The Albanian language is composed of many dialects, divided into two major groups: Gheg and Tosk. [1] The Shkumbin river is roughly the geographical dividing line, with Gheg spoken north of the Shkumbin and Tosk south of it. [2]
The Albanian language is composed of many dialects, divided into two major groups: Gheg and Tosk. [1] The Shkumbin river is roughly the geographical dividing line, with Gheg spoken north of the Shkumbin and Tosk south of it. [2]
The characteristics of the Albanian dialects Tosk and Gheg, [3] in the treatment of the native and loanwords from other languages, have led to the conclusion that the dialectal split preceded the Slavic migration to the Balkans. [4] [5]
According to the view of Demiraj, during the process of dialect split Albanian populations were roughly in their present location, [6] while Eric Hamp notes that "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". [7]
Gheg is divided into four sub-dialects: Northwest Gheg, Northeast Gheg, Central Gheg, and Southern Gheg. Northwest Gheg is spoken throughout Montenegro, northwestern Kosovo (west of Pejë), Lezhë, northwestern Mirditë, southwestern Tropojë, western Gusinje, western Pukë, and Shkodër. Northeast Gheg is spoken throughout most of Kosovo, Preshevë, Has, northeastern Mirditë, eastern parts of villages of Shalë commune of Shkodër, eastern parts of villages of other communes of Shkodër bordered with Tropojë, eastern Pukë, eastern Gjakovë, eastern Gusinje, Kukës, Tropojë, and northern Tetovë. Central Gheg is spoken in Debar, Gostivar, Krujë, northern Durrës, northern Tiranë, Peshkopi, southern Lezhë, southern Mirditë, Mat, Bulqizë, eastern Strugë, Kumanovo, and southern Tetovë. Southern Gheg is spoken in Durrës, northern Elbasan, northern Pogradec, Librazhd, northern Peqin, southern Bulqizë, Kavajë, northwest Strugë, and Tirana. 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.
The Northwestern Gheg subdialect encompasses three main Albanian ethnographic regions: Malësia e Madhe, Shkodër and Lezhë. Within the Northwestern Gheg, the area of Malësia e Madhe shows different phonological, syntactic, and lexical patterns than the areas of Shkodër and Lezhë. For this reason, Malsia e Madhe Albanian can be considered a distinct variety of Northwestern Gheg. The different features of this variety can be traced to the historical and geographic isolation of the muntainous region of Malësia e Madhe (Albanian for 'Great Highlands'). [8]
The early isolated Malsia Albanian has preserved archaic features of Proto-Albanian and Proto-Indo-European in comparison to other Gheg varieties and to Tosk, such as the word-initial voiceless and voiced stops. [9] Whereas Tosk Albanian has homorganic nasal-stop clusters, having produced a shift from the proto form that featured a word-initial stop to a nasal-stop cluster, which was achieved by placing a prefix en- (< PAlb preposition *en 'in'). Gheg Albanian is in a transitional position, [10] featuring nasals that resulted from reduced nasal-stop clusters. [11]
| PIE | Malsia | Tosk | Gheg |
|---|---|---|---|
| *peh₂- 'protect' | pɔ:j 'to hold, keep' | mbaj 'hold, carry' | mɔ:j |
| *bʰer- 'bear, carry' | bɔ:j 'carry' | mbaj 'hold, carry' | mɔ:j |
| *ten 'stretch, tighten' | tæ̃:n 'push, press' | ndej 'hold, carry' | |
| *deh₂- 'share, divide' | dɔ: 'split, cut, divide' | ndaj | dɔ: |
| *gʰodʰ-, (o-grade of *gʰedʰ-) | gæ: 'time, chance, opportunity' | ŋge |
Examples of the formation of nasal-stop clusters by placing the prefix en- with unstressed word-initial vowel are: Tosk mbuʃa 'to fill', from PAlb *en-busa (vs. Malsia buʃa); Tosk ŋga 'where, from where', from PAlb *en-ka (vs. Malsia ka); Tosk ŋgula 'to thrust, put on point', from PAlb *en-kula (vs. Malsia ku:ʎ); Tosk ndej 'to stretch', from PAlb *en-tenja (vs. Malsia tæ̃:n). [12]
The PAlb preposition *en 'in' has been preserved solely in the Malsia Albanian dialect, whereas in the other Gheg varieties and in Tosk it has been reanalyzed as a prefix attached to other lexical terms, no longer existing as a preposition. [12]
The transitional dialects are spoken in southern Elbasan so-called Greater Elbasan (Cërrik, Dumre, Dushk, Papër, Polis, Qafe, Shpat, Sulovë, Thanë), southern Peqin, northwestern Gramsh, northern Kuçovë, northern Berat, extreme southern Kavajë, northern and central Lushnjë and southern Librazhd (Bërzeshtë, Rrajcë), and Flazian-Falazdim-whish spoken in north of Albania.
