Albania Languages

Description
The official language of the country is Albanian which is spoken by the vast majority of the country's population. Its standard spoken and written form is revised and merged from the two main dialects, Gheg and Tosk, though it is notably based more on the Tosk dialect. The differences are primarily phonological. Also a dialect of Greek that preserves features now lost in standard modern Greek is spoken in areas inhabited by the Greek minority. Other languages spoken by ethnic minorities in Albania include Aromanian, Serbian, Macedonian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Gorani, and Roma. Young people have shown a growing interest in German and Turkish languages.

Albania (Gheg dialect) -- Gheg is spoken to the north of the Shkumbin river. Gheg does not have any official status as a written language in any country.

Albania (Tosk dialect) -- Tosk is spoken to the south of the Shkumbin river. Tosk is the basis of the standard Albanian language.

Greek -- second most-spoken language in the country, with 0.5 to 3% of the population speaking it as first language and with two-thirds of mainly Albanian families having at least one member that speaks Greek.

German and Turkish -- Young people have shown a growing interest in German language in recent years. Interest in learning Turkish, in particular among young people, has been growing on a yearly basis.

The Albanian language has been written using many alphabets since the earliest records from the 15th century. The earliest written Albanian records come from the Gheg area in makeshift spellings based on Italian or Greek. The Tosk dialect was written in the Greek alphabet and the Gheg dialect was written in the Latin script. Both dialects had also been written in the Ottoman Turkish version of the Arabic script. The writers from northern Albania and under the influence of the Catholic Church used Latin letters, those in southern Albania and under the influence of the Greek Orthodox church used Greek letters, while others throughout Albania and under the influence of Islam used Arabic letters.

Word List(s)

 * Albanian Tosk dialect Phrases - Omniglot
 * Albanian Phrases with audio - iLanguages
 * Albanian Phrases - My Languages

Alphabet and Pronunciation

 * Albanian Vowels and Consonants - Wikitravel Albanian Phrasebook
 * Albanian Tosk and Gheg Vowels and Consonants - Must Go Travel

Language Aids and Dictionaries
Dictionaries

Online Dictionaries

Language Aids
 * lo Duro & Ramazan Hysa, Fjalor shqip-anglisht = Albanian - English dictionary, Tirana : Botime EDFA, 1996 - Available at WorldCat

Additional Resources

 * Albanian dialects - Wikipedia
 * Features of the Tosk dialect - Wikipedia
 * Features of the Greg dialect - Wikipedia

Genealogical Word Lists

 * Turkish Genealogical Word List
 * Italian Genealogical Word List
 * Greek Genealogical Word List
 * Latin Genealogical Word List

Other Language Helps

 * Google Translate - Albanian
 * Albanian language resources
 * Albanian grammar and language basics
 * Albanian language overview
 * Albanian grammar basics
 * Area Handbook for Albania