Languages of Albania | |
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![]() Sign in Dollna Goricë in Albanian and Macedonian, with graffiti in Albanian | |
Official | Albanian |
Minority | Greek, Macedonian, Romani, Aromanian |
Foreign | English, Italian, German and many other European languages |
Signed | Albanian Sign Language |
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Culture of Albania |
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Albania is an ethnically homogeneous country, where the overwhelming majority of the population speaks Albanian, which is also the official language. It has two distinct dialects: Tosk, spoken in the south, and Gheg, spoken in the north. However, many Albanians can also speak foreign languages as Italian, Greek, French, German, and English, amongst others, due to the high numbers of Albanian diaspora and Albanian communities throughout the Balkans.
Although many ethnic Albanians (from within Albania and the wider Balkans and diaspora) around the world speak more than two languages and have been recognised as polyglots, Albania is the fourth highest nation in Europe in terms of the percentage of monolingual inhabitants, with 59.9% speaking only one language. [1] Italian is widely spoken throughout Albania. Greek, the language of the Greek national minority, is focused in southern Albania; however, many Albanian nationals speak the Greek language due to immigration. Nowadays, knowledge of English is growing very rapidly, especially among the youth. Various languages are spoken by ethnic minorities: Greek, Aromanian, Macedonian, etc.
The Article 14 of the Albanian Constitution states that "The official language in the Republic of Albania is Albanian." [2] According to the 2011 population census, 2,765,610, 98.767% of the population declared Albanian as their mother tongue ("mother tongue is defined as the first or main language spoken at home during childhood"). [3]
Standard Albanian is based in the Tosk dialect, spoken in the south. Gheg is spoken in the north and also by Kosovo Albanians and in Croatia Arbanasi, Upper Reka dialect, Istrian. The traditional border between the two dialects is the Shkumbin River. Although they are somewhat different, they are mutually intelligible. [4] [5] Other notable varieties, all of which are sub-dialects of Tosk, include Lab, Cham, Arbëresh spoken in Italy and Arvanitika, Arvanitic in Southern Greece.
Greek is the largest minority language of Albania and first largest foreign language. Because the number of Greeks in Albania is disputed, the exact number of native speakers of Greek is unknown. The Greeks of Albania speak a modern southern Greek dialect, known as Northern Epirote Greek. [6] Alongside Albanian loanwords, it retains some archaic forms and words that are no longer used in Standard Modern Greek, as well as in the Greek dialects of southern Epirus. Despite the relatively small distances between the various towns and villages, there exists some dialectal variation, [7] most noticeably in accent. [8] In addition, many Albanians have knowledge of Greek, mainly due to past immigration to Greece. Greek is co-official in numerous municipalities and regions in Southern Albania.
There are up to 200,000 Aromanians in Albania, a figure which includes people who do not speak the Aromanian language. [9] [10] They mostly live in the southern and central regions of the country. The Aromanians, under the name "Vlachs", are a recognized cultural minority in the Albanian law. [11]
According to the 1989 census, there were approximately 5,000 Macedonian language-speakers in Albania. Most of these people live in the southeastern part of the country in the Lake Prespa region. [12] Macedonians are an officially recognized minority in the Pustec Municipality. However, only the Macedonians living in Pustec are allowed to declare their nationality and language. Ethnic Macedonian organization claim that 120,000 to 350,000 Macedonians live in Albania. [13] They are politically represented by the Alliance of Macedonians for European Integration, which in the 2011 elections received around 2,500 votes. [14]
About 10,000 Romani people live in Albania today. They have preserved the language, despite the lack of education in that language. [15]
Serbo-Croatian is mostly spoken and understood in northern Albania, near the border of former Yugoslavian countries of Serbia and Montenegro. [16] The television phenomenon of Italian also happened to Serbo-Croatian, but to a lesser extent. [17]
The most-widely spoken foreign languages in Albania are English, Italian and Greek.
A study carried out by Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Union, analyzed the demography of the adult population 25-64 of several european countries as of 2016. The results of the Adult Education Survey, released in May 2018, showed that the 39.9% of the 25–64 years old is able to use at least one foreign language. The main foreign language known is English with 40.0%, followed by Italian with 27.8% and Greek with 22.9%. The English speakers were mostly young people, the knowledge of Italian is stable in every age group, while there is a decrease of the speakers of Greek in the youngest group. [18]
Italian is by far the best-known foreign language in Albania and used to have official status when the country was a protectorate of Italy. [16] Most Italian-speakers have not learnt the language in classrooms or from books, but rather by watching Italian television. [17] During the late communist regime, Albanians living in the towns along the Adriatic Sea coast had access to Italian television. [19] Many Albanians "grew skilled at rewiring their TVs to overcome [the] Albanian government's attempt to block Italian channels". [20] A large number of middle-aged and younger people grew up with the language and know it very well. [16]
Among the elderly, Italian is also common as the language was used in the educational system in the 1930s, after King Zog released a decree requiring all Albanian schools to teach Italian in 1933. [21]
Albania also is home to 19,000 ethnic Italians, who have aided the growth of the language in the country.
English is mostly popular among the younger generations of Albanians. [22] [ unreliable source? ] [23] [ unreliable source? ] As of 2006, more than 65% of Albanian children could speak fluent or semi-fluent English. [24]
The language came to Albania in 1921, when the Albanian Vocational School started to teach English with the sponsorship of the American Red Cross. The school operated until 1933. [21] The Albanian Government at the time decided to make English the country's second language. [25] Russian became the major language taught in schools after the Communists took control over the country. After the Soviet-Albanian Split in the 1960s, English came to compete with Russian. [21] A 2006 book by Mimoza Rista-Dema, a Ph.D. in Linguistics at Indiana University, describes the teaching of English during the communist era:
Although English was taught at schools, it was considered the language of Western imperialism and as a result, elements of its culture and civilization were offered to English learners selectively. [26]
French lycées in Korçë and Gjirokastër operated during the communist era, because long-time leader of Communist Albania, Enver Hoxha studied in the University of Montpellier in France and upon his rise to power allowed their activity. Albania is a member of la Francophonie. Most French-speakers in Albania can be found in these two towns and surrounding areas, but also elsewhere in the country. [16] According to La Francophonie, Albania is home to 30,000 French speakers. [27]
Russian began to be taught in schools and universities in the 1950s, when it was lingua franca of the Eastern Bloc countries. [21] It continued until the Soviet–Albanian split in early 1961. Many who learnt in at the time, have forgotten most of it due to lack of usage. [16]
After the ideological controversies with the USSR, Albania and China became closer. A number of Albanians studied in China and learnt Chinese there. After the collapse of communism in Albania in 1991, many young Albanians also traveled to China for education and learned the language. [16]
Other European languages are also present in Albania and spoken by Albanians. This is primarily due to the large Albanian diaspora that exists in Europe as well as strong emphasis on foreign languages in education.
The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, and they also live in the neighboring countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, and Serbia, as well as in Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Albanians also constitute a large diaspora with several communities established across Europe and the other continents.
Demographic features of the population of Albania include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects. The demography of Albania is monitored by the Institute of Statistics of Albania. The institute has performed demographic censuses since the 1920s. The latest census in Albania was performed in September 2023.
Korçë District, was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 counties. It had a population of 143,499 in 2001, and an area of 1,752 km2 (676 sq mi). Its capital was the city of Korçë. Its territory is now part of Korçë County: the municipalities of Korçë, Maliq and Pustec.
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.
The Aromanians are an ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, northern and central Greece and North Macedonia, and can currently be found in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, south-western and eastern North Macedonia, northern and central Greece, southern Serbia and south-eastern Romania. An Aromanian diaspora living outside these places also exists. The Aromanians are known by several other names, such as "Vlachs" or "Macedo-Romanians".
Gheg or Geg 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.
Albanisation, Albanianisation (UK), Albanization, or Albanianization (US) is the spread of Albanian culture, people, and language, either by integration or assimilation. Diverse peoples were affected by Albanisation including peoples with different ethnic origins, such as Turks, Serbs, Croats, Circassians, Bosniaks, Greeks, Aromanians, Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians, Romani, Gorani, and Macedonians from all the regions of the Balkans.
Minorities in Greece are small in size compared to Balkan regional standards, and the country is largely ethnically homogeneous. This is mainly due to the population exchanges between Greece and neighboring Turkey and Bulgaria, which removed most Muslims and those Christian Slavs who did not identify as Greeks from Greek territory. The treaty also provided for the resettlement of ethnic Greeks from those countries, later to be followed by refugees. There is no official information for the size of the ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities because asking the population questions pertaining to the topic have been abolished since 1951.
The official language of Greece is Greek, spoken by 99% of the population. In addition, a number of non-official, minority languages and some Greek dialects are spoken as well. The most common foreign languages learned by Greeks are English, German, French and Italian.
Municipality of Struga is a municipality in western North Macedonia. Struga is also the name of the town where the municipal seat is found. Struga Municipality is part of the Southwestern Statistical Region.
The official language of North Macedonia is Macedonian, while Albanian has co-official status. Macedonian is spoken by roughly two-thirds of the population natively, and as a second language by much of the rest of the population. Albanian is the largest minority language. There are a further five national minority languages: Turkish, Romani, Serbian, Bosnian, and Aromanian. The Macedonian Sign Language is the country's official sign language.
The Macedonians in Albania are an officially recognized ethnic minority. According to the data from the census held in 2023, there are 2,281 ethnic Macedonians in Albania. According to the 2011 census, 5,512 ethnic Macedonians lived in Albania. In the 1989 census, 4,697 people had declared themselves Macedonian.
The geographical distribution of speakers of Macedonian refers to the total number of native speakers of Macedonian, an East South Slavic language that serves as the official language of North Macedonia. Estimates of the number of native and second language speakers of Macedonian varies; the number of native speakers in the country ranges from 1,344,815 according to the 2002 census in North Macedonia to 1,476,500 per linguistic database Ethnologue in 2016. Estimates of the total number of speakers in the world include 3.5 million people. Macedonian is studied and spoken as a second language by all ethnic minorities in the country.
Albanian is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid 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.
Albanians in Greece are people of Albanian ethnicity or ancestry who live in or originate from areas within modern Greece. They are divided into distinct communities as a result of different waves of migration. Albanians first migrated into Greece during the late 13th century. The descendants of populations of Albanian origin who settled in Greece during the Middle Ages are the Arvanites, who have been fully assimilated into the Greek nation and self-identify as Greeks. Today, they still maintain their distinct subdialect of Tosk Albanian, known as Arvanitika, although it is endangered as the younger generations no longer speak it due to language attrition.
Plikati is a village in the municipal unit of Mastorochoria, Ioannina regional unit, Greece. It is one of the northernmost villages in Epirus. The village is situated at the foot of the Grammos mountains, at 1,240 m elevation, close to the Albanian border. Plikati is 3 km north of Gorgopotamos, 8 km west of Aetomilitsa, 9 km southeast of Ersekë (Albania) and 28 km north of Konitsa. Plikati has traditionally been populated by an Arvanite population and it is the only village today in Konitsa municipality where Albanian is still spoken. An Aromanian minority is also present in the village.
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 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 Aromanians in Albania are an officially recognised ethnic minority in Albania.
The Albanian–Eastern Romance linguistic parallels are subject of historical and contact linguistic research applied to the Albanian and Eastern Romance languages. It has also been studied to understand the history of Albanian and Eastern Romance speakers. The common phonological, morphological and syntactical features of the two language families have been studied for more than a century. Both are part of the Balkan sprachbund but there are certain elements shared only by Albanian and Eastern Romance languages that descended from Common Romanian. Aside from Latin, and from shared Greek, Slavic and Turkish elements, other characteristics and words are attributed to the Palaeo-Balkan linguistic base. Similarities between Eastern Romance and Albanian are not limited to their common Balkan features and the assumed common lexical items: the two language families share calques and proverbs, and display analogous phonetic changes, some of the latter especially shared between Tosk Albanian and Common Romanian.
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