Language

An Introduction to the Albanian Language

Origins of the Language

Albanian (shqip or gjuha shqipe in the language) is an Indo-European language and the only remaining language to represent the old Albanoid branch of Indo-European languages.  Standard Albanian is the official language of Albania and Kosovo, and is an official co-language in North Macedonia and Montenegro. It is also considered a minority language in Croatia, Italy, Romania and Serbia. There are two main dialects of the language: Tosk and Gheg, but different regions have variations of the two dialects. Gheg is the prominent dialect of northern Albanian populations, whereas Tosk is prominent in the south. Standardized Albanian stems from the Tosk dialect. This is due in part because Enver Hoxha spoke Tosk and it was under his rule that that projects to standardize the language took place. 

Follow this link to hear the pronunciation of shqip

                        Albanian

• • Tosk
    • Northern Tosk
    • Labërisht
    • Cham
    • Arvanitika
    • Arbëresh
  • Gheg
    • Northwest Gheg
    • Northeast Gheg
    • Central Gheg
    • Southern Gheg

Geography of the Language

Albanian is spoken by nearly 6 million people in the Balkans, mainly in Albania, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. However, because many Albanians emigrated to other parts of Europe and across the world, when you factor in these diaspora communities, the total number of speakers worldwide is around 7.5 million. In the United States, the states with the largest populations of Albanian speakers are New York, Massachusetts, and Michigan.

The Albanian Alphabet

The Albanian alphabet is written in a Latin script and contains 36 letters. As you will notice in the chart below, some letters are a combination of two consonants but are considered as one letter because they produce a single sound. There are a total of 29 consonants and 7 vowels in the Albanian alphabet.

The large letters indicated in upper and lower case on the chart are single letters in the Albanian alphabet and below the letter indicates how it is pronounced. You will notice the vowel ë. This is known as an E-diaeresis and is pronounced like the u in the English word up. One peculiarity about the Albanian language is that ë is typically not pronounced when it is the last letter of a word. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however. One example is that in the case of pronouncing the Albanian alphabet, the ë is pronounced. For example, the letter B, which is stated as Bë, is pronounced like Buh. The Albanian alphabet can be confusing for anyone learning the language. So, to help you with learning and pronouncing the alphabet, here is a video of an Albanian-speaker saying the alphabet:

Albanian Basics

While we will not get into the numerous specifics about the Albanian language in this module, we will discuss the basic grammar structures and characteristics of the language before learning some common phrases.

Albanian has a canonical word order like English and many other Indo-European languages. The canonical word order is as follows: subject – verb – object. Albanian nouns are divided into three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. There are five declensions and a total of six cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, and vocative. Therefore, nouns follow a declension to match the specific case. Additionally, there are no definite articles (like the or this) in Albanian. To indicate “the” from “a“, the ending of the noun follows the rules of declension. For example: a book = një libër, whereas the book = libri. Notice that while both are a singular noun, the ending of the noun has a specific declension to indicate a definite article.

Numbers

Numbers in the Albanian language are written the exact same as they are in English and many other languages. Here are how the numbers are pronounced in Albania:

një—one	tetëmbëdhjetë—eighteen
dy—two	nëntëmbëdhjetë—nineteen
tri/tre—three	njëzet—twenty
katër—four	njëzet e një—twenty-one
pesë—five	njëzet e dy—twenty-two
gjashtë—six	tridhjetë—thirty
shtatë—seven	dyzet/katërdhjetë—forty
tetë—eight	pesëdhjetë—fifty
nëntë—nine	gjashtëdhjetë—sixty
dhjetë—ten	shtatëdhjetë—seventy
njëmbëdhjetë—eleven	tetëdhjetë—eighty
dymbëdhjetë—twelve	nëntëdhjetë—ninety
trembëdhjetë—thirteen	njëqind—one hundred
katërmbëdhjetë—fourteen	pesëqind—five hundred
pesëmbëdhjetë—fifteen	një mijë—one thousand
gjashtëmbëdhjetë—sixteen	një milion—one million
shtatëmbëdhjetë—seventeen	një miliard—one billion

To hear the pronunciation of the the numbers 1 -10, watch this video:

Personal Pronouns

I = unë          You (singular) = ti          You (formal) = ju

He = Ai          She = Ajo          We = ne

You (plural) = ju          They = ata / ato

Common Albanian Phrases

Now that we have learned the basics of the Albanian language, let’s go over some common phrases for anyone traveling in Albania:

Përshëndetje! = Hello!
Whether you’re entering a shop or greeting a local on the street, this is your go-to greeting.

Faleminderit! = Thank you!
A universal phrase of gratitude. Whether someone helps you out or serves you a meal, this is a polite way to show appreciation.

Si jeni? = How are you?
A simple way to engage in basic conversation and show interest in the well-being of the other person.

Ku është …? = Where is …?
Perfect for asking directions. Fill in the blank with where you’d like to go, like “WC” (toilet) or “stacioni” (station).

