Albanian (Gheg)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear withness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.



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Albanian is the only modern representative of a distinct branch of the Indo-European language family.

There are two principal dialects of limited mutual intelligibility: Tosk and Gheg. Tosk is spoken in southern and central Albania, by the Arbëreshë of Italy, among the Albanian minority of Greece: the çam and the Arvanites, and in small communities of Albanian immigrants in Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, and United States. Gheg (or Geg) is spoken in northern Albania and by the Albanians of Serbia and Montenegro (including the province of Kosovo) as well as those of the Republic of Macedonia.

Albanian, in the Tosk dialect, is the official language of Albania. Albanian is also one of the official languages of Kosovo, and of the Republic of Macedonia.

The Albanian alphabet was based on the Latin alphabet, with the addition of the letters ë, ç, and nine digraphs to account for certain sounds in pronunciations.

There are also 29 consonants: B, C, ç, D, Dh, F, G, Gj, H, J, K, L, Ll, M, N, Nj, P, Q, R, Rr, S, Sh, T, Th, V, X, Xh, Z, Zh.

The Albanian alphabet has seven vowels: A, E, Ë, I, O, U, Y.

Albanians transliterate foreign words in their own way, even from the Latin alphabet; thus Josh McDowell is transliterated Xhosh Mekdauëll. Each sound is approximated by one or more of the 36 letters of the alphabet, therefore words are spelled as they sound.

The oldest known Albanian printed book, Meshari or missal, was written by Gjon Buzuku, a Catholic cleric, in 1555. The first Albanian school is believed to have been opened by Franciscans in 1638 in Pdhanë.

DIALECTS

 

The two principal dialects, Gheg in the north and Tosk in the south, are separated roughly by the Shkumbin River. Gheg and Tosk have been diverging for at least a millennium, and their less extreme forms are mutually intelligible. Gheg has the more marked subvarieties, the most striking of which are the northernmost and eastern types, which include those of the city of Shkod'r (Scutari), the neighbouring mountains along the Montenegro border, Kosova, Macedonia, and the isolated village of Arbanasi (formerly Borgo Erizzo) on the Croatian coast of Dalmatia outside Zara (Zadar). Arbanasi, founded in the early 18th century by refugees from near Tivar (formerly Antivari, Bar), has about 2,000 speakers.

All of the Albanian dialects spoken in Italian and Greek enclaves are of the Tosk variety, and seem to be related most closely to the dialect of ‚am'ria in the extreme south of Albania. These dialects resulted from incompletely understood population movements of the 13th and 15th centuries. The Italian enclaves--nearly 50 scattered villages-- probably were founded by emigrants from Turkish rule in Greece. A few isolated outlying dialects of south Tosk origin are spoken in Bulgaria and Turkish Thrace but are of unclear date. The language is still in use in Mandritsa, Bulgaria, at the border near Edirne, and in an offshoot of this village surviving in M‡ndres, near Kilk's in Greece, that dates from the Balkan Wars. A Tosk enclave near Melitopol in the Ukraine appears to be of moderately recent settlement from Bulgaria. The Albanian dialects of Istria, for which a text exists, and of Syrmia (Srem), for which there is none, have become extinct.

GRAMMAR

 

The grammatical categories of Albanian are much like those of other European languages. Nouns show overt gender, number, and three or four cases. An unusual feature is that nouns are further inflected obligatorily with suffixes to show definite or indefinite meaning; e.g., buk' "bread," buka "the bread." Adjectives--except numerals and certain quantifying expressions--and dependent nouns follow the noun they modify; and they are remarkable in requiring a particle preceding them that agrees with the noun. Thus, in nj' burr' i madh, meaning "a big man," burr' "man" is modified by madh "big," which is preceded by i, which agrees with the term for "man"; likewise, in dy burra t' m'dhenj"two big men," m'dhenj, the plural masculine form for "big," follows the noun burra "men" and is preceded by a particle t' that agrees with the noun. Verbs have roughly the number and variety of forms found in French or Italian and are quite irregular in forming their stems. Noun plurals are also notable for the irregularity of a large number of them. When a definite noun or one taken as already known is the direct object of the sentence, a pronoun in the objective case that repeats this information must also be inserted in the verb phrase; e.g., i-a dhash' librin atij is literally "him-it I-gave the-book to-him," which in standard English would be "I gave the book to him." In general, the grammar and formal distinctions of Albanian are reminiscent of Modern Greek and the Romance languages, especially of Romanian. The sounds suggest Hungarian or Greek, but Gheg with its nasal vowels strikes the ear as distinctive. Although Albanian has a host of borrowings from its neighbors, it shows exceedingly few evidences of contact with ancient Greek; one such is the Gheg moken; (Tosk mok'r) "millstone," from the Greek mekhane'. Obviously close contacts with the Romans gave many Latin loans; e.g., mik "friend," from Latin amicus; k'ndoj "sing, read" from cantare. Furthermore, such loanwords in Albanian attest to the similarities in development of the Latin spoken in the Balkans and of Romanian, a Balkan Romance tongue. For example, Latin paludem "swamp" became padulem, and then padure in Romanian and pyll in Albanian, both with a modified meaning, "forest."

Conversely, Romanian also shares some apparently non-Latin indigenous terms with Albanian; e.g., Romanian brad, Albanian bredh "fir." Thus these two languages reflect special historical contacts of early date. Early communication with the Goths presumably contributed tirq "trousers, breeches" (from an old compound "thigh-breech"), while early Slavic contacts gave gozhd' "nail." Many Italian, Turkish, Modern Greek, Serbian, and Macedonian-Slav loans can be attributed to cultural contacts of the past 500 years with Venetians, Ottomans, Greeks (to the south), and Slavs (to the east).

A fair number of features--e.g. the formation of the future tense and of the noun phrase--are shared with other languages of the Balkans but are of obscure origin and development; Albanian or its earlier kin could easily be the source for at least some of these. The study of such regional features in the Balkans has become a classic case for research on the phenomena of linguistic diffusion.

Albanian

Grammar Sketch  

Alphabet & Pronunciation  
A
 -father
 I
 -bee
 RR
 -borrow (rolled)
 
B
 -boy
 J
 -year
 S
 -sun
 
C
 -bats
 K
 -kite
 SH
 -shall
 
ç
 -charm
 L
 -light
 T
 -tell
 
D
 -deck
 LL
 -balloon
 TH
 -thick
 
DH
 -they
 M
 -mine
 U
 -spook
 
E
 -estuary
 N
 -nine
 V
 -very
 
Ë
 -duck
 NJ
 -onion
 X
 -adz
 
F
 -fleet
 O
 -post
 XH
 -judge, jug
 
G
 -game
 P
 -pencil
 Y
 -new
 
GJ
 -legion (soft g)
 Q
 -mature (soft ch)
 Z
 -zoo
 
H
 -hotel
 R
 -remember
 ZH
 -treasure
 

 

Albanian finite verbs has morphological subject indexing and, in most cases, object indexing by clitic pronouns resulting in doubling, cf. the examples already glossed above:

Studenti e merr librin.
 
'The student takes the book.'
 

 

Unë i shkrova nënës.
 
'I wrote to [my] mother.'
 

 

Petriti ia jep librin Markut.
 
'Petrit gives the book to Mark.'
 

Subject indexing is fused with the TAM inflections, as in the following indicative paradigm (after Zymberi 1991: 250) of laj 'wash (tr.)' (in Albanian verbs are cited by the first person singular of the present tense):

sample indicative paradigm: laj

 
 present
 perfective past
 imperfect
 
1 sg
 la-j
 la-va
 la-ja
 
2 sg
 la-n
 la-ve
 la-je
 
3 sg
 la-n
 la-u
 la-nte
 
1 pl
 la-jmë
 la-më
 la-nim
 
2 pl
 la-ni
 la-të
 la-nit
 
3 pl
 la-jnë
 la-në
 la-nin
 

[V2] There is an active and a medio-passive voice. The latter has "passive and reflexive" uses, and is to a large extent realized inflectionally, e.g. (lahem 'to get washed', medio-passive of laj):

medio-passive indicative paradigm: lahem

 
 present
 perfective past
 imperfect
 
1 sg
 la-he-m
 u la-va
 la-he-sha
 
2 sg
 la-he-sh
 u la-ve
 la-he-she
 
3 sg
 la-he-t
 u la
 la-he-j
 
1 pl
 la-he-mi
 u la-më
 la-he-shim
 
2 pl
 la-he-ni
 u la-të
 la-he-shi
 
3 pl
 la-he-n
 u la-në
 la-he-shin
 

In the present and imperfect the medio-passive is characterized by the morpheme -he- and special subject suffixes in the singular; in the perfective past, by the clitic u and a zero-form in the third-person-singular (compare the active). In the periphrastic perfect, the auxiliary is kam 'have' for the active but jam 'be' for the medio-passive. There are "deponent" verbs with no active voice.

[V3] Verbs are negated by nuk or s' preceding them: Nuk flas anglisht 'I don't speak English'.

[V4] There is a single non-finite form, the participle, which usually ends in -ur, -r(ë), or -në. There are a number of verbs with a completely irregular or suppletive stem for the participle and the perfective past tense, e.g. vij 'come', perfective erdha, participle ardhur; jap 'give', perfective dhashë, participle dhënë, etc. etc. (see also jam and kam below). The participle has a wide range of uses. It has an adjectival use with a passive or medio-passive, resultative meaning:

Jam
 i
 lodh-ur.
 
am
 LIG
 get.tired-PPL
 
'I am tired.'
 

(from lodhem 'get tired'), and is a component of the perfect tenses. Preceded by one of several particles, the same form functions as a verbal noun: duke larë 'while washing', pa larë 'without washing', për të larë '(in order) to wash' (Zymberi 1991: 226-7):

Ata
 dol-ën
 për
 të
 shëtit-ur
 pak.
 
they
 go.out-PST.PSI3p
 for
 LIG
 walk-PPL
 little
 
'They went out to walk to walk a little.'
 

In this function, the medio-passive participle-cum-verbal-noun is preceded by u:

Ato
 shku-an
 për
 t'
 u
 la-rë
 në
 lumë.
 
they (f.)
 go.-PST.PSI3p
 for
 LIG
 MED
 wash-PPL
 in
 river
 
'They went to bathe in the river.' (Zymberi 1991: 226-7)
 

[V5] The copula, jam (participle qenë), is irregular. [V6] For possessive predicates there is a 'have'-type verb, kam (participle pasur). Their paradigms are as follows:

copula

 
 present
 perfective past
 imperfect
 
1 sg
 jam
 qeshë
 isha
 
2 sg
 je
 qe
 ishe
 
3 sg
 është
 qe
 ishte
 
1 pl
 jemi
 qemë
 ishim
 
2 pl
 jeni
 qetë
 ishit
 
3 pl
 janë
 qenë
 ishin
 

 'have'

 
 present
 perfective past
 imperfect
 
1 sg
 kam
 pata
 kisha
 
2 sg
 ke
 pate
 kishe
 
3 sg
 ka
 pati
 kishte
 
1 pl
 kemi
 patëm
 kishim
 
2 pl
 keni
 patët
 kishit
 
3 pl
 kanë
 patën
 kishin
 

 

[V7] These have auxiliary uses in the formation of the perfect tenses.

Nominal System


[N1] There are two genders, masculine and feminine; gender affects agreement throughout the nominal system, including the ligature morpheme (see below). [N2] There are two numbers, singular and plural; although noun inflections do not distinguish gender in the plural, adjective and demonstrative inflections differentiate masculine and feminine plural. Some nouns change gender between singular and plural (Zymberi 1991: 45).

Plural formation for nouns is irregular, as a few examples show (Zymberi 1991: 85):

noun plurals

singular
 plural
 meaning
 
fshatar
 fshatarë
 'villager'
 
bari
 barinj
 'shepherd'
 
baba
 baballarë
 'father'
 
bri
 brirë
 'horn'
 
prind
 prindër
 'parent'
 
vajzë
 vajza
 'girl'
 

 singular
 plural
 meaning
 
shtëpi
 shtëpi
 'house'
 
mik
 miq
 'friend'
 
bir
 bij
 'son'
 
breg
 brigje
 'hill'
 
dorë
 duar
 'hand'
 
dash
 desh
 'ram'
 

 

Nonetheless, "the typical masculine endings are -ë and -a, and the typical feminine endings are -e and -a. Many nouns... have the same form in the singular and plural" (Zymberi 1991: 45).

[N3] There are five morphological cases. Both inflectional and ligature paradigms (cf. below) work in terms of variation for gender, number and case simultaneously, with a great deal of syncretism. Some sample paradigms for indefinite nouns follow (adapted from Zymberi 1991: 51):

indefinite noun paradigms

 
 singular:
 plural:
 
 
 'student' (m.)
 'friend' (m.)
 'girl' (f.)
 'student' (f.)
 'students'
 
nominative / accusative
 student
 shok
 vajzë
 studente
 student-ë
 
genitive / dative
 student-i
 shok-u
 vajz-e
 studentej-e
 student-ë-ve
 
ablative
 student-i
 shok-u
 vajz-e
 studentej-e
 student-ë-ve or student-ë-sh
 

For these indefinite forms, nominative and accusative are not distinct. The ablative (mainly used with prepositions) is not distinct from the dative except optionally in the plural. The definite declension is discussed below.

[N4] Subject and object are differentiated by word order, case marking, and person-number indexing on verbs (by inflection for subjects, and through the use of obligatory clitic pronouns for objects):

Student-i
 e
 merr
 libr-i-n.
 
student-DEF-[NOM]
 OPI3
 take.PRS.SPI3
 book-DEF-ACC
 
'The student takes the book.'
 

For indefinite direct objects there is zero case inflection which is not distinct from the subject (see the above paradigms), and clitic pronoun doubling is not obligatory for indefinite direct objects either; but even then word order and subject indexing differentiate the subject and the object, e.g.

Unë
 ble-va
 libër.
 
I
 buy-PST.SPI1
 book
 
'I bought a book.'
 

Indirect objects are distinguished from direct objects by use of the dative case and distinct pronoun clitics in the third person (these are always obligatory for indirect objects):

Unë
 i
 shkro-va
 nënë-s.
 
I.NOM
 DPI3
 write-PST.SPI1
 mother-DAT.DEF
 
'I wrote to [my] mother.'
 

[N5] Other relations are expressed by prepositions, most of which govern the ablative case, while some take the accusative, and two the nominative (Zymberi 1991: 186).

[N6] Definitelness is highly grammaticalized: nouns, including even proper names (Zymberi 1991: 45), have contrasting indefinite and definite case paradigms. (Indefinite forms of proper names are used as vocatives and in the sentence 'My name is X'.) The definite paradigms corresponding to the indefinite forms tabulated above are as follows:

definite noun paradigms

 
 singular:
 plural:
 
 
 'student' (m.)
 'friend' (m.)
 'girl' (f.)
 'student' (f.)
 'students'
 
nominative
 student-i
 shok-u
 vajz-a
 studentj-a
 student-ë-t
 
accusative
 student-i-n
 shok-u-n
 vajzë-n
 studente-n
 student-ë-t
 
genitive / dative / ablative
 student-i-t
 shok-u-t
 vajzë-s
 studente-s
 student-ë-ve
 

Indefinite NPs may or may not include the determiner and numeral një 'one' (and in the plural, ca 'some') in an indefinite article function, hence there is a contrast between Unë bleva libër 'I bought a book' (non-specific) and:

Unë
 e
 ble-va
 një
 libër.
 
I
 OPI3
 buy-PST.SPI1
 one
 book
 
'I bought a [specific] book.'
 

(The object is here indexed by the clitic pronoun e because the object, although indefinite, is specific: Zymberi 1991: 55.)

Demonstrative determiners precede nouns:

Si
 qy-he-t
 ky
 fshat?
 
how
 be.called-MED-SPI3
 this
 village
 
'What is this village called?'
 

(Albturist 1969: 70)

The same items can function as pronouns. Their forms are:

demonstratives

 
 singular:
 plural:
 
 
 'this' (m.)
 'this' (f.)
 'these' (m.)
 'these' (f.)
 
nominative
 ky
 kjo
 këta
 këto
 
accusative
 këtë
 këtë
 këta
 këto
 
genitive / dative / ablative
 këtij
 kësaj
 këtyre
 këtyre
 
 
 'that' (m.)
 'that' (f.)
 'those' (m.)
 'those' (f.)
 
nominative
 ai
 ajo
 ata
 ato
 
accusative
 atë
 atë
 ata
 ato
 
genitive / dative / ablative
 atij
 asaj
 atyre
 atyre
 

[N7] The attributive adjective normally follows the head and is minimally inflected to agree in gender and number (not case). The adjective is in most cases preceded by a clitic particle here referred to as a "ligature", one of the most salient features of Albianian grammar: një vajzë e mirë 'a good girl'. A minority of adjectives are used attributively without a ligature (Zymberi 1991: 102), e.g. rruga kryesore 'the main street'.

The form of the ligature varies for gender, number, case and definiteness, although only a small range of forms (i, e, të, së) are employed through multiple syncretisms:

ligature

INDEFINITE
   
 singular:
 plural:
 
 
 masc.
 fem.
 masc.
 fem.
 
nominative
 i
 e
 të
 të
 
accusative
 të
 të
 të
 të
 
genitive / dative / ablative
 të
 të
 të
 të
 
DEFINITE
   
 masc.
 fem.
 masc.
 fem.
 
nominative
 i
 e
 e
 e
 
accusative
 e
 e
 e
 e
 
genitive / dative / ablative
 të
 së
 të
 të
 

Although the usual order is noun + ligature + adjective, for stylistic purposes the attributive adjective may also precede the head. In this case the order is ligature + adjective + noun, and case suffixes are added to the adjective rather than the noun. Predicative adjectives also keep the ligature.

[N8] With possessive attributes the pattern is possessum + ligature + possessor, e.g. nëna e Agim-i-t 'Agim's mother', një student i një kolegj-i 'a college student'. The ligature agrees with the possessed item, and the possessor NP is in the genitive case. Pronominal possessives follow a similar basic pattern but in some forms the ligature and pronoun are fused, e.g. Ky është libri im 'This is my book'. The nominative definite possessive forms are:

 
 singular:
 plural:
 
 
 masculine
 feminine
 masculine
 feminine
 
'my'
 im
 ime
 e mi
 e mia
 
'your (sg.)'
 yt
 jote
 e tu
 e tua
 
'his'
 i tij
 e tij
 e tij
 e tij
 
'her'
 i saj
 e saj
 e saj
 e saj
 
'our'
 ynë
 jonë
 tanë
 tona
 
'your (pl.)'
 juaj
 juaj
 tuaj
 tuaja
 
'their'
 i tyre
 e tyre
 e tyre
 e tyre
 

 

[N9] Personal pronouns have distinct independent forms in the nominative, accusative, dative and ablative, and clitic accusative and dative forms. The independent forms of the third person pronouns are identical to the remote demonstrative (see above), except that the initial a- is sometimes dropped in the pronoun.

personal pronouns (independent and clitic)

 
 independent
 clitic
 
 
 nominative
 accusative
 dative
 ablative
 accusative
 dative
 
1 sg.
 unë
 mua
 mua
 meje
 më
 më
 
2 sg.
 ti
 ty
 ty
 teje
 të
 të
 
3 sg. m.
 ai
 atë
 atij
 (a)tij
 e
 i
 
3 sg. f.
 ajo
 atë
 asaj
 (a)saj
 e
 i
 
1 pl.
 ne
 ne
 neve
 nesh
 na
 na
 
2 pl.
 ju
 ju
 juve
 jush
 ju
 ju
 
3 pl. m.
 ata
 ata
 atyre
 (a)tyre
 i
 u
 
3 pl. f.
 ato
 ato
 atyre
 (a)tyre
 i
 u
 

Ju is also used as polite singular 'you'. The clitic pronouns precede finite verbs. When dative and accusative clitic pronouns occur together they fuse, e.g.

Petrit-i
 ia
 jep
 libr-i-n
 Mark-u-t.
 
Petrit-DEF-[NOM]
 DPI3.OPI3
 give.PRS.SPI3
 book-DEF-ACC
 Mark-DEF-DAT
 
'Petrit gives the book to Mark.'
 

 

Pronounciation
a as a in father
b as b in Boston
c as ts in curtsy
ç as ch in church
d as d in Denver
dh as th in they
e as e in set
ë as e in term
f as f in free
g as hard g in go
gj as dg in dodge
h as h in her
i as i in machine
 j as y in year
k as k in king
l as liquid l in alien
ll as ll in all
m as m in man
n as n in now
nj as ni in union
o as o in oak
p as p in pencil
q as ch in chair
r as r in roar
rr as highly trilled rr
in Spanish burro
 s as s in see
sh as sh in she
t as t in two
th as th in three
u as oo in loom
v as v in value
x as dz in adze
xh as j in jester
y as Ş in German FŞhrer
 or u in French du, mur
z as z in zone
zh as si in vision
 


Note: A letter combination such as gj and nj, constitutes a single phonetic sound. While j is a semi-vowel which may be used before or after a vowel or consonant or between two vowels, it is fused into an inseperable character when it follows g or n. Likewise, when h follows d, s, t, x and z it also is fused into a single alphabetical character producing in each instance a single phonetic sound.

 
Basic Albanian Phrases

YES = PO poh

NO = JO joh

PLEASE = TË LUTEM ter lootehm

THANK YOU = FALEMINDERIT fahlehmeendehreet

GOOD MORNING = MIRËMËNGJES meermernjehs

GOOD AFTERNOON = MIRËDITA meerdeetah

GOOD NIGHT = NATËN E MIRË nahtern eh meer

GOOD-BYE = MIRUPAFSHIM meeroopahfsheem

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? = SI JU QUAJNË? see yoo chooayn

MY NAME IS... = UNË QUHEM... oon ch'oohehm

HOW ARE YOU? = SI JENI? see yehnee

FINE THANKS, AND YOU? = MIRË FALEMINDERIT, PO JU? meer fahlehmeendehreet, poh yoo

I UNDERSTAND. = E KUPTOJ. eh kooptoy

I DON'T UNDERSTAND. = NUK KUPTOJ. nook kooptoy

DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? = FLISNI ANGLISHT? fleesnee ahngleesht

I DON'T SPEAK (MUCH) ALBANIAN = NUK FLAS (SHUMË) SHQIP. nook flahs (shoom) shch'eep

PROVERB: MIKU I MIRË NJIHET NË DITË TË VËSHTIRË = A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED. meekoo ee meer nyeehet ner deet ter vershteer

 

Albanian: Basic multilingual phrases


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

·        You're welcome = S'ka gjë, ju lutem =

·        Hello = Mirëdita =

·        How are you? = Si jeni? Si ja kaloni? =

·        Goodbye = Mirupafshim =

·        So long = Mirupafshim për së shpejti =

·        Thank you = Faleminderit =

·        Thank you very much = Faleminderit shumë =

·        Please = Ju lutem =

·        Excuse me = Më falni =

·        Good = mirë =

·        Bad = keq =

·        Friend = një shok (m), një shoqe (f) =

·        What is your name? = Si quheni? Si e keni emrin? =

·        Nice to meet you. = Më bëhet qejfi që u njohëm. =

·        Birthday = Ditëlindje =

·        Happy Birthday! = Gëzuar ditëlindjen! =

 

Albanian Phrases  

ALBANIAN
   
 ENGLISH
 
 
   
   
 
unë jam
   
 I am
 
ti je
   
 you are
 
ai është
   
 he is
 
ajo është
   
 she is
 
ne jemi
   
 we are
 
ju jeni
   
 you are
 
ata janë
   
 they are (m)
 
ata janë
   
 they are (f)
 
unë jam shqiptar
   
 I am Albanian
 
ti je shqiptar
   
 you are Albanian
 
ai është shqiptar
   
 he is Albanian
 
ajo është shqiptare
   
 she is Albanian
 
ne jemi shqiptarë
   
 we are Albanian
 
ju jeni shqiptarë
   
 you are Albanian (plural)
 
ata janë shqiptarë
   
 they are Albanian (m)
 
ato janë shqiptare
   
 they are Albanian (f)
 
më quajnë
   
 my name is
 
të quajnë
   
 your name is
 
e quanjë
   
 his name is
 
kush është ai?
   
 who is he?
 
çfarë është ai?
   
 what is he?
 
po ju
   
 and you?
 
ai nuk / s'është
   
 he is not / he isn't
 

Albanian Phrases

Yes
 Po
 po
 
No
 Jo
 yo
 
Please
 Të lutem
 tuh lootem
 
Thank you
 Faleminderit
 falameendayreet
 
Hello
 Tëngëtjeta
 tuhnguhtyeta
 
Good Morning
 Mirëmëngjes
 Meermuhnjyes
 
Good Afternoon
 Mirëdita
 meerdeeta
 
Good Night
 Natën e mirë
 nat'n ay meer
 
Goodbye
 Mirupafshim
 meeroopafsheem
 
My name is…
 Unë quhem…
 oon chyoohem
 
What's your name?
 Si ju quajnë?
 see yoo chyoo-ine
 
How are you?
 Si jeni?
 See yenee
 
Good, fine
 Mirë
 meer
 
And you?
 Po ju?
 Po yoo?
 
I'm on vacation
 Jam me pushime
 ya may poosheemay
 
Where is…?
 Ku është…?
 Koo uhsht?
 
I understand
 E kuptoj
 ay kooptoy
 
I don't understand
 Nuk kuptoj
 nook kooptoy
 
Do you speak English?
 Flisni anglisht?
 Fleesnee anglisht
 
I don't speak Albanian
 Nuk flas shqip
 nook flas shchyeep
 
Do you have anything cheaper?
 A keni ndonjë gjë më të lirë?
 A kaynee ndonyuh jyuh muh tuh leer?
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Common Words & Phrases  
yes/no/maybe
     po/jo/ndoshta
 
good/bad/so-so
     mirë/keq/ashtu-ashtu
 
please/thank you
     ju lutem/faleminderit
 
you are welcome
     s'ka perse
 
 :
 
no problem
     s'ka problem
 
excuse me (for attention)
     ju lutem
 
excuse me (for inconvenience)
     më falni
 
I'm very sorry
     më vjen keq
 
very, a lot/little
     shumë/pak
 
more/less
     më shumë/më pak
 
 :
 
hello/what's up?
     ç'kemi?
 
how are you?
     si jeni? (formal); si je? (informal)
 
good morning
     mirë mëngjes
 
good day/good evening
     mirëdita/mirëmbrëma
 
good bye/good night
     mirupafshim/natën e mirë
 
 :
 
Where is the...    
mayor/school?
bathroom?
     Ku është...
        kryeplaku/shkolla?
        banja?
 
what/who/why/how
     çfarë/kush/pse/si
 
 :
 
Do you speak English?
     A flisni Anglisht?
 
My name is...
     Quhem...
 
What is your name?
     Si e ke emrin?
 
I don't know Albanian.
     Nuk di shqip.
 
Are you a student?
     A jeni student?
 
I don't understand you.
     Nuk ju kuptoj.
 
Do you have toilet paper?
     A keni letër higjienike?
 
How much does it cost?
     Sa kushton?
 
new leks/old leks
     lek të reja/lek të vjetra
 
We must hurry!
     Ne duhet të nxitojme!
 
I love you very much      Te dua shume  
Come to the film.
     Hajdeni te filmi.
 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Albanian or Gjuha shqipe is a language spoken by more than six million inhabitants of the western Balkan peninsula (Albania, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece) in south-eastern Europe (Albanians) and by a small number of people in Calabria, southern Italy.


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Classification


Albanian was proved to be an Indo-European language in the 1850s. The Albanian language is on its own branch of the Indo-European language family. Some suggest that Albanian may be the survival of an Illyrian language once spoken in the southwestern Balkans. Others suggest Albanian may be related more to the ancient Dacian language once spoken in Moesia and Dacia. It is unclear whether Dacian and Illyrian were on different branches of the Indo-European family, but most scholars consider that they were.

Albanian is divided into four dialects, grouped into two dialect groups as follows:

Gheg Albanian
Tosk group
Arbëreshë Albanian
Arvanatika Albanian
Tosk Albanian