an influx of ] words; this also entailed the borrowing of Persian and Arabic words through Turkish. Some Turkish personal names, such as ''Altin'', are common. There are some loanwords from Modern Greek, especially in the south of Albania. Many borrowed words have been replaced by words with Albanian roots or modern Latinised (international) words. According to calculations mentioned by ] (1985),<ref>Banfi, Emanuele (1985). "Linguistica balcanica". Bologna: 162.</ref> the total number of Turkish loanwords in Albanian is about two thousand. However, when taking into account obsolete and rare words, and restricted dialectalisms, their number is considerably larger.
=====Gothic=====
=====Gothic=====
Albanian is also known to possess a small set of loans from ], with early inquiry into the matter done by ]<ref>Jokl, Norbert (1929). "Balkangermanisches und Germanisches in Albanischen". ''Festschrift der 57. Versammlung deutscher Philologen und Schulmänner in Salzberg''. Baden bei Wien: 105-137.</ref> and ],<ref>Feist, Sigmund (1939). ''Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprafche''. Leiden: Brill.</ref> though such loans had been claimed earlier in the 19th century by early linguists such as ]. Many words claimed as Gothic have now been attributed to other origins by later linguists of Albanian (''fat'' and ''tufë'', though used for major claims by Huld in 1994, are now attributed to Latin, for example),<ref>Orel, Vladimir (1998). ''Albanian Etymological Dictionary''. Page 456-7, 468.</ref> or may instead be native to Albanian, inherited from Proto-Indo-European.<ref>Matasovic, Ranko (2019). ''''. Zagreb. Page 39</ref> Today, it is accepted that there are a few words from Gothic in Albanian, but for the most part they are scanty because the Goths had few contacts with Balkan peoples.<ref name=Curtis19>Curtis, M.C., 2012. . Page 19</ref>
Albanian is also known to possess a small set of loans from ], with early inquiry into the matter done by ]<ref>Jokl, Norbert (1929). "Balkangermanisches und Germanisches in Albanischen". ''Festschrift der 57. Versammlung deutscher Philologen und Schulmänner in Salzberg''. Baden bei Wien: 105–137.</ref> and ],<ref>Feist, Sigmund (1939). ''Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprafche''. Leiden: Brill.</ref> though such loans had been claimed earlier in the 19th century by early linguists such as ]. Many words claimed as Gothic have now been attributed to other origins by later linguists of Albanian (''fat'' and ''tufë'', though used for major claims by Huld in 1994, are now attributed to Latin, for example),{{sfn|Orel|1998|pp=456-457, 468}} or may instead be native to Albanian, inherited from Proto-Indo-European.<ref name="auto">Matasovic, Ranko (2019). ''''. Zagreb. Page 39</ref> Today, it is accepted that there are a few words from Gothic in Albanian, but for the most part they are scanty because the Goths had few contacts with Balkan peoples.<ref name=Curtis19>Curtis, M.C., 2012. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207075619/https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1338406907 |date=7 February 2023 }}. Page 19</ref>
Martin Huld<ref name=Huld168>Huld, M.E., 1994. . ''Historische Sprachforschung/Historical Linguistics'', 107(1. H), pp.165-171. Pages 167-8.</ref> defends the significance of the admittedly sparse Gothic loans for Albanian studies, however, arguing that Gothic is the only clearly post-Roman and "pre-Ottoman" language after Latin with a notable influence on the Albanian lexicon (the influence of Slavic languages is both pre-Ottoman and Ottoman).<ref name=Huld168/> He argues that Gothic words in Albanian are attributable to the late fourth and early fifth centuries during the invasions of various Gothic speaking groups of the Balkans under ], ], and ]. He argues that Albanian Gothicisms bear evidence for the ordering of developments within Proto-Albanian at this time: for example, he argues Proto-Albanian at this stage had already shifted /uː/ to as Gothic words with /uː/ reflect with /u/ in Albanian, not /y/ as seen in most Latin and ancient Greek loans, but had not yet experienced the shift of /t͡s/ to /θ/, since loans from Gothic words with /θ/ replace /θ/ with /t/ or another close sound.<ref name=Huld168/>
Martin Huld<ref name=Huld168>Huld, M.E., 1994. . ''Historische Sprachforschung/Historical Linguistics'', 107(1. H), pp.165–171. Pages 167–8.</ref> defends the significance of the admittedly sparse Gothic loans for Albanian studies, however, arguing that Gothic is the only clearly post-Roman and "pre-Ottoman" language after Latin with a notable influence on the Albanian lexicon (the influence of Slavic languages is both pre-Ottoman and Ottoman).<ref name=Huld168/> He argues that Gothic words in Albanian are attributable to the late fourth and early fifth centuries during the invasions of various Gothic speaking groups of the Balkans under ], ], and ]. He argues that Albanian Gothicisms bear evidence for the ordering of developments within Proto-Albanian at this time: for example, he argues Proto-Albanian at this stage had already shifted {{IPA|/uː/}} to {{IPA|/y/}} as Gothic words with {{IPA|/uː/}} reflect with {{IPA|/u/}} in Albanian, not {{IPA|/y/}} as seen in most Latin and ancient Greek loans, but had not yet experienced the shift of {{IPA|/t͡s/}} to {{IPA|/θ/}}, since loans from Gothic words with {{IPA|/θ/}} replace {{IPA|/θ/}} with {{IPA|/t/}} or another close sound.<ref name=Huld168/>
Notable words that continue to be attributed to Gothic in Albanian by multiple modern sources include:
Notable words that continue to be attributed to Gothic in Albanian by multiple modern sources include:
* {{lang|sq|tirk}} "felt gaiters, white felt" (cf Romanian {{lang|ro|tureac}} "top of boot") < Gothic {{lang|got|*θiuh-brōks-}}<ref name=Curtis19/>{{sfn|Orel|1998|pp=456-457}} or {{lang|got|*θiuhbrōkeis}},<ref name=Huld168/> cf Old High German {{lang|de|theobrach}} "gaiters"{{sfn|Orel|1998|pp=456-457}}
* {{lang|sq|shkumë}} "foam"<ref name="auto"/> < Gothic {{lang|got|*skūm-}},<ref name=Huld168/> perhaps via an intermediary in a Romance {{lang|roa|*scuma}}{{sfn|Orel|1998|p=424}} (cf. Romanian {{lang|ro|spumă}})
* ''tirk'' "felt gaiters, white felt" (cf Romanian ''tureac'' "top of boot") < Gothic *θiuh-brōks-<ref name=Curtis19/><ref name=Orel_tirk>Orel, Vladimir (1998). ''Albanian Etymological Dictionary''. Page 456-7</ref> or *θiuhbrōkeis,<ref name=Huld168/> cf Old High German ''theobrach'' "gaiters"<ref name=Orel_tirk/>
* {{lang|sq|gardh}} "fence, garden"<ref name="auto"/> is either considered a native Albanian word<ref>Curtis, M.C., 2012. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207075619/https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1338406907 |date=7 February 2023 }}. Page 107</ref> that was loaned into Romanian as {{lang|ro|gard}}{{sfn|Orel|1998|p=110}}<ref>{{harvnb|Fortson|2010|p=449}}</ref>
* ''shkumë'' "foam"<ref>Matasovic, Ranko (2019). ''''. Zagreb. Page 39</ref> < Gothic ''*skūm-'',<ref name=Huld168/> perhaps via an intermediary in a Romance *scuma<ref>Orel, Vladimir (1998). ''Albanian Etymological Dictionary''. Page 424</ref>
* {{lang|sq|zverk}} "nape, back of neck" < Gothic {{lang|got|*swairhs}};<ref>Huld, M.E., 1994. . ''Historische Sprachforschung/Historical Linguistics'', 107(1. H), pp.165–171.</ref> the "difficult" word having various otherwise been attributed (with phonological issues) to Celtic, Greek or native development.{{sfn|Orel|1998|pp=526-527}}
* ''gardh'' "fence, garden"<ref>Matasovic, Ranko (2019). ''''. Zagreb. Page 39</ref> is either considered a native Albanian word<ref>Curtis, M.C., 2012. . Page 107</ref> that was loaned into Romanian as ''gard''<ref>Orel, Vladimir (1998). ''Albanian Etymological Dictionary''. Page 110</ref><ref>Fortson IV, B. W. (2010). Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction. 2nd ed. MA: Blackwell Publishing. Page 449</ref> or from a Romance word itself loaned from Gothic ''gards''<ref>Poruciuc, Adrian. (2009). Linguistic-Historical Implications of an Old Germanic Loan - Romanian gard 'fence, enclosure, weir, garden'. ''The mankind quarterly''. 50. 25-70. 10.46469/mq.2009.50.1.2. </ref>
* {{lang|sq|horr}} "villain, scoundrel" and {{lang|sq|horre}} "whore" < Gothic {{lang|got|*hors}} "adulterer, cf Old Norse {{lang|non|hóra}} "whore"{{sfn|Orel|1998|pp=150-151}}
* ''zverk'' "nape, back of neck" < Gothic *''swairhs'';<ref>Huld, M.E., 1994. . ''Historische Sprachforschung/Historical Linguistics'', 107(1. H), pp.165-171.</ref> the "difficult" word having various otherwise been attributed (with phonological issues) to Celtic, Greek or native development.<ref>Orel, Vladimir (1998). ''Albanian Etymological Dictionary''. Page 526-7</ref>
* {{lang|sq|punjashë}} "purse", diminutive of {{lang|sq|punjë}} < Gothic {{lang|got|puggs}} "purse"{{sfn|Orel|1998|p=350}} (cf. Romanian {{lang|ro|pungă}})
* ''horr'' "villain, scoundrel" and ''horre'' "whore" < Gothic *''hors'' "adulterer, cf Old Norse ''hóra'' "whore"<ref>Orel, Vladimir (1998). ''Albanian Etymological Dictionary''. Page 150-151.</ref>
* ''punjashë'' "purse", diminutive of ''punjë'' < Gothic ''puggs'' "purse"<ref>Orel, Vladimir (1998). ''Albanian Etymological Dictionary''. Page 350</ref>
==== Patterns in loaning ====
==== Patterns in loaning ====
Although Albanian is characterised by the absorption of many loans, even, in the case of Latin, reaching deep into the core vocabulary, certain ]s nevertheless remained more resistant. Terms pertaining to social organisation are often preserved, though not those pertaining to political organisation, while those pertaining to trade are all loaned or innovated.{{sfn|Orel|2000|p=263}}
Although Albanian is characterised by the absorption of many loans, even, in the case of Latin, reaching deep into the core vocabulary, certain ]s nevertheless remained more resistant. Terms pertaining to social organisation are often preserved, though not those pertaining to political organisation, while those pertaining to trade are all loaned or innovated.{{sfn|Orel|2000|p=263}}
Hydronyms present a complicated picture; the term for "sea" (''det'') is native and an "Albano-Germanic" innovation referring to the concept of depth, but a large amount of maritime vocabulary is loaned. Words referring to large streams and their banks tend to be loans, but ''lumë'' ("river") is native, as is ''rrymë'' (the flow of water). Words for smaller streams and stagnant pools of water are more often native, but the word for "pond", ''pellg'' is in fact a semantically shifted descendant of the old Greek word for "high sea", suggesting a change in location after Greek contact. Albanian has maintained since Proto-Indo-European a specific term referring to a riverside forest (''gjazë''), as well as its words for marshes. Curiously, Albanian has maintained native terms for "whirlpool", "water pit" and (aquatic) "deep place", leading Orel to speculate that the Albanian ] likely had an excess of dangerous whirlpools and depths.{{sfn|Orel|2000|pp=264–265}}
Hydronyms present a complicated picture; the term for "sea" ({{lang|sq|det}}) is native and an "Albano-Germanic" innovation referring to the concept of depth, but a large amount of maritime vocabulary is loaned. Words referring to large streams and their banks tend to be loans, but {{lang|sq|lumë}} ("river") is native, as is {{lang|sq|rrymë}} (the flow of water). Words for smaller streams and stagnant pools of water are more often native, but the word for "pond", {{lang|sq|pellg}} is in fact a semantically shifted descendant of the old Greek word for "high sea", suggesting a change in location after Greek contact. Albanian has maintained since Proto-Indo-European a specific term referring to a riverside forest ({{lang|sq|gjazë}}), as well as its words for marshes. Albanian has maintained native terms for "whirlpool", "water pit" and (aquatic) "deep place", leading Orel to speculate that the Albanian ] likely had an excess of dangerous whirlpools and depths.{{sfn|Orel|2000|pp=264–265}}
Regarding forests, words for most conifers and shrubs are native, as are the terms for "alder", "elm", "oak", "beech", and "linden", while "ash", "chestnut", "birch", "maple", "poplar", and "willow" are loans.{{sfn|Orel|2000|pp=266–267}}
Regarding forests, words for most conifers and shrubs are native, as are the terms for "alder", "elm", "oak", "beech", and "linden", while "ash", "chestnut", "birch", "maple", "poplar", and "willow" are loans.{{sfn|Orel|2000|pp=266–267}}
Line 950:
Line 1,135:
The original kinship terminology of Indo-European was radically reshaped; changes included a shift from "mother" to "sister", and were so thorough that only three terms retained their original function, the words for "son-in-law", "mother-in-law" and "father-in-law". All the words for second-degree blood kinship, including "aunt", "uncle", "nephew", "niece", and terms for grandchildren, are ancient loans from Latin.{{sfn|Orel|2000|p=262}}
The original kinship terminology of Indo-European was radically reshaped; changes included a shift from "mother" to "sister", and were so thorough that only three terms retained their original function, the words for "son-in-law", "mother-in-law" and "father-in-law". All the words for second-degree blood kinship, including "aunt", "uncle", "nephew", "niece", and terms for grandchildren, are ancient loans from Latin.{{sfn|Orel|2000|p=262}}
The Proto-Albanians appear to have been cattle breeders given the vastness of preserved native vocabulary pertaining to cow breeding, milking and so forth, while words pertaining to dogs tend to be loaned. Many words concerning horses are preserved, but the word for horse itself is a Latin loan.{{sfn|Orel|2000|pp=267-268}}
The Proto-Albanians appear to have been cattle breeders given the vastness of preserved native vocabulary pertaining to cow breeding, milking and so forth, while words pertaining to dogs tend to be loaned. Many words concerning horses are preserved, but the word for horse itself is a Latin loan.{{sfn|Orel|2000|pp=267–268}}
== See also ==
== See also ==
{{Portal|Languages}}
{{Portal|Languages}}
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== Notes ==
== Notes ==
<references group="note" />
{{notelist}}
{{notelist}}
==References==
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
== Bibliography ==
== Bibliography ==
{{Refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
{{Refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
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* Ajeti, Idriz."Për historinë e marrëdhënieve të hershme gjuhësore shqiptare-sllave",'']'' 4 (1972): 83–94 (reprint in ''Gjurmime albanologjike – Seria e shkencave filologjike II – 1972''. Pristina: 1974, pp. 33–44).
* {{cite journal |last=Ajeti |first=Idriz |title=Për historinë e marrëdhënieve të hershme gjuhësore shqiptare-sllave |journal=] |volume=4 |year=1972 |pages=83–94}} (reprint in ''Gjurmime albanologjike – Seria e shkencave filologjike II – 1972''. Pristina: 1974, pp. 33–44).
* Arapi, Inna.''Der Gebrauch von Infinitiv und Konjunktiv im Altalbanischen mit Ausblick auf das Rumänische''. Hamburg: Kovač, 2010.
* {{cite book |last=Arapi |first=Inna |title=Der Gebrauch von Infinitiv nagger und Konjunktiv im Altalbanischen mit Ausblick auf das Rumänische |location=Hamburg |publisher=Kovač |year=2010}}
* {{cite book |last=Banfi |first=Emanuele |title=Linguistica balcanica |location=Bologna |publisher=Zanichelli |year=1985}}
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* {{cite book |last=Bonnet |first=Guillaume |title=Les mots latins de l'albanais |location=Paris |publisher=L'Harmattan |year=1998 |isbn=9782738460349}}
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* Buchholz, Oda & Wilfried Fiedler. ''Albanische Grammatik''. Leipzig: VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie, 1987.
* {{cite book |last=Boretzky |first=Norbert |series=Der türkische Einfluss auf das Albanische |volume=1 |title=Phonologie und Morphologie der albanischen Turzismen |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz |year=1975}}
* ]. "Disa probleme themelore të historisë së vjetër të gjuhës shqipe", ''Buletin i Universitetit Shtetëror të Tiranës. Seria e Shkencave Shoqërore'' 4 (1962): 117–148 (In German ''Studia Albanica'' 1 (1964))
* {{cite book |last=Boretzky |first=Norbert |series=Der türkische Einfluss auf das Albanische |volume=2 |title=Wörterbuch der albanischen Turzismen |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz |year=1975}}
* Çabej, Eqrem. "Zur Charakteristik der lateinischen Lehnwörter im Albanischen", ''Revue roumaine de linguistique'' 7, vol. 1 (1962): 161–99 (In Albanian "Karakteristikat e huazimeve latine të gjuhës shqipe", ''Studime Filologjike'' 2 (1974): 14–51)
* {{cite journal |author-link=Eqrem Çabej |last=Çabej |first=Eqrem |title=Disa probleme themelore të historisë së vjetër të gjuhës shqipe |journal=Buletin i Universitetit Shtetëror të Tiranës |series=Seria e Shkencave Shoqërore |volume=4 |year=1962 |pages=117–148}} (In German ''Studia Albanica'' 1 (1964))
* {{cite journal |last=Çabej |first=Eqrem |title=Zur Charakteristik der lateinischen Lehnwörter im Albanischen |journal=Revue roumaine de linguistique |volume=7 |issue=1 |year=1962 |pages=161–199 |url=http://dspace.bcu-iasi.ro/handle/123456789/13995 |language=de}}
** {{cite journal |last=Çabej |first=Eqrem |title=Karakteristikat e huazimeve latine të gjuhës shqipe |journal=Studime Filologjike |volume=2 |year=1974 |pages=14–51 |language=sq}}
* Çabej, Eqrem. "Rreth disa çështjeve të historisë së gjuhës shqipe", ''Buletin i Universitetit Shtetëror të Tiranës. Seria e Shkencave Shoqërore'' 3 (1963): 69–101. (In Romanian ''Studii și cercetări lingvistiche'' 4 (1954))
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* Çabej, Eqrem. "Mbi disa rregulla të fonetikës historike të shqipes", ''Studime Filologjike'' 2 (1970): 77–95 (In German "Über einige Lautregeln des Albanischen", '']'' 18 (1972): 132–54)
* Çabej, Eqrem. "Mbi disa rregulla të fonetikës historike të shqipes", ''Studime Filologjike'' 2 (1970): 77–95 (In German "Über einige Lautregeln des Albanischen", ''Die Sprache'' 18 (1972): 132–54)
* Çabej, Eqrem."L'ancien nom national des albanais",''Studia Albanica'' 1 (1972): 1–40.
* {{cite journal |last=Çabej |first=Eqrem |title=L'ancien nom national des albanais |journal=Studia Albanica |volume=1 |year=1972 |pages=1–40}}
* Çabej, Eqrem."Problemi i vendit të formimit të gjuhës shqipe",''Studime Filologjike'' 4 (1972): 3–27.
* {{cite journal |last=Çabej |first=Eqrem |title=Problemi i vendit të formimit të gjuhës shqipe |journal=Studime Filologjike |volume=4 |year=1972 |pages=3–27}}
* Çabej, Eqrem. ''Studime etimologjike në fushë të shqipes''. 7 vols. Tirana: Akademia et Shkencave e Republikës Popullore të Shqipërisë, Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë, 1976–2014.
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* Camarda, Demetrio.''''. Prato, 1866.
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* Campbell, George L.,ed. ''Compendium of the World's Languages'', 2nd edn. Vol. 1:''Abaza to Kurdish'', s.v. "Albanian".London–NY: Routledge, 2000,pp. 50–7.
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* ]."Recherches sur l'histoire du sandhi dans la langue albanaise",''Lingua Posnaniensis'' 2 (1950):220–55.
* {{cite journal |author-link=Wacław Cimochowski |last=Cimochowski |first=Wacław |title=Recherches sur l'histoire du sandhi dans la langue albanaise |journal=Lingua Posnaniensis |volume=2 |year=1950 |pages=220–255}}
* Cimochowski, Wacław."Des recherches sur la toponomastique de l'Albanie",''Lingua Posnaniensis'' 8 (1960):133–45.
* {{cite journal |last=Cimochowski |first=Wacław |title=Des recherches sur la toponomastique de l'Albanie |journal=Lingua Posnaniensis |volume=8 |year=1960 |pages=133–145}}
* Cimochowski, Wacław."Pozicioni gjuhësor i ilirishtes ballkanike në rrethin e gjuhëve indoevropiane",''Studime Filologjike'' 2 (1973).
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* {{cite journal |last1=Coretta |first1=Stefano |last2=Riverin-Coutlée |first2=Josiane |last3=Kapia |first3=Enkeleida |last4=Nichols |first4=Stephen |title=Northern Tosk Albanian |year=2022 |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.1017/S0025100322000044|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11820/ebce2ea3-f955-4fa5-9178-e1626fbae15f |hdl-access=free}}
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* Demiraj, Shaban. ''Fonologjia historike e gjuhës shqipe''. (Akademia e Shkencave e Shqiperise. Instituti i Gjuhesise dhe i Letersise). Tirana: TOENA, 1996.
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* {{cite book |title=The Indo-European Languages |last=Rusakov |first=Alexander |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=9781317391531 |editor1-last=Kapović |editor1-first=Mate |chapter=Albanian |editor2-last=Giacalone Ramat |editor2-first=Anna |editor3-last=Ramat |editor3-first=Paolo |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8i0lDwAAQBAJ}}
* Schumacher, Stefan & Joachim Matzinger. ''Die Verben des Altalbanischen: Belegwörterbuch, Vorgeschichte und Etymologie''. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 2013.
* {{cite book |last1=Schumacher |first1=Stefan |last2=Matzinger |first2=Joachim |title=Die Verben des Altalbanischen: Belegwörterbuch, Vorgeschichte und Etymologie |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz |year=2013}}
* Svane, Gunnar. ''Slavische Lehnwörter im Albanischen''. Århus: Aarhus University Press, 1992.
* {{cite book |last=Svane |first=Gunnar |title=Slavische Lehnwörter im Albanischen |location=Århus |publisher=Aarhus University Press |year=1992}}
* Tagliavini, Carlo. ''La stratificazione del lessico albanese: Elementi indoeuropei''. Bologna: Casa editrice Prof. Riccardo Pàtron, 1965.
* {{cite book |last=Tagliavini |first=Carlo |title=La stratificazione del lessico albanese: Elementi indoeuropei |location=Bologna |publisher=Casa editrice Prof. Riccardo Pàtron |year=1965}}
* Thumb, Albert. "Altgriechische Elemente des Albanesischen", '']'' 26 (1909): 1–20.
* {{cite journal |last=Thumb |first=Albert |title=Altgriechische Elemente des Albanesischen |journal=] |volume=26 |year=1909 |pages=1–20}}
* {{cite book|last=Trumper|first=John|chapter=Some Celto-Albanian isoglosses and their implications|editor1-last=Grimaldi|editor1-first=Mirko|editor2-last=Lai|editor2-first=Rosangela|editor3-last=Franco|editor3-first=Ludovico|editor4-last=Baldi|editor4-first=Benedetta|title=Structuring Variation in Romance Linguistics and Beyond: In Honour of Leonardo M. Savoia|year=2018|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|isbn=9789027263179|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAR-DwAAQBAJ}}
* von Hahn, Johann Georg. ''Albanesische Studien''. 3 vols. Jena: F. Mauko, 1854.
* von Hahn, Johann Georg. ''Albanesische Studien''. 3 vols. Jena: F. Mauko, 1854.
* ]. "Proto-Indo-European: Comparison and Reconstruction", in ''The Indo-European Languages''. Edited by Anna Giacalone Ramat & Paolo Ramat. London-NY: Routledge, 1998, pp. 25–73.
* ]. "Proto-Indo-European: Comparison and Reconstruction", in ''The Indo-European Languages''. Edited by Anna Giacalone Ramat & Paolo Ramat. London-NY: Routledge, 1998, pp. 25–73.
Albanian and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region. Albanian in antiquity is often thought to have been an Illyrian language for obvious geographic and historical reasons, or otherwise an unmentioned Balkan Indo-European language that was closely related to Illyrian and Messapic. The Indo-European subfamily that gave rise to Albanian is called Albanoid in reference to a specific ethnolinguistically pertinent and historically compact language group. Whether descendants or sisters of what was called 'Illyrian' by classical sources, Albanian and Messapic, on the basis of shared features and innovations, are grouped together in a common branch in the current phylogenetic classification of the Indo-European language family.
The first written mention of Albanian was in 1284 in a witness testimony from the Republic of Ragusa, while a letter written by Dominican Friar Gulielmus Adea in 1332 mentions the Albanians using the Latin alphabet in their writings. The oldest surviving attestation of modern Albanian is from 1462. The two main Albanian dialect groups (or varieties), Gheg and Tosk, are primarily distinguished by phonological differences and are mutually intelligible in their standard varieties, with Gheg spoken to the north and Tosk spoken to the south of the Shkumbin river. Their characteristics in the treatment of both native words and loanwords provide evidence that the split into the northern and the southern dialects occurred after Christianisation of the region (4th century AD), and most likely not later than the 6th century AD, hence possibly occupying roughly their present area divided by the Shkumbin river since the Post-Roman and Pre-Slavic period, straddling the Jireček Line.
Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian dialects can be found scattered in Greece (the Arvanites and some communities in Epirus, Western Macedonia and Western Thrace), Croatia (the Arbanasi), Italy (the Arbëreshë) as well as in Romania, Turkey and Ukraine. The Malsia e Madhe Gheg Albanian and two varieties of the Tosk dialect, Arvanitika in Greece and Arbëresh in southern Italy, have preserved archaic elements of the language. Ethnic Albanians constitute a large diaspora, with many having long assimilated in different cultures and communities. Consequently, Albanian-speakers do not correspond to the total ethnic Albanian population, as many ethnic Albanians may identify as Albanian but are unable to speak the language.
Main article: AlbaniansMap of countries where Albanian holds official status: Official language Recognised minority language
The language is spoken by approximately 6 million people in the Balkans, primarily in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. However, due to old communities in Italy and the large Albanian diaspora, the worldwide total of speakers is much higher than in Southern Europe and numbers approximately 7.5 million.
Europe
The Albanian language is the official language of Albania and Kosovo and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro. Albanian is a recognised minority language in Croatia, Italy, Romania and in Serbia. Albanian is also spoken by a minority in Greece, specifically in the Thesprotia and Preveza regional units and in a few villages in Ioannina and Florina regional units in Greece. It is also spoken by 450,000 Albanian immigrants in Greece, making it one of the commonly spoken languages in the country after Greek.
Albanian is the third most common mother tongue among foreign residents in Italy. This is due to a substantial Albanian immigration to Italy. Italy has a historical Albanian minority of about 500,000, scattered across southern Italy, known as Arbëreshë. Approximately 1 million Albanians from Kosovo are dispersed throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria. These are mainly immigrants from Kosovo who migrated during the 1990s. In Switzerland, the Albanian language is the sixth most spoken language with 176,293 native speakers.
Albanian became an official language in North Macedonia on 15 January 2019.
Americas
There are large numbers of Albanian speakers in the United States, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Canada. Some of the first ethnic Albanians to arrive in the United States were the Arbëreshë. The Arbëreshë have a strong sense of identity and are unique in that they speak an archaic dialect of Tosk Albanian called Arbëresh.
In the United States and Canada, there are approximately 250,000 Albanian speakers. It is primarily spoken on the East Coast of the United States, in cities like New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, as well as in parts of the states of New Jersey, Ohio, and Connecticut.
Approximately 1.3 million people of Albanian ancestry live in Turkey, with more than 500,000 recognizing their ancestry, language and culture. There are other estimates, however, that place the number of people in Turkey with Albanian ancestry and or background upward to 5 million. However, the vast majority of this population is assimilated and no longer possesses fluency in the Albanian language, though a vibrant Albanian community maintains its distinct identity in Istanbul to this day.
Egypt also lays claim to about 18,000 Albanians, mostly Tosk speakers. Many are descendants of the Janissary of Muhammad Ali Pasha, an Albanian who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. In addition to the dynasty that he established, a large part of the former Egyptian and Sudanese aristocracy was of Albanian origin. In addition to the recent emigrants, there are older diasporic communities around the world.
Oceania
Albanian is also spoken by Albanian diaspora communities residing in Australia and New Zealand.
Dialects
Main article: Albanian dialectsThe dialects of the Albanian language
The Albanian language has two distinct dialects, Tosk which is spoken in the south, and Gheg spoken in the north. Standard Albanian is based on the Tosk dialect. The Shkumbin River is the rough dividing line between the two dialects.
Gheg is divided into four sub-dialects: Northwest Gheg, Northeast Gheg, Central Gheg and Southern Gheg. It is primarily spoken in northern Albania, Kosovo, and throughout Montenegro and northwestern North Macedonia. One fairly divergent dialect is the Upper Reka dialect, which is however classified as Central Gheg. There is also a diaspora dialect in Croatia, the Arbanasi dialect.
Tosk is divided into five sub-dialects, including Northern Tosk (the most numerous in speakers), Labërisht, Cham, Arvanitika, and Arbëresh. Tosk is spoken in southern Albania, southwestern North Macedonia and northern and southern Greece. Cham Albanian is spoken in North-western Greece, while Arvanitika is spoken by the Arvanites in southern Greece. In addition, Arbëresh is spoken by the Arbëreshë people, descendants of 15th and 16th century migrants who settled in southeastern Italy, in small communities in the regions of Sicily and Calabria. These settlements originated from the (Arvanites) communities probably of Peloponnese known as Morea in the Middle Ages. Among them the Arvanites call themselves Arbëror and sometime Arbëresh. The Arbëresh dialect is closely related to the Arvanites dialect with more Italian vocabulary absorbed during different periods of time.
The Albanian language has been written using many alphabets since the earliest records from the 15th century. The history of Albanian language orthography is closely related to the cultural orientation and knowledge of certain foreign languages among Albanian writers. The earliest written Albanian records come from the Gheg area in makeshift spellings based on Italian or Greek. Originally, the Tosk dialect was written in the Greek alphabet and the Gheg dialect was written in the Latin script. Both dialects had also been written in the Ottoman Turkish version of the Arabic script, Cyrillic, and some local alphabets (Elbasan, Vithkuqi, Todhri, Veso Bey, Jan Vellara and others, see original Albanian alphabets). More specifically, the writers from northern Albania and under the influence of the Catholic Church used Latin letters, those in southern Albania and under the influence of the Greek Orthodox church used Greek letters, while others throughout Albania and under the influence of Islam used Arabic letters. There were initial attempts to create an original Albanian alphabet during the 1750–1850 period. These attempts intensified after the League of Prizren and culminated with the Congress of Manastir held by Albanian intellectuals from 14 to 22 November 1908, in Manastir (present day Bitola), which decided on which alphabet to use, and what the standardised spelling would be for standard Albanian. This is how the literary language remains. The alphabet is the Latin alphabet with the addition of the letters ⟨ë⟩, ⟨ç⟩, and ten digraphs: dh, th, xh, gj, nj, ng, ll, rr, zh and sh.
The hundred years between 1750 and 1850 were an age of astounding orthographic diversity in Albania. In this period, the Albanian language was put to writing in at least ten different alphabets – most certainly a record for European languages. ... the diverse forms in which this old Balkan language was recorded, from the earliest documents to the beginning of the twentieth century ... consist of adaptations of the Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Cyrillic alphabets and (what is even more interesting) a number of locally invented writing systems. Most of the latter alphabets have now been forgotten and are unknown, even to the Albanians themselves.
Classification
Albanian within Indo-European language family tree based on "Ancestry-constrained phylogenetic analysis of Indo-European languages" by Chang et al. (January 2015).
Albanian constitutes one of the eleven major branches of the Indo-European language family, within which it occupies an independent position. In 1854, Albanian was demonstrated to be an Indo-European language by the philologistFranz Bopp. Albanian was formerly compared by a few Indo-European linguists with Germanic and Balto-Slavic, all of which share a number of isoglosses with Albanian. Other linguists linked the Albanian language with Latin, Greek and Armenian, while placing Germanic and Balto-Slavic in another branch of Indo-European. In current scholarship there is evidence that Albanian is closely related to Greek and Armenian, while the fact that it is a satem language is less significant.
Albanian in the Palaeo-Balkanic Indo-European branch based on the chapters "Albanian" (Hyllested & Joseph 2022) and "Armenian" (Olsen & Thorsø 2022) in Olander (ed.) The Indo-European Language Family
Messapic is considered the closest language to Albanian, grouped in a common branch titled Illyric in Hyllested & Joseph (2022). Hyllested & Joseph (2022) in agreement with recent bibliography identify Greco-Phrygian as the IE branch closest to the Albanian-Messapic one. These two branches form an areal grouping – which is often called "Balkan IE" – with Armenian. The hypothesis of the "Balkan Indo-European" continuum posits a common period of prehistoric coexistence of several Indo-European dialects in the Balkans prior to 2000 BC. To this group would belong Albanian, Ancient Greek, Armenian, Phrygian, fragmentary attested languages such as Macedonian, Thracian, or Illyrian, and the relatively well-attested Messapic in Southern Italy. The common features of this group appear at the phonological, morphological, and lexical levels, presumably resulting from the contact between the various languages. The concept of this linguistic group is explained as a kind of language league of the Bronze Age (a specific areal-linguistics phenomenon), although it also consisted of languages that were related to each other. A common prestage posterior to PIE comprising Albanian, Greek, and Armenian, is considered as a possible scenario. In this light, due to the larger number of possible shared innovations between Greek and Armenian, it appears reasonable to assume, at least tentatively, that Albanian was the first Balkan IE language to branch off. This split and the following ones were perhaps very close in time, allowing only a narrow time frame for shared innovations.
Albanian represents one of the core languages of the Balkan Sprachbund.
Glottolog and Ethnologue recognize four Albanian languages. They are classified as follows:
The first attested written mention of the Albanian language was on 14 July 1284 in Ragusa in modern Croatia (Dubrovnik) when a crime witness named Matthew testified: "I heard a voice crying on the mountain in the Albanian language" (Latin: Audivi unam vocem, clamantem in monte in lingua albanesca).
Habent enim Albani prefati linguam distinctam a Latinis, Grecis et Sclauis ita quod in nullo se intelligunt cum aliis nationibus.
(Namely, the above-mentioned Albanians have a language that is different from the languages of Latins, Greeks and Slavs, so that they do not understand each other at all.)
The oldest attested document written in Albanian dates to 1462, while the first audio recording in the language was made by Norbert Jokl on 4 April 1914 in Vienna.
However, as Fortson notes, Albanian written works existed before this point; they have simply been lost. The existence of written Albanian is explicitly mentioned in a letter attested from 1332, and the first preserved books, including both those in Gheg and in Tosk, share orthographic features that indicate that some form of common literary language had developed.
By the Late Middle Ages, during the period of Humanism and the European Renaissance, the term lingua epirotica 'Epirotan language' was preferred in the intellectual, literary, and clerical circles of the time, and used as a synonym for the Albanian language. Published in Rome in 1635, by the Albanian bishop and writer Frang Bardhi, the first dictionary of the Albanian language was titled Latin: Dictionarium latino-epiroticum 'Latin-Epirotan dictionary'.
During the five-century period of the Ottoman presence in Albania, the language was not officially recognised until 1909, when the Congress of Dibra decided that Albanian schools would finally be allowed.
Albanian is an isolate within the Indo-European language family; no other language has been conclusively linked to its branch. The only other languages that are the sole surviving members of a branch of Indo-European are Armenian and Greek.
The Albanian language is part of the Indo-Europeanlanguage family and the only surviving representative of its own branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group. Although it is still uncertain which ancient mentioned language of the Balkans it continues, or where in the region its speakers lived. In general, there is insufficient evidence to connect Albanian with one of those languages, whether Illyrian, Thracian, or Dacian.Among these possibilities, Illyrian is the most probable.
Although Albanian shares lexical isoglosses with Greek, Germanic, and to a lesser extent Balto-Slavic, the vocabulary of Albanian is quite distinct. In 1995, Taylor, Ringe, and Warnow used quantitative linguistic techniques that appeared to obtain an Albanian subgrouping with Germanic, a result which the authors had already reasonably downplayed. Indeed, the Albanian and Germanic branches share a relatively moderate number of lexical cognates. Many shared grammatical elements or features of these two branches do not corroborate the lexical isoglosses. Albanian also shares lexical linguistic affinity with Latin and Romance languages. Sharing linguistic features unique to the languages of the Balkans, Albanian also forms a part of the Balkan linguistic area or sprachbund.
The place and the time that the Albanian language was formed are uncertain. The American linguist Eric Hamp has said that during an unknown chronological period a pre-Albanian population (termed as "Albanoid" by Hamp) inhabited areas stretching from Poland to the southwestern Balkans. Further analysis has suggested that it was in a mountainous region rather than on a plain or seacoast. The words for plants and animals characteristic of mountainous regions are entirely original, but the names for fish and for agricultural activities (such as ploughing) are borrowed from other languages.
A deeper analysis of the vocabulary, however, shows that could be a consequence of a prolonged Latin domination of the coastal and plain areas of the country, rather than evidence of the original environment in which the Albanian language was formed. For example, the word for 'fish' is borrowed from Latin, but not the word for 'gills' which is native. Indigenous are also the words for 'ship', 'raft', 'navigation', 'sea shelves' and a few names of fish kinds, but not the words for 'sail', 'row' and 'harbor'; objects pertaining to navigation itself and a large part of sea fauna. This rather shows that Proto-Albanians were pushed away from coastal areas in early times (probably after the Latin conquest of the region) and thus lost a large amount (or the majority) of their sea environment lexicon. A similar phenomenon could be observed with agricultural terms. While the words for 'arable land', 'wheat', 'cereals', 'vineyard', 'yoke', 'harvesting', 'cattle breeding', etc. are native, the words for 'ploughing', 'farm' and 'farmer', agricultural practices, and some harvesting tools are foreign. This, again, points to intense contact with other languages and people, rather than providing evidence of a possible linguistic homeland (also known as a Urheimat).
1905 issue of the magazine Albania, the most important Albanian periodical of the early 20th century
The centre of Albanian settlement remained the Mat River. In 1079, the Albanians were recorded farther south in the valley of the Shkumbin River. The Shkumbin, a 181 km long river that lies near the old Via Egnatia, is approximately the boundary of the primary dialect division for Albanian, Tosk and Gheg. The characteristics of Tosk and Gheg in the treatment of the native words and loanwords from other languages are evidence that the dialectal split preceded the Slavic migrations to the Balkans, which means that in that period (the 5th to 6th centuries AD), Albanians were occupying nearly the same area around the Shkumbin river, which straddled the Jireček Line.
References to the existence of Albanian as a distinct language survive from the 14th century, but they failed to cite specific words. The oldest surviving documents written in Albanian are the "formula e pagëzimit" (Baptismal formula), Un'te paghesont' pr'emenit t'Atit e t'Birit e t'Spertit Senit. ("I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit") recorded by Pal Engjelli, Bishop of Durrës in 1462 in the Gheg dialect, and some New Testament verses from that period.
The linguists Stefan Schumacher and Joachim Matzinger (University of Vienna) assert that the first literary records of Albanian date from the 16th century. The oldest known Albanian printed book, Meshari, or "missal", was written in 1555 by Gjon Buzuku, a Roman Catholic cleric. In 1635, Frang Bardhi wrote the first Latin–Albanian dictionary. The first Albanian school is believed to have been opened by Franciscans in 1638 in Pdhanë.
One of the earliest Albanian dictionaries was written in 1693; it was the Italian manuscript Pratichae Schrivaneschae authored by the Montenegrin sea captain Julije Balović and includes a multilingual dictionary of hundreds of the most frequently used words in everyday life in Italian, Slavic, Greek, Albanian, and Turkish.
Pre-Indo-European substratum
Pre-Indo-European (PreIE) sites are found throughout the territory of Albania. Such PreIE sites existed in Maliq, Vashtëmi, Burimas, Barç, Dërsnik in the Korçë District, Kamnik in Kolonja, Kolsh in the Kukës District, Rashtan in Librazhd, and Nezir in the Mat District. As in other parts of Europe, these PreIE people joined the migratory Indo-European tribes that entered the Balkans and contributed to the formation of the historical Paleo-Balkan tribes. In terms of linguistics, the pre-Indo-European substrate language spoken in the southern Balkans probably influenced pre-Proto-Albanian, the ancestor idiom of Albanian. The extent of this linguistic impact cannot be determined with precision due to the uncertain position of Albanian among Paleo-Balkan languages and their scarce attestation. Some loanwords, however, have been proposed, such as shegë 'pomegranate' or lëpjetë 'orach'; compare Pre-Greek λάπαθον, lápathon 'monk's rhubarb'.
the formula e pagëzimit (Baptismal Formula), which dates back to 1462 and was authored by Pal Engjëlli (or Paulus Angelus) (c. 1417 – 1470), Archbishop of Durrës. Engjëlli was a close friend and counsellor of Skanderbeg. It was written in a pastoral letter for a synod at the Holy Trinity in Mat and read in Latin characters as follows: Unte paghesont premenit Atit et Birit et Spertit Senit (standard Albanian: Unë të pagëzoj në emër të Atit, të Birit e të Shpirtit të Shenjtë; English: "I baptise you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit"). It was discovered and published in 1915 by Nicolae Iorga.
a song, recorded in the Greek alphabet, retrieved from an old codex that was written in Greek. The document is also called Perikopeja e Ungjillit të Pashkëve or Perikopeja e Ungjillit të Shën Mateut ("The Song of the Easter Gospel, or "The Song of Saint Matthew's Gospel"). Although the codex is dated to during the 14th century, the song, written in Albanian by an anonymous writer, seems to be a 16th-century writing. The document was found by Arbëreshë people who had emigrated to Italy in the 15th century.
Perikopeja e Ungjillit të Shën MateutPossibly the oldest surviving Albanian text, highlighted in red, from the Bellifortis manuscript, written by Konrad Kyeser around 1402–1405.The first book in Albanian is the Meshari ("The Missal"), written by Gjon Buzuku between 20 March 1554 and 5 January 1555. The book was written in the Gheg dialect in the Latin script with some Slavic letters adapted for Albanian vowels. The book was discovered in 1740 by Gjon Nikollë Kazazi, the Albanian archbishop of Skopje. It contains the liturgies of the main holidays. There are also texts of prayers and rituals and catechetical texts. The grammar and the vocabulary are more archaic than those in the Gheg texts from the 17th century. The 188 pages of the book comprise about 154,000 words with a total vocabulary of c. 1,500 different words. The text is archaic yet easily interpreted because it is mainly a translation of known texts, in particular portions of the Bible. The book also contains passages from the Psalms, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Jeremiah, the Letters to the Corinthians, and many illustrations. The uniformity of spelling seems to indicate an earlier tradition of writing. The only known copy of the Meshari is held by the Apostolic Library. In 1968 the book was published with transliterations and comments by linguists.
The first printed work in Tosk Albanian is the Mbsuame e krështerë (in Italian: Dottrina cristiana) by Lekë Matrënga or (in Italian) Luca Matranga. It was published in 1592 and is written in an early form of the Arbëresh language (also known as Italo-Albanian).
Albanian scripts were produced earlier than the first attested document, formula e pagëzimit, but none yet have been discovered. We know of their existence by earlier references. For example, a French monk signed as "Broccardus" notes, in 1332, that "Although the Albanians have another language totally different from Latin, they still use Latin letters in all their books".
Disputed earlier texts
In 1967 two scholars claimed to have found a Letter text in Albanian inserted into the Bellifortis text, a book written in Latin dating to 1402–1405.
"A star has fallen in a place in the woods, distinguish the star, distinguish it.
Distinguish the star from the others, they are ours, they are.
Do you see where the great voice has resounded? Stand beside it
That thunder. It did not fall. It did not fall for you, the one which would do it.
...
Like the ears, you should not believe ... that the moon fell when ...
Try to encompass that which spurts far ...
Call the light when the moon falls and no longer exists ..."
Robert Elsie, a specialist in Albanian studies, considers that "The Todericiu/Polena Romanian translation of the non-Latin lines, although it may offer some clues if the text is indeed Albanian, is fanciful and based, among other things, on a false reading of the manuscript, including the exclusion of a whole line."
Ottoman period
In 1635, Frang Bardhi (1606–1643) published in Rome his Dictionarum latinum-epiroticum, the first known Latin-Albanian dictionary. Other scholars who studied the language during the 17th century include Andrea Bogdani (1600–1685), author of the first Latin-Albanian grammar book, Nilo Katalanos (1637–1694) and others.
