Vellara script or Vellara alphabet is one of the original Albanian alphabets, encountered for the first time in the early 19th century. It is named after the Greek doctor, lyricist and writer Ioannis Vilaras (Jan Vellarai in Albanian), [2] the author of a manuscript where this alphabet is documented for the first and so far the only time. [3] [4]
Vilaras studied medicine in Padua in 1789 and later lived in Venice. In 1801, he became a physician to Veli, son of Ali Pasha Tepelena (1741–1822). [5] Vilaras is remembered today primarily as a modern Greek poet, non-native Albanian speaker but fluent, according to François Pouqueville, who also describes him as bright. Vilaras spent time in southern Albania. [3] [6]
The manuscript of the work was donated to the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (supplément grec 251, f. 138-187) in 1819 by François Pouqueville (1770–1839), French consul in Janina during the reign of Ali Pasha. Pouqueville was aware of the value of the work, noting: "Je possède un manuscrit, une grammaire grecque vulgaire et schype qui pourrait être utile aux philologues" (I possess a manuscript, a vulgar Greek and Albanian grammar which could be of use to philologists), but chose not to publish it in his travel narratives. Pages 137-226 contain the material in Albanian. [6]
Pages 137-138 contain a list of proverbs in modern Greek and Albanian. Pages 138-187, in two columns per page format, contain the collection of grammatical notes both in Greek and Albanian. These bilingual grammatical notes, dated 1801, were designed no doubt to teach other Greek-speakers Albanian. On page 187, there is a list of names of living things. Page 191 starts the Greek-Albanian phraseologies. On page 217, there is a mini-dictionary with trees names, human body parts, and vegetable names. The alphabet shows in page 219. Appendixed to the grammatical notes is also a letter dated 30 October 1801, written in Albanian in Vellara's handwriting from the village of Vokopolë, south of Berat, where the physician had been obliged to follow Veli during the latter's military campaign against Ibrahim of Berat.
The alphabet comprises 30 letters. It leans towards the Latin script, and less the Greek one, with some special characters for Albanian's particular sounds. Albanian alphabet's "c" and "x" are covered by a single letter ("x" is never found in Vellara's writings). Today's "ë" is represented by "e", and "e" by "é". There are no letters for today's digraphs "ll", "rr", "zh", and "y". Instead, "y" is substituted with "u" or "i". Today's "nj" is represented by a Cyrillic letter. [6]
Vilara's letter signed by him as "30 Oktomvrit 1801 Vagopolja, mik tëndë Jatroi Vellara" (October 30, 1801, Vokopolja, your friend Doctor Vellara), shows that the alphabet was known and used by other people at that time.
During the Albanian National Renaissance, the script was made known to the Albanian circles, first published in 1898 by the Albania magazine in Brussels. [6] [2]
The Albanian alphabet is a variant of the Latin alphabet used to write the Albanian language. It consists of 36 letters:
Berat County, officially the County of Berat, is a county in the Southern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the ninth largest by area and the ninth most populous of the twelve counties, with around 119,450 people within an area of 1,798 km2 (694 sq mi). The county borders the counties of Elbasan to the north, Korçë to the east, Gjirokastër to the south and Fier to the west. It is divided into five municipalities, Berat, Dimal, Kuçovë, Poliçan and Skrapar, with all of whom incorporate twenty-five administrative units.
The Vithkuqi alphabet, also called Büthakukye or Beitha Kukju after the appellation applied to it by German Albanologist Johann Georg von Hahn, was an alphabetic script invented for writing the Albanian language between 1825 and 1845 by Albanian scholar Naum Veqilharxhi.
The Elbasan alphabet is a mid 18th-century alphabetic script created for the Albanian language Elbasan Gospel Manuscript, also known as the Anonimi i Elbasanit, which is the only document written in it. The document was created at St. Jovan Vladimir's Church in central Albania, but is preserved today at the National Archives of Albania in Tirana. The alphabet, like the manuscript, is named after the city of Elbasan, where it was invented, and although the manuscript isn't the oldest document written in Albanian, Elbasan is the oldest out of seven known original alphabets created for Albanian. Its 59 pages contain Biblical content written in a script of 40 letters, of which 35 frequently recur and 5 are rare.
Ioannis "Yianis" Vilaras was a Greek doctor, lyricist and writer who often discussed linguistic matters and maintained ties with many figures of the Modern Greek Enlightenment movement.
Codex Purpureus Beratinus designated by Φ or 043, ε 17, is an uncial illuminated manuscript Gospel book written in Greek. Dated palaeographically to the 6th-century, the manuscript is written in an uncial hand on purple vellum with silver ink. The codex is preserved at the Albanian National Archives in Tirana, Albania. It was formerly possessed by the St. George Church in the town of Berat, Albania, hence the 'Beratinus' appellation.
Minuscule 1143, ε 1035, also known as the Beratinus 2, or Codex Aureus Anthimi. It is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament on purple parchment, dated paleographically to the 9th century. This is one of the seven “purple codices” in the world to have survived to the present day, and one of the two known purple minuscules written with a gold ink.
