Brick kilns / 10.01.2024

What language is spoken in Albania? On the origin of the Albanian language. Office hours

It is gradually becoming popular among fans of inexpensive beach holidays on the Adriatic. Its guests can only dream of a developed tourist infrastructure, but there are enough secluded beaches and ecotourism opportunities for everyone who decides to buy a plane ticket. There is no need to learn the official language of Albania: Albanians make a lot of efforts to develop the tourism sector of the economy, including learning English.

Some statistics and facts

Albanian is considered the native language by about 6 million people living in the republic itself, as well as in and on several Greek islands.
The two dialects of Albania's official language are slightly different phonetically. Northern or Tokian served as the basis for literary Albanian until the beginning of the twentieth century. Southern or Gheg came to replace it in the last century.
Today, about three million Albanians are speakers of the Tok dialect. Almost 300 thousand people consider Geg as their native language.
In addition to Albanian, other languages are also common in the country. Greek is spoken by about 3% of the population, Romanian, Gypsy and Serbian in total by about 2%.

Albanian language: history and modernity

Linguists are confident that Albanian originated in the 6th-4th centuries BC and that the ancient Illyrians spoke a related language. It was only in the 19th century that large-scale studies of the current state language of Albania were carried out, as a result of which it was classified as belonging to the Indo-European family.
The ancient Romans had an undoubted influence on Albanian and its development. The Latin trace in the language is noticeable not only at the level of vocabulary, but also in grammar. Albanian also received borrowings from numerous Slavic languages and Greek.
The language of Albania is part of the Balkan language union along with Serbian, Macedonian and others. Some sound features unite Albanian with Latvian and Hungarian, although they are not related at all. Albanian is written using the Latin alphabet, used since 1908.
Linguists note the influence of Russian on the formation of the modern lexical minimum of the Albanian language. This is due to the penetration of scientific and technical knowledge from the USSR during its existence. Thus, the words “tractor”, “complex”, “docent”, “ballast”, “fist” and many others entered the lives of Albanians thanks to friendship with the Soviet people.

In recent years, more and more tourists have begun to come to Albania. This is connected, of course, with the political and economic stability of this country. However, for most of us, Albania is still a little-explored and mysterious Balkan country, rumored to have stunningly beautiful beaches and unique ancient architecture. So what is Albania really like?

Geography

Albania is one of the countries of southeastern Europe, which is located in the Balkans. The total area of this ancient country is 28,748 km. sq. The Republic of Albania borders on Montenegro in the north, Kosovo in the northeast, Macedonia in the east, and Greece in the south and southeast. The total length of the Albanian border is 1094 km. In the west, Albania is washed by the warm and clear waters of the Adriatic and Ionian seas. The highest peak in Albania is Mount Corabi (2764 m).

Capital of Albania

The capital of Albania is Tirana, which was founded by the Turks in 1614. In 1920, the all-Albanian National Congress proclaimed Tirana the capital of independent Albania. Now the population of Tirana numbers more than 400 thousand people.

Official language

The official language of Albania is Albanian, which is a branch of the Indo-European languages and also a descendant of the Illyrian language. Modern Albanian has many borrowings from Greek, Italian, Latin, Turkish, and Slavic.

Religion

About 70% of Albania's population is Sunni Muslim. Another 20% of Albanians are Christians belonging to the Greek Catholic Church. The remaining 10% of Albanians are Catholics.

State structure

Albania is a parliamentary republic. The country's modern constitution was adopted on October 21, 1998, after many years of struggle for independence. The Parliament of Albania is a unicameral Assembly (People's Assembly), in which elections of deputies take place every 4 years (140 deputies in total).

The main political parties are the Democratic Party of Albania, the Socialist Party of Albania, the Democratic Alliance, the Republican Party of Albania, and the Unity Party for Human Rights.

On April 1, 2009, Albania became a member of NATO. Albania is now seeking to join the European Union. In April 2009, Albania officially applied to join the EU.

Climate and weather

The average air temperature in Albania is +15.9 C. In the coastal regions of Albania, the climate is subtropical Mediterranean, temperate. Summers are hot and dry (from +24 C to +28 C), and winters are mild and humid (from +4 C to +14 C). In the Alpine regions of Albania the climate is continental, with humid summers (up to +10 C) and cold winters (up to -12-20 C).

Sea in Albania

Albania is washed by the waters of the Adriatic and Ionian seas. The total coastline is 362 km. On the Adriatic coast of Albania, near the ancient city of Lezha, founded in the 4th century BC, there is the beautiful Drina Bay.

