Gheg Albanian
| Gheg | |
|---|---|
| Region | Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia |
Native speakers | 3.4 million (2000[1] – 2001 censuses)[2] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
aln |
| Glottolog |
gheg1238[3] |
| Linguasphere |
55-AAA-aaa to 55-AAA-aag |
|
A map showing Gheg speakers in green | |
Gheg (or Geg) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian. The other one is Tosk, on which standard Albanian is based. The geographic dividing line between these two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Albania.
Gheg is spoken in Northern Albania, Kosovo, northwestern Republic of Macedonia, southeastern Montenegro and southern Serbia, by the ethnographic group known as Ghegs.
Gheg does not have any official status as a written language in any country. Publications in Kosovo and Macedonia are in standard Albanian, which is based on Tosk. However, some authors continue to write in Gheg.
Dialects
Gheg has several dialects, notably:
Southern Gheg
Southern Gheg is spoken in Albania (Durrës, Elbasan, Tiranë) and western Macedonia.[4]
A subdialect is Central Gheg, spoken in Tiranë, Krujë and Burrel.[4]
Northern Gheg
- Eastern Gheg (Peshkopi, Debar, Tetovo, Kičevo, Gostivar, Veles, Kruševo, Prilep)
- Northeastern Gheg (Skopje, Kumanovo, Kačanik, Dragaš, Gnjilane, Preševo, Bujanovac)
- Northern Gheg (Pristina, Kosovska Mitrovica, Podujevo, Medveđa and formerly Albanian-populated territories of Niš Sanjak (Niš, Vranje, Toplica District)).
- Northwestern Gheg (Shkodër, Vermosh, Selcë, Vukël, Lëpushë, Nikç, Tamarë, Tuzi, Ulcinj, Bar, Plav, Gusinje, Peć, Đakovica, Prizren)
The Italian linguist Carlo Tagliavini puts the Gheg of Kosovo and Macedonia in Eastern Gheg.[5]
Phonology
Assimilations are common in Gheg, but are not part of the Albanian literary language, which is a standardized form of Tosk Albanian.[6]
Vowels
Oral
| IPA | Written as |
|---|---|
| [ə] | ë (nër: 'under') |
| [a] | a (mas: 'after') |
| [ɑ] | â (prâpë: 'back') |
| [ɒ] | ä (knäqët: 'having fun') |
| [e] | e (dere: 'door') |
| [ɛ] | ê (mênôj: 'I think') |
| [i] | i (dritë: 'light') |
| [o] | o (kos: 'yogurt') |
| [u] | u (kur: 'when') |
| [y] | y (shyqyr: 'thank God') |
| [ɔ] | ô (dôrë: 'hand') |
Nasalized
| IPA | Written as[7] |
|---|---|
| [ĩ] | ĩ (hĩna: 'I entered') |
| [ɛ̃] | ẽ (mrẽna: 'within') |
| [ɑ̃] | ã (hãna: 'moon') |
| [ɔ̃] | õ (some dialects) |
| [ỹ] | ỹ (gjỹs: 'half') |
| [ũ] | ũ (hũna: 'nose') |
See also
References
- ↑ Figure for Serbia appears to be taken from 2000 figure for Serbia and Montenegro.
Gheg Albanian at Ethnologue (15th ed., 2005) - ↑ Gheg at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Gheg Albanian". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hinrichs, Uwe; Buttner, Uwe (1999). Handbuch der Sudosteuropa-Linguistik. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 285. ISBN 978-3-447-03939-0. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
- ↑ Carlo Tagliavini (1942), Le parlate albanesi di tipo Ghego orientale: Dardania e Macedonia nord-occidentale
- ↑ Camaj 1984, p. 4
- ↑ Fialuur i voghel Sccyp e ltinisct [sic] (Small Dictionary of Albanian and Latin), 1895, Shkodër
Bibliography
- Carl Coleman Seltzer; Carleton Stevens Coon; Joseph Franklin Ewing (1950). The mountains of giants: a racial and cultural study of the north Albanian mountain Ghegs. The Museum.
- Martin Camaj; Leonard Fox (January 1984). Albanian Grammar: With Exercises, Chrestomathy and Glossaries. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-02467-9.
- Carlo Tagliavini (1942). Le parlate albanesi di tipo Ghego orientale: (Dardania e Macedonia nord-occidentale). Reale Accademia d'Italia.
External links
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Gheg Albanian test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator |