Some differences between varieties of Albanian with special reference to Kosovo
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Pandeli Pani
Abstract
The differences between the varieties of the Albanian language as spoken both within the Albanian state and outside have usually been investigated under dialectological aspects. From this point of view there are two main dialects of Albanian: Gheg and Tosk. The aim of this article is to investigate certain socio-historical differences between the Albanian spoken in Albania and Kosovo. The topics we are concerned with are differences in the vocabulary of the public sphere and politics, technology, and terminology. Notable differences can however be ascertained in the use of words (also such words that belong to the basic vocabulary of Albanian) and idiomatic expressions which are used in Kosovo with a meaning different from that which they have in Albania. There exists also a series of words which are totally unknown in the speech of the other community. Certain calques from Serbo-Croatian will also be discussed. The reader’s attention will also be drawn to some of the peculiarities of Kosovo Albanian syntax, which may have arisen from interferences through contact with Serbo-Croatian.
© Walter de Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Überblick über die Entwicklung der Soziolinguistik in Albanien
- Variations sociolinguistiques en albanais du Nord — sur la base des données du parler de la ville du Shkodra
- The anatomy of survival in Arbëresh numeral forms
- Features of dysfunctional attrition in the Arbresh of Piana degli Albanesi
- Some differences between varieties of Albanian with special reference to Kosovo
- Who’s “mixing” the languages? Statistical-sociolinguistic analyses of differently developed bilingual practice of Albanian-speaking school pupils in German-speaking Switzerland
- Standard Albanian — linguistic controversy in post-Communist Albania
- The Albanian language: developments in the lexicon under the new social and political order
- The First Congress phenomenon: the case of Albanian
- Book reviews
- Rexhep Ismajli: ‘‘Në gjuhë’’ dhe ‘‘për gjuhë’’ (Rrjedhat e planifikimit të shqipes në Kosovë 1945–1968)
- Small languages and small language communities 50
- Can A Language of A Million Speakers Be Endangered? Language Shift and Apathy Among Northern Khmer Speakers in Thailand
Articles in the same Issue
- Überblick über die Entwicklung der Soziolinguistik in Albanien
- Variations sociolinguistiques en albanais du Nord — sur la base des données du parler de la ville du Shkodra
- The anatomy of survival in Arbëresh numeral forms
- Features of dysfunctional attrition in the Arbresh of Piana degli Albanesi
- Some differences between varieties of Albanian with special reference to Kosovo
- Who’s “mixing” the languages? Statistical-sociolinguistic analyses of differently developed bilingual practice of Albanian-speaking school pupils in German-speaking Switzerland
- Standard Albanian — linguistic controversy in post-Communist Albania
- The Albanian language: developments in the lexicon under the new social and political order
- The First Congress phenomenon: the case of Albanian
- Book reviews
- Rexhep Ismajli: ‘‘Në gjuhë’’ dhe ‘‘për gjuhë’’ (Rrjedhat e planifikimit të shqipes në Kosovë 1945–1968)
- Small languages and small language communities 50
- Can A Language of A Million Speakers Be Endangered? Language Shift and Apathy Among Northern Khmer Speakers in Thailand
