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Albanian (Shqip / Gjuha shqipe)

Albanian is an Indo-European language which forms its own branch in the Indo-European family and has no close relatives. It is spoken by about 7.6 million people mainly in Albania and Kosovo, and also in parts of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Greece and Italy.

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Origins
Albanian is thought by some scholars to be a descendent of Illyrian, a group of Indo-European languages spoken in the Western Balkans until perhaps the 6th century AD. Others believe that Albanian descended from Thracian or Dacian, Indo-European languages spoken in parts of the Balkans until about the 5th century AD.

Linguistics influences
Albanian absorbed some words from Greek and many words from Latin between about the 2nd century BC and the 5th century AD. After that the language was influenced by the languages of Slavic and Germanic tribes who settled in the Balkans. There were also borrowings from the Proto-Romanians or Vlachs from the 9th century AD.

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Dialects
There are two main dialects of Albanian: Tosk (Tosksisht) Gheg (Gegrisht) and the dividing line between them is the Shkumbin river. Tosk, the official language of Albania, and one of the official languages of Kosovo and Macedonia, is spoken in southern Albania, Turkey, Greece and Italy, while Gheg is spoken in Serbia and Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, northern Albania and Bulgaria. The dialects are more or less mutually intelligible, and transitional varieties of Albanian are spoken in central Albania.

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Written Albanian
Albanian has been written with various alphabet since the 15th century. Originally the Tosk dialect was written with the Greek alphabet, while the Gheg dialect was written with the Latin alphabet. They have both also been written with the Turkish version of the Arabic alphabet. The Latin alphabet for Albanian was standardised in 1909, and a unified literary version of Albanian, based on the Tosk dialect, was established in 1972. Albanian has also been written with a number of other alphabets, including Elbasan, Beitha Kukju and Todhri, local inventions which appeared during the 18th and 19th centuries but were

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not widely used.

Albanian alphabet and pronunciation

Tosk dialect (Tosksisht)

Gheg dialect (Gegrisht) The main phonological difference between Gheg and Tosk is in the pronunciation of vowels. Here are the Gheg vowels:

Sample text (Tosk)

T gjith njerzit lindin t lir dhe t barabart n dinjitet dhe n t drejta. Ata kan arsye dhe ndrgjegje dhe duhet t sillen ndaj njri tjetrit me frym vllazrimi. Translation All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Sample text (Lord's Prayer in Tosk)

Ati yn q je n qiell, u shnjtroft emri yt. artht mbretria jote; u bft dshira jote, si n qiell, edhe mbi dhe. bukn ton t prditshme jepna neve sot; edhe falna fajet tona, sikundr edhe ne ua falim fajtorvet tan; edhe mos na shtjer n ngasje, po shptona nga i ligu; sepse jotja sht mbretria e fuqia e lavdia n jett t jetvet.

Sample text (Lord's Prayer in Gheg)

Ati yn q je n qiell, shejtnue kjoft emni yt. ardht mbretnia jote; u baft vullnesa jote, si n qiell ashtu n dhe. Bukn ton t prditshme epna ne sot; e ndiejna ne fajet e mkatet tona, si i ndiejm na fajtort tan; e mos na len me ra n keq, por largona prej gjith s keq; sepse joteja sht rregjinija e fuqia e lafti n jett t jetvet Information about Albanian | Albanian phrases | Tower of Babel in Albanian | Albanian learning materials

Links
Information about the Albanian language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_language Online Albanian lessons http://www.learnalbanianlanguage.com Online Albanian dictionary

http://www.argjiro.net/fjalor/ Albanian-English Electronic talking dictionaries http://www.ectaco.com Online Albanian radio http://www.radioezeta.com http://www.bbc.co.uk/albanian/ http://rtsh.sil.at/online.htm http://www.europaelire.org/ http://www.trtalbanian.com/international/news.aspx?dil=al Online Albanian newspapers http://www.zeripopullit.com http://www.kohajone.com Albanian learning software http://www.linguashop.com/albanian-courses

Albanian languages
Albanian, Arvanitic Other languages written with the Latin alphabet

Alphabets
Armenian, Avestan, Bassa (Vah), Beitha Kukju, Borama / Gadabuursi, Carian, Carpathian Basin Rovas, Coorgi-Cox, Coptic, Cyrillic, Dalecarlian runes, Elbasan, Etruscan, Galik, Georgian (Asomtavruli), Georgian (Nuskhuri), Georgian (Mkhedruli), Glagolitic, Gothic, Greek, Irish (Uncial), Kaddare, Khazarian Rovas, Korean, Latin, Lycian, Lydian, Manchu, Merotic, Mongolian, N'Ko, Ogham, Old Church Slavonic, Oirat Clear Script, Old Italic, Old Permic, Orkhon, Phrygian, Pollard script, Runic, Santali, Szkely-Hungarian Rovs (Hungarian Runes), Somali (Osmanya), Sutton SignWriting, Tai Lue, Thaana, Todhri, Uyghur
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