The Pashalik of Yanina, sometimes referred to as the Pashalik of Ioannina or Pashalik of Janina, was an autonomous pashalik within the Ottoman Empire between 1787 and 1822 covering large areas of Albania, Greece, and North Macedonia. Under the Ottoman Albanian ruler Ali Pasha, the pashalik acquired a high degree of autonomy and even managed to stay de facto independent, though this was never officially recognized by the Ottoman Empire. Conceiving his territory in increasingly independent terms, Ali Pasha's correspondence and foreign Western correspondence frequently refer to the territories under Ali's control as Albania.
Minuscule 301 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), A156 (Soden), is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 11th century. It has marginalia.
Naum Veqilharxhi was an Albanian lawyer and scholar. In 1844, he created a unique alphabet for the Albanian language using characters he had created himself, the Vithkuqi script. Veqilharxhi is one of the most prominent figures of the early Albanian National Awakening, and is considered by Albanians as its first ideologue.
Saint Gjon Vladimir's Church is a church in Shijon, Elbasan County, Albania. It is dedicated to the Dukljan prince and saint Jovan Vladimir, the son-in-law of the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil. It became a Cultural Monument of Albania in 1948. The first temple is the oldest large Orthodox basilica from the times of Tsar Samuil, rebuilt as present church by the Thopia family in 1381. During the 18th century Kostandin Shpataraku painted the walls of the church.
The Sanjak of Elbasan was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire. Its county town was Elbasan in Albania.
The Elbasan Gospel Manuscript is an 18th-century collection of translations from the New Testament into Albanian. Although the author is mainly known as the Anonymous of Elbasan, according to Mahir Domi and Robert Elsie the linguistic and historical evidences indicate to be the work of Gregory of Durrës. On the cover's verso with the same ink as the text, something has been written in a different script, which has been interpreted by a historian as ‘Theodoros Bogomilos / Papa Totasi’, although this tentative interpretation isn't universally accepted. For this reason the work is sometimes attributed to Totasi as the owner, if not the creator of the manuscript.
The House of Taushani was an Albanian aristocratic family prominent from the 15th to 19th century. According to prof. Stavri Naci, the most powerful families of Albania that played an important economic and political role were, "in Shkoder, the Bushati and Caushollaj; in Peja, Begollaj; in Elbasan, Taushani and Bicaku; in Vlora, Velabishtaj and Vlora; in Delvina, Kapllanpashalli; in Kruja, Toptani; and in Kavaja, the Alltuni."
Constantine of Berat, known among Albanians as Kostandin Jermonak Berati or shortly Kostë Berati, was an Albanian writer and translator of the 18th century.
The Second Congress of Manastir was an Albanian congress held on 2–3 April 1910 in Manastir, back then Ottoman Empire, today's Bitola in the Republic of North Macedonia. It dealt with the challenges that the Albanian language and schools faced at the time within the context of the empire, and the platform to overcome them.
The Vrioni family is one of the great Albanian aristocratic families and one of the biggest landowners of Albania, otherwise known as "Konaqe" or "Oxhaqe", among which the most important are: Vrioni of Berat and Fier, Vloraj of Vlora, Toptani of Tirana, Biçakçinjtë of Elbasan, Dino of Ioannina and Preveza, Vërlaci of Elbasan, Bushatllinjtë of Shkodra, Këlcyrajt of Këlcyra, Markagjonët of Mirdita, etc. Insignia titles held by members of these families, usually Pasha or Bey, corresponded to the assigned positions in the Ottoman administration, central or local, which are given by ferman or berat (decrees) by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
The Todhri alphabet is an 18th-century Albanian alphabetical writing system invented for writing the Albanian language by Theodhor Haxhifilipi, also known as Dhaskal Todhri.
Gregory of Durrës was an Albanian scholar, printer, typographer, and teacher, and an Eastern Orthodox Christian monk and cleric of Ottoman Albania who is thought to have invented a particular Albanian alphabetic script, the Elbasan script, used to write the Elbasan Gospel Manuscript. The manuscript is one of the oldest known pieces of Albanian Orthodox literature, as well as the oldest known Orthodox Bible translation into Albanian.
Theodhor Haxhifilipi also known as Dhaskal Todhri was a teacher from Elbasan, who is credited as an inventor of an original Albanian alphabet. The Todhri script, as is called because of him, according to Kostandin Kristoforidhi, was either invented by Theodor, or brought by him from Voskopojë. Theodhor is the author of numerous translations of liturgical works in Albanian, of which only a few survived. A mass of John Chrysostom, preserved in a later manusrcipt of 32 pages, is amongst the rare ones kept at the National Library of Albania.
Në lidhje me këtë, E. Legrandi i shkruen revistës, se Dr. Vellara, asht njeri i njoftun dhe nuk asht shqiptar. Emni i tij i vërtetë asht Joannis Vellara...