Formula e pagëzimit

The formula e pagëzimit (English: baptismal formula) is the first written document in Albanian retrieved. The sentence in Albanian is Un'te paghesont' pr'emenit t'Atit e t'Birit e t'Spirit Senit. (English: I baptize thee in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and modern Albanian: Unë të pagëzoj në emër të Atit, të Birit, e të Shpirtit të Shenjtë) and was contained in a pastoral letter written in Latin by Pal Engjëlli.[1] The document is dated November 8, 1462.

The document is held in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence, Italy, where it was discovered in 1915 by Romanian scholar Nicolae Iorga.[2]

Albanian scholar Xhevat Lloshi claim there were attempts to write Albanian in the 12th or 13th century.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Janet Byron (1976). Selection among alternates in language standardization: the case of Albanian. Mouton. p. 36. Retrieved 17 May 2012. in Albanian is the short Catholic baptismal formula (Formula e pagezimit) of 1462.2 The formula is in Geg, and written in Roman script; it occurs within a pastoral letter, itself in Latin, of the Archbishop of Durres, Pal Engjelli
  2. ↑ Academia Republicii Socialiste România, Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1971). Revue des études sud-est européennes 9: 102 http://books.google.com/books?id=uvAXAAAAIAAJ&q=paolo+angeli+iorga&dq=paolo+angeli+iorga&cd=1. Retrieved 2010-05-28. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ Xhevat Lloshi (1999). Handbuch der Südosteuropa-Linguistik. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 291. ISBN 978-3-447-03939-0. Retrieved 17 May 2012. The first attempts to write the albanian language are to found in the 12th - 13th centuries. It is understandable that the first documents may have been trade, economic, administrative and religious wrtitings compiled by low-rank clerics. A Dominican friar, Guillelmus Adae, knows as Father Brocardus, noted in a pamphlet he published in 1332 that "the Albanians have a language quite other than the Latin, but they use the Latin letters in all their books".