Albania owns several small islands, but all of them are uninhabited. The largest of them is Sazani Island, which is located at the entrance to Vlora Bay. Its area is 5 km. sq.

The coasts of Albania and Italy are connected by the Strait of Otranto, which is 75 km wide. This strait separates the Adriatic and Ionian seas.

Rivers and lakes

Despite the fact that Albania is a small mountainous country, a large number of rivers flow through its territory. The largest of them are the Drin River (285 km) in the north of the country and the Seman River (281 km) in the south. Also worth highlighting are the rivers Vjosa (272 km), Mat (115 km), Shkumbin (181 km), and Bystritsa.

There are several large lakes in Albania - Ohrid, Skadar, Big Prespa and Small Prespa.

The area of Lake Ohrid is 358 km. sq. Its average depth is 155 m, and its maximum is 288 m. Now Lake Ohrid is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This lake is even home to 2 species of trout.

Lake Skadar is located not only in Albania, but also in Montenegro. Its average area is 475 km. sq. In 2005, a state reserve was established in Albania on the territory of Lake Skadar.

Lakes Bolshaya Prespa and Malaya Prespa are located at an altitude of 853 meters above sea level.

Story

The ancestors of modern Albanians are considered to be the Illyrian tribes that settled in the Western Balkans in the 2nd millennium BC. In the 7th century BC. On the territory of modern Albania, the ancient Greeks founded several city-polises (Durres, Apollonia and Butrint). At different times, these Greek colonies were part of Ancient Macedonia and the Roman Empire. By the way, these lands came under the control of Rome in 167 BC, after a long and bloody war.

In 285 AD. Roman Emperor Diocletian divided Illyria (i.e. the territory of modern Albania) into four provinces. The capital of one of them was Durres.

In 395 AD. Illyria, after the collapse of the Roman Empire, became part of Byzantium. In the 9th century, the neighboring Bulgarian kingdom became very strong and powerful. As a result, the territory of modern Albania became part of this kingdom.

In the Middle Ages, several feudal principalities were formed on the territory of modern Albania. Thus, in 1190, a feudal principality was formed in Kruje. At the end of the 14th century, the Ottoman Empire began to lay claim to the territory of Albania. After many years of wars (the Skanderbeg uprising), in 1479, Albania became part of the Ottoman Empire. Despite constant uprisings against Turkish rule, Albania was able to gain independence only in 1912. During World War I, Albania was occupied by Italy, Serbia and Austria-Hungary. After the end of the First World War, Albania again gained independence, and in 1920, the Albanian National Congress declared Tirana the capital of the country.

During World War II, the Albanian National Army, led by Enver Hoxha, stubbornly resisted Italian and German forces. In January 1946, the People's Socialist Republic of Albania was proclaimed. The communist Enver Hoxha became the leader of the country.

In December 1990, a multi-party system was introduced in Albania, and after that the importance of the communist party in this country became very small. In October 1998, a new constitution for Albania was adopted.

Culture

Naturally, Albania, with its ancient history, has a unique culture, which was greatly influenced by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Slavs (primarily the Serbs). During the Middle Ages, Albanian culture was under strong Turkish influence. But this is understandable, because at that time this territory was part of the Ottoman Empire.

In addition, Albanian culture in the Middle Ages was significantly influenced by the Italians (in particular, Venice laid claim to some Albanian cities), who for a long time considered the territory of modern Albania their “patrimony”.

First of all, it should be noted the unique Albanian architecture, which developed under the influence of the Serbs, Italians and Turks. However, unfortunately, in the 1944-1990s, during the rule of the Communist Party, many architectural monuments were destroyed. This applies to a greater extent to ancient mosques and Catholic churches.

However, during the rule of the Communist Party in Albania, the cities of Gjirokastra and Berat were declared museum cities. Today, Gjirokastra and Berat, thanks to the preserved architecture of the Ottoman Empire, are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Albanian literature began to develop only in the second half of the 19th century, when a movement for national awakening appeared - Rilindja Kombëtare, which sought independence from the Ottoman Empire. This movement belongs to romantic nationalism, and thanks to it one can understand the mentality of modern Albanians.

The national Albanian elite appeared only at the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to graduates of Catholic educational institutions created by the Jesuits and Franciscans in the city of Shkodra.

During the Second World War, most writers were forced to leave Albania, and only in the 1960s did the Albanian literary renaissance begin, associated primarily with the name of Ismail Kadare. Even modern Albanian writers take a lot from the work of the poet and prose writer Kadare.

As for cinema, the first film studio in Albania (Albafilm) was formed in 1952, and the first Albanian feature film appeared in 1958 (this was the film “Tana”).

Albanian cuisine

The cuisine of Albania was formed under strong Turkish influence. A traditional lunch in Albania begins with an appetizer known as meze (sour milk, meat, cucumbers, garlic, olive oil, spices). A tourist may mistake meze for a main course, but in reality it is just a local appetizer. Traditional meze is served in Albania with chicken liver. As for the traditional Albanian aperitif, it is rakia or a glass of red wine.

The most popular salads in Albania are potato salad, bean salad, and fresh vegetable salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers and onions). The most popular Albanian soups are “Jahni soup” (its taste differs among Albanian regions) and lemon soup.

Tourists should remember that Albania is a Muslim country where they do not eat pork. But in this country, especially in coastal areas, fish dishes are very popular. Almost all types of fish are served baked in olive oil with garlic and various spices. Lamb dishes are also popular in Albania.

But please always leave room for the Albanian dessert, which is simply amazing. Baklava, Turkish delight, kadaiff, which have Turkish roots, are made in Albania in a variety of, sometimes very unusual, versions. We also advise you to try the local pudding made from sheep's milk and figs in Albania.

Sights of Albania

There are so many attractions in Albania that we will probably highlight only 5 of them:

Cities and resorts of Albania

The largest Albanian cities are Tirana, Durres, Vlora, Shkoder, Berat, Korca, Gjirokastra, and Elbasan. The main port of Albania is the city of Durres, which was founded long ago by the ancient Greeks.

Almost every coastal Albanian city is an excellent resort. Holidays on the Albanian Riviera (an area along the Ionian Sea in southern Albania) are cheaper than, for example, in Croatia. In addition, there are not many people on the Albanian Riviera, which is also an advantage.

Souvenirs/shopping

We advise tourists to go to the small town of Kruja, north of Tirana. In this ancient city (now its population is only 20 thousand people) you can buy the best Albanian souvenirs, jewelry and antiques. We recommend buying dolls, ashtrays, toys, olive oil, honey, tea, herbs, spices, alcoholic drinks, mugs, plates, T-shirts, Albanian flags, as well as CDs with Albanian folk music in Albania.

Office hours

In Albania, most shops are open from 9.00 to 18.00, and banks - from 08.00 to 16.00. Some stores are open on Saturdays and Sundays.

Visa

To enter Albania you need a visa. However, a valid Schengen visa is already a sufficient basis for entry. Visa-free entry into Albania is provided for the period from June 1 to October 31 (if you have a foreign passport).

Currency of Albania

Lek is the official currency of Albania. One lek (international designation: AL) is equivalent to 100 kindarks. In Albania, banknotes in the following denominations are used: 100, 200, 500, 1000 and 5000 lek.

In addition, there are coins in circulation in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 lek.

Albanians do not mind at all when tourists pay them in dollars or euros.

Never change currency “out of pocket”, no matter how attractive the exchange rate may be. Otherwise, you risk becoming a victim of scammers.

Customs restrictions

You cannot bring local currency (lek) into Albania. Foreign currency can be brought into Albania without any restrictions. You can take out up to 5 thousand dollars from Albania, or as much money as the tourist declared upon entering this country.

From Albania it is allowed to export 2 liters of wine, 1 liter of strong alcoholic drinks, up to 200 cigarettes, etc. per person.

Useful telephone numbers and addresses

Embassy of Albania in Ukraine (shared with Poland):
Address: 02-386 Warsaw, Altova str., 1
Phone: (810 4822) 824-14-27
Fax: (0-22) 824-14-26
Reception days: Monday-Friday from 8-00 to 16-00

The interests of Ukraine in Albania are represented by the Ukrainian Embassy in Greece:
Address: Greece, Athens 152 37, Filothei, Stefanou Delta str. 20-4
Phone: (8 10 30210) 68 00 230
Fax: (8 10 30210) 68 54 154
Email: , This email address is being protected from spambots. You must have JavaScript enabled to view it.

Emergency numbers ambulance (17)
fire protection (18)
police (19)
Road Administration (42 23600)
traffic police (42 34874).

Time in Albania

All Albania's territory belongs to the same time zone. The difference with Kyiv time is 1 hour. Those. if in Tirana, for example, 9:00 am, then in Kyiv – 10:00 am.

Tips

Most waiters in Albanian restaurants understand English and Italian. Tips for services in Albania are 10% of the bill.

Medicine

The emergency telephone number in Albania is 17.

Safety

After the turbulent events of the 1990s (the war in Kosovo), the Albanians still have a lot of weapons in their hands. In general, Albanians are a “hot” nation, so tourists need to be very careful. Thus, we do not advise tourists to look Albanians in the eyes for a long time, and also to express feelings towards Albanian women. Cars, of course, are best left in guarded parking lots.

Albanian is the language of the Albanians living in Albania proper, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia (mainly Kosovo), Montenegro, Lower Italy and Sicily; it has several dialects, of which the northern ones, the so-called. Gheg, in general, are of more ancient origin, which is manifested in the preservation of the sound “i”, while in other dialects it turned into “r”, although at the same time the assimilation of “nd” and “mb” to the sounds “nn” and “ mm", as well as the frequent nasalization of the vowels "y" and "a" bear the imprint of a later era. Adverbs used south of the river. Shkumb, have the general name Tosk; The Albanian dialects of Greece and Italy differ in essential features by the same character. Until the beginning of the twentieth century. The literary Albanian language was based on the Tosk dialects, from the 20th century. Gheg dialects, common in the north of Albania and Kosovo, become predominant.

The number of speakers is about 6 million people.

According to a number of linguists, the ancient Illyrians spoke a language related to Albanian. Almost until the 19th century, no one studied it scientifically and it was not known exactly to which language group it belongs. It was finally determined to be a distinct member of the Indo-European family of languages, although historical study of it is very difficult due to the fact that it is very difficult to separate the indigenous Albanian words and forms from the huge number of loanwords from Greek, Latin, Romance, Turkish and Slavic languages.

The Albanian language has an Indo-European character in its lexical and grammatical elements. Already Thunman considered it a modern stage of the ancient Illyrian language; in the 19th century it was proven that it is an independent branch of the Indo-European family, and not an old, degenerate dialect of the Greek language, as many had previously assumed. The middle, aspirated sounds of the Proto-Indo-European language have lost it in the Albanian language (“g”, “d”, “b” instead of “gh”, “dh”, “bh”) and thus bring it closer to German, Celtic, Slovak , and the amplification of one of the rows of guttural aspiration sounds is with Slavoletsky.

Many words that do not have an Indo-European etymology may belong to the language spoken by the ancient Illyrians before moving to the Balkans. They are partly characteristic of the Romanian language, which has a related ethnological substrate with Albanian. In any case, the original character of the language has changed greatly. Although Roman rule in Illyria did not succeed in causing the formation of a new Romance language, as was the case in Gaul, Spain and other places, nevertheless, word formation, inflection and even the lexicon of words were so saturated with elements of the Latin language that the Albanian language became a half-mixed Romance language. The number of words borrowed from Latin extends to 1000; they occur equally between pronouns, numerals, conjunctions and prepositions.

Many suffixes are of Latin origin, derived verbs are formed according to Latin patterns, the declarative preterite is partly, and the optative is entirely of Latin origin, as well as some plural forms. numbers in declinations; From there, in all likelihood, the use of a member after a noun, as in Romanian and Bulgarian, was borrowed.

Subsequently, Slavic and Greek elements also penetrated into the Albanian language, but only into the lexicon; some of them are common to all Albanian dialects, therefore, adopted before the migration to Greece and Italy, while others are found only in northern Albania.

The diversity of the Albanian vocabulary is further increased by the mass of Turkish words that came into use mainly in northern dialects. Albanian language has the following sounds:

vowels: a, e, i, o, i, th, and indefinite (as in Romanian) ę; all these vowels are also found nasalized in North Albanian dialects;

main ones: strongly extended r and simple r, palatal lj and laryngeal l, corresponding. Polish ł;

nasal: larynx. gg, palatal ń (н), dental n and labial m;

closing: larynx. k and g, palatal kj, gy, dental t and d, labial p and b;

aspirated: laryngeal and palatal χ, palatal j, head ś and ż, dental s and z, interdental δ and δ, labial f and v and finally sibilant tś and dż, ts and dz.

The Albanian language is written using a variant of the Latin alphabet with diacritics. Earlier, in the 19th century, attempts were made to create an original Slavic script (the so-called “Elbasan alphabet” and “Byutakukye alphabet”).

The first written monuments of the Albanian language date back to the 15th century. (“Formula of baptism” by Bishop Pal Engela, 1462) and 16th century. (“Servant” by Gjon Buzuku, 1555).

Systematic scientific study of the Albanian language began in the mid-19th century. (works by I. G. Hahn and F. Bopp). Great contributions to Albanian linguistics were made by G. Meyer, N. Jokl, E. Chabey, St. Mann, K. Tagliavini, V. Tsimokhovsky, E. P. Hamp and others, who studied the problems of synchronic and diachronic development of the Albanian language, its history, grammar and vocabulary. Soviet scientists A. M. Selishchev and A. V. Desnitskaya made a significant contribution to the development of Albanian linguistics. Selishchev studied Albanian-Slavic linguistic connections and the problems of common structural features in the Balkan languages. Desnitskaya was the first to carry out a systematic description of Albanian dialects, studied the problems of the formation of the literary Albanian language, folklore, reconstruction of the ancient Albanian language state and the areal connections of the Albanian language with other Indo-European languages, she created a school of Soviet Albanian studies. O. S. Shirokov, M. A. Gabinsky, A. V. Zhugra, V. P. Neroznak, I. I. Voronina, Yu. A. Lopashov are fruitfully working in the field of Albanian linguistics: phonetic structure and grammar, historical development are being studied and the origin of the Albanian language, as well as its place in the system of Indo-European languages and its role in the Balkan Language Union (see also Balkan Studies).

Selishchev A. M., Slavic population in Albania, Sofia, 1931;
Zhugra A. V., Albanian language, in the book: Soviet linguistics for 50 years, M., 1967;
Desnitskaya A.V., Albanian language and its dialects, M., 1968;
Gabinsky M. A., The appearance and loss of the primary Albanian infinitive, Leningrad, 1970;
Grammatical structure of the Balkan languages, Leningrad, 1976;
Hahn J. G., Albanesische Studien, "Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien", 1883-97, Bd 104, 107, 132, 134, 136;
Jokl N., Linguistisch-kulturhistorische Untersuchungen aus dem Bereiche des Albanischen, B. - Lpz., 1923;
Daka P., Kontribut për bibliografinë e gjuhësisë shqiptare, 1-5, “Studime filologjike”, 1964-57;
Cabej E., Studime gjuhësore, v. 1-6, Prishtinë, 1975-77;
Zugra A. V. Bibliographie der albanologischen Arbeiten der sowjetischen Sprachforschers, “Akten des Internationalen Albanologisches Kolloquiums, Innsbruck 1972”, Innsbruck, 1977.
Fjalor i gjuhës së sotmë shqipe, Tiranë, 1980;
Brief Albanian-Russian dictionary, M., 2nd ed., 1951.

Total number of speakers: Classification Category: Paleobalkan languages Writing: Language codes GOST 7.75–97: ISO 639-1: ISO 639-2:

alb(B); sqi(T)

ISO 639-3:

sqi, aln, aae, aat, als

Dialects

It has several dialects, of which the northern ones, the so-called Gheg, in general, more archaic, which is manifested in the preservation of the sound “n”, while in other dialects it turned into “p”, although at the same time the likening of “nd” and “mb” to the sounds “nn” and “mm” , as well as the frequent nasalization of the vowels “y” and “a” bear the imprint of a later era. Adverbs used south of the river. Shkumb, have a common name Toscan; The Albanian dialects of Greece and Italy differ in essential features by the same character. Until the beginning of the 20th century. The literary Albanian language was based on the Tosk dialects, from the 20th century. gain dominance Gheg dialects common in northern Albania and Kosovo.

The differences between these dialects are not so great as to make mutual understanding difficult, but they are noticeable in a number of phenomena. For example, in rotacism: the Tosk name of Albania is Shqipëri, the Gheg name is Shqipni; Tosk ё in a stressed syllable in Gheg corresponds to the nasalized a: zëri (definition of name) - za, zani (zâ, zâni) “voice”; the Tosk diphthong ua in the Gheg written norm corresponds to the diphthong ue: (grua - grue “woman”), etc. Significant differences between the two dialect forms of the literary language are also revealed in the morphology of the verb.

The southern (Tosk) and northern (Gheg) varieties developed as two regional varieties of the literary language. Over the years, these two language norms have developed in parallel. A number of prominent northern writers, for example, Mark Gurakuchi, Kol Yakova, continue to create their works in Gheg, ardently defending its rights to further existence and development. Others originating from the Gheg dialect environment, for example the Elbasanian Dim. The Shuterichs deliberately switched to the Tosk form of the literary language.

The Illyrian population of the mountainous regions, less exposed to the direct influence of Roman culture, more steadfastly preserved their ancient speech, although numerous Latin elements in Albanian testify to the strength of Latin linguistic influence. The main (mountainous) territory of northern Albania included three main parts - Gegní, Lekní and Malsí. These three parts had an ethnographic originality. The word malësi in modern literary Albanian language denotes a mountainous region in general (highlanders - malsors).

History of the development of the Albanian language

Proto-Albanian belonged to the Paleo-Balkan linguistic area adjacent to the Ancient Greek linguistic area. According to a number of linguists, the ancient Illyrians spoke a language related to Albanian (however, the contradiction put forward by G. Hirt about the discrepancy between the satem character of Proto-Albanian and the supposed belonging of Illyrian to the linguistic region Centum has not been resolved). Almost until the 19th century, no one studied it scientifically and it was not known exactly to which language group it belongs. It was finally determined to be a distinct member of the Indo-European family of languages, although historical study of it is very difficult due to the fact that it is very difficult to separate the indigenous Albanian words and forms from the huge number of loanwords from Greek, Latin, Romance, Turkish and Slavic languages.

The Albanian language has an Indo-European character in its lexical and grammatical elements. Already Thunmann considered it a modern stage of the ancient Illyrian language; in the 19th century it was proven that it is an independent branch of the Indo-European family, and not an old, degenerate dialect of the Greek language, as many had previously assumed. The middle, aspirated sounds of the Proto-Indo-European language have lost it in the Albanian language (“g”, “d”, “b” instead of “gh”, “dh”, “bh”) and thus bring it closer to Germanic, Celtic, Slavic languages, and the intensification of one of the rows of laryngeal aspiration sounds is with Baltoslavic.

The assignment of the Proto-Albanian language to the Illyrian linguistic complex within the Proto-Balkan linguistic area is in full accordance with the long-established fact of the special connections of Albanian with the languages of the northern part of the Indo-European community, namely with the Baltic, Slavic and Germanic. This connection was first discovered by G. Meyer at the end of the last century. For example: alb. ligе, lit. ligà, lts. liga “disease”, Alb. mal “mountain”, ltsh. mala "shore".

Many words that do not have an Indo-European etymology may belong to the language spoken by the ancient Illyrians before moving to the Balkans. They are partly characteristic of the Romanian language, which has a related substrate with Albanian. In any case, the original character of the language has changed greatly. Although Roman rule in Illyria did not succeed in causing the formation of a new Romance language, as was the case in Gaul, Spain and other places, nevertheless, word formation, inflection and even the lexicon of words were so saturated with elements of the Latin language that the Albanian language became a half-mixed Romance language.

The layer of Latin vocabulary, entrenched in the Old Albanian language during the era of Roman rule in the Balkans, experienced fundamental transformations similar to creolization. In addition to the morphological truncation caused by the loss of endings, they are also distinguished by the often observed complete change in phonetic appearance, making them almost unrecognizable. For example, heg. early, melancholy rеrе "sand"< лат. arēna; гег. vner, тоск. vrer «желчь» < лат. venēnum; kal «лошадь» < лат. caballus, gjel «петух» < лат gallus; ar «золото» < лат. aurum; kofshё «бедро» < лат. соха; pus «колодец» < лат puteus; kushёrí «кузен» < лат. consobrīnus; mik «друг» < лат. amīcus; fqi «сосед» < лат. vicēnus; ferr «ад» < лат. infernum; gaz «радость» < лат. gaudium; fe «вера» < лат. fidēs; lter «алтарь» < лат. altare и др.

Although the entire system of nominal and verbal inflections inherited from the common Indo-European state in the Albanian language has undergone significant restructuring and appears in a barely recognizable form, the structure as a whole continues to retain a synthetic inflectional character.

Indo-Europeans
Indo-European languages
Anatolian · Albanian Armenian · Baltic · Venetsky German · Illyrian Aryan: Nuristani, Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Dardic Italian (Roman) Celtic · Paleo-Balkan Slavic · Tocharian italics dead language groups highlighted
Indo-Europeans
Albanians · Armenians · Balts Veneti· Germans · Greeks Illyrians· Iranians · Indo-Aryans Italics (Romans) · Celts Cimmerians· Slavs · Tocharians Thracians · Hittites italics currently defunct communities are identified
Proto-Indo-Europeans
Language · Ancestor · Religion
Indo-European Studies

Balkanisms

The Albanian language is part of the so-called Balkan Language Union. There are especially many ancient similarities in phonology and grammar between the Albanian language and the South Slavic languages with Serbian, Macedonian and Bulgarian.

Phonetics

Consonants:

	Bilab.	Labiod.	Interdental	Alveolar	Palatal-alveolar	Chambers	Velarn.
Nasal
Plosive	p b			t d		c ɟ	k ɡ
Africates				ts dz	tʃ dʒ
Fricatives		fv	θ ð	s z	ʃ ʒ
Trembling
Single-strike
Approximant				l ɫ

Vocabulary

The vocabulary of the Albanian language has a fairly extensive layer of words inherited from the times of the Indo-European community.

