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

Origin of Albanians - Ethnic origin

The three chief candidates considered by historians are Illyrian, Dacian, or Thracian, though there were other groups in the ancient Balkans besides Greeks who were neither Illyrian, Dacian, nor Thracian, including Paionians (who lived north of Macedon) and Agrianians. The Illyrian language and the Thracian language are generally considered to have been on different Indo-European branches. Not much is left of the old Illyrian, Dacian or Thracian tongues, making it difficult to match Albanian with them.

There is debate whether the Illyrian language was a Centum or Satem language, and there is no conclusive evidence yet either way, though what evidence there is indicates that Illyrian was centum. It is also uncertain whether the Illyrians spoke a homogenous language or rather a collection of different but related languages that were wrongly considered the same language by ancient writers. The same is sometimes said of the Thracian language. For example, based on the toponyms, it has been argued that Thracian and Dacian may be different languages or dialects.

In the early half of the 20th century, many scholars thought that Thracian and Illyrian were one language, but due to the lack of evidence, most linguists are skeptical and now reject this idea, and usually place them on different branches. The Messapian language is often included as an Illyrian language, but this is disputed.

Origin of Albanians - Illyrian Origin

There are two variants of the theory: one is that the Albanian language represents a survival of an indigenous Illyrian language spoken in what is now Albania. The other is that the Albanian language is the descendant of an Illyrian language that was spoken north of the Jireček Line and probably north or northeast of Albania. There is a gap of several centuries between the last historical mention of the Illyrians (and the Illyrian tribe Albanoi) and the later mention of Albanians and of the names Albanon and Arbanon to indicate the region. Supporters of either theory say that the term Albanian gradually came to be applied to the surviving Illyrians.

• there may be some direct correspondances of vocabulary between Albanian and Illyrian. ^[1]
• when describing an Albanian revolt against the Byzantine Empire, Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus stated, "All the swarm of Illyrians" when describing the Albanians in one of his letters ^[2].

• several Albanian scholars maintain that the Komani-Kruja burial sites support the Illyrian-Albanian continuity theory (but other scholars reject this and consider that the remains indicate a population of Romanized Illyrians who spoke a Romanic language) ^[3]
• there are no records that indicate a migration of Albanians into present day Albania
• Albanoi tribe is mentioned as an Illyrian tribe by the ancient geographer Ptolemy in Book 3 of Geographia around the same area where Albania is in today.
• Ancient Illyrian terms for cities, rivers and mountains in ancient Albania are found to this day in the Albanian language. However, scholars have pointed out that many of these terms appear to have entered Albanian through an intermediary, not directly.

• the modern Albanians were not mentioned in Byzantine chronicles until 1043, although Illyria was part of the Byzantine Empire, and since the Illyrians are referred to for the last time as an ethnic group in Miracula Sancti Demetri (7th century AD.), some scholars maintain that after the arrival of the Slavs the Illyrians were extinct. ^[4]
• (see the Jireček Line) the Albanian language does not apparently show ancient Greek influence, which is a problem for the theory of continuity in Albania. ^[5]
• most Illyrian toponyms, hydronyms, names, and words have not been shown to be related to Albanian, and they do not obviously indicate that Illyrians spoke a proto-Albanian language (opponents say that many of these toponyms, hydronyms and names are Hellenized and Romanized; whether the change in form is dramatic or not is hard to know in a number of cases).
• ancient Illyrian toponyms (such as Shkoder from the ancient Scodra, Tomor from ancient Tomarus) were not directly inherited in Albanian, as their modern names do not correspond to the phonetic laws of Albanian ^[6]
• a number of scholars believe that Illyrian was a Centum language, though others disagree. If Illyrian was Centum, then it is unlikely that Albanian (which is Satem) is an Illyrian language ^[7]

Origin of Albanians - Thracian/Dacian origin

• Albanian shares several hundred common words with Romanian, believed to be part of the Dacian substrate (see: List of Dacian words), as well as grammatical features (see Balkan language union) and phonological (such as the common phonemes or the rhotacism of "n"). ^[8]
• Vladimir Georgiev concluded that the phonetics of the Dacian language (based largely on his interpretation of the toponyms) are close to those of Albanian. ^[9]
• names of the cities that follow Albanian phonetic laws (which include Shtip, Shkupi and Nish) are in the areas once inhabited by Thracians, Dardani ^[10], and Paionians. ^[11]
• There are some close correspondences between Thracian and Albanian words. ^[12]

• many Dacian and Thracian placenames were made out of joined names (such as Sucidava or Bessapara), while the modern Albanian language does not allow this. ^[13]
• there are no records that indicate a migration of Dacians into present day Albania. ^[14]
• from the body of Thracian and Dacian words, names, and language-elements, some have been linked to Albanian; many Daco-Thracian words and names do not have Albanian correspondances. ^{[15] [16]}
• the closeness in phonetics between Dacian and Albanian that Vladimir Georgiev and others suggest is not accepted by all linguists; it has been challenged by linguists such as Hamp, and is based on incomplete evidence. ^[17]

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