Albanian alphabet explained

The Albanian alphabet (Albanian: alfabeti shqip) is a variant of the Latin alphabet used to write the Albanian language. It consists of 36 letters:

Capital letters
width=15A width=15B width=15C width=15Ç width=15D width=15Dh width=15E width=15Ë width=15F width=15G width=15Gj width=15H width=15I width=15J width=15K width=15L width=15Ll width=15M width=15N width=15Nj width=15O width=15P width=15Q width=15R width=15Rr width=15S width=15Sh width=15T width=15Th width=15U width=15V width=15X width=15Xh width=15Ywidth=15Z width=15Zh
Lower case letters
a b c ç d dh e ë f g gj h i j k l ll m nnj o p q r rr s sh t th u v x xh yz zh
IPA value
pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ʒ/

The vowels are shown in bold.

The letters are named simply by their sounds, followed by ë for consonants (e.g. shë). to the pronunciation of the 36 letters.

History

The earliest known mention of Albanian writings comes from a French Catholic church document from 1332. Written either by archbishop Guillaume Adam or the monk Brocardus Monacus the report notes that Licet Albanenses aliam omnino linguam a latina habeant et diversam, tamen litteram latinam habent in usu et in omnibus suis libris ("Though the Albanians have a language entirely their own and different from Latin, they nevertheless use Latin letters in all their books").[1] [2] Scholars warn that this could mean Albanians also wrote in the Latin language, not necessarily just Albanian with a Latin script.[3]

The history of the later Albanian alphabet is closely linked with the influence of religion among Albanians. The writers from the North of Albania used Latin letters under the influence of the Catholic Church, those from the South of Albania under the Greek Orthodox church used Greek letters, while others used Arabic letters under the influence of Islam. There were also attempts for an original Albanian alphabet in the period of 1750–1850. The current alphabet in use among Albanians is one of the two variants approved in the Congress of Manastir held by Albanian intellectuals from 14 to 22 November 1908, in Manastir (Bitola, North Macedonia).

Alphabet used in early literature

The first certain document in Albanian is the "Formula e pagëzimit" (1462) (baptismal formula), issued by Pal Engjëlli (1417–1470); it was written in Latin characters. It was a simple phrase that was supposed to be used by the relatives of a dying person if they could not make it to churches during the troubled times of the Ottoman invasion.

Also, the five Albanian writers of the 16th and 17th centuries (Gjon Buzuku, Lekë Matrënga, Pjetër Budi, Frang Bardhi and Pjetër Bogdani) who form the core of early Albanian literature, all used a Latin alphabet for their Albanian books; this alphabet remained in use by writers in northern Albania until the beginning of the 20th century.

The Greek intellectual Anastasios Michael, in his speech to the Berlin Academy mentions an Albanian alphabet produced "recently" by Kosmas from Cyprus, bishop of Dyrrachium. It is assumed that this is the alphabet used later for the "Gospel of Elbasan". Anastasios calls Kosmas the "Cadmus of Albania".[4]

National awakening 19th-century endeavours

In 1857 Kostandin Kristoforidhi, an Albanian scholar and translator, drafted in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, a Memorandum for the Albanian language. He then went to Malta, where he stayed until 1860 in a Protestant seminary, finishing the translation of The New Testament in the Tosk and Gheg dialects. He was helped by Nikolla Serreqi from Shkodër with the Gheg version of the New Testament. Nikolla Serreqi was also the propulsor for the use of the Latin script for the translation of the New Testament, which had already been used by the early writers of the Albanian literature; Kristoforidhi enthusiastically embraced the idea of a Latin alphabet.[5]

In November 1869, a Commission for the Alphabet of the Albanian Language was gathered in Istanbul. One of its members was Kostandin Kristoforidhi and the main purpose of the commission was the creation of a unique alphabet for all the Albanians. In January 1870 the commission ended its work of the standardisation of the alphabet, which was mainly in Latin letters. A plan on the creation of textbooks and spread of Albanian schools was drafted. However this plan was not realized, because the Ottoman government would not finance the expenses for the establishment of such schools.[6]

Although this commission had gathered and delivered an alphabet in 1870, the writers from the North still used the Latin-based alphabet, whereas in southern Albania writers used mostly the Greek letters. In southern Albania, the main activity of Albanian writers consisted in translating Greek Orthodox religious texts, and not in forming any kind of literature which could form a strong tradition for the use of Greek letters. As the albanologist Robert Elsie has written:[7]

The turning point was the aftermath of the League of Prizren (1878) events when in 1879 Sami Frashëri and Naim Frashëri formed the Society for the Publication of Albanian Writings. Sami Frashëri, Koto Hoxhi, Pashko Vasa and Jani Vreto created an alphabet. This was based on the principle of "one sound one letter" (although the revision of 1908 replaced the letter ρ with the rr digraph to avoid confusion with p). This was called the "Istanbul alphabet" (also "Frashëri alphabet"). In 1905 this alphabet was in widespread use in all Albanian territory, North and South, including Catholic, Muslim and Orthodox areas.