At the early stage of Albanian studies, when the unique position of the Albanian language in the reconstruction of the proto-language had not yet been discovered, G. Meyer, who carried out his etymological research on the material of the dialects of the Albanian Greeks in the 60-70s of the 19th century, came to the conclusion: for 5110 Albanian words there are 1420 words Latin-Roman origin (occur equally between pronouns, numerals, conjunctions and prepositions), Slavic - 540 (for example, jug south, rob slave), Turkish - 1180 (especially many Turkish words in northern dialects), 840 from Modern Greek, 400 from Indo-European heritage and 730 from unknown origin (Trautman Reinhold, 1948). However, further research by H. Pedersen, N. Jokl and E. Ch Abey showed that native words make up a much larger proportion of the lexicon.

Writing

Since 1908, the Albanian language has been written using a variant of the Latin alphabet with diacritics. Earlier, in the 19th century, attempts were made to use the original script (the so-called “Elbasan alphabet”, “Bytakukye alphabet” and “Gyirokastro alphabet”).

Modern Albanian alphabet

A a	B b	C c	Ç ç	D d	Dh dh	E e	Ë ë
F f	G g	Gj gj	H h	I i	Jj	K k	Ll
Ll ll	Mm	Nn	Nj nj	O o	P p	Q q	R r
Rr rr	Ss	Sh sh	T t	Th th	U u	Vv	X x
Xh xh	Y y	Z z	Zh zh

Name

A noun in the Albanian language has the categories of gender, number, case, as well as definiteness and indeterminacy. The predominant part of the vocabulary is distributed into two genders - masculine and feminine. There are very few neuter words (pronouns do not have neuter forms at all). First of all, these are the names of some substances used in nutrition, for example (in a certain form): mjaltët “honey”, gjalpët “butter”, vajt “vegetable oil”, misht “meat”, djathët “cheese”, ujët “water” ", etc. There is a strong tendency to transfer these nouns into the masculine category. r.: (definition) mjalti, gjalpi, vaji, mishi, djathi, uji.

The use of abstract nouns in the neuter gender, formed by substantivizing adjectives and participles, is unstable, for example: të mirët “good”, të thënët “fate” (lit., “said”). Nouns of this type are now more often used in feminine. p.: e mira, e thëna.

The category of gender is not involved in the construction of analytical verb forms.

Suffixed article(postpositive) serves to express the grammatical category of definiteness: in feminine. p.: vajzë and a specific form - vajza “this particular girl”. Or in men's p.: fshatar “peasant in general”, definite form fshatari “this particular peasant”.

Isolated article also of pronominal origin, but it is used separately as a function word. The main function is to connect the definition with the defined: djali i urtë "smart boy", biri i partizanit "son of a partisan", vajza e urtë "smart girl", bija e partizanit "daughter of a partisan". It is also placed before substantivized adjectives, before terms of kinship, if they do not have a possessive pronoun or other definition, for example: i ati “father” (of a specific person), e motra “sister” (but im ati “my father” , ime motra "my sister"). An isolated article cannot replace a suffixed article.

The definition is usually consistent with its gender by means of a connecting article preceding the definition, for example: nxënës (undefined) i zgjuar “developed student.” Participles receive, together with an isolated article, the category of gender, for example: armiku i lidhur “bound enemy”, in substantivized form: i lidhuri “bound”, e lidhura “bound”.

The types of formation of the plural stem, especially in masculine nouns, are very diverse.

Cases

Modern literary Albanian has five cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and deponent (ablative). Despite the partial homonymy of the forms (the endings of the genitive and dative cases completely coincide), Albanian cases retain their grammatical significance, and the use of a preposition only complements and lexically diversifies the system of meanings expressed using case forms.

There are two types of declension - indefinite and definite. The latter is formed by suffixing case forms postpositive article.

Declension of the masculine noun male (mountain):

Declension of a masculine noun zog(bird):

Declension of a feminine noun vajze(girl):

Adjective

Adjectives are divided into two categories:

used with the article, for example: pusi i thellë “deep well”, puna e madhe “great work”;
used without an article, for example: pusi vajguror “oil well (well)”, puna paqësore “peaceful labor”.

The main category for the language is adjectives, used with articles. The structure of the attributive combination that includes such an adjective coincides with the structure of the combination in which the genitive form acts as the attribute (zoti i urtë “smart master” and zoti i shtëpisë “master of the house”, maja e lartë “high peak” and maja e malit "peak"). When the definition is in its normal position, that is, after the defined, the adjective does not change by case and retains its indefinite form. It can agree with the defined name only in gender and number, which, however, does not happen in all cases. Basically, the function of agreement in gender, number and case is performed by the article. If, in the order of inversion, the adjective in the attributive combination comes first, then the noun being defined appears in the indefinite form and is not declined, and the adjective receives case endings, for example: im. p.un. part i dashuri mik "dear friend", wine. p.un. part e dashurin mik “dear friend” (compare with normal, non-inverted word order: miku i dashur, mikun e dashur).

Verb

The verb in Albanian is characterized by the categories of person, number, tense, mood and voice. All these categories are expressed morphologically, mainly through inflectional means.

The Albanian verb form system is very differentiated and includes both simple forms and descriptive (analytical) forms. Person and number (singular and plural) are usually (but not always) expressed through special endings, sometimes also with the participation of stem inflection. For the singular present tense indicative, it is impossible to establish uniform endings in all types of conjugation, since the old Indo-European endings were completely reduced (with the exception of several relict forms representing verbs in -*mi: jam “I am”, kam “have”, them “I say "), and new differences in design are associated solely with changes (or sometimes lack of changes) in the final sound of the stem. For the productive category of verbs, 1st l. which in units h. ends in -j (-nj), and the stem, from the point of view of the modern state of the language, has a vowel or diphthong as its final sound (for example: punoj “work”, thaj “land”, kthej “turn”, çkrij “melt, -yu” , shkruaj “I write”, thyej “I break”, etc.), the elements -j and -n, which were once an integral part of the stem, acquired the function of endings. The huge number of verbs of this type, and in particular the exceptional productivity of verbs in -oj, made it possible to morphologize the initially purely phonetic alternation.

Very many verbs are characterized by homonymy of forms for two, and often for three persons singular. hours present vr. For example: hap “open, -eat, -et”; 1е “I leave, -eat, -et”, etc. Comparison with clearly differentiated plural forms. Part hapim, hapni, hapin “we open, -et, -yut” makes it possible to speak in such cases about zero inflection.

The Albanian language does not have a grammatical category of the verb aspect (for example, the forms of the present tense and imperfect always express a continuous action, the aorist means a short-term, completed action in the past, or conveys a completed action, taken regardless of the time of its occurrence).

Some of the most common verbs have supplementative form. For example: present. vr. - 1st l. units h. kam “I have” - aorist 1st l. units h. pata, participle pasur; jam "I am" - aorist qeshë, participle qënë; ar "I give" - aorist dhashë, participle dhënë; bie "carry" - aorist prura, participle prurë; bie "fall" - aorist rashë, participle rënë; rri “sit”, “abide” - aorist ndëjta, participle ndënjur; shoh "I see" - aorist pashë, participle pare; vij "I come" - aorist erdha, participle ardhur.

The Albanian language does not know a special form of the infinitive. In the Tosk dialect it is conveyed using the subjunctive mood, for example dua të hap “I want to open”, or through the participial phrase - për të hapur “to open”. In the Gheg dialect there is a construction with the preposition me “with” and the short participle: me hapë “to open”.

Time category

A transitive verb, being conjugated in two voices and six moods (including the imperative), can form up to 42 different tense forms. The Albanian verb is characterized by a very extensive system of tense forms. Only in the active voice indicative there are eight tenses (the first three of them are simple, and the rest are analytical).

past imperfect, or imperfect;
aorist, or (according to the terminology adopted in Albanian school grammar) "simple perfect";
perfect (formed analytically using present tense forms of the verb kam “have” and the participle of the conjugated verb, for example: longing kam hapur, heg. kam hare I opened");
prepast I, or plusquaperfect I, its meaning is a long action that preceded another action in the past (formed analytically by combining the imperfect forms of the verb “to have” and the participle of the conjugated verb, for example: longing. kisha hapur, heg. kishe hapë “I opened”) ;
prepast II, or plusquaperfect II, its meaning is a short completed action that preceded another action in the past (formed by combining the aorist forms of the verb “to have” with the participle of the conjugated verb, for example longing. pata hapur, heg. pata hapë;
future I (in the Tosk dialect is formed using the do form of the verb dua “to want”, which has turned into an unchangeable particle, the conjunction të and the personal forms of the conjunctive present, the tense conjugated verb, for example: do të hap “I will open”, do të hapësh “you will open”; in the Gheg dialect it is formed from the personal indicative forms of the present tense verb kam “to have” and the analytical form of the infinitive of the conjugated verb, for example: kam me hapë “I will open”);
future II - a relatively rarely used form, conveys an action that precedes another action in the future (in the Tosk dialect it is a combination of the particles do and të, the personal forms of the present conjunctive of the verb “to have” and the participle of the conjugated verb, for example: do të kern hapur ; in the Gheg dialect - a combination of personal forms of the present time.

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