Phonologically, Albanian is not so conservative. Like many IE stocks, it has merged the two series of voiced stops (e.g. both PIE *d and *dʰ became Albanian: d). In addition, voiced stops tend to disappear in between vowels. There is almost complete loss of final syllables and very widespread loss of other unstressed syllables (e.g. mik 'friend' from Lat. amicus). PIE *o appears as a (also as e if a high front vowel i follows), while PIE *ē and *ā become o, and PIE *ō appears as e.
The palatals, velars, and labiovelars show distinct developments, with Albanian showing the three-way distinction also found in Luwian. Labiovelars are for the most part differentiated from all other Indo-European velar series before front vowels, but they merge with the "pure" (back) velars elsewhere. The palatal velar series, consisting of Proto-Indo-European *ḱ and the merged *ģ and *ģʰ, usually developed into *th and *dh, but were depalatalised to merge with the back velars when in contact with sonorants. Because the original Proto-Indo-European tripartite distinction between dorsals is preserved in such reflexes, Albanian is therefore neither centum nor satem, despite having a "satem-like" realization of the palatal dorsals in most cases. Thus PIE *ḱ, *k, and *kʷ become th, q, and s, respectively (before back vowels PIE *ḱ becomes th, while *k and *kʷ merge as k).
A minority of scholars reconstruct a fourth laryngeal *h₄ allegedly surfacing as Alb. h word-initially, e.g. Alb. herdhe 'testicles' presumably from PIE *h₄órǵʰi- (rather than the usual reconstruction *h₃erǵʰi-), but this is generally not followed elsewhere, as h- has arisen elsewhere idiosyncratically (for example Alb. hark < Lat. arcus).
Since World War II, standard Albanian used in Albania has been based on the Tosk dialect. Kosovo and other areas where Albanian is official adopted the Tosk standard in 1969.
Elbasan-based standard
Until the early 20th century, Albanian writing developed in three main literary traditions: Gheg, Tosk, and Arbëreshë. Throughout this time, a Gheg subdialect spoken around Elbasan served as lingua franca among the Albanians, but was less prevalent in writing. The Congress of Manastir of Albanian writers held in 1908 recommended the use of the Elbasan subdialect for literary purposes and as a basis of a unified national language. While technically classified as a southern Gheg variety, the Elbasan speech is closer to Tosk in phonology and practically a hybrid between other Gheg subdialects and literary Tosk.
Between 1916 and 1918, the Albanian Literary Commission met in Shkodër under the leadership of Luigj Gurakuqi with the purpose of establishing a unified orthography for the language. The commission, made up of representatives from the north and south of Albania, reaffirmed the Elbasan subdialect as the basis of a national tongue. The rules published in 1917 defined spelling for the Elbasan variety for official purposes. The commission did not, however, discourage publications in one of the dialects, but rather laid a foundation for Gheg and Tosk to gradually converge into one.
When the Congress of Lushnje met in the aftermath of World War I to form a new Albanian government, the 1917 decisions of the Literary Commission were upheld. The Elbasan subdialect remained in use for administrative purposes and many new writers embraced it for creative writing. Gheg and Tosk continued to develop freely and interaction between the two dialects increased.
At the end of World War II, however, the new communist regime radically imposed the use of the Tosk dialect in all facets of life in Albania: administration, education, and literature. Most Communist leaders were Tosks from the south. Standardisation was directed by the Albanian Institute of Linguistics and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of Albania. Two dictionaries were published in 1954: an Albanian language dictionary and a Russian–Albanian dictionary. New orthography rules were eventually published in 1967 and in 1973 with the Drejtshkrimi i gjuhës shqipe (Orthography of the Albanian Language).
Until 1968, Kosovo and other Albanian-speaking areas in Yugoslavia followed the 1917 standard based on the Elbasan dialect, though it was gradually infused with Gheg elements in an effort to develop a Kosovan language separate from communist Albania's Tosk-based standard. Albanian intellectuals in the former Yugoslavia consolidated the 1917 standard twice in the 1950s, culminating with a thorough codification of orthographic rules in 1964. The rules already provided for a balanced variety that accounted for both Gheg and Tosk dialects, but only lasted through 1968. Viewing divergences with Albania as a threat to their identity, Kosovars arbitrarily adopted the Tosk project that Tirana had published the year before. Although it was never intended to serve outside of Albania, the project became the "unified literary language" in 1972, when approved by a rubberstamp Orthography Congress. Only about 1 in 9 participants were from Kosovo. The Congress, held at Tirana, authorized the orthography rules that came out the following year, in 1973.
More recent dictionaries from the Albanian government are Fjalori Drejtshkrimor i Gjuhës Shqipe (1976) (Orthographic Dictionary of the Albanian Language) and Dictionary of Today's Albanian language (Fjalori i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe) (1980). Prior to World War II, dictionaries consulted by developers of the standard have included Lexikon tis Alvanikis glossis (Albanian: Fjalori i Gjuhës Shqipe (Kostandin Kristoforidhi, 1904), Fjalori i Bashkimit (1908), and Fjalori i Gazullit (1941).
Calls for reform
Since the fall of the communist regime, Albanian orthography has stirred heated debate among scholars, writers, and public opinion in Albania and Kosovo, with hardliners opposed to any changes in the orthography, moderates supporting varying degrees of reform, and radicals calling for a return to the Elbasan dialect. Criticism of Standard Albanian has centred on the exclusion of the 'me + participle' infinitive and the Gheg lexicon. Critics say that Standard Albanian disenfranchises and stigmatises Gheg speakers, affecting the quality of writing and impairing effective public communication. Supporters of the Tosk standard view the 1972 Congress as a milestone achievement in Albanian history and dismiss calls for reform as efforts to "divide the nation" or "create two languages." Moderates, who are especially prevalent in Kosovo, generally stress the need for a unified Albanian language, but believe that the 'me + participle' infinitive and Gheg words should be included. Proponents of the Elbasan dialect have been vocal, but have gathered little support in the public opinion. In general, those involved in the language debate come from diverse backgrounds and there is no significant correlation between one's political views, geographic origin, and position on Standard Albanian.
Many writers continue to write in the Elbasan dialect but other Gheg variants have found much more limited use in literature. Most publications adhere to a strict policy of not accepting submissions that are not written in Tosk. Some print media even translate direct speech, replacing the 'me + participle' infinitive with other verb forms and making other changes in grammar and word choice. Even authors who have published in the Elbasan dialect will frequently write in the Tosk standard.
In 2013, a group of academics for Albania and Kosovo proposed minor changes to the orthography. Hardline academics boycotted the initiative, while other reformers have viewed it as well-intentioned but flawed and superficial.
Education
Albanian is the medium of instruction in most Albanian schools. The literacy rate in Albania for the total population, age 9 or older, is about 99%. Elementary education is compulsory (grades 1–9), but most students continue at least until a secondary education. Students must pass graduation exams at the end of the 9th grade and at the end of the 12th grade in order to continue their education.
Phonology
Standard Albanian has seven vowels and 29 consonants. Like English, Albanian has dental fricatives /θ/ (like the th in thin) and /ð/ (like the th in this), written as ⟨th⟩ and ⟨dh⟩, which are rare cross-linguistically.
Gheg uses long and nasal vowels, which are absent in Tosk, and the mid-central vowel ë is lost at the end of the word. The stress is fixed mainly on the last syllable. Gheg n (femën: compare English feminine) changes to r by rhotacism in Tosk (femër).
The contrast between flapped r and trilled rr is the almost the same as in Spanish or Armenian. However, in most of the dialects, as also in standard Albanian, the single r changes from an alveolar flap /ɾ/ to an alveolar approximant .
The palatal nasal /ɲ/ corresponds to the Spanish ñ and the French and Italian gn. It is pronounced as one sound, not a nasal plus a glide.
The ll sound is a velarised lateral, close to English dark l.
The letter ç is sometimes written ch due to technical limitations, in analogy to the other digraphs xh, sh, and zh. Usually it is written simply c or more rarely q with context resolving any ambiguities.
The sounds spelled with q and gj show variation. They may range between occurring as palatal affricates or as palatal stops among dialects. Some speakers merge them into the palatoalveolar sounds ç and xh. This is especially common in Northern Gheg, but is increasingly the case in Tosk as well. Other speakers reduced them into /j/ in consonant clusters, such as in the word fjollë, which before standardisation was written as fqollë ( < Medieval Greek φακιολης).
The ng can be pronounced as /ŋ/ in final position, otherwise it is an allophone of n before k and g.
Before q and gj, n is always pronounced /ɲ/ but this is not reflected in the orthography.
ë can also range to an open-mid sound in the Northern Tosk dialect.
Mid sounds /e, o/ can also be heard as more open-mid sounds , in free variation.
Schwa
The schwa in Albanian has a great degree of variability from extreme back to extreme front articulation. Although the Indo-European schwa (*ə or *-h₂-) was preserved in Albanian, in some cases it was lost, possibly when a stressed syllable preceded it. Until the standardisation of the modern Albanian alphabet, in which the schwa is spelled as ⟨ë⟩, as in the work of Gjon Buzuku in the 16th century, various vowel letters and digraphs were employed, including ⟨ae⟩ by Lekë Matrënga and ⟨é⟩ by Pjetër Bogdani in the late 16th and early 17th century. Within the borders of Albania, the phoneme is pronounced about the same in both the Tosk and the Gheg dialect due to the influence of standard Albanian. However, in the Gheg dialects spoken in the neighbouring Albanian-speaking areas of Kosovo and North Macedonia, the phoneme is still pronounced as back and rounded.
Albanian has a canonical word order of SVO (subject–verb–object) like English and many other Indo-European languages. Albanian nouns are categorised by gender (masculine, feminine and neuter) and inflected for number (singular and plural) and case. There are five declensions and six cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, and vocative), although the vocative only occurs with a limited number of words (such as 'bir' ("son"), vocative case: biro, zog ("bird") vocative case: zogo), and the forms of the genitive and dative are identical (a genitive construction employs the prepositions i/e/të/së alongside dative morphemes). Some dialects also retain a locative case, which is not present in standard Albanian (e.g. "në malt" loc.sg.def). The cases apply to both definite and indefinite nouns, and there are numerous cases of syncretism.
The following shows the declension of mal (mountain), a noun in the masculine class which takes "i" in the definite singular:
The definite article can be in the form of noun suffixes, which vary with gender and case.
For example, in singular nominative, masculine nouns add -i, or those ending in -g/-k/-h take -u (to avoid palatalization):
mal (mountain) / mali (the mountain);
libër (book) / libri (the book);
zog (bird) / zogu (the bird).
Nouns in the feminine class take the suffix -(i/j)a:
veturë (car) / vetura (the car);
shtëpi (house) / shtëpia (the house);
lule (flower) / lulja (the flower).
Nouns in the neuter class take -t.
Albanian has developed an analytical verbal structure in place of the earlier synthetic system, inherited from Proto-Indo-European. Its complex system of moods (six types) and tenses (three simple and five complex constructions) is distinctive among Balkan languages. There are two general types of conjugations.
Albanian has a series of verb forms called miratives or admiratives. These may express surprise on the part of the speaker, but may also have other functions, such as expressing irony, doubt, or reportedness. The Albanian use of admirative forms is unique in the Balkan context. In English, the expression of surprise can be rendered by 'oh, look!' or 'lookee there!'; the expression of doubt can be rendered by 'indeed!'; the expression of neutral reportedness can be rendered by 'apparently'.
Ti flet shqip. "You speak Albanian." (indicative)
Ti folke shqip! "You (surprisingly) speak Albanian!" (admirative)
Rruga është e mbyllur. "The street is closed." (indicative)
Rruga qenka e mbyllur. "(Apparently,) The street is closed." (admirative)
For more information on verb conjugation and on inflection of other parts of speech, see Albanian morphology.
Word order
Albanian word order is relatively free. To say 'Agim ate all the oranges' in Albanian, one may use any of the following orders, with slight pragmatic differences:
The verb can optionally occur in sentence-initial position, especially with verbs in the passive form (forma joveprore):
Parashikohetnjë ndërprerje "An interruption is anticipated".
Negation
Verbal negation in Albanian is mood-dependent, a trait shared with some fellow Indo-European languages such as Greek.
In indicative, conditional, or admirative sentences, negation is expressed by the particles nuk or s' in front of the verb, for example:
Toni nuk flet anglisht "Tony does not speak English";
Toni s'flet anglisht "Tony doesn't speak English";
Nuk e di "I do not know";
S'e di "I don't know".
Subjunctive, imperative, optative, or non-finite forms of verbs are negated with the particle mos:
Mos harro "Do not forget!".
Numerals
një—one
tetëmbëdhjetë—eighteen
dy—two
nëntëmbëdhjetë—nineteen
tri/tre—three
njëzet—twenty
katër—four
njëzet e një—twenty-one
pesë—five
njëzet e dy—twenty-two
gjashtë—six
tridhjetë—thirty
shtatë—seven
dyzet/katërdhjetë—forty
tetë—eight
pesëdhjetë—fifty
nëntë—nine
gjashtëdhjetë—sixty
dhjetë—ten
shtatëdhjetë—seventy
njëmbëdhjetë—eleven
tetëdhjetë—eighty
dymbëdhjetë—twelve
nëntëdhjetë—ninety
trembëdhjetë—thirteen
njëqind—one hundred
katërmbëdhjetë—fourteen
pesëqind—five hundred
pesëmbëdhjetë—fifteen
një mijë—one thousand
gjashtëmbëdhjetë—sixteen
një milion—one million
shtatëmbëdhjetë—seventeen
një miliard—one billion
Notes
In certain dialects, numerals with an extra syllable may undergo metrical syncope. For example, pesëmbëdhjetë becomes pesëmet.
Vigesimal system
Beside the Indo-European decimal numeration, there are also remnants of the vigesimal system, as njëzet 'twenty' and dyzet 'forty'. The Arbëreshë in Italy and Arvanites in Greece may still use trezet 'sixty' and katërzet 'eighty'. Albanian is the only Balkan language that has preserved the Pre-Indo-European vigesimal system.
Lexicon
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Albanian is known within historical linguistics as a case of a language which, although surviving through many periods of foreign rule and multilingualism, saw a "disproportionately high" influx of loans from other languages augmenting and replacing much of its original vocabulary. Of all the foreign influences in Albanian, the deepest reaching and most impactful was the absorption of loans from Latin in the Classical period and its Romance successors afterward. Scholars have estimated a great number of Latin loanwords in Albanian, some even claiming 60% of the Albanian vocabulary.
Major work in reconstructing Proto-Albanian has been done with the help of knowledge of the original forms of loans from Ancient Greek, Latin and Slavic, while Ancient Greek loanwords are scarce the Latin loanwords are of extreme importance in phonology. The presence of loanwords from more well-studied languages from time periods before Albanian was attested, reaching deep back into the Classical Era, has been of great use in phonological reconstructions for earlier ancient and medieval forms of Albanian. Some words in the core vocabulary of Albanian have no known etymology linking them to Proto-Indo-European or any known source language, and as of 2018 are thus tentatively attributed to an unknown, unattested, pre-Indo-European substrate language; some words among these include zemër (heart) and hekur (iron). Some among these putative pre-IE words are thought to be related to putative pre-IE substrate words in neighboring Indo-European languages, such as lule (flower), which has been tentatively linked to Latin lilia and Greek leirion.
Lexical distance of Albanian to other languages in a lexicostatistical analysis by Ukrainian linguist Tyshchenko shows the following results (the lower figure, the higher similarity): 49% Slovenian, 53% Romanian, 56% Greek, 82% French, 86% Macedonian, 86% Bulgarian.
Personal Illyrian names based on a root-word and- or ant-, found in both the southern and the Dalmatian-Pannonian (including modern Bosnia and Herzegovina) onomastic provinces
Alb. andë (northern Albanian dialect, or Gheg) and ëndë (southern Albanian dialect or Tosk) "appetite, pleasure, desire, wish"
aran
"field"
Alb. arë; plural ara
Ardiaioi/Ardiaei
name of an Illyrian people
connected to hardhi "vine-branch, grape-vine", with a sense development similar to Germanic *stamniz, meaning both stem, tree stalk and tribe, lineage.
Alb. bind "to convince" or "to make believe", përbindësh "monster"
*bounon
"hut, cottage"
Alb bun
*brisa
"husk of grapes"
Alb bërsí "lees, dregs; mash" ( < PA *brutiā)
Barba-
"swamp", toponym from Metubarbis
Alb. bërrakë "swampy soil"
Daesitiates
name of an Illyrian people
Alb. dash "ram", corresponding contextually with south Slavonic dasa "ace", which might represent a borrowing and adaptation from Illyrian or even Proto-Albanian.
*mal
"mountain"
Alb mal "mountain"
*bardi
"white"
Alb bardhë "white"
*drakoina
"supper"
Alb. darke, dreke "supper, dinner"
*drenis
"deer"
Alb. indef. dre, def. dreni "deer"
*delme
"sheep"
Alb. dele, Gheg delme "sheep"
*dard
"pear"
Alb. dardhë "pear"
sīca
"dagger"
Alb indef. thikë or def. thika "knife"
Ulc-
"wolf" (pln. Ulcinium)
Alb ujk "wolf", ulk (Northern Dialect)
*loúgeon
"pool"
Alb lag, legen "to wet, soak, bathe, wash" ( < PA * lauga), lëgatë "pool" ( < PA *leugatâ), lakshte "dew" ( < PA laugista)
*mag-
"great"
Alb. madh "big, great"
*mantía
"bramblebush"
Old and dial. Alb mandë "berry, mulberry" (mod. Alb mën, man)
rhinos
"fog, mist"
Old Alb ren "cloud" (mod. Alb re, rê) ( < PA *rina)
Vendum
"place"
Proto-Alb. wen-ta (Mod. Alb. vend)
Early linguistic influences
The earliest loanwords attested in Albanian come from Doric Greek, whereas the strongest influence came from Latin. Some scholars argue that Albanian originated from an area located east of its present geographic spread due to the several common lexical items found between the Albanian and Romanian languages. However it does not necessarily define the genealogical history of Albanian language, and it does not exclude the possibility of Proto-Albanian presence in both Illyrian and Thracian territory.
The period during which Proto-Albanian and Latin interacted was protracted, lasting from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. Over this period, the lexical borrowings can be roughly divided into three layers, the second of which is the largest. The first and smallest occurred at the time of less significant interaction. The final period, probably preceding the Slavic or Germanic invasions, also has a notably smaller number of borrowings. Each layer is characterised by a different treatment of most vowels: the first layer follows the evolution of Early Proto-Albanian into Albanian; while later layers reflect vowel changes endemic to Late Latin (and presumably Proto-Romance). Other formative changes include the syncretism of several noun case endings, especially in the plural, as well as a large-scale palatalisation.
A brief period followed, between the 7th and the 9th centuries, that was marked by heavy borrowings from South Slavic, some of which predate the "o-a" shift common to the modern forms of this language group.
Early Greek loans
There are some 30 Ancient Greek loanwords in Proto-Albanian. Many of these reflect a dialect which voiced its aspirants, as did the Macedonian dialect. Other loanwords are Doric; these words mainly refer to commodity items and trade goods and probably came through trade with a now-extinct intermediary.
According to Huld (1986), the following come from a Greek dialect without any significant attestation called "Makedonian" because it was akin to the native idiom of the Greek-speaking population in the Argead kingdom:
llërë; "elbow" < *ὠlénā
brukë; "tamarisk" < *mīrýkhā
mëllagë; 'mallow' < *malákhā (with the reflex of /ɡ/ for Greek <χ> indicating a dialectal voicing of the what came as an aspirate stop from Greek)
maraj "fennel" < *márathrion (cf Romanian mărar(iu), Ionic márathron; with the Albanian simplification of -dri̯- to -j- reflecting that of earlier *udri̯om to ujë "water")
Scholars have estimated a great number of Latin loanwords in Albanian, some even claiming 60% of the Albanian vocabulary. They include many frequently used core vocabulary items, including shumë ("very", from Latin summus), pak ("few", Latin paucus), ngushtë ("narrow", Latin angustus), pemë ("tree", Latin poma), vij ("to come", Latin veniō), rërë ("sand", Latin arena), drejt ("straight", Latin directus), kafshë ("beast", Latin causa, meaning "thing"), and larg ("far away", Latin largus).
Jernej Kopitar (1780–1844) was the first to note Latin's influence on Albanian and claimed "the Latin loanwords in the Albanian language had the pronunciation of the time of Emperor Augustus". Kopitar gave examples such as Albanian qiqer 'chickpea' from Latin cicer, qytet 'city, town' from civitas, peshk 'fish' from piscis, and shigjetë 'arrow' from sagitta. The hard pronunciations of Latin ⟨c⟩ and ⟨g⟩ are retained as palatal and velar stops in the Albanian loanwords. Gustav Meyer (1888) and Wilhelm Meyer-Lübke (1914) later corroborated this. Meyer noted the similarity between the Albanian verbs shqipoj "to speak clearly, enunciate" and shqiptoj "to pronounce, articulate" and the Latin word excipiō (meaning "to welcome"). Therefore, he believed that the word Shqiptar "Albanian person" was derived from shqipoj, which in turn was derived from the Latin word excipere. Johann Georg von Hahn, an Austrian linguist, had proposed the same hypothesis in 1854.
Eqrem Çabej also noticed, among other things, the archaic Latin elements in Albanian:
Latin /au/ becomes Albanian /a/ in the earliest loanwords: aurum → ar 'gold'; gaudium → gaz 'joy'; laurus → lar 'laurel'. Latin /au/ is retained in later loans, but is altered in a way similar to Greek: causa 'thing' → kafshë 'thing; beast, brute'; laud → lavd.
Latin /oː/ becomes Albanian /e/ in the oldest Latin loans: pōmus → pemë 'fruit tree'; hōra → herë 'time, instance'. An analogous mutation occurred from Proto-Indo-European to Albanian; PIE *nōs became Albanian ne 'we', PIE *oḱtṓw + suffix -ti- became Albanian tetë 'eight', etc.
Latin unstressed internal and initial syllables become lost in Albanian: cubitus → kub 'elbow'; medicus → mjek 'physician'; palūdem 'swamp' → Vulgar Latin *padūle → pyll 'forest'. An analogous mutation occurred from Proto-Indo-European to Albanian. In contrast, in later Latin loanwords, the internal syllable is retained: paganus → pagan; plaga → plagë 'wound', etc.
Latin /tj/, /dj/, /kj/ palatalized to Albanian /s/, /z/, /c/: vitium → ves 'vice; worries'; ratiōnem → arsye 'reason'; radius → rreze 'ray; spoke'; faciēs → faqe 'face, cheek'; socius → shok 'mate, comrade', shoq 'husband', etc. In turn, Latin /s/ was altered to /ʃ/ in Albanian.
Haralambie Mihăescu demonstrated that:
Some 85 Latin words have survived in Albanian but not (as inherited) in any Romance language. A few examples include Late Latin celsydri → dial. kulshedër → kuçedër 'hydra', hībernus → vërri 'winter pasture', sarcinārius 'used for packing, loading' → shelqëror 'forked peg, grapnel, forked hanger', sōlānum 'nightshade', lit. 'sun plant' → shullë(r) 'sunny place out of the wind, sunbathed area', splēnēticus → shpretkë 'spleen', trifurcus → tërfurk 'pitchfork'.
151 Albanian words of Latin origin were not inherited in Romanian. A few examples include Latin amīcus → Albanian mik 'friend', inimīcus → armik 'foe, enemy', ratiōnem → arsye, benedīcere → bekoj, bubulcus 'ploughman, herdsman' → bulk, bujk 'peasant', calicis → qelq 'drinking glass', castellum → kështjellë 'castle', centum → qind 'hundred', gallus → gjel 'rooster', iunctūra → gjymtyrë 'limb; joint', medicus → mjek 'doctor', retem → rrjetë 'net', spērāre → dial. shp(ë)rej, shpresoj 'to hope', pres 'to await', voluntās (voluntātis) → vullnet 'will; volunteer'.
Some Albanian church terminology has phonetic features which demonstrate their very early borrowing from Latin. A few examples include Albanian bekoj 'to bless' from benedīcere, engjëll 'angel' from angelus, kishë 'church' from ecclēsia, i krishterë 'Christian' from christiānus, kryq 'cross' from crux (crucis), (obsolete) lter 'altar' from Latin altārium, mallkoj 'to curse' from maledīcere, meshë 'mass' from missa, murg 'monk' from monachus, peshkëp 'bishop' from episcopus, and ungjill 'gospel' from ēvangelium.
Other authors have detected Latin loanwords in Albanian with an ancient sound pattern from the 1st century BC, for example, Albanian qingël(ë) 'saddle girth; dwarf elder' from Latin cingula and Albanian e vjetër 'old, aged; former' from vjet but influenced by Latin veteris. The Romance languages inherited these words from Vulgar Latin: cingula became (via *clinga) Romanian chingă 'girdle; saddle girth', and veterānus became Romanian bătrân 'old'.
Albanian, Basque, and the surviving Celtic languages such as Breton and Welsh are the non-Romance languages today that have this sort of extensive Latin element dating from ancient Roman times, which has undergone the sound changes associated with the languages. Other languages in or near the former Roman area either came on the scene later (Turkish, the Slavic languages, Arabic) or borrowed little from Latin despite coexisting with it (Greek, German), although German does have a few such ancient Latin loanwords (Fenster 'window', Käse 'cheese').
Romanian scholars such as Vatasescu and Mihaescu, using lexical analysis of the Albanian language, have concluded that Albanian was heavily influenced by an extinct Romance language that was distinct from both Romanian and Dalmatian. Because the Latin words common to only Romanian and Albanian are significantly fewer in number than those that are common to only Albanian and Western Romance, Mihaescu argues that the Albanian language evolved in a region with much greater contact with Western Romance regions than with Romanian-speaking regions, and located this region in present-day Albania, Kosovo and Western Macedonia, spanning east to Bitola and Pristina.
Slavic influence
After the Slavs arrived in the Balkans, the Slavic languages became an additional source of loanwords. Contact between Albanian with the Slavic languages lasted very intensively for almost four centuries, and continued even in the late Middle Ages. Slavic loanwords in Albanian constitute a less studied area in literature. Per Vladimir Orel (1998), there are about 556 Slavic loanwords in Albanian.
Turkish influence
The rise of the Ottoman Empire meant an influx of Turkish words; this also entailed the borrowing of Persian and Arabic words through Turkish. Some Turkish personal names, such as Altin, are common. There are some loanwords from Modern Greek, especially in the south of Albania. Many borrowed words have been replaced by words with Albanian roots or modern Latinised (international) words. According to calculations mentioned by Emanuele Banfi (1985), the total number of Turkish loanwords in Albanian is about two thousand. However, when taking into account obsolete and rare words, and restricted dialectalisms, their number is considerably larger.
Gothic
Albanian is also known to possess a small set of loans from Gothic, with early inquiry into the matter done by Norbert Jokl and Sigmund Feist, though such loans had been claimed earlier in the 19th century by early linguists such as Gustav Meyer. Many words claimed as Gothic have now been attributed to other origins by later linguists of Albanian (fat and tufë, though used for major claims by Huld in 1994, are now attributed to Latin, for example), or may instead be native to Albanian, inherited from Proto-Indo-European. Today, it is accepted that there are a few words from Gothic in Albanian, but for the most part they are scanty because the Goths had few contacts with Balkan peoples.
Martin Huld defends the significance of the admittedly sparse Gothic loans for Albanian studies, however, arguing that Gothic is the only clearly post-Roman and "pre-Ottoman" language after Latin with a notable influence on the Albanian lexicon (the influence of Slavic languages is both pre-Ottoman and Ottoman). He argues that Gothic words in Albanian are attributable to the late fourth and early fifth centuries during the invasions of various Gothic speaking groups of the Balkans under Alaric, Odoacer, and Theodoric. He argues that Albanian Gothicisms bear evidence for the ordering of developments within Proto-Albanian at this time: for example, he argues Proto-Albanian at this stage had already shifted /uː/ to /y/ as Gothic words with /uː/ reflect with /u/ in Albanian, not /y/ as seen in most Latin and ancient Greek loans, but had not yet experienced the shift of /t͡s/ to /θ/, since loans from Gothic words with /θ/ replace /θ/ with /t/ or another close sound.
Notable words that continue to be attributed to Gothic in Albanian by multiple modern sources include:
tirk "felt gaiters, white felt" (cf Romanian tureac "top of boot") < Gothic *θiuh-brōks- or *θiuhbrōkeis, cf Old High German theobrach "gaiters"
shkumë "foam" < Gothic *skūm-, perhaps via an intermediary in a Romance *scuma (cf. Romanian spumă)
gardh "fence, garden" is either considered a native Albanian word that was loaned into Romanian as gard
zverk "nape, back of neck" < Gothic *swairhs; the "difficult" word having various otherwise been attributed (with phonological issues) to Celtic, Greek or native development.
horr "villain, scoundrel" and horre "whore" < Gothic *hors "adulterer, cf Old Norse hóra "whore"
punjashë "purse", diminutive of punjë < Gothic puggs "purse" (cf. Romanian pungă)
Patterns in loaning
Although Albanian is characterised by the absorption of many loans, even, in the case of Latin, reaching deep into the core vocabulary, certain semantic fields nevertheless remained more resistant. Terms pertaining to social organisation are often preserved, though not those pertaining to political organisation, while those pertaining to trade are all loaned or innovated.
Hydronyms present a complicated picture; the term for "sea" (det) is native and an "Albano-Germanic" innovation referring to the concept of depth, but a large amount of maritime vocabulary is loaned. Words referring to large streams and their banks tend to be loans, but lumë ("river") is native, as is rrymë (the flow of water). Words for smaller streams and stagnant pools of water are more often native, but the word for "pond", pellg is in fact a semantically shifted descendant of the old Greek word for "high sea", suggesting a change in location after Greek contact. Albanian has maintained since Proto-Indo-European a specific term referring to a riverside forest (gjazë), as well as its words for marshes. Albanian has maintained native terms for "whirlpool", "water pit" and (aquatic) "deep place", leading Orel to speculate that the Albanian Urheimat likely had an excess of dangerous whirlpools and depths.
Regarding forests, words for most conifers and shrubs are native, as are the terms for "alder", "elm", "oak", "beech", and "linden", while "ash", "chestnut", "birch", "maple", "poplar", and "willow" are loans.
The original kinship terminology of Indo-European was radically reshaped; changes included a shift from "mother" to "sister", and were so thorough that only three terms retained their original function, the words for "son-in-law", "mother-in-law" and "father-in-law". All the words for second-degree blood kinship, including "aunt", "uncle", "nephew", "niece", and terms for grandchildren, are ancient loans from Latin.
The Proto-Albanians appear to have been cattle breeders given the vastness of preserved native vocabulary pertaining to cow breeding, milking and so forth, while words pertaining to dogs tend to be loaned. Many words concerning horses are preserved, but the word for horse itself is a Latin loan.
The map does not indicate where the language is majority or minority.
"... in Figure 2.1 are listed three subfamilies which contain only one language each: the Albanian, Hellenic, and Armenian subfamilies. These three languages – Albanian, Greek, and Armenian – are isolates within the Indo-European family showing no closer connection to any other Indo-European languages or to each other." — Pereltsvaig (2012) pp. 30–31
"It is generally accepted that Albanians continue one of the ancient languages of the Balkans, although scholars disagree on which language they spoke and what area of the Balkans they occupied before the Slavs' migration to the Balkans." — Curtis (2011) p. 16
"So while linguists may debate about the ties between Albanian and older languages of the Balkans, and while most Albanians may take the genealogical connection to Illyrian as incontrovertible, the fact remains that there is simply insufficient evidence to connect Illyrian, Thracian, or Dacian with any language, including Albanian." — Curtis (2011) p. 18
"The most probable predecessor of Albanian was Illyrian since much of present-day Albania was inhabited by the Illyrians during the Antiquity, but the comparison of the two languages is impossible because almost nothing is known about Illyrian ... It is a-priori less probable to assume that a single language was spoken in the whole Illyricum, from the river Arsia in Istria, to Epirus in Greece, when such a linguistic uniformity is found nowhere else in Europe before the Roman conquest. Moreover, the examination of personal names and toponyms from Illyricum shows that several onomastic areas can be distinguished, and these onomastic areas just might correspond to different languages spoken in ancient Illyricum. If Illyrians actually spoke several different languages, the question arises: From which Illyrian language did Albanian develop? – and that question cannot be answered until new data are discovered." — Ranko (2012)
Orel 2000, p. 12; Matzinger 2018, p. 1790; Matasović 2019, p. 39; Hamp 1963, p. 104; Katicic 2012, p. 184: "And yet we know that it is the continuation of a language spoken in the Balkans already in ancient times. This has been proved by the fact that there are Ancient Greek loan words in Albanian".
Coretta, Stefano; Riverin-Coutlée, Josiane; Kapia, Enkeleida; Nichols, Stephen (16 August 2022). "Northern Tosk Albanian". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 53 (3): 1122–1144. doi:10.1017/S0025100322000044. hdl:20.500.11820/ebce2ea3-f955-4fa5-9178-e1626fbae15f. Though the origin of the language has been debated, the prevailing opinion in the literature is that it is a descendant of Illyrian (Hetzer 1995).
Matasović 2019, p. 5: "Much has been written about the origin of the Albanian language. The most probable predecessor of Albanian was Illyrian, since much of the present-day Albania was inhabited by the Illyrians during the Antiquity, but the comparison of the two languages is impossible because almost nothing is known about Illyrian, despite the fact that two handbooks of that language have been published (by Hans Krahe and Anton Mayer)... examination of personal names and toponyms from Illyricum shows that several onomastic areas can be distinguished, and these onomastic areas just might correspond to different languages spoken in ancient Illyricum. If Illyrians actually spoke several different languages, the question arises -from which 'Illyrian' language did Albanian develop, and that question cannot be answered until new data are discovered. The single "Illyrian" gloss preserved in Greek (rhínon 'fog') may have the reflex in Alb. (Gheg) re͂ 'cloud' (Tosk re)< PAlb. *ren-."
Beekes 2011, p. 25: "It is often thought (for obvious geographic reasons) that Albanian descends from ancient Illyrian (see above), but this cannot be ascertained as we know next to nothing about Illyrian itself."
Fortson 2010, p. 446: "Albanian forms its own separate branch of Indo-European; it is the last branch to appear in written records. This is one of the reasons why its origins are shrouded in mystery and controversy. The widespread assertion that it is the modern–day descendant of Illyrian, spoken in much the same region during classical times (), makes geographic and historical sense but is linguistically untestable since we know so little about Illyrian."
Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 11: "Although there are some lexical items that appear to be shared between Romanian (and by extension Dacian) and Albanian, by far the strongest connections can be argued between Albanian and Illyrian. The latter was at least attested in what is historically regarded as Albanian territory and there is no evidence of any major migration into Albanian territory since our records of Illyrian occupation. The loan words from Greek and Latin date back to before the Christian era and suggest that the ancestors of the Albanians must have occupied Albania by then to have absorbed such loans from their histori-cal neighbors. As the Illyrians occupied Albanian territory at this time, they are the most likely recipients of such loans."
"...these innovations, as those that are also evident in different varieties of Gheg, are not such as to impede communication between speakers of the two dialects. Furthermore, the major part of the Albanian lexicon is common to the two dialects."
Fortson 2010, p. 446: "The two dialects are mutually intelligible in their standard varieties, although numerous subdialects exist that show considerable variation, especially in the north and northeast of the Geg–speaking area."
"The river Shkumbin in central Albania historically forms the boundary between those two dialects, with the population on the north speaking varieties of Geg and the population on the south varieties of Tosk."
"It is the case of the evolution of stressed /a-/ and partly stressed /e-/ in front of a nasal consonant to /ë-/ in thee southern dialect. While the evolution /a-/ > /ë/ in front of a nasal consonant has involved the southern dialect, the evolution /e-/ > /-ë/ in the same phonetic conditions has not taken place in the northern part and partly in the eastern part of that dialect (...). This phonetic phenomenon has appeared earlier than rhotacism, as it is clearly evidenced in such examples as llanë > llërë, ranë > rërë etc., in which the evolution /a-/ > /ë-/ could not take place before /-r-/. Since this phonetic change has not appeared in the Slavic loanwords of Albanian, but has involved mainly the I.E. inherited words as well as the loans from Old Greek (compare mokënë > mokërë < mākanāʼ etc.) and from Latin (compare ranë > rërë > arena etc.), it has generally been acknowledged that it has taken place in the pre-Slavic period of Albanian. Its sporadic appearance in a very reduced number of Slavic loanwords is due to the action of analogy with similar cases of inherited or more ancient loans of Albanian."
"In Tosk /a/ before a nasal has become a central vowel (shwa), and intervocalic /n/ has become /r/. These two sound changes have affected only the pre-Slav stratum of the Albanian lexicon, that is the native words and loanwords from Greek and Latin."
Douglas Q. Adams (January 1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. pp. 9, 11. ISBN978-1-884964-98-5. The Greek and Latin loans have undergone most of the far-reaching phonological changes which have so altered the shape of inherited IE words while Slavic and Turkish words do not show these changes. Thus Albanian must have acquired much of its present form by the time Slavs entered into the Balkans in the fifth and sixth centuries AD The loan words from Greek and Latin date back to before the Christian era Even very common words such as mik ʻfriendʼ (< Lat amicus) or këndoj ʻI sing; readʼ (< Lat cantāre) come from Latin and attest to a widespread intermingling of pre-Albanian and Balkan Latin speakers during the Roman period, roughly from the second century BC to the fifth century AD.
^ Fortson 2010, p. 448: "The dialectal split into Geg and Tosk happened sometime after the region became Christianized in the fourth century AD: Christian Latin loanwords show Tosk rhotacism, such as Tosk murgu 'monk' (Geg mungu) from Lat. monachus."
"...such sporadic analogical cases do not reverse the generally acknowledged conclusion that this dialectal peculiarity as a phonetic process has appeared in pre-Slavic period of Albanian and is relatively more ancient than the rhotacism. It has most probably appeared not later than the V-VI centuries A.D."
See also Hamp 1963 The isogloss is clear in all dialects I have studied, which embrace nearly all types possible. It must be relatively old, that is, dating back into the post-Roman first millennium. As a guess, it seems possible that this isogloss reflects a spread of the speech area, after the settlement of the Albanians in roughly their present location, so that the speech area straddled the Jireček Line.
"And, as it was pointed out in §3, since the dialectal differentiations have appeared in a certain geographical area, one is entitled to draw the conclusion that the speakers of the northern and southern dialects have been present in their actual areas in the Post-Roman and Pre-Slavic period of Albanian."
Mai, Nicola. "The Albanian diaspora-in-the-making: media, migration and social exclusion." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 31, no. 3 (2005): 543–561.
de Rapper, Gilles. "Albanians facing the Ottoman past: the case of the Albanian diaspora in Turkey." (2005).
Gkaintartzi, Anastasia, Aspasia Chatzidaki, and Roula Tsokalidou. "Albanian parents and the Greek educational context: Who is willing to fight for the home language?." International Multilingual Research Journal 8, no. 4 (2014): 291–308.
Trandafili, Evis; Meçe, Elinda Kajo; Duka, Enea (2020). Appice, Annalisa; Ceci, Michelangelo; Loglisci, Corrado; Manco, Giuseppe; Masciari, Elio; Ras, Zbigniew W. (eds.). Complex Pattern Mining: New Challenges, Methods and Applications. Springer Nature. p. 89. ISBN978-3-030-36617-9. It is the official language of Albania, the co-official language of Kosovo, and the co-official language of many western municipalities of the Republic of Macedonia. Albanian is also spoken widely in some areas in Greece, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia, and in some towns in southern Italy and Sicily.
Saunders, Robert A. (2011). Ethnopolitics in Cyberspace: The Internet, Minority Nationalism, and the Web of Identity. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 98. ISBN9780739141946. In addition to the recent emigrants, there are older diasporic communities around the world. There are upwards of 5 million ethnic Albanians in the Turkish Republic; however, the vast majority of this population is assimilated and no longer possesses fluency in the language, though a vibrant Albanian community maintains its distinct identity in Istanbul to this day. Egypt also lays claim to some 18,000 Albanians, supposedly lingering remnants of Mohammad Ali's army.
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^ The river Shkumbin in central Albania historically forms the boundary between those two dialects, with the population on the north speaking varieties of Geg and the population on the south varieties of Tosk. (page 23) Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World By Keith Brown, Sarah Ogilvie Contributor Keith Brown, Sarah Ogilvie Edition: illustrated Published by Elsevier, 2008 ISBN0-08-087774-5, ISBN978-0-08-087774-7
The Italo-Albanian villages of southern Italy Issue 25 of Foreign field research program, report, National Research Council (U.S.) Division of Earth Sciences Volume 1149 of Publication (National Research Council (U.S.)) Foreign field research program, sponsored by Office of Naval research, report; no.25 Issue 25 of Report, National Research Council (U.S.). Division of Earth Sciences Volume 1149 of (National Academy of Sciences. National Research Council. Publication) Author George Nicholas Nasse Publisher National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, 1964 page 24-25 link
^ Schumacher, Stefan (2020). "The perfect system of Old Albanian (Geg variety)". In Robert Crellin; Thomas Jügel (eds.). Perfects in Indo-European Languages and Beyond. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory. Vol. 352. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN978-90-272-6090-1.
Fortson 2010, p. 446: "Albanian forms its own separate branch of Indo-European; it is the last branch to appear in written records."
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Fortson 2010, pp. 447–448: "But it is likely that there were earlier works which have vanished. The earliest preserved books both in Geg and in Tosk share features of spelling that point to some kind of common literary language having already developed, and a letter written by a Dominican friar named Gulielmus Adea in 1332 says that the inhabitants of Albania had a language very different from Latin but used the Latin alphabet in their writings, suggesting (if not proving) an already–existing written Albanian tradition."
In his latest book, Eric Hamp supports the thesis that the Illyrian language belongs to the Northwestern group, that the Albanian language is descended from Illyrian, and that Albanian is related to Messapic which is an earlier Illyrian dialect (Comparative Studies on Albanian, 2007).
Woodard, Roger D. (2008). The Ancient Languages of Europe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521684958. The modern Albanian language, it has been conjectured, is descendent directly from ancient Illyrian ...
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^ Tripod.co, Eric Hamp, "The position of Albanian, Ancient IE dialects, Proceedings of the Conference on IE linguistics held at the University of California, Los Angeles, April 25–27, 1963, ed. By Henrik Birnbaum and Jaan Puhvel. "It is clear that in the Middle Ages the Albanians extended farther north (Jokl, Albaner §2); that there are persuasive arguments which have been advanced against their having extended as far as the Adriatic coast—the fact that Scodra 'Scutari' (Shkodër) shows un-Albanian development (see §6 below), that there is no demonstrated old maritime vocabulary (see above), and that there are few ancient Greek loans (Jokl, Albaner §5; but see §5 below)
Kazhdan, Alexander (Ed.) (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN978-0-19-504652-6.
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Anamali, Skënder (2002). Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime (in Albanian). Vol. I. Botimet Toena. p. 311. OCLC52411919.
^ Bardhyl Demiraj (2018). "100. The evolution of Albanian". In Fritz, Matthias; Joseph, Brian; Klein, Jared (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN978-3-11-054036-9. and the outcomes of the three dorsal series suggest that Albanian, like Luwian, may have origi- nally retained this three-way opposition intact and therefore is neither centum nor satem, despite the clear satem-like outcome of its palatal dorsals in most instances
de Vaan, Michiel (2018). "The phonology of Albanian". In Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Vol. 3. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1757. but h- has arisen secondarily in words such as hark 'curve' ← Latin arcus, which renders h- non-probative
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Ushaku, Ruzhdi, Hulumtime etnoliguistike, chapter: The continuation of Illyrian Bind in Albanian Mythology and Language, Fakulteti filologjise, Prishtine, 2000, p. 46-48
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Curtis, Matthew Cowan (30 November 2011). Slavic-Albanian language contact, convergence, and coexistence. pp. 17–18. ISBN9781267580337. One other point that some scholars make is the fact that Albanian and Romanian share many lexical items; this has led some to believe that Albanian originated east of its present geographical spread (Georgiev 1957; Hamp 1994)...it does not necessarily determine the genealogical history of the language, nor does it rule out the possibility of Proto-Albanian being present in both Illyrian and Thracian territory.
^ The Field of Linguistics, Volume 2 Volume 1 of World of linguistics Authors Bernd Kortmann, Johan Van Der Auwera Editors Bernd Kortmann, Johan Van Der Auwera Publisher Walter de Gruyter, 2010 ISBN3-11-022025-3, ISBN978-3-11-022025-4 p.412
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