Tosk is divided into five sub-dialects: Northern Tosk, Labërisht, Çam, Arvanitika, and Arbëresh. Northern Tosk is spoken in Berat, Fier, Skrapar, southern Kuçovë, southern Lushnjë, extreme southeastern Elbasan, most of Gramsh, Kolonjë, northern Mallakastër, northern Vlorë, Korçë, Ohër, Devoll, Përmet, east of the Vjosë river of Tepelenë, southern Struga (western shore of Lake Ohër), southeastern Shkodër, southwestern Mat, southwestern Tropojë, southeastern Kukës, southwestern Mirditë, northeastern Lezhë, southwestern Tiranë, southeastern Durrës, southern Gjilan, southwestern Prizren, northeastern Gjakovë, northeastern Has, northeastern Mitrovica, southwestern Pukë, southeastern Peshkopi, southwestern Ulqin, southeastern Krujë, Pogradec, Prespa and northern Vlorë. Lab (or Labërisht) is spoken in southern Vlorë, Dukat, Himarë, southern Mallakastër, Delvinë, southern Çepan of Skrapar, eastern and southern Kolonjë, eastern and southern Leskovik, western and southern Përmet, west of the Vjosë river of Tepelenë, Gjirokastër and Sarandë. Çam is spoken in southern Sarandë (Konispol, Ksamil[ citation needed ], Markat, Xarrë) and in parts of northern Greece. Tosk dialects are spoken by most members of the large Albanian immigrant communities of Egypt, Turkey, and Ukraine. Çamërisht is spoken in North-western Greece, while Arvanitika is spoken by the Arvanites in southern Greece, mainly Peloponnese, Attica, Euboea, and the adjacent islands. Arbëresh is spoken by the Arbëreshë, descendants of 15th and 16th century migrants who settled in southeastern Italy, in small communities in the regions of Sicily, Calabria, Basilicata, Campania, Molise, Abruzzi, and Apulia.
| Standard | Tosk | Gheg (west, east) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shqipëri | Shqipëri | Shqypní / Shqipni | Albania |
| një | një | nji / njâ / njo | one |
| nëntë | nëntë | nândë / nânt / nân | nine |
| është | është | âsht / â, osht / o | is |
| bëj | bëj | bâj | I do |
| emër | emër / embër | êmën | name |
| pjekuri | pjekuri | pjekuni | mellowness |
| gjendje | gjëndje | gjêndje / gjênje | state, condition |
| zog | zog | zog, zëq / zëç / zëg | bird |
| mbret | mbret | mret / regj | king |
| për të punuar | për të punuar | me punue / me punu, për t'punũ | to work |
| rërë | rërë | rânë / ronë | sand |
| qenë | qënë | kjênë / kênë / kânë | be |
| dëllinjë | enjë | bërshê | juniper |
| baltë | llum | lloq, llok | mud |
| fshat | fshat | katun | village |
| qumësht | qumësht / klumsht | tâmël / tâmbël | milk |
| cimbidh | mashë | danë, mashë | fire-iron |
| mundem | mundem | mûj / mûnem, munëm / mûnëm | I can |
| vend | vënd | ven | place |
| dhelpër | dhelpër | skile / dhelpen | fox |
Albanian culture or the culture of Albanians is a term that embodies the artistic, culinary, literary, musical, political and social elements that are representative of Albanians. Albanian culture has been considerably shaped by the geography and history of Albania, Kosovo, parts of Montenegro, parts of North Macedonia, and parts of Northern Greece, traditional homeland of Albanians. It grew from that of the Paleo-Balkan cultures, including Proto-Albanian, Illyrian, Thracian, Dacian, with their pagan beliefs and specific way of life in the wooded areas of far Southern Europe. Albanian culture has also been influenced by the Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans.
Arvanitika, also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika was brought to southern Greece during the late Middle Ages by Albanian settlers who moved south from their homeland in present-day Albania in several waves. The dialect preserves elements of medieval Albanian, while also being significantly influenced by the Greek language. Arvanitika is today endangered, as its speakers have been shifting to the use of Greek and most younger members of the community no longer speak it.
This is a list of languages spoken in regions ruled by Balkan countries. With the exception of several Turkic languages, all of them belong to the Indo-European family. A subset of these languages is notable for forming a well-studied sprachbund, a group of languages that have developed some striking structural similarities over time.
The toponym Albania may indicate several different geographical regions: a country in Southeast Europe; an ancient land in the Caucasus; as well as Scotland, Albania being a Latinization of a Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba; and a city in the U.S. state of New York.
Gheg is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Albania. Gheg is spoken in northern and central Albania, Kosovo, northwestern North Macedonia, southeastern Montenegro and southern Serbia by the Albanian dialectal subgroup known as Ghegs.
Prende or Premte is the goddess of dawn, love, beauty, fertility, health and protector of women, in the Albanian pagan mythology. She is also called Afër-dita, an Albanian phrase meaning "near day", "the day is near", or "dawn", in association with the cult of the planet Venus, the morning and evening star. Her sacred day is Friday, named in Albanian after her: e premte, premtja. In Albanian mythology Prende appears as the daughter of Zojz, the Albanian sky and lightning god.
