Names of the Albanians and Albania

The Albanians (Shqiptarët) and their country Albania (Shqipëria) have been identified by many ethnonyms. The native endonym is Shqiptar. The name "Albanians" Latin: Albanenses/Arbanenses) was used in medieval Greek and Latin documents that gradually entered European languages from which other similar derivative names emerged. Linguists believe that the alb part in the root word originates from an Indo-European term for a type of mountainous topography, meaning "hill, mountain", also present in Alps. Through the root word alban and its rhotacized equivalents arban, albar, and arbar, the term in Albanian became rendered as Arbëreshë (Arbëneshë) for the people and Arbëria (Arbënia) for the country.

Contemporary Albanian language employs a different ethnonym, with modern Albanians referring to themselves as Shqiptarë and to their country as Shqipëria. Two etymologies have been proposed for this ethnonym: one, derived the name from the Albanian word for eagle (shqiponjë). The eagle was a common heraldic symbol for many Albanian dynasties in the Late Middle Ages and came to be a symbol of the Albanians in general, for example the flag of Skanderbeg, whose family symbol was the black double-headed eagle, as displayed on the Albanian flag. The other within scholarship connects it to the verb 'pronounce' (shqiptoj), deriving from Latin excipere. In this instance the Albanian endonym like many others would originally have been a term connoting "those who speak [intelligibly, the same language]". Attested from 14th century onward, the placename Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym Shqiptarë gradually replaced Arbëria and Arbëreshë amongst Albanian speakers between the late 17th and early 18th centuries. That era brought about religious and other sociopolitical changes. As such a new and generalised response by Albanians based on ethnic and linguistic consciousness to this new and different Ottoman world emerging around them was a change in ethnonym.

Arbënesh/Arbëresh (Albanian)
Arbën, Arbëneshë, Arbënuer (as rendered in northern Gheg dialects) and Arbër, Arbëreshë, Arbëror (as rendered in southern Tosk dialects) are the old native terms denoting ancient and medieval Albanians used by Albanians. The Albanian language was referred to as Arbërisht (Arbënisht). While the country was called Arbëni, definite: Arbënia and Arbëri, definite: Arbëria by Albanians. These terms as an endonym and as native toponyms for the country are based on the same common root alban and its rhotacized equivalents arban, albar, and arbar. The national ethnonym Albanian has derived from Albanoi,  an Illyrian tribe  mentioned by Ptolemy with their centre at the city of Albanopolis, located in modern-day central Albania, near the city of Krujë. The alb part in the root word for all these terms is believed by linguists be an Indo-European word for a type of mountainous topography, meaning "hill, mountain", also present in Alps. The Lab, also Labe, Labi; Albanian sub-group and geographic/ethnographic region of Labëri, definite: Labëria in Albania are also endonyms formed from the root alb. These are derived from the syllable cluster alb undergoing metathesis within Slavic to lab and reborrowed in that form into Albanian.

Terms derived from all those endonyms as exonyms appear in Byzantine sources from the eleventh century onward and are rendered as Albanoi, Arbanitai and Arbanites and in Latin and other Western documents as Albanenses and Arbanenses. The first Byzantine writers to mention Albanians in an ethnic sense are Michael Attaliates (in the book History) and Anna Comnena (in the book Alexiad), referring to them as Albanoi and Arbanitai, in the 11th century. In later Byzantine usage, the terms "Arbanitai" and "Albanoi" with a range of variants were used interchangeably, while sometimes the same groups were also called by the classicising name Illyrians. The first reference to the Albanian language dates to the year 1285.

The country was known in Byzantine sources as Arbanon (Άρβανον) and in Latin sources as Arbanum. In medieval Serbian sources, the ethnonym for the country derived from the Latin term after undergoing linguistic metathesis was rendered as Rabna (Рабна) and Raban (Рабан), while the adjective was Rabanski (Rабански). From these ethnonyms, names for Albanians were also derived in other languages that were or still are in use. In English Albanians; Italian Albanesi; German Albaner; Greek Arvanites, Alvanitis (Αλβανίτης) plural: Alvanites (Αλβανίτες), Alvanos (Αλβανός) plural: Alvanoi (Αλβανοί); Turkish Arnaut, Arnavut; South Slavic languages Arbanasi (Арбанаси), Albanci (Албанци) and so on. The term Arbëreshë is still used as an endonym and exonym for Albanians that migrated to Italy during the Middle Ages, the Arbëreshë. It is also used as an endonym by the Arvanites in Greece. Within the Balkans, Aromanians still use a similar term, Arbinesh, in the Aromanian language for contemporary Albanians.

Arbanasi
Arbanas (Арбанас), plural: Arbanasi (Арбанаси); is the old ethnonym that the South Slavs, such as the Bulgarians and Serbs, used to denote Albanians, dating back to the Middle Ages. Arbanaski (Арбанаски), Arbanski (Арбански) and Arbanaški (Арбанашки) are adjectives derived from those terms. The term Arbănas was also used by Romanians for Albanians. They first appear with this ethnonym in a Bulgarian manuscript dated 1000-1018, during the reign of Tsar Samuel, in which Arbanasi (Albanians) are mentioned as being half-believers (i.e. non-Orthodox Christians). The term was in use amongst South Slavs until the mid 20th century. The name Arbanasi is still used as an exonym for a small Albanian community in Croatia on the Dalmatian coast that migrated there during the 18th century.. "Možemo reći da svi na neki način pripadamo nekoj vrsti etničke kategorije, a često i više nego jednoj. Kao primjer navodim slučaj zadarskih Arbanasa. Da bismo shvatili Arbanase i problem njihova etnojezičnog (etničkog i jezičnog) identiteta, potrebno je ići u povijest njihova doseljenja koje seže u početak 18. st., tj. točnije: razdoblje od prve seobe 1726., razdoblje druge seobe od 1733., pa sve do 1754. godine koja se smatra završnom godinom njihova doseljenja. Svi su se doselili iz tri sela s područja Skadarskog jezera - Briske, Šestana i Livara. Bježeći od Turaka, kuge i ostalih nevolja, generalni providur Nicola Erizzo II dozvolio im je da se nasele u područje današnjih Arbanasa i Zemunika. Jedan dio stanovništva u Zemuniku se asimilirao s ondašnjim stanovništvom zaboravivši svoj jezik. To su npr. današnji Prenđe, Šestani, Ćurkovići, Paleke itd. Drugi dio stanovništva je nastojao zadržati svoj etnički i jezični identitet tijekom ovih 280 godina. Dana 10. svibnja 2006. godine obilježena je 280. obljetnica njihova dolaska u predgrađe grada Zadra. Nije bilo lako, osobito u samom početku, jer nisu imali svoju crkvu, škole itd., pa je jedini način održavanja njihova identiteta i jezika bio usmenim putem. We can say that all in some way belong to a kind of ethnic category, and often more than one. As an example, I cite the case of Zadar Arbanasi. To understand the problem of the Albanians and their ethnolinguistic (ethnic and linguistic) identity, it is necessary to go into the history of their immigration that goes back to the beginning of the 18th century., etc more precisely: the period from the first migration of 1726, the period of the second migration of 1733, and until 1754, which is considered to be the final year of their immigration. All they moved from three villages from the area of Lake Scutari - Briska, Šestan and Livara. Fleeing from the Ottomans, plague and other troubles, the general provider Nicola Erizzo II allowed them to settle in the area of today's Arbanasa and Zemunik. One part of the population in Zemunik became assimilated with the local population, forgetting their language. These are for example, today's Prenda, Šestani, Ćurkovići, Paleke etc. The second part of the population tried to maintain their ethnic and linguistic identity during these 280 years. On May 10, 2006 marked the 280th anniversary of their arrival in the suburb of Zadar. It was not easy, especially in the beginning, because they did not have their own church, school, etc., and is the only way to maintain their identity and language was verbally." In modern South Slavic languages the term is Albanac.

Arvanites
Arvanitis (Αρβανίτης), plural: Arvanites (Αρβανίτες); is a term that was historically used amongst the wider Greek-speaking population to describe an Albanian speaker regardless of their religious affiliations until the interwar period, along with Alvanoi (Αλβανοί). The name was established in Greek language from the original ethnonym Alvanitis (Άλβανίτης), which in return derived from Alvanos (Άλβάνος). The name appears as the ethnonym of Albanians in medieval Byzantine sources, originally as "Arbanitai", (in Greek language the letter 'b' is pronounced as 'v'; hence "Arvanitai") and was rendered in modern Greek as "Arvanites".

Today, the term Arvanites is used by Greeks to refer to descendants of Albanians or Arbëreshë that migrated to southern Greece during the medieval era and who currently self identify as Greeks, as a result of assimilation. Sometimes its variant Alvanites may be used instead. In the region of Epirus within Greece today, the term Arvanitis is still used for an Albanian speaker regardless of their citizenship and religion. While the term Arvanitika (Αρβανίτικα) is used within Greece for all varieties of the Albanian language spoken there, whereas within Western academia the term is used for the Albanian language spoken in Southern Greece.. "Botsