Origin of Albanians: Encyclopedia II - Origin of Albanians - Place of origin

Origin of Albanians - Place of origin

The place where the Albanian language was formed is also under dispute, but analyses have indicated that it was in a mountainous region, rather than in a plain or seacoast: while the words for plants and animals characteristic of mountainous regions are entirely original, the names for fish and for agricultural activities (such as ploughing) are borrowed from other languages.

It can also be presumed that the Albanians didn't live in Dalmatia, because the Latin influence over Albanian is of Balkan Romance (that evolved into Romanian) origin, rather than of Dalmatian origin. This Balkan Romance influence includes Latin words exhibiting idiomatic expressions and changes in meaning found only in Romanian and not in other Romance languages. Adding to this the words common only to Albanian and Romanian, it may be assumed that Romanians and Albanians lived in close proximity at one time. Generally, the areas where this might have happened are considered to be regions varying from Transylvania, Eastern Serbia (the region around Naissus), Kosovo and Northern Albania/Macedonia.

However, most agricultural terms in Romanian are of Latin origin, but not the terms related to city activities — indicating that Romanians were an agricultural people in the low plains, as opposed to Albanians, who were originally shepherds.

Some scholars even explain the gap between the Bulgarian and Serbian languages by postulating an Albanian-Romanian buffer-zone east of the Morava river. Although an intermediary Serbian dialect exists, it was formed only later after the Serbian expansion to the east.

Another argument that sustains a northern origin of Albanians is the relatively small number of words of Greek origin, although Southern Illyria was under the influence of Greek/Byzantinecivilization and language, especially after the breakdown of the Roman Empire.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Place of origin", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki