Proto-Albanian language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Proto-Albanian
)
Proto-Albanian
Reconstruction ofAlbanian (dialects)
RegionWestern Balkans
Erac. 1000 BCE[1] – 600 CE[2]
Reconstructed
ancestors
Proto-Indo-European
  • Proto-Albanoid
Lower-order reconstructions
NotesThe only survivor of the Albanoid languages of the Paleo-Balkan group

Proto-Albanian is the ancestral reconstructed language of Albanian, before the GhegTosk dialectal diversification (before c. 600 CE).[2] Albanoid and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region.[3][4] Whether descendants or sister languages of what was called Illyrian by classical sources, Albanian and Messapic, on the basis of shared features and innovations, are grouped together in a common branch in the current phylogenetic classification of the Indo-European language family.[5] The precursor of Albanian can be considered a completely formed independent IE language since at least the first millennium BCE, with the beginning of the early Proto-Albanian phase.[1]

Proto-Albanian is reconstructed by way of the

structural and phonological convergences with other languages. Loanwords into Albanian treated through its phonetic evolution can be traced back as early as the first contacts with Doric Greek (West Greek) since the 7th century BCE, but the most important of which are those from Latin (dated by De Vaan to the period 167 BCE to 400 CE) and from Slavic (dated from 600 CE onward).[6] The evidence from loanwords allows linguists to construct in great detail the shape of native words at the points of major influxes of loans from well-attested languages.[7]

In historical linguistics Proto-Albanian is broken up into different stages which are usually delimited by the onset of contact with different well-attested languages.[6] Pre-Proto-Albanian is the early stage of the precursor of Albanian during the first millennium BCE, marked by contacts with Ancient Greek, but not yet by contacts with Latin. Proto-Albanian proper is dated to the period of contacts with Latin, starting from the 2nd century BCE after the Roman conquest of the Western Balkans, but the major Latin influence occurred since the first years of the common era when the Western Balkans were eventually incorporated into the Roman Empire. Common Albanian or its two dialects, Proto-Gheg and Proto-Tosk, experienced the earliest contacts with South Slavic languages since the Slavic migrations to the Balkans in the 6th–7th centuries CE. The rise of Tosk from Proto-Albanian was prompted before Slavic contacts circa 600 CE, as evidenced by the fact that Latin and ancient Greek loanwords are treated like native words with regard to taxonomical differences between Gheg and Tosk, but the same is not true of Slavic loans.[8][9][10][11]

History

Balkanic

Armenian

Graeco-Albanian
Graeco-Phrygian

Greek

Phrygian
(extinct)

Illyric

Messapic
(extinct)

Albanian

Gheg

Tosk

Albanian in the Palaeo-Balkanic Indo-European branch based on the chapters "Albanian" (Hyllested & Joseph 2022) and "Armenian" (Olsen & Thorsø 2022) in Olander (ed.) The Indo-European Language Family

Albanoid and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region about 3000 to 2500 BCE.[4][3] They replaced the pre-Indo-European languages, which left traces of the Mediterranean-Balkan substratum.[12][13] Shortly after they had diverged from one another, Pre-Albanian, Pre-Greek, and Pre-Armenian underwent a longer period of contact, as shown by common correspondences that are irregular for other IE languages. Furthermore, intense Greek–Albanian contacts have continued thereafter.[14]

The precursor of Albanian can be considered a completely formed independent IE language since at least the first millennium BCE, with the beginning of the early Proto-Albanian phase.

Illyrian language for obvious geographic and historical reasons as well as for some linguistic evidence,[15] or otherwise an unmentioned Balkan Indo-European language that was closely related to Illyrian and Messapic.[16] Messapic, which is grouped in the same IE branch of Albanian, developed in southeast Italy after crossing the Adriatic Sea at least since the Early Iron Age, being attested in about six hundred inscriptions from Iron Age Apulia.[17]

In classical antiquity Proto-Albanian was spoken in the central-western part of the Balkan Peninsula, to the north and west of the

place names exclusively observing Albanian accent and phonetic rules, as well as by several Proto-Albanian items preserved in ancient glossaries.[18]

Contacts with Ancient Greek

Proto-Albanian speech came into contact in its earlier stage with Ancient Greek since the 7th century BCE, when the

gained prominence in the region and was not yet replaced by Koine Greek.[20] Several Proto-Albanian terms have been preserved in the lexicon of Hesychius of Alexandria and other ancient glossaries.[21] Some of the Proto-Albanian glosses in Hesychius are considered to have been loaned to the Dorik Greek as early as the 7th century BCE.[22]

Evidence of a significant level of early

structural innovations and phonologic convergence such as:[23][24]

Those innovations are limited only to the Albanian and Greek languages and are not shared with other languages of the Balkan sprachbund.[23] Since they precede the Balkan sprachbund era, those innovations date to a prehistoric phase of the Albanian language, spoken at that time in the same area as Greek and within a social frame of bilingualism among early Albanians having to be able to speak some form of Greek.[24]

Contacts with Latin, Romance, and Middle Greek

The Roman province of Moesia Superior (in red), which included ancient Dardania, is considered as the best candidate for the area where Proto-Albanian received its major Latin influence, and where it experienced intensive contacts with Proto-Romance during the post-Latin period,[25] which eventually produced the Tosk Albanian–(Proto)Romanian innovations that prompted the rise of Tosk from Proto-Albanian.[26]
Proto-Albanian language is located in Balkans
0
0
1
1
0
0
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
0
0
9
9
10
10
11
11
12
12
Toponyms that evolved through Proto-Albanian phonetic changes in late antiquity (in bold those that were also loaned to South Slavic after antiquity):[27]Drin (river); 1 Nish (city); 2 Shkodër (city); 3 Shkup (city); 4 Sharr (mountains); 5 Ulkin (city); 6 L(j)esh (city); 7 Shtip (city); 8 Mat (river); 9 Ishëm (river); 10 Durrës (city); 11 Vlonë (city). 12 Oh(ë)r(id) (city and lake) from its ancient form required an early long-standing period of Tosk Albanian–East South Slavic bilingualism or at least contact before its first attestation in 879 CE.[28]

Proto-Albanian came into contact with Latin since the Illyro–Roman wars in the late 3rd and early 2nd centuries BCE, when the Roman Republic defeated the Illyrians and began to establish its rule in the Western Balkans, gradually consolidating its dominion during the last two centuries BCE. But the major Latin influence in Proto-Albanian occurred since the first years of the common era, when the Western Balkans were eventually incorporated into the Roman Empire after the Great Illyrian Revolt of 6–9 CE (Bellum Batonianum).[29]

The Latin loanwords in Proto-Albanian were borrowed through the entire period of spoken Latin in the Western Balkans (c. 167 BCE–400 CE), reflecting different chronological layers and penetrating, without any restrictions, into virtually all semantic fields. Even the basic

christianized under the Latin sphere of influence, specifically in the 4th century CE.[30]

(Proto-)Romanian.[32][note 1] Those innovations ultimately prompted the rise of Tosk from Proto-Albanian, a diversification that began not later than the 6th–7th centuries CE (i.e. before the period of contacts with Slavic).[34] Gheg Albanian was already separated from the Albanian–(Proto-)Romanian contact zone at an earlier period.[35] Toponymy provides evidence that Albanian was already spoken since late antiquity in northern and central Albania, but not yet in southern Albania (south of the Shkumbin river).[36] Those considerations indicate that unlike Gheg, the Tosk dialect could not yet have already occupied its historical geographic distribution in late antiquity.[26] On the other hand, the multi-layered Albanian dialects in western North Macedonia provide evidence that the area was inhabited by Albanian-speakers since antiquity.[37] The historical geographic spread of the Albanian dialects as it appeared in medieval times is considered to have been shaped by the settlement of Slavic farmers from the 6th–7th centruries CE.[38]

During the centuries of the

crop cultivation vocabulary, in Eastern Romance languages, indicate that Proto-Albanian speakers were already leading a pastoral lifestyle at the time when Latin speakers assumed the same way of life, borrowing from (Proto-)Albanian a number of technical terms.[40]

Proto-AlbanianVulgar Latin
Late Proto-AlbanianBalkan
Proto-Romance
a > ə[41]
Gheg Alb.Tosk Alb.Comm. Rom.
-n- > -r-[42]
Balk. Rom.

without -n- > -r-

The post-Roman contact zone between Albanian and Common Romanian is considered to have been located in Dardania and adjacent areas.[43][note 2] From this contact the Tosk Albanian dialect is considered to have received the first impetus of developments that were shared with Eastern Romance and that did not affect the Gheg Albanian dialect as it had already separated in earlier times.[46] After a period of common innovations, but before the rise of the rhotacism n > r (which preceded contacts with Slavic from c. 600 CE), speakers of Eastern Romance varieties that were not yet affected by this fundamental sound change separated from the Tosk Albanian–Common Romanian contact zone.[42] In a period that followed the rise of those innovations, Tosk Albanian is considered to have moved – driven by the offensive of the Slavs – to Albania south of the Shkumbin river in its historically documented location.[41]

At the time of the South Slavic incursion and the threat of ethnic turbulence in the Albanian-inhabited regions, the Christianization of the Albanians had already been completed and it had apparently developed for Albanians as a further identity-forming feature alongside the ethnic-linguistic unity.[47] Church administration, which was controlled by a thick network of Roman bishoprics, collapsed with the arrival of the Slavs. Between the early 7th century and the late 9th century the interior areas of the Balkans were deprived of church administration, and Christianity might have survived only as a popular tradition on a reduced degree.[48] The reorganization of the Church as a cult institution in the region took a considerable amount of time,[49] as the Balkans were brought back into the Christian orbit only after the recovery of the Byzantine Empire and through the activity of Byzantine missionaries.[48]

The earliest ascertained church vocabulary of

Archdiocese of Ohrid.[51] The lack of Old Church Slavonic terms in Albanian Christian terminology shows that the missionary activities during the Christianization of the Slavs did not involve Albanian-speakers, indeed, the Christian belief among Albanians had survived through the centuries and already become an important cultural element in their ethnic identity.[52]

Earliest contacts with South Slavic

When the

Shkodër and Ohrid lakes. Such contacts in these areas caused many changes in Slavic and Albanian local varieties.[38]

As Albanian and South Slavic have been in contact since the early Middle Ages, loanwords in both belong to different chronological strata and reveal different periods of acquisition. The earliest phase of contacts is dated to the 6th–8th century CE, reflecting some of the more archaic phonetic features of Slavic as well as early Albanian phonology.

Slavic liquid metathesis (before c. end of the 8th century CE). They include Ardenicë (Lushnjë), Berzanë (Lezhë), Gërdec and Berzi (Tiranë) and a cluster of toponyms along the route Berat-Tepelenë-Përmet.[66]

The evolution of the ancient toponym Lychnidus into Oh(ë)r(id) (city and lake), which is attested in this form from 879 CE, required an early long-standing period of Tosk Albanian–East South Slavic bilingualism, or at least contact, resulting from the Tosk Albanian rhotacism -n- into -r- and Eastern South Slavic l-vocalization ly- into o-.[28] The name of the region Labëri resulted through the Slavic liquid metathesis: South Slavic *Labanьja < Late Common Slavic *Olbanьja 'Albania', and was reborrowed in that form into Albanian, in the period when rhotacism was still active in Tosk Albanian.[67]

History of study

Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Albanian to Modern Albanian. According to Orel, the study of Proto-Albanian syntax remains in its infancy so there are some limitations to the work. However, there have been developments in the understanding of the historical development of phonetics and vocabulary.[68]
Other major work has been done by
Albanian–Romanian linguistic relationship
) as well as other Balkan linguists. A large amount of work done on Proto-Albanian is published in German, rather than English.

Nomenclature of periodization of Proto-Albanian

Proto-Romance. 2) "Late Proto-Albanian" (LPA): after extensive Latin contact, with the end of the period seeing contacts between ancient Slavic idioms still close to the Proto-Slavic language, in the 6th and 7th centuries CE. During this period the structure of Proto-Albanian was "shattered" by major changes.[69]

Ranko Matasović distinguishes the following periods of Proto-Albanian: 1) "Pre-Proto-Albanian": essentially equivalent to Vladimir Orel's "Early Proto-Albanian", except that the newer paradigm of Matasović dates Latin/Albanian contact a century earlier, and thus it ends for Matasović in the 1st century BCE rather than the 1st century CE.[70] After this period ends, Latin contact begins to transform the language. 2) "Early Proto-Albanian": corresponds to the earlier phases of what is for Orel "Late Proto-Albanian". For Matasović, the period spans the 1st century BCE to the 6th century CE, halting before contact with Slavic idioms begins.[70] 3) "Late Proto-Albanian": includes the last two centuries of LPA for Orel, plus most of the unattested period of "Old Albanian", halting before Turkish influence begins.[70] In this paradigm, Gheg and Tosk split from Early Proto-Albanian, not Late Proto-Albanian, consistent with our knowledge that the split preceded Slavic contact. 4) "Early Albanian": corresponds to the late, Ottoman, phase of Old Albanian in the traditional paradigm, ending in 1800, at which point it transitions to Modern Albanian.[70]

Demiraj, like Matasović and unlike Orel, observes the 5th/6th centuries as a boundary between stages, but instead places the "emergence of Albanian" from its parent after this point, rather than the 14th.[71]

In an Albanian chapter penned by Michiel de Vaan within Klein, Joseph and Fritz' 2018 Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics,[6] Demiraj's periods are adhered to. Orel's "Later Proto-Albanian", which is for them also definitively placed before Slavic contact, is referred to as simply "Proto-Albanian" (PAlb) or, in German, "Uralbanisch", reflecting the terminology of earlier writing in German.[72][73][74] What is for Orel "Early Proto-Albanian" (EPA), dated definitively before the onset of Latin contact, is for De Vaan, "Pre-Proto-Albanian" (PPAlb); in German, this stage is called "Voruralbanisch" or "Frühuralbanisch".[6] De Vaan also discusses the possibility of breaking "Pre-Proto-Albanian" into two stages: one before the first Greek loanwords, and one that is after the first Greek loanwords, but before contact with Latin.[6]

This page at present is using the paradigm of Orel.

Phonology

Extensive recent studies on Proto-Albanian phonology have been published by Huld (1984), Beekes (1995), Shaban Demiraj (1996), Bardhyl Demiraj (1997), Orel (2000), Hock (2005), Matzinger (2006), Vermeer (2008), Schumacher (2013), and De Vaan (2018).[6]

At present, this page follows Orel's paradigm for periods of Proto-Albanian, and presents the relationship between the synchronic phonologies of both "EPA" and "LPA" with diachronic relationships to each other and to ancestral Indo-European forms as well as descendant Albanian forms.

Stress

In Early Proto-Albanian, stress was paradigmatic, and behaved according to morphological class,[75] with a base on the first syllable.[76] In different paradigms, the stress pattern was varyingly barytonic, oxytonic, and mobile.[75] Unstressed vowels lost one mora—long vowels were shortened, already short vowels were often deleted. In Later Proto-Albanian, however, a new system of unstressed vowel reduction emerged where *a reduced to *ë while all others were simply deleted (except for post-tonic inlaut vowels, which became *ë).[75] Orel gives the following examples:

  • EPA *dáusas "ram" (sg) > *dauš > ... > modern dash
  • EPA *dáusai "rams" (pl) > *dauši > ... > modern desh
  • EPA *dwáigā "branch" (sg) > *déga > ... > modern degë
  • EPA *dwáigāi "branches" (pl) > *dégai > ... > modern degë

Vowels

Simple vowels in EPA[77]
Front Central Back
High *i • *iː *u • *uː
Mid *e • *eː • *oː
Low *a • *aː
Diphthongs in EPA[77]
Nucleus -i -u
*e *ei *eu
*a *ai *au

Early Proto-Albanian possessed four distinctive short vowels: *a, *e, *i and *u. Proto-Indo-European *o had merged into *a by the Early Proto-Albanian stage. A five-way distinction was maintained for long vowels: *aː, *eː, *iː, *oː and *uː. Early Proto-Albanian also had four diphthongs: *ei, *ai, *eu and *au.

Early Proto-Albanian's vowel inventory began to change as a result of Latin contact. Initially Albanian was resistant to the restoration of short *o as a separate phoneme, with Latin unstressed *o being replaced by *a, and stressed Latin *o being replaced by *u. However, in later loans, Latin *o is maintained in Albanian as *o. Additionally, some Latin loans with short *u saw Latin *u replaced by *o, as well as *ə specifically in unstressed positions before sonorants. In two cases, Orel argues that Latin short /u/ was lengthened in Albanian to /u:/, ultimately to render /y/. On the other hand, whatever effect Ancient Greek loanwords had at their time of absorption is unclear, but diachronically the vowels always agree with regular internal Albanian developments.

LPA simple vowels
Front Back
High *i *u •
Mid (*e)[note 4] (*o)[note 5]
Low *a • *å[78]
(Earlier) LPA diphthongs
-u -i -e
u- *ui *ue
i- *ie
e- *eu *ei
a- *au *ai

Late Proto-Albanian

Late Proto-Albanian exhibited *a, *i and *u throughout its development as distinctive short vowels. *o was restored to the phonemic inventory as a result of loanwords where it was increasingly maintained instead of replaced. Although *e was eliminated by breaking to *ie (which would render je and ja), it was restored by the leveling of /ai/ to /e/ and other phenomena that replaced /a/, /ie/, and /ue/ with /e/. The only long vowel preserved in its original form was *iː. *o: was replaced by *ue, *eː was merged into *aː and both were rounded and eventually raised to *o, while *uː merged with the diphthong *ui, ultimately rendering *y. By Late Proto-Albanian, all the original Indo-European diphthongs had now leveled, but new diphthongs were absorbed in loans, and were also innovated by breaking phenomena: *ie, *ue and *ui. *ai in Latin words with AE shared the fate of inherited Early Proto-Albanian *ai, becoming *e, while Latin AU similarly shared the fate of inherited *au and became *a.

Phonemically nasal vowels emerged in Late Proto-Albanian.[79] First, all vowels standing before nasal consonants were nasalized. The following nasal consonant was then lost in certain morphological contexts, while the vowel remained nasalized, resulting in the emergence of LPA phonemes denoted , , , and .[79] Except in certain Gheg varieties, merged into .[79] The traditional view presented by Orel[79] and Desnickaja[80] is that distinctive nasalization was lost by Tosk but retained by Gheg and that this is a taxonomical difference between the two.[79] However this has now been challenged,[80] after Sheper and Gjinari discovered Lab dialects (Lab is a subdialect of Tosk) in the Kurvelesh region that still had distinctive nasal vowels,[80] and Totoni likewise found that the Lab speech of Borsh also still has nasal vowel phonemes.[81] This means that, instead of the traditional view, it is possible that denasalization happened in most Tosk dialects only after the split from Gheg.[80]

Slavic *uː appears to still have been back and round when it was loaned into Albanian, but it is after the diphthongization and resulting fronting of the original Early Proto-Albanian *uː to *y was no longer absorbing new *uː segments, as they are, with only three exceptions, reflected as *u. Slavic *o had already become *a in the Slavic languages that contacted Albanian by the time of contact, and was loaned as *a for the most part; as is reflected also in other non-Slavic languages absorbing these words. After /v/, this *a became *o again in two attested cases: kos ("yogurt", from Proto-Slavic *kvasъ) and vorbë ("clay pot").

It was at the end of the LPA period that length became no longer distinctive in Albanian,[82] although many Gheg and some Lab dialects preserved it and/or re-innovated it. Furthermore, by Old Albanian, all diphthongs had been lost: those ending in -i were all leveled, the -u was lost in those ending in -u, and those ending in -e were converted to glide + vowel sequences; further changes including the frequent effacement of the former first element or otherwise its hardening into an occlusive (typically /v/ for former u-, and gj /ɟ/ for former i-) rendering the former presence of a diphthong rather opaque in many reflexes.

Vowels of late LPA transitioning to Old Albanian
Front Central Back
High *i • *y *u
MId *e *o
Low *a

Diachronic development

This table differentiates short vowels form long vowels with the IPA symbol <ː> being applied to the long vowels.

Specifically contextualized reflex results are placed in parentheses.

Proto-Indo-European developments before Proto-Albanian Early Proto-Albanian Late Proto-Albanian Tosk Albanian Gheg Albanian Example
Latin short /a/ merges with EPA /a/ /a/[68] /a/ /a/[68] /a/[68] PIE *kap- "to seize" > EPA *kapa > kap "to grasp";

Latin APTUM > Alb aftë "capable";

PIE *n̩bʰ(u)lo- > EPA *abula > Alb avull "steam, vapor";[83]

PIE *septm̩ > EPA *septati > Alb shtatë "seven"[83]

*a Proto-Indo-European * and * merge with result of *a[83]
*a > /e/ under umlaut and subsequent analogy[84] /e/ /e/ EPA *albr̩ > elb "barley";

Latin GALBINUS "yellow" > Alb gjelbër "green";

PIE *u̯īḱm̩tī > EPA *wīdžatī > Alb zet "twenty";[83]

PIE *n̩- > EPA *a- > Alb e- (privative prefix)[83]

>/ɑ̃/ before nasals /ə/ <ë> /ɑ̃/ <â, an> EPA *ksanda > Alb hënë ("moon", Gheg: hanë);

Latin CANTICUM > Alb këngë "song"

/ə/ deleted after a stressed syllable[85] IE *bʰolətom > EPA *baltaː > Alb baltë "swamp"
> /e/ after absorption of following laryngeal H_e /e/ /ie/
(> /e/ before *ts, *dz, *nd, *nt, *mb)
/ie/
/je/
/ja/
/ie/
/je/
/ja/
IE *dheHi "to suck"> dheːi > EPA dela > Alb djalë "boy"
> /o/ elsewhere /a/[86] /a/ /a/ /a/ IE *apo "away", "off" > EPA *apa > Alb pa "without"
>/ɑ̃/ before nasals /ə/ <ë> /ɑ̃/ <â, an> IE *sont-s "being" > EPA *san(s) > Alb gjë "thing" (Gheg: gjâ sen/send "thing" or sene/sende "things")
/o/ /o/
(/e/ under umlaut and subsequent analogy[84]) /e/ /e/ IE *ǵʰorios > EPA *darja > Alb derr "pig";

IE *kʷəp- "smoke"(?) > EPA *kapna > Alb kem "incense"(Gheg: kall "burn")

> /ɑ̃/ before nasal /ə/ /ɑ̃/ IE *sont-s "being" > EPA *san(s) > Alb gjë
/e/ /e/ /e/[87] IE *lent- > EPA *lenta: > Alb lëndë "timber" (Gheg: landë)
/ie/
/ie/ /ie/ IE *bʰer- "to bring, carry" > EPA *berja > Alb bie "to bring"
/je/ /je/ IE *smeḱu > EPA smekraː > Alb mjekër "beard"
je > e after affricates, palatals, and liquids je > e after affricates, palatals, and liquids Alb fle "to sleep"
/ja/ /ja/ IE *esmi > EPA *esmi > Alb jam;


ja > a after affricates, palatals and liquids ja > a after affricates, palatals and liquids IE *seḱs + ti > EPA *seksti > Alb gjashtë "six"
/ie/ > /e/ before *ts, *dz, *nd, *nt, *mb /e/ /e/ IE *en per en tod > EPA *(en) per en ta > Alb brenda
/ie/ + /i/ /i/ /i/ IP *gʷedijos > EPA d͡ʒedija > Alb zi "black"
/e/ before *m followed by sibilant or affricate /i/ /i/ /i/ IE *sem-ǵʰo > EPA *semdza > Alb gjithë "all"
Classical Latin /e/ > EPA /ie/ in "usual" layer > /ie/ in EPA for "usual layer" (not identical to development of inherited /e/ which also went through /ie/) /je/ /je/ Lat VERSUM > Alb vjershë "verse"
>/e/ in various contexts after sh, before ng/nd, etc. /e/ Lat CONVENTUS > Alb kuvend
/ja/ /ja/ Lat HEBDOMAS > Alb javë "week"
/ja/ > /a/ after palatals /a/ Lat SELLA > Alb shalë "saddle"
Unstressed /ei/ in Latin loans /e/ /e/ Lat DEBITU꞉RA > Alb detyrë "duty"
Latin /e/ via an unknown different intermediary /e/ /e/ Lat INFERNUM > Alb ferr "hell"; Lat COMMERCIUM > Alb kumerq "toll, duty"
Latin /e/ loaned into Late Proto-Albanian while it lacked any short /e/ phoneme /i/ /i/ IE *ambʰi > EPA *ambi > Alb mbi "on, upon"; Lat PARENTEM > Alb prind "parent"; PIE t(e)r-m- > Alb trim "brave"
Between *r̥ and C /i/ /i/ /i/
/i/
> /ĩ/ before nasals /i/ /ĩ/ <î> EPA *rinja > Alb rij "to make humid" (Gheg: )
/u/ /u/ /u/ /u/ /u/ /u/ IE *bʰugʰ > EPA *bugta > Alb butë "smooth"
> /ũ/ before nasals /u/ /ũ/ <û> IE *ǵenu "knee" > EPA *ganuna > LPA glûna > Alb gju "knee" (Gheg: gjû)
Latin /o/ raises before nasals[88] Lat MONACHVS > murg "monk", CONTRĀ > kundër "against"[88]
Latin stressed[89] /o/ ultimately merges with PIE *ā elsewhere /o/ /o/ Lat COXA > kofshë "hip",[88] ROTA > rrotë "wheel" [89]
/aː/ /aː/ /aː/ /ɒː/ /o/ /o/ IE maːter "mother > EPA maːter > Alb motër "sister"
/eː/ /e:/ /e:/ everywhere except gliding to /j/ in clusters: /ɒː/ /o/ /o/ IE *meː-kwe > LPA mɒːts > Alb mos "don't"
/o:/ /o:/ /o:/ /we/ /e/ /e/ IE *bʰloːros > EPA bloːra > Alb blertë "green"
/i:/ /i:/ /i:/ /i:/ /i/ /i/ IE *piː- "to drink" > EPA *pi꞉ja > Alb pi "to drink"
/u:/ /u:/ /u:/ /ui/ /y/ /y/, /i/ in certain conditions EPA *suːsa > Alb gjysh "grandfather"
/wi/ > /i:/ at word coda after loss of nominative final s /i/ /i/ IE *suːs "pig" > EPA *tsu꞉s > LPA tθui > Alb thi "pig"
/wi/ > /i:/ after labial /i/ /i/ IE *bʰuː- "to grow" > EPA enbuːnja > Alb mbij "to thrive"
/wi/ > /i/ before labial /i/ /i/ IE *kreup > EPA kruːpaː > LPA krwipa > Alb kripë "salt"
/wi/ > /i/ before j, i, other palatal elements /i/ /i/ IE *dreu "tree" > EPA druːnjaː > drinjë "brushwood"
/ai/ /ai/ /ai/ > /ẽ/ > /ɑ̃/ before nasal /ə/ <ë> /ɑ̃/ <â, an> EPA *laidna > Alb ("to let"; Gheg: )
/e/ /e/ /e/ IE *aidʰos > EPA *aida > Alb ethe "fever"
/oi/ /oi/ IE *ḱloitos > EPA *klaita: > Alb qetë "jagged rock"
/ei/ /ei/ /ei/ /i/ /i/ /i/ IE *ǵʰeimen- "winter" > EPA *deimena > Alb dimër "winter"(Gheg: dimën)
Diphthongs of long vowel + j j elided, long vowel develops regularly
/au/ /au/ /au/ >/ɑ̃/ before nasals /ə/ <ë> /ɑ̃/ <â, an> IE *dreu- "tree" > EPA *draunja: > Alb drënjë
/a/ /a/ /a/ *IE aug- > EPA *auga > Alb ag "dusk"
/a/ > /e/ /e/ /e/ EPA *ausra > Alb err "darkness"
/ou/ /ou/ /a/ /a/ /a/ IE *poujo- > EPA *pauja > Alb pah "scab, dust"
/a/ > /e/ /e/ /e/ EPA *gaura > Alb ger
/eu/ /eu/ /eu/ > /ẽ/ > /ɑ̃/ before nasal /ə/ <ë> /ɑ̃/ <â, an> IE *newn̩ "nine" > EPA *neunti > Alb nëntë ("nine", Gheg: nand)
/e/ /e/ /e/ IE *skeud- "to throw" > EPA *skeuda > Alb hedh

Development of Indo-European sonorants

The nasal sonorants *n̩ and *m̩ both rendered Early Proto-Albanian *a, which remains *a in modern Albanian (PIE *g'hn̩taː "goose" > EPA *gataː > modern Albanian gatë "heron"). Like EPA *a elsewhere, in some cases it was raised to *e, as seen in PIE *ln̩gwh- > EPA *laga > Albanian lehtë (suffixed with -të).[90]

Diachronic development of sonorants[91][92]
Proto-Indo-European Intermediate developments Early Proto-Albanian Later Proto-Albanian Old Albanian Tosk Albanian Gheg Albanian Example
*m̩ *a continue regular developments of *a from EPA in vowel chart. shtatë ‘seven’ < PIE *septm ̥-
*n̩ *a (i) gjatë ‘long’ < PIE *dln ̥gʰ-t-
*l̩ *il before consonant clusters, *i or *j il, li
*ul elsewhere ul, lu
*r̩ *ir before consonant clusters, *i or *j ir, ri
*ur elsewhere ur, ru
*l *l *l *l l l SA lagje ‘quarter’ < PIE *logʰ-
*l *λ (ly/-li)? j

l (Cham/Arbresh/

Arvanitika)

j SA gjuhë vs A/A gljuhë, SA mijë vs Cham milë
*ɫ (V_V) ll

/γ/ (some Arbresh)

/ð/ (some Lab)

ll

/ð/ (some dialects)

SA hell ‘spear, spit’ < PIE *skōl-
*r *r *r (V_V) *r r r SA (i) mirë ‘good’ < PIE *miHr-
*r (V_V) *λ (-ri)? j j SA bij 'sons' < PA *bir-i
*r: (#_) *r: rr rr SA rrjedh ‘to flow’ < PIE *h₃reǵ-
*m *m *m m m SA motër ‘sister’ < PIE *meh₂-tr-
*n *n *n n

r (-n-)

n

ng /ŋ/ (from /ng/)

SA natë ‘night’ <PIE *nokʷt-
*n: (*-sn-, *-Cn-, *-nC-) n

n (-n-)

n

ng /ŋ/ (from /ng/)

Dialectal anë < PIE *h₂ewk(ʷ)- ~ *h₂uk(ʷ)-.
*ɲ (*gn-, before front vowels) nj nj

ni~n (northern)

SA njeri ‘man’ <PIE *h₂nḗr

Consonants

EPA Consonants[93]
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal *m *n
Plosive *p • *b *t • *d *ts • *dz *t͡ʃ • *d͡ʒ *k • *g
Fricative *s • *z *x
Glide *w *j
Lateral *l
Trill *r
LPA Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal *m *n
Plosive *p • *b *t • *d *ts *c *k • *g
Affricate *t͡ʃ
Fricative *f *θ • *ð *s • *z *x
Glide *w *j
Lateral *l
Trill *r
Diachronic development[92]
Proto-Indo-European Pre-Proto-Albanian Early Proto-Albanian Later Proto-Albanian Modern Alb (Tosk/Gheg) Examples
*s *s *z > *j ɟ ~ d͡ʒ <gj> IE *serp- "to crawl" > EPA *serpena > Alb gjarpër "snake"
*s > *ʃ after *iː, *uː or -i, -u diphthongs ʃ <sh> IE *dʰouso- > EPA *dausa > Alb dash ("ram")
*ʃ word-initially (sometimes) ʃ <sh> SA shi ‘rain’ < PIE *suH-
> t͡s (if next consonant was *s) > *θ θ <th> IE *suːs ("pig") > EPA *t͡suːs > Alb thi ("pig")
>*x intervocalically or between EPA sonorant and vowel h IE *golso- ("sound") > EPA *gulxa > SA gjuhë
Ø IE *nosom > EPA *naxa > Alb na ("us")
*sK *sK *sK *x h SA hedh ‘to throw’ < PIE *skewd-
*sp- *sp- *sp- f- f- SA farë < PIE *spor-
*st *st *st ʃt ʃt SA shteg ‘path, road’ < PIE *stoygʰ-
*sd *[zd] *zd *zd ð dh SA pidh ‘female pudenda’ < PIE *peysd(ʰ)-
*s from Greek, Latin loanwords ʃ <sh> Lat summus > Alb shumë "more", "much"
*p *p *p *p p IE *eːp ("to take") > EPA *eːpa > Alb jap ("to give")(Gheg: jep ep)
*b, *bʰ *b *b *b b IE *serbʰ- ("to suck in") > EPA *serba > Alb gjerb ("to gulp")
*w between a vowel and *u v EPA *abula > Alb avull ("vapor")
*t *t *t *t t IE *trejes ("three") > EPA *treje > Alb tre ("three")
*d, *dʰ *d *d *d d IE *dʰegʷʰ- ("to burn") > EPA *dega > Alb djeg ("to burn")
> *ð intervocalically or between r and vowel,

in 5th or 6th centuries[94]

ð <dh> IE *skeudV- ("to throw, shoot") > Alb hedh ("to throw, shoot")
*ḱ (*c?) *ḱ (*c?) >*t͡s > *θ θ <th> IE *ḱi-ḱer- ("pea"? cf Latin: cicer) > EPA *tsera > Alb thjerrë ("lentil")
> *t͡ʃ > *s before i, j, u, or w s IE *ḱupo- ("shoulder") > Alb sup ("shoulder");

IE *ḱiā dīti > EPA tsja(i) diti > Alb sot ("today")

*t͡s retained, conditions unclear t͡s <c> IE *h₂eḱ- ("sharp") > EPA *atsara > Alb acar "cold/ice cold"

(but doublet: > athët ("sour")

> *t͡ʃ, conditions unclear t͡ʃ <ç> IE *ḱentro- ("to stick") > Alb çandër ("prop")
> *k before sonorant *k k IE *smeḱr- ("chin") > Alb mjekër ("chin, beard")
*ǵ, *ǵʰ (*ɟ?) *ǵ (*ɟ?) *dz dh SA dhëmb, Gheg dhãmb ‘tooth’ < PIE *ǵombʰ-
*dz~d? *ð~d? d SA dorë < PIE *ǵʰesr-
*d͡ʒ before w *z z SA zë, Gheg. zã (< zãn) < PIE *ǵʰweno-
*k *k *k *k k SA kam ‘to have’ < PIE *keh₂p-
*c (palatalised) q SA qaj 'to weep, cry' < PIE *kluH-i̯o-
*g, *gʰ *g *g *g g SA gardh ‘fence’ < PIE *gʰordʰ-
*j (palatalised) gj SA gjej 'to find' < PIE *gʰédni̯e/o-
*kʷ *kʷ? *t͡ʃ before front vowels *s s SA sjell ‘to bring’ < PIE *kʷelh₁-
*k elsewhere *k k SA pjek ‘to bake’ < PIE *pekʷ-
*c (palatalised) q SA që 'that, which' < PIE *kʷṓd
*gʷ, *gʷʰ *gʷ? *d͡ʒ(w) before front vowels *z z SA zorrë ‘gut’ < PIE *gʷʰērn-
*g elsewhere *g g SA djeg ‘to burn’ < PIE *dʰegʷʰ-
*j (palatalised) gj SA gjeth 'leaf' < PIE *gʷos(d)- 'wood'
*y *j *z (#_V) *j gj SA gjem ‘bridle’ < PIE *yom-
Ø (V_V) Ø Ø SA tre ‘three’ < PIE *treyes
*w *w *w (#_V) *w v SA vesh ‘to put on (clothes)’ < PIE *wes-
Ø (V_V) Ø Ø SA ve ‘widow’ < PIE *widʰewh₂

The development of IE dorsal consonants in Albanian

Indo-European languages are traditionally divided into two groups based on the development of the three series of dorsal (often called "guttural") stops, viz. the palatal (*ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ), velar (*k *g *gʰ) and labiovelar (*kʷ *gʷ *gʷʰ) series. In the "centum" languages (e.g. Italic languages, Germanic languages, Greek) the palatal series has merged with velar series, while the labiovelar series remained distinct; whereas in the "satem" languages (Indo-Iranian languages, Balto-Slavic languages), the labiovelars merged with the plain velars, while the palatals shifted to sibilant consonants.[95]

Many Indo-Europeanists have classified Albanian as a satem language since it has dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ as the common reflex of the palatal series, while velar and labiovelar stops in most cases have merged.[96] However, there is clear evidence that all three IE dorsal series remained distinct (at least before front vowels) in Proto-Albanian:[97][98][99]

  • *ḱ > /θ/, *ǵ/*ǵʰ > /ð/
  • *k > /k/, *g/*gʰ > /g/
  • *kʷ > /s/ (before high vowels), /k/ (elsewhere); *gʷ/*gʷʰ > /z/ (before high vowels), /g/ elsewhere.

In the later phonologocal history of Albanian, the velars /k/ and /g/ were subject to further palatalizations.[100]

The (partial) retention of the Proto-IE three-way contrast for dorsal stops is an archaic feature that links Albanian with the wider Paleo-Balkanic group and is shared with Messapic[101] and Armenian.[102]

Classification & isoglosses with other Indo-European branches

The closest language to Albanian is Messapic, with which it forms a common branch titled Illyric in Hyllested & Joseph (2022).[103] Hyllested & Joseph (2022) in agreement with recent bibliography identify Greco-Phrygian as the IE branch closest to the Albanian-Messapic one. These two branches form an areal grouping – which is often called "Balkan IE" – with Armenian.[103] Hyllested & Joseph (2022) identify the highest shared number of innovations between (Proto-)Albanian and (Proto-)Greek.[104]

Innovative creations of agricultural terms shared only between Albanian and Greek, such as *h2(e)lbh-it- 'barley' and *spor-eh2- 'seed', were formed from non-agricultural Proto-Indo-European roots through semantic changes to adapt them for agriculture. Since they are limited only to Albanian and Greek, they can be traced back with certainty only to their last common Indo-European ancestor, and not projected back into

Proto-Indo-European.[105] A remarkable Greek/Albanian isogloss is a very ancient form for "hand": *mər-, cf. the Albanian verb marr ("hold") and the Greek márē ("hand"), and also Greek márptō ("grab").[106]

A common

Aramaic gaδiā ̄"kid"). However it was most likely not directly borrowed from Semitic, but from a European substrate language that in turn had loaned the word from a common third source. Hence it can be viewed as an old cultural word, which was slowly transmitted to different European languages, and then adopted by the newcoming Indo-European speakers. Within this scenario it should be remarked the exclusive sharing of a common proto-form between Albanian, Greek, and Armenian, which could have been borrowed at a pre-stage that was common to these languages.[107]

Shortly after they had diverged from one another, Albanian, Greek, and Armenian, undoubtedly also underwent a longer period of contact (as can be seen, for example, in the irregular correspondence: Greek σκόρ(ο)δον, Armenian sxtor, xstor, and Albanian hudhër, hurdhë "garlic"). Furthermore, intense Greek–Albanian contacts certainly have occurred thereafter.[14][108] An example of secondary derivations from Palaeo-Balkan linguistic contacts is the Thracian word σπίνος spínos 'a kind of stone, which blazes when water touches it' (i.e. 'lime'), attested in Aristotle and Theophrastus, with cognate Greek τίτανος (Attic) and κίττανος (Doric) 'gypsum, chalk, lime', stemming PIE *k̑witn̥Hos 'white, whitish': although from the same PIE root, Albanian shpâ(ni) 'lime, tartar' and Greek σπίνος 'lime' derive from a secondary origin as they were probably borrowed from Thracian due to phonetic reasons. Indeed, the original IE cluster *k̑w- yields Albanian s- before any vowel, while in Thracian it could yield sp-.[109]

Specifically Indo-Iranian/Greek/Albanian and Greek/Armenian/Albanian isoglosses are both relatively rare, examples including ndaj (to divide; Indo-Greek-Albanian) and ëndërr ("dream"; Greek/Armenian/Albanian). Armenian/Albanian isoglosses are considered "insignificant" by Orel. There are a considerable number of Indo-Iranian/Albanian isoglosses, which are notably often connected with horses, horse tending, and milk products.[110]

In older literature, Orel (2000) argues that Albanian has a large number of

isoglosses that are common to Albanian, Germanic, Baltic and Slavic, as part of a "North Eastern" lexical grouping, with a large number of these referring to wood or objects made out of wood.[111] Orel (1998) noted 24 isoglosses between Balto-Slavic and Albanian, 48 common words between Baltic and Albanian and 24 between Albanian and Slavic. Hyllested & Joseph (2022) review Orel's common items and argue that a substantial number don't have convincing etymologies or do not constitute isoglosses between Balto-Slavic and Albanian. An example is Albanian murg (dark) and Lithuanian margas (colourful) which Orel considers to be isoglosses but both are equally related to Proto-Germanic *murkaz, ancient Greek ἀμορβός amorbos and Proto-Slavic *mergъ.[112]

Orel identifies only one Albanian/Italic/Celtic isogloss, blertë ("green"), cognate to Latin flōrus ("bright") and Irish blár ("gray").[113] Specifically Celtic/Albanian vocabulary was previously thought to be limited although including at least one core vocabulary item (hënë "moon", cognate to Welsh cann "white" and Breton cann "full moon"),[114] but recent work by Trumper in 2018 has proposed a larger though still not overwhelming set, with the notable addition of dritë ("light").[115]

Although knowledge of Tocharian is fragmentary, the one known Albanian/Tocharian isogloss is "very important" as noted by Orel: kush ("who", cognate to Tocharian A kus, with the same meaning).[116]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Also the analysis of the influence of substrates on the Old Serbo-Croatian language and the toponymic and Romanian evidence indicate that the South Slavs who became Serbo-Croatian speakers settled in a zone of former Albanoid speech, which reasonably explains why the resultant population was well-predisposed to preserve the richest system of lateral consonant distinctions and alternations among the later Slavic-speaking peoples.[33]
  2. Western South Slavic.[45]
  3. ^ Newer toponymical loanwords, although having the same Slavic form, preserved the Slavic /s/ and other features, as Albanian no longer developed phonological changes during that later period of contacts, hence they resulted different from the earlier loans, e.g. Bistricë (Sarandë) instead of Bushtricë or Selcan (Këlcyrë) instead of Shelcan.[65]
  4. ^ Absent for early part of period
  5. ^ Absent for early part of period

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Matzinger 2016, p. 6: "Folgende Lautwandel charakterisieren u.a. das Uralbanische (Protoalbanische) und grenzen es dadurch als eine eigenständige idg. Sprache von anderen idg. Sprachen ab. Diese Phase kann präzisiert als Frühuralbanisch bezeichnet werden. Da das Hethitische (im antiken Kleinasien) und das mykenische Griechische schon im 2. Jahrtausend v.Chr. als voll ausgebildete, d.h. individuelle Sprachen dokumentiert sind, kann auch die Vorstufe des Albanischen (das Frühuralbanische) mindestens ab dem ersten Jahrtausend v.Chr. als eine ebenso schon voll ausgebildete, d.h. individuelle Sprache angesetzt werden".
  2. ^ a b
    • Demiraj 2020, p. 34: "All such changes took place prior to the contacts between Albanian and Balkan Slavonic, i.e. before the 7th century СЕ." p. 37: "Thus, mоkёrё 'millstone', from ancient Greek μᾱχανᾱ́ 'instrument', shows the effects of rhotacism, and mjek 'doctor', from Latin medicus, shows the effects of the loss of medial voiced stops, а change which inherited words also underwent ( e.g. еrё 'smell' < *od-ro-, cf. Latin odor); however, Slavic loanwords, coming after the arrival of the Slavs in the Balkans in the 6th century, show the effects of neither change, and neither do Turkish loans, borrowed during the period of Ottoman rule."
    • De Vaan 2018, p. 1732: "Internal comparison between the Tosk and Geg dialects allows us to reconstruct a Proto-Albanian stage (PAlb.; in German Uralbanisch; see Hock 2005; Klingenschmitt 1994: 221; Matzinger 2006: 23; B. Demiraj 1997: 41–67; Hamp 1992: 885–902). Additional external information on the development of the phonology is provided by different layers of loanwords, of which those from Slavic (from ca. 600 CE onward) and from Latin (ca. 167 BCE−400 CE) are the most important. Since the main phonological distinction between Tosk and Geg, viz. rhotacism of n, is found in only a few Slavic loanwords in Tosk (Ylli 1997: 317; Svane 1992: 292 f.), I assume that Proto-Albanian predated the influx of most of the Slavic loanwords.
    • Matzinger 2006, p. 41: "Diese Zeitspanne von der Antike bis ca. 600 n.Chr. wird in der Geschichtsschreibung die uralbanische Zeit genannt." ["This period from ancient times to ca. 600 CE is called the Proto-Albanian period in historiography."]
  3. ^ a b Friedman 2022, pp. 189–231.
  4. ^ a b Lazaridis & Alpaslan-Roodenberg 2022, pp. 1, 10.
  5. ^ Hyllested & Joseph 2022, p. 235; Friedman 2020, p. 388; Majer 2019, p. 258; Trumper 2018, p. 385; Yntema 2017, p. 337; Ismajli 2015, p. 45; Hamp & Adams 2013, p. 8; Demiraj 2004, pp. 58–59.
  6. ^ a b c d e f De Vaan 2018, p. 1732
  7. ^ Matasović 2019, p. 6
  8. ^ Fortson 2010, p. 392: "The dialectal split into Gheg and Tosk happened sometime after the region become Christianized in the fourth century AD; Christian Latin loanwords show Tosk rhotacism, such as Tosk murgu "monk" (Geg mungu) from Lat. monachus."
  9. ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 9: "The Greek and Latin loans have undergone most of the far-reaching phonological changes which have so altered the shape of inherited words while Slavic and Turkish words do not show those changes. Thus Albanian must have acquired much of its present form by the time Slavs entered into Balkans in the fifth and sixth centuries AD"
  10. ^ Brown & Ogilvie 2008, p. 23: "In Tosk /a/ before a nasal has become a central vowel (shwa), and intervocalic /n/ has become /r/. These two sound changes have affected only the pre-Slav stratum of the Albanian lexicon, that is the native words and loanwords from Greek and Latin"
  11. ^ Vermeer 2008, p. 606: "As is well known, the rise of Tosk as a recognizable dialec-tal unit involves two innovations that have parallels in early Romanian: Romanian centralized its *a in nasal contexts and part of the dialects under-went the development of intervocalic -n- to -r-. Romanian also famously borrowed vatër 'hearth' with patently Tosk va- and proceeded to spread it to wherever Vlachs expanded subsequently. The shared Tosk-Romanian innovations obviously constitute the final stage of the crucial and well-publicized period of Albanian-Romanian convergence. Since these inno-vations are found either not at all or only marginally in the Slavic loans into Romanian and Albanian, it follows that the rise of Tosk preceded both the expansion of Romanian and the influx of Slavic Ioans."
  12. ^ Friedman 2023, p. 345.
  13. ^ Demiraj 2013, pp. 32–33.
  14. ^ a b Thorsø 2019, p. 258.
  15. ^
    • Friedman 2022, pp. 189–231: "On the other hand, there is some evidence to argue that Albanian is descended from the Illyrian complex."
    • Coretta et al. 2022, p. 1122: "Though the origin of the language has been debated, the prevailing opinion in the literature is that it is a descendant of Illyrian (Hetzer 1995)."
    • Matasović 2019, p. 5: "Much has been written about the origin of the Albanian language. The most probable predecessor of Albanian was Illyrian, since much of the present-day Albania was inhabited by the Illyrians during the Antiquity, but the comparison of the two languages is impossible because almost nothing is known about Illyrian, despite the fact that two handbooks of that language have been published (by Hans Krahe and Anton Mayer)... examination of personal names and toponyms from Illyricum shows that several onomastic areas can be distinguished, and these onomastic areas just might correspond to different languages spoken in ancient Illyricum. If Illyrians actually spoke several different languages, the question arises -from which 'Illyrian' language did Albanian develop, and that question cannot be answered until new data are discovered.The single "Illyrian" gloss preserved in Greek (rhínon 'fog') may have the reflex in Alb. (Gheg) re͂ 'cloud' (Tosk re)< PAlb. *ren-."
    • Parpola 2012, p. 131: "The poorly attested Illyrian was in antiquity an important Indo-European language in the Balkans, and it is widely believed to survive in the Albanian language (cf. Mallory 1989: 73–76; Fortson 2004: 405–406 and 390)."
    • Beekes 2011, p. 25: "It is often thought (for obvious geographic reasons) that Albanian descends from ancient Illyrian (see above), but this cannot be ascertained as we know next to nothing about Illyrian itself."
    • Fortson 2010, p. 446: "Albanian forms its own separate branch of Indo-European; it is the last branch to appear in written records. This is one of the reasons why its origins are shrouded in mystery and controversy. The widespread assertion that it is the modern–day descendant of Illyrian, spoken in much the same region during classical times ([...]), makes geographic and historical sense but is linguistically untestable since we know so little about Illyrian."
    • Holst 2009, p. 65–66: ""Illyrisch" möchte ich nicht klassifizieren, da hierüber nicht einmal klar ist, ob es sich tatsächlich um eine Sprache handelt und nicht Ma-terial aus mehreren Sprachen, die auf albanischem Boden Spuren hinterlassen haben. Falls man jedoch Illyrisch als die Vorläufersprache des Albanischen definiert (wofür einiges spricht), ist Illyrisch automatisch im Zweig des Albani-schen enthalten." ["I don't want to classify "Illyrian" because it is not even clear whether it is actually one language and not material from several languages that have left traces on Albanian soil. However, if Illyrian is defined as the precursor language to Albanian (which there is some evidence for), Illyrian is automatically included in the branch of Albanian."]
    • Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 11: "Although there are some lexical items that appear to be shared between Romanian (and by extension Dacian) and Albanian, by far the strongest connections can be argued between Albanian and Illyrian. The latter was at least attested in what is historically regarded as Albanian territory and there is no evidence of any major migration into Albanian territory since our records of Illyrian occupation. The loan words from Greek and Latin date back to before the Christian era and suggest that the ancestors of the Albanians must have occupied Albania by then to have absorbed such loans from their histori-cal neighbors. As the Illyrians occupied Albanian territory at this time, they are the most likely recipients of such loans."
  16. ^ Friedman 2020, p. 388; Matzinger 2018, p. 1790; Ismajli 2015, p. 45; Hamp & Adams 2013, p. 8.
  17. ^ Hyllested & Joseph 2022, p. 235; Trumper 2018, p. 385; Yntema 2017, p. 337.
  18. ^ Crăciun 2023, pp. 77–81; Huld 1986, pp. 245–250; Huld 1984, p. 158.
  19. ^ Huld 1986, pp. 245–250; Huld 1984, p. 158; Lafe 2022, pp. 362–366.
  20. ^ Huld 1986, pp. 245–250; Huld 1984, p. 158.
  21. ^ Crăciun 2023, pp. 77–81; Witczak 2016, pp. 40–41; Huld 1986, pp. 245–250; Huld 1984, p. 158.
  22. ^ Witczak 2016, pp. 40–41.
  23. ^ a b Vermeer 2008, pp. 604–605.
  24. ^ a b Joseph 2016, pp. 132–133.
  25. ^ Rusakov 2013, pp. 138–143; Rusakov 2017, p. 557; Matzinger 2017, p. 49.
  26. ^ a b Rusakov 2013, pp. 138–143.
  27. ^ Fischer & Schmitt 2022; Lafe 2022; B. Demiraj 2016; Curtis 2012; Matzinger 2009; Sh. Demiraj 2006b.
  28. ^ a b Friedman 2003, pp. 44–45.
  29. ^ Morozova, Ovsjannikova & Rusakov 2020, pp. 280–281; De Vaan 2018, p. 1732; Matzinger 2018, pp. 1791–1792; Matzinger 2017, pp. 30–31; Fortson 2010, p. 448; Millar 2010, pp. 79–81; Mallory & Adams 1997, pp. 9, 11.
  30. ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, pp. 9, 11; Fortson 2010, p. 448; Millar 2010, pp. 79–81; Matzinger 2018, pp. 1791–1792; De Vaan 2018, p. 1732; Fischer & Schmitt 2022, p. 16.
  31. ^ Rusakov 2017, p. 557; Matzinger 2017, p. 49; Rusakov 2013, pp. 138–143.
  32. ^ Rusakov 2013, pp. 138–143; Bednarczuk 2023, p. 43.
  33. ^ Hamp 2002, p. 249; Friedman 2019, p. 19.
  34. ^ Bednarczuk 2023, p. 43; Demiraj 2020, pp. 34, 37; De Vaan 2018, p. 1732; Rusakov 2013, pp. 138–143; Fortson 2010, p. 448; Vermeer 2008, p. 606; Matzinger 2006, p. 41; Mallory & Adams 1997, pp. 9, 11.
  35. ^ Rusakov 2013, pp. 138–143; Bednarczuk 2023, p. 43.
  36. ^ Demiraj 2016, pp. 91–92; Rusakov 2013, pp. 138–143; Matzinger 2009, pp. 29–30.
  37. ^ Schmitt 2020.
  38. ^ a b c Curtis 2012, pp. 25–26.
  39. ^ Vermeer 1996, p. 127.
  40. ^ Millar 2010, p. 81.
  41. ^ a b Rusakov 2013, pp. 132, 138–143.
  42. ^ a b Bednarczuk 2023, p. 43.
  43. ^ Rusakov 2017, p. 557; Bednarczuk 2023, p. 43; Rusakov 2013, pp. 132, 138–143; Tomić 2006, p. 41; Malcolm 1998, pp. 39–40; Vermeer 1996, pp. 128–129.
  44. ^ Rusakov 2013, pp. 132, 138–143; Tomić 2006, p. 41; Malcolm 1998, pp. 39–40; Vermeer 1996, pp. 128–129.
  45. ^ Rusakov 2013, pp. 132, 138–143; Vermeer 1996, pp. 128–129.
  46. ^ Rusakov 2013, pp. 132, 138–143; Bednarczuk 2023, p. 43.
  47. ^ Demiraj 2002, pp. 36–37.
  48. ^ a b Fischer & Schmitt 2022, p. 25.
  49. ^ Demiraj 2011, p. 63.
  50. ^ Demiraj 2011, pp. 63–64, 70.
  51. ^ Demiraj 2011, p. 64.
  52. ^ Demiraj 2011, p. 71.
  53. ^ Curtis 2012, pp. 25–26; Matzinger 2018, p. 1791; Morozova, Ovsjannikova & Rusakov 2020, pp. 280–281.
  54. ^ Morozova, Ovsjannikova & Rusakov 2020, pp. 280–281.
  55. ^ Orel 2000, p. 38.
  56. ^ Ylli 1997, p. 317; Orel 2000, p. 38.
  57. ^ Ylli 2000, p. 197.
  58. ^ Ylli 2000, p. 103.
  59. ^ Ylli 2000, p. 106.
  60. ^ Ylli 2000, p. 136.
  61. ^ Ylli 2000, p. 175.
  62. ^ Ylli 2000, p. 174.
  63. ^ Ylli 2000, p. 183.
  64. ^ Ylli 2000, p. 269.
  65. ^ Ylli 2000, p. 165.
  66. ^ Ylli 2000, p. 267.
  67. ^ Viereck 1993, p. 122; Hyllested 2016, p. 67.
  68. ^ a b c d Orel 2000, p. 1
  69. ^ Orel 2000, p. XII
  70. ^ a b c d Matasović 2019, p. 39
  71. ^ Demiraj 2006, p. 483
  72. ^ Demiraj 1997, pp. 41–67
  73. ^ Matzinger 2006, p. 23
  74. ^ Klingenschmitt 1994, p. 221
  75. ^ a b c Orel 2000, pp. 20–21
  76. ^ Matasović 2019, p. 7
  77. ^ a b Orel 2000, p. 270
  78. ^ Orel 2000, pp. 8–12
  79. ^ a b c d e Orel 2000, pp. 15–16
  80. ^ a b c d Paçarizi 2008, pp. 101–102
  81. ^ Totoni 1964, p. 136
  82. ^ Orel 2000, p. 15
  83. ^ a b c d e Orel 2000, pp. 42
  84. ^ a b Orel 2000, pp. 143–144
  85. ^ Orel 2000, p. 3
  86. ^ Orel 2000, pp. 2–3
  87. ^ Orel 2000, pp. 3–4
  88. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2018). "The phonology of Albanian". In Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Vol. 3. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1735.
  89. ^ a b Orel 2000, p. 27
  90. ^ Orel 2000, p. 42
  91. ^ Orel 2000, pp. 271–272
  92. ^ a b Rusakov 2017, pp. 566–571
  93. ^ Orel 2000, pp. 273–274
  94. ^ Orel 2000, p. 65
  95. ^ Fortson 2010, p. 58–59.
  96. ^ Fortson 2010, p. 449.
  97. ^ Fortson 2010, p. 450.
  98. ^ Rusakov 2017, p. 559.
  99. ^ Hyllested & Joseph 2022, pp. 238–239.
  100. ^ Rusakov 2017, p. 571.
  101. ^ Matzinger 2005, p. 47.
  102. ^ Hyllested & Joseph 2022, pp. 229.
  103. ^ a b Joseph & Hyllested 2022, p. 235.
  104. ^ Joseph & Hyllested 2022, p. 226.
  105. ^ Kroonen et al. 2022, pp. 11, 26, 28
  106. ^ Bubenik 1997, p. 104.
  107. ^ Thorsø 2019, p. 255.
  108. ^ Joseph 2013, p. 7.
  109. ^ Witczak 2012, pp. 159–161.
  110. ^ Orel 2000, pp. 259–260
  111. ^ Orel 2000, pp. 250–251
  112. ^ Joseph & Hyllested 2022, p. 223.
  113. ^ Orel 2000, p. 257
  114. ^ Orel 2000, pp. 256–257
  115. ^ Trumper 2018, p. 379.
  116. ^ Orel 2000, p. 260

Bibliography