Tosk is the southern group of dialects of the Albanian language, spoken by the ethnographic group known as Tosks. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is the basis of the standard Albanian language.
Getoar is an Albanian given name for males. It is composed of the first two letters of Albanian subethnic divisions.
Proto-Albanian is the ancestral reconstructed language of Albanian, before the Gheg–Tosk dialectal split. Albanian and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region. Whether descendants or sister languages 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 Indo-European subfamily that gave rise to Albanian is called Albanoid in reference to a specific ethnolinguistically pertinent and historically compact language group.
Arbëresh is the variety of Albanian spoken by the Arbëreshë people of Italy. It is derived from the Albanian Tosk spoken in Albania, in Epirus and is also spoken by the Arvanites, with endonym Arvanitika.
Arbërisht in Tosk Albanian and its unrhotacized variant Arbënisht in Gheg Albanian is the Old Albanian endonym used by the Albanians for their language. It has been gradually replaced by the Albanian endonym shqip since the late medieval times, but still retained by some Albanian varieties to refer to their own speech, in particular by:
Albanian is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of its own branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group. Standard Albanian is the official language of Albania and Kosovo, and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro, as well as a recognized minority language of Italy, Croatia, Romania and Serbia. It is also spoken in Greece and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europe and Oceania. Albanian is estimated to have as many as 7.5 million native speakers.
The Cham Albanian dialect, also called Cham Tosk or Arvanitika, is the dialect of the Albanian language spoken by the Cham Albanians, an ethnic Albanian minority in the Epirus region of northwestern Greece and in Konispol, southern Albania.
The Ghegs are one of two major dialectal subgroups of Albanians They are also differentiated by minor cultural, dialectal, social and religious characteristics. The Ghegs live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro. The Ghegs speak Gheg Albanian, one of the two main dialects of Albanian language. The social organization of the Ghegs was traditionally tribal, with several distinct tribal groups of Ghegs.
The regions of Albania—apart from the official present and historical administrative divisions—include the following:
Vaccarizzo Albanian, or Calabria Arbëresh, is a subdialect of the Arbëresh dialect of the Albanian language. Spoken in the villages of Vaccarizzo Albanese and San Giorgio Albanese in southern Italy by approximately 3,000 people, Vaccarizzo Albanian has retained many archaic features of the Tosk dialect, on which the Standard Albanian is based.
The Albanians and their country Albania (Shqipëria) have been identified by many ethnonyms. The native endonym is Shqiptar. The name "Albanians" Latin: Albanenses/Arbanenses) was used in medieval Greek and Latin documents that gradually entered European languages from which other similar derivative names emerged. Linguists believe that the alb part in the root word originates from an Indo-European term for a type of mountainous topography, meaning "hill, mountain", also present in Alps. Through the root word alban and its rhotacized equivalents arban, albar, and arbar, the term in Albanian became rendered as Arbëreshë for the people and Arbëria for the country.
The Lab Albanian dialect is a Tosk Albanian dialect associated with the wider definition of the ethnographic region of Labëria, spoken by Lab Albanians. Under this wider definition of Labëria, Lab Albanian stretches from Vlorë and Mallakastër south and east up to Gjirokastër, Lunxhëria and Sarandë. Notable aspects of Lab in Albanian and wider Balkan areal linguistics include its peculiar mix of conservative and innovative features, the lack of typical Albanian Balkanisms like the admirative, and the presence of features typical of Northern Gheg dialects despite it being a Southern dialect.
The Albanian–Romanian linguistic relationship is a field of the research of the ethnogenesis of both peoples. The common phonological, morphological and syntactical features of the two languages have been studied for more than a century. Both languages are part of the Balkan sprachbund but there are certain elements shared only by Albanian and Romanian and its close relatives descended from Common Romanian. Aside from Latin, and from shared Greek, Slavic and Turkish elements, other characteristics and words are attributed to the Paleo-Balkan linguistic base: Illyrian, Thracian, Dacian and/or Thraco-Illyrian, Daco-Thracian. Similarities between Romanian and Albanian are not limited to their common Balkan features and the assumed substrate words: the two languages share calques and proverbs, and display analogous phonetic changes.
Albanoid or Albanic is a branch or subfamily of the Indo-European languages, of which Albanian language varieties are the only surviving representatives. Albanian is grouped in the same IE branch with Messapic, an ancient extinct language of Balkan provenance that is preserved in about six hundred inscriptions from Iron Age Apulia. This IE subfamily is alternatively referred to as 'Albanoid', 'Illyric', 'Illyrian complex', 'Western Palaeo-Balkan', or 'Adriatic Indo-European'. Concerning "Illyrian", it is not clear whether it is actually one language and not material from several languages. However, if "Illyrian" is defined as the precursor language to Albanian, for which there is some linguistic evidence, and which is often supported for obvious geographic and historical reasons, Illyrian is automatically included in the IE branch of Albanian. Albanoid is also used to explain pre-Romance features found in Eastern Romance languages.
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