One year earlier, in 1904 had been published the Albanian dictionary (Albanian: Fjalori i Gjuhës Shqipe) of Kostandin Kristoforidhi, after the author's death. The dictionary had been drafted 25 years before its publication and was written in the Greek alphabet.[8]

The so-called Bashkimi alphabet was designed by the Society for the Unity of the Albanian Language for being written on a French typewriter and includes no diacritics other than é (compared to ten graphemes of the Istanbul alphabet which were either non-Latin or had diacritics).

Congress of Manastir

See main article: Congress of Manastir. In 1908, the Congress of Manastir was held by Albanian intellectuals in Bitola, in what is now the Republic of North Macedonia. The Congress was hosted by the Bashkimi ("unity") club, and prominent delegates included Gjergj Fishta, Ndre Mjeda, Mit'hat Frashëri, Sotir Peçi, Shahin Kolonja, and Gjergj D. Qiriazi. There was much debate and the contending alphabets were Istanbul, Bashkimi and Agimi. However, the Congress was unable to make a clear decision and opted for a compromise solution of using both the widely used Istanbul, with minor changes, and a modified version of the Bashkimi alphabet. Usage of the alphabet of Istanbul declined rapidly and it was essentially extinct over the following decades, due largely to its inconvenience in requiring new custom-made glyphs that Bashkimi did not.

During 1909 and 1910 there were movements by members of the Young Turks to adopt an Arabic alphabet, as they considered the Latin script to be un-Islamic. In Korçë and Gjirokastër, demonstrations took place favoring the Latin script, and in Elbasan, Muslim clerics led a demonstration for the Arabic script, telling their congregations that using the Latin script would make them infidels. In 1911, the Young Turks dropped their opposition to the Latin script; finally, the Latin Bashkimi alphabet was adopted, and is still in use today.

The modifications to the Bashkimi alphabet were made to include characters used in the Istanbul and Agimi alphabets. Ç was chosen over ch since c with cedilla could be found on every typewriter, given its use in French. Other changes were more esthetic and as a way to combine the three scripts.

Alphabetical order: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
IPApronounced as /[a ɑ ɒ]/ pronounced as /[b]/ pronounced as /[ts]/ pronounced as /[tʃ]/ pronounced as /[d]/ pronounced as /[ð]/ pronounced as /[e ɛ]/ pronounced as /[ə]/ pronounced as /[f]/ pronounced as /[ɡ]/ pronounced as /[ɟ]/ pronounced as /[h ħ]/ pronounced as /[i]/ pronounced as /[j]/ pronounced as /[k q]/ pronounced as /[l]/ pronounced as /[ɫ]/ pronounced as /[m]/ pronounced as /[n]/ pronounced as /[ɲ]/ pronounced as /[o ɔ]/ pronounced as /[p]/ pronounced as /[c tɕ]/ pronounced as /[ɹ]/ pronounced as /[r]/ pronounced as /[s]/ pronounced as /[ʃ]/ pronounced as /[t]/ pronounced as /[θ]/ pronounced as /[u]/ pronounced as /[v]/ pronounced as /[dz]/ pronounced as /[dʒ]/ pronounced as /[y]/ pronounced as /[z]/ pronounced as /[ʒ]/
Old Bashkimi alphabet: A a B b D d É é E eF f G g H h I i J j K k L l Ll ll M m N n O o P p C c R r S s T t U u V v Z z Y y X x Xh xh
Manastir alphabet (modified Bashkimi, current alphabet): C c Ç ç E e Ë ë Q q X x Z z Zh zh

A second congress at Manastir (Bitola) was held in April 1910, which confirmed the decision taken in the first congress of Manastir. After Albanian independence in 1912, there were two alphabets in use. Following the events of the Balkan wars and World War I, the Bashkimi variant dominated. The Bashkimi alphabet is at the origin of the official alphabet of the Albanian language in use today. The digraphs of the Albanian alphabet are the letters Dh, Gj, Ll, Nj, Rr, Sh, Th, Xh, and Zh.

Other alphabets used for written Albanian

The modern Latin-based Albanian alphabet is the result of long evolution. Before the creation of the unified alphabet, Albanian was written in several different alphabets, with several sub-variants:

Derived alphabets

Latin-derived alphabetAlbanian in Latin script used various conventions:

Current alphabet: A a B b C c Ç ç D d E e Ë ë F f G g H h I i J j K k L l Ll ll M m N n O o P p Q q R r S s T t U u V v X x Y y Z z Zh zh
Agimi alphabet (reordered): A a B b C c Č č D d Đ đ E e Ə əF f G g Ǵ ǵ H h I i J j K k L l Ł ł M m N n Ń ń O o P p Ḱ ḱ R r R̃ r̃ S s Š š T t Þ þ U u V v Y y Z z Ž ž Q q W w X x

Sample text in the Agimi alphabet:

Kelit i fali lala ńi mołə tə bukurə. Sá škoj nə špiə i þa Linəsə, sə moterəsə. „Ḱyr sá e bukurə âšt kəjo mołə! Eja e t’ a dájmə baškə.“ „Me kênə mã e mađe, i þa e motəra, kišimə me e daə baškə; por mbassi âšt aḱ e vogelə, haje vetə.“ „Ani ča? þa Keli, t’ a hámə baškə, se mə vjen mã e mirə.“

Kəndime pər škołə tə para tə Šḱypəniəsə: Pjesa e parə, at Albanian National Library, f. 100.

Greek-derived alphabet

Ottoman-derived alphabet

Arabic-derived alphabet

Original alphabets

The Franco-Danish geographer Conrad Malte-Brun sparked interest in developing an Albanian alphabet in the 18th century.[9] In his Universal Geography published in 1826 Malte-Brun mentions an Albanian "ecclesiastical alphabet, which consists of thirty letters."[10] After him Johann Georg von Hahn, Leopold Geitler, Gjergj Pekmezi and others continued studies on the same topic. Seven original Albanian alphabets have been discovered since.[11]

Older versions of the alphabet in Latin characters

Before the standardisation of the Albanian alphabet, there were several ways of writing the sounds peculiar to Albanian, namely ⟨c⟩, ⟨ç⟩, ⟨dh⟩, ⟨ë⟩, ⟨gj⟩, ⟨ll⟩, ⟨nj⟩, ⟨q⟩, ⟨rr⟩, ⟨sh⟩, ⟨th⟩, ⟨x⟩, ⟨xh⟩, ⟨y⟩, ⟨z⟩ and ⟨zh⟩. Also, ⟨j⟩ was written in more than one way.

⟨c⟩, ⟨ç⟩, ⟨k⟩, and ⟨q⟩The earliest Albanian sources were written by people educated in Italy, as a consequence, the value of the letters were similar to those of the Italian alphabet. The present-day c was written with a ⟨z⟩, and the present-day ç was written as ⟨c⟩ as late as 1895. Conversely, the present-day k was written as ⟨c⟩ until 1868. c was also written as ⟨ts⟩ (Reinhold 1855 and Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨tz⟩ (Rada 1866) and ⟨zz⟩. It was first written as ⟨c⟩ in 1879 by Frashëri but also in 1908 by Pekmezi. ç was also written as ⟨tz⟩ (Leake 1814), ⟨ts̄⟩ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨ci⟩ (Rada 1866), ⟨tš⟩ (Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨tç⟩ (Dozon 1878), ⟨č⟩ (by Agimi) and ⟨ch⟩ (by Bashkimi). ç itself was first used by Frasheri (1879).

The present-day q was variously written as ⟨ch⟩, ⟨chi⟩, ⟨k⟩, ⟨ky⟩, ⟨kj⟩, k with dot (Leake 1814) k with overline (Reinhold 1855), k with apostrophe (Miklosich 1870), and ⟨ḱ⟩ (first used by Lepsius 1863). ⟨q⟩ was first used in Frashëri's Stamboll mix-alphabet in 1879 and also in the Grammaire albanaise of 1887.

⟨dh⟩ and ⟨th⟩The present-day dh was originally written with a character similar to the Greek xi (ξ). This was doubled (ξξ) to write 'th'. These characters were used as late as 1895. Leake first used ⟨dh⟩ and ⟨th⟩ in 1814. dh was also written using the Greek letter delta (δ), while Alimi used ⟨đ⟩ and Frasheri used a ⟨d⟩ with a hook on the top stem of the letter.
⟨ë⟩This letter was not usually differentiated from ⟨e⟩, but when it was, it was usually done by means of diacritics: ⟨ė⟩ (Bogdani 1685, da Lecce 1716 and Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨e̊⟩ (Lepsius 1863), ⟨ẹ̄⟩ (Miklosich 1870) or by new letters ⟨ö⟩ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨υ⟩ (Rada 1866), ⟨œ⟩ (Dozon 1878), ⟨ε⟩ (Meyer 1888 and 1891, note Frasheri used ⟨ε⟩ for ⟨e⟩, and ⟨e⟩ to write ⟨ë⟩; the revision of 1908 swapped these letters) and ⟨ə⟩ (Alimi). Rada first used ⟨ë⟩ in 1870.
⟨gj⟩ and ⟨g⟩These two sounds were not usually differentiated in writing. They were variously written as ⟨g⟩, ⟨gh⟩ and ⟨ghi⟩. When they were differentiated, g was written as ⟨g⟩ or (by Liguori 1867) as ⟨gh⟩, while gj was written as ⟨gi⟩ (Leake 1814), ⟨ḡ⟩ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨ǵ⟩ (first used by Lepsius 1863), ⟨gy⟩ (Dozon 1878) and a modified ⟨g⟩ (Frasheri). The Grammaire albanaise (1887) first used gj, but it was also used by Librandi (1897). Rada (1866) used ⟨g⟩, ⟨gh⟩, ⟨gc⟩, and ⟨gk⟩ for g, and ⟨gki⟩ for ⟨gj⟩.
⟨h⟩The older versions of the Albanian alphabet differentiated between two "h" sounds, one for pronounced as /[h]/ one for the Voiceless velar fricative pronounced as /[x]/. The second sound was written as ⟨h⟩, ⟨kh⟩, ⟨ch⟩, and Greek khi ⟨χ⟩.
⟨j⟩This sound was most commonly written as ⟨j⟩, but some authors (Leake 1814, Lepsius 1863, Kristoforidis 1872, Dozon 1878) wrote this as ⟨y⟩.
⟨ll⟩ and ⟨l⟩Three "l" sounds were distinguished in older Albanian alphabets, represented by IPA as pronounced as //l ɫ ʎ//. l pronounced as //l// was written as ⟨l⟩. ll pronounced as //ɫ// was written as ⟨λ⟩, italic ⟨l⟩, ⟨lh⟩ and ⟨ł⟩. Blanchi (1635) first used ll. pronounced as //ʎ// was written as ⟨l⟩, ⟨li⟩, ⟨l’⟩ (Miklosich 1870 and Meyer 1888 and 1891), ⟨ĺ⟩ (Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨lh⟩, ⟨gl⟩, ⟨ly⟩ and ⟨lj⟩.
⟨nj⟩This sound was most commonly written as ⟨gn⟩ in Italian fashion. It was also written as italic ⟨n⟩ (Leake 1814), ⟨n̄⟩ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨ń⟩ (first used by Lepsius 1863), ⟨ṅ⟩ (Miklosich 1870), ⟨ñ⟩ (Dozon 1878). The Grammaire albanaise (1887) first used nj.
⟨rr⟩Blanchi first used ⟨rr⟩ to represent this sound. However, also used were Greek rho (ρ) (Miklosich 1870), ⟨ṙ⟩ (Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨rh⟩ (Dozon 1878 and Grammaire albanaise 1887), ⟨r̄⟩ (Meyer 1888 and 1891), ⟨r̀⟩ (Alimi) and ⟨p⟩ (Frasheri, who used a modified ⟨p⟩ for [p]).
⟨sh⟩ and ⟨s⟩These two sounds were not consistently differentiated in the earliest versions of the Albanian alphabet. When they were differentiated, s was represented by ⟨s⟩ or ⟨ss⟩, while sh was represented by ⟨sc⟩, ⟨ſc⟩, ⟨s̄⟩ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨ç⟩ (Dozon 1878) and ⟨š⟩. sh was first used by Rada in 1866.
⟨x⟩Frasheri first used ⟨x⟩ to represent this sound. Formerly, it was written variously as ⟨ds⟩ (Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨dz⟩, ⟨z⟩, and ⟨zh⟩.
⟨xh⟩The Grammaire albanaise (1887) first used ⟨xh⟩. Formerly, it was written variously as ⟨gi⟩, ⟨g⟩, ⟨dš⟩ (Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨dž⟩, ⟨x⟩ and ⟨zh⟩.
⟨y⟩This sound was written as ⟨y⟩ in 1828. Formerly it was written as ȣ (Cyrillic uk), italic ⟨u⟩ (Leake 1814), ⟨ü⟩, ⟨ṳ⟩, and ⟨ε⟩.
⟨z⟩Leake first used ⟨z⟩ to represent this sound in 1814. Formerly, it was written variously as a backward 3, Greek zeta (ζ) (Reinhold 1855), ⟨x⟩ (Bashkimi) and a symbol similar to ⟨p⟩ (Altsmar).
⟨zh⟩This sound was variously written as an overlined ζ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨sg⟩ (Rada 1866), ⟨ž⟩, ⟨j⟩ (Dozon 1878), underdotted z, ⟨xh⟩ (Bashkimi), ⟨zc⟩. It was also written with a backward 3 in combination: 3gh and 3c.

Older versions of the alphabet in Greek characters

Arvanites in Greece used the altered Greek alphabet to write in Albanian.[16]

Albanian written in the Greek alphabet
ΑΒBͿΓΓ̇Γ̇ϳΔDΕΕ̱ΖΘΙΚΚϳΛΛϳΜΝΝ̇ΝϳΞΟΠΡΣΣ̇Σ̈ΤΥΦΧ̇Χ
αβbϳγγ̇γ̇ϳδdεε̱ζθικκϳλλϳμνν̇νϳξοπρσσ̇σ̈τυφχ̇χ
Modern Albanian
avbjgggjdhdeëzthikqlljmnnjnjksoprssshtyfhh

Older versions of the alphabet in Cyrillic characters

Modern Latin: je ju ja sht
Cyrillicнг рр дс ѣе, је ѣу, ју ѣа, ја щ, шт

Sample of Albanian language text, written in Cyrillic characters (central column). From the book "Речник од три језика (Rečnik od tri jezika)"

See also

References

Cuvendi i arbenit o concilli provintiaalli mbelieδune viettit mije sctat cint e tre ndne schiptarin Clementin XI. pape pretemaδin. E duta sctamp. Conciliun albanum provinciale sive nationale habitum anno MDCCCIII. Clemente XI. pont. max. albano. Editio secunda, posteriorum constitutionum apostolicarum ad Epiri ecclesias spectantium appendice ditata. Romae. Typis s. congregationis de propaganda fide. 1868.

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Skendi, Stavro. The Albanian national awakening. 1967. Princeton. Princeton University Press. 978-1-4008-4776-1. 111.
  2. Book: Elsie, Robert. Early Albania: a reader of historical texts, 11th-17th centuries. 2003. Harrassowitz. 978-3-447-04783-8. 28–30.
  3. Web site: Joseph . Brian . Costanzo . Angelo . Slocum . Jonathan . Introduction to Albanian . 6 June 2017 . University of Texas at Austin. http://www.albaner.net/Librat/Gjuha%20shqipe.pdf
  4. https://books.google.com/books?id=AQJj5_pYxtIC&dq=%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B1%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AC%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%BF%CF%82+%CE%BC%CE%B9%CF%87%CE%B1%CE%AE%CE%BB&pg=PA8 Minaoglou Charalampos, "Anastasios Michael and the Speech about Hellenism", Athens, 2013, p. 37 and note 90
  5. Lloshi pp.14-15
  6. Lloshi p.18
  7. Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Birmingham, 15 (1991), p. 20-34.
  8. Lloshi p. 9.
  9. Yll Rugova (2022). Malte Bruni dhe fillimi i studimeve mbi alfabetet origjinale të gjuhës shqipe. In Studimet për Shqiptarët në Francë, ASHAK Prishtina, pp. 568-71, 576
  10. Dhimitër Shuteriqi (1978). Shkrimet Shqipe në vitet 1332–1850, Rilindja Prishtinë, pp. 151-3
  11. Robert Elsie (2017). Albanian Alphabets: Borrowed and Invented, Kindle Edition
  12. Web site: The Elbasan Gospel Manuscript (Anonimi i Elbasanit), 1761, and the struggle for an original Albanian alphabet. 2016-07-13. Robert. Elise. Robert Elise.
  13. Web site: Archived copy . 2018-03-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190615013842/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2009/09328-old-albanian.pdf . 2019-06-15 . dead .
  14. Web site: 世界の文字 . 2013-12-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131215092857/http://www.chikyukotobamura.org/muse/wr_europa_1.html . 2013-12-15 .
  15. Book: Straehle, Carolin. International journal of the sociology of language. 1974. Mouton. 5.
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20171007170814/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/alphabet/alban-greek-alpha.jpg Albanian-Greek

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