Sa kushton kjo? = How much is this?
Shopping at local markets or street vendors? This phrase will come in handy.

Unë flas vetëm pak shqip. = I speak only a little Albanian.
This phrase will set expectations for the conversation and often leads to appreciative smiles or even assistance in English.

Po / Jo. = Yes / No.
The two fundamental responses that can help in a multitude of scenarios.

Ju lutem. = Please.
Another universal phrase showing politeness, whether you’re ordering food or asking for assistance.

Më fal. = I’m sorry.
Useful in case you bump into someone or if you need to get someone’s attention in a crowded place.

Dëgjo! = Listen!
While it might seem direct, it’s helpful when you’re trying to get someone’s attention, especially in a noisy environment or if you’re in a hurry.

Here are some other common phrases:

Mirëmëngjes! = Good morning!                                Unë quhem … = My name is …

Mirëdita! = Good day! / Good afternoon!              Nga jeni? = Where are you from?

Mirëmbrëma! = Good evening!                                  Unë jam nga … = I am from …

Natën e mirë! = Good night!                                         Më kuptoni? = Do you understand?

Mirupafshim! = Good bye!                                            Unë kuptoj = I understand

Mirë se vjen! = Welcome!                                              Nuk kuptoj = I don’t understand

Si quheni? = What is your name?                               Unë nuk e di = I don’t know

Conjugating Verbs

Much like many other languages, Albanian verbs must be conjugated to match the corresponding subject. The most common conjugation are for verbs that end in j. For example: I study Albanian = Unë studioj shqip. The conjugation for these simple verbs are as follows:

I study = Unë studioj                                          She studies = Ajo studion

You study = Ti studion                                       We study = Ne studiojmë

You study (formal) = Ju studioni                  You study (plural) = Ju studioni

He Studies = Ai studion                                    They study = Ata studiojnë

While there are other verbs that do not follow this common pattern, there are far too many to explain in detail here. To use one example for conjugating an irregular verb, we can use “to be” or in Albanian, jam. Remember that in the Albanian language the letter j is pronounced like the y in yes.

I am = Unë jam                                                    She is = Ajo është

You are = Ti je                                                      We are = Ne jemi

You are (formal) = Ju jeni                              You are (plural) = Ju jeni

He is = Ai është                                                    They are = Ata janë

Once you begin to learn more Albanian verbs, here is an online tool that can help you learn the proper conjugation:

https://cooljugator.com/sq

Conjunctions

Just like in English, the Albanian language uses conjunctions to form complex sentences. Here we will learn the seven most common conjunctions, also known as corresponding conjunctions.

For = Për                                                  Or = Ose / Apo

And = Dhe                                                Yet = Ende

Nor / Neither = as                                 So = Kështu që

But = Por

While these are the most commonly used conjunctions in the Albanian language, there are many others you can use to from sentences. Here is a flashcard game that will help you learn and memorize many Albanian conjugations: https://quizlet.com/ie/522206734/albanian-conjunctions-flash-cards/

 

Possessive Adjectives

The last thing we learn about in our brief introduction to the Albanian language are possessive adjectives. In English, these are my, your, his, her, their, ours. In Albanian we use possessive adjectives as well. However, the order of the words is different. So, in English you would say my book, but in Albanian the structure would be book my. Here is an example of possessive adjectives in Albanian using a book / books as the noun:

My book = Libri im / My books = Librat e mi

Your book = Libri yt / Your books = Librat e tu

Your book (formal) = Libri juaj / Your books = Librat tuaj

His book = Libri i tij / His books = Librat e tij

Her book = Libri e saj /Her books = Librat e saj

Our Book = Libri ynë / Our Books = Librat tanë 

Your book (plural) = Libri juaj / Your books = Librat tuaj

Their Book = Libri i tyre / Their books = Librat e tyre

Conclusion

This ends our introduction to the Albanian language. Now that you know the basics, you can use other available tools to take a dive into learning more phrases and even speaking sentences. It might seem like a complicated language at first, but stick with it and you will be speaking Albanian in no time. There are links to online language learning at the bottom of this page. Paç fat! (good luck!)

 

Links for further Language Learning:

Alphabet learning

Common Albanian verbs, words, and phrases

Online Albanian lessons
http://www.learnalbanianlanguage.com
http://polymath.org/albanian.php
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6NG0UWGLm6DqwFVTwJFq7w

Albanian phrases
http://ilanguages.org/albanian_phrases.php
https://corephrases.blogspot.com/2021/04/core-phrases-in-albanian.html
https://wikitravel.org/en/Albanian_phrasebook
https://adventurousmiriam.com/albanian-phrases-english-to-albanian/
http://mylanguages.org/albanian_phrases.php

Online Albanian dictionaries
http://www.seelrc.org:8080/albdict/
http://www.lexilogos.com/english/albanian_dictionary.htm
https://archive.org/details/fialuurivoghels00junggoog