Irena Natalia Sawicka (born 20 September 1944, in Warsaw) is a Polish linguist, Balkanologist, and Slavicist with significant interest in Albanology. She is among the world's most authoritative linguists who have studied the Albanian language and has greatly contributed to the dissemination, cultivation, and study of Albanian in Poland, as well as the promotion of Albanology worldwide. [1] [2]
In 1968, she graduated with a degree in Slavic philology from the University of Warsaw. After her studies, she began working at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In 1972, she obtained her doctoral degree with a dissertation on the structure of consonant clusters in Slavic languages, under the supervision of Janusz Siatkowski. In 1978, she obtained her habilitation degree at the University of Warsaw with a dissertation titled "Issues of Nominal Predication on the Example of the Serbo-Croatian Language." In 1991, she was awarded the title of professor of humanities. [3]
She worked at the Institute of Slavic Studies until 1992, after which she was employed in the Department of Comparative Slavic Studies at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, where she directed the Institute of Slavic Philology and Balkan Studies for many years. Within this university, she also taught Albanian, qualifying some of today's most distinguished Polish Balkanists in Albanology. She retired in 2014.
Sawicka specializes in the phonetics and phonology of Slavic and Balkan languages, including Albanian, as well as typology and geographical linguistics, with a special focus on Southern Slavic languages and Albanian. She is the author of many pioneering works on the grammar and inflection of the Albanian language in Poland. Among her most important studies on Albanian are those on the structure of the syllable in the Albanian language and the syllable structure of the Arbëreshë of Italy. These are included in the monograph "The Structure of the Albanian Syllable," co-authored with her former student Karolina Dargiel, published in 2018 by the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo.
She has participated in the Prishtina Albanological Seminar and in various Albanology conferences in Kosovo. In 1989, she received the award of the Secretary General of the Polish Academy of Sciences, several times the Rector's Award of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, as well as the "Goce Delčev" Award from the Republic of Macedonia and the "Blaže Koneski" Award from the Macedonian Academy of Sciences for her contributions to Macedonian. [4] She is also a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo. [5]
The phonological system of the Polish language is similar in many ways to those of other Slavic languages, although there are some characteristic features found in only a few other languages of the family, such as contrasting postalveolar and alveolo-palatal fricatives and affricates. The vowel system is relatively simple, with just six oral monophthongs and arguably two nasals in traditional speech, while the consonant system is much more complex.
Rexhep Qosja is an Albanian writer, literary critic and Professor at University of Prishtina. He is a prolific literary critic and literary historian of Albanian literature. As a writer he is mostly known for his 1974 novel 'Death Comes to Me from Such Eyes', translated into multiple languages.
Albanian is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group. It is the native language of the Albanian people. 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.
Vendenis was an ancient city in Dardania in Kosovo. Among three road stations that were constructed in Dardania during the Roman Period, Statio Vindenis, is one of the identified stations. This archaeological site is set at the area of the village of Gllamnik. The site is located approximately 5 kilometres south of Podujevë.
Archaeology of Kosovo as a field of study and research was started in the second half of the 20th century. Kosovo's field of archaeology has developed in tandem with the historical study, studies of ancient authors' sources, classic philological studies, theological data research, topographic studies and ground survey, analysis of toponyms, deciphering of epigraphic and historiographic data. First data about antique monuments in Kosovo, were documented from the end of the 19th until the beginning of the Second World War, a time period when Kosovo was visited by researchers, guides, and archaeologists such as: Evans, Boue, Hahn, Kanitz, Tomaschek, Domaschevski, Arpad, Vulic, Jirecek, Patsch, Domenico Mustilli, etc.
The Roman heritage sites in Kosovo represent a multitude of monuments of material and spiritual culture, which reflect the Roman period in this region. Among them, a special place is occupied by those that represent the development of art, such as the plastic monuments that are more frequent, and at the same time occupy an important place, because with the presentation of figures in relief and with numerous inscriptions they speak to us enough for this period.
Rugova is a mountain region located to the north-west of the city of Peja, in Kosovo. According to notes of Rugova it has been inhabited since before the 12th century. In 2013, it was designated a national park by the Parliament of Kosovo.
The Faculty of Arts of Pristina is the faculty of arts of the University of Pristina, located in Pristina, Kosovo.
Kovaçica or Kovačica, is a village in the municipality of Mitrovica in the District of Mitrovica, Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, it has 27 inhabitants, all Albanians. An alternative name of the village is Ukshinaj.
Albania's Golgotha: Indictment of the Exterminators of the Albanian People, is a German published document of 1913 which was written by the Austrian publicist and politician Leo Freundlich (1875-1953). The document is a compilation of news which he gathered when traveling in the Vilayet of Kosovo during the Serbian invasion of 1912-1913, explaining in detail the full-scale massacres, rape, expulsions, torture and abuse which Albanian civilians suffered under rule by the Serb army and Chetnik paramilitaries. According to the documents of Freundlich, 25,000 Albanians were massacred in the Kosovo Vilayet halfway through the First Balkan War. The document describes the methods of ethnic cleansing which was used to remove the Albanian population of North Macedonia, Northern Albania, and Kosovo. The document was re-translated by Robert Elsie. The reports were confirmed by the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan War.
Kosovo is characterised by a diverse biodiversity and an abundance of different ecosystems and habitats determined by the climate along with the geology and hydrology. Predominantly mountainous, it is located at the center of the Balkan Peninsula bounded by Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the north and east, North Macedonia to the southeast, and Albania to the southwest.
Duboc Fortress is situated above the Ceçan, part of the Ciçavica mountain chain, in the village of Duboc, approximately 10–12 km in the south-west of the Municipality of Vushtrri.
Isaija Radev Mažovski was a Mijak painter and activist. Mažovski sought political solutions in the liberation of Ottoman Macedonia. A Slavophile, he travelled to Russia to establish contacts with prominent individuals there including the Russian tsar, hoping to gain support for Macedonian liberation.
Zef Mirdita was an Albanian historian, university professor and academic. He has made a significant contribution to the fields of Illyrology and Balkan studies.
Dea Dardanica is an archaeological artifact found in Kosovo that represents an ancient deity associated with the Dardania region, located in the central-western Balkans, which encompasses parts of modern Kosovo and western North Macedonia.
Remzi Nesimi (1933–2018) was an Albanian linguist, professor, and researcher from North Macedonia. Nesimi's dedication to the Albanian language and education left a lasting mark, and he is remembered as a respected scholar and mentor.
Gunnar Olaf Svane was a distinguished Danish linguist, professor, and scholar specializing in Albanology and Slavic studies. His academic career was primarily associated with Aarhus University in Denmark, where he served as a professor of Slavic studies from 1965 until his retirement in 1994. Svane's expertise extended to medieval Slavic languages and South Slavic languages, but he is particularly renowned for his research on Slavic loanwords in the Albanian language.
Oda Buchholz was a German linguist known for her expertise in the Albanian language. She made contributions to Albanian studies and Balkan linguistics.
Wilfried Fiedler was a German albanologist, balkanologist, and linguist, known for his significant contributions to the studies of the Albanian language and Balkanology.
The Prishtina Normal School was a teachers' college in Kosovo, established on 17 December 1941, during the Italian occupation of Kosovo. It was a cornerstone in the development of the educational system in Kosovo and in the region. Initially created to address the critical need for qualified teachers in Kosovo's Albanian schools, the institution quickly became a vital academic, educational and cultural hub. Over the years, it played a significant role in training educators and fostering intellectual growth, leaving a lasting legacy through its distinguished alumni and contributions to Kosovo's educational system. Between 1946 and 1953, the school operated in Gjakova. The Prishtina Normal School ceased to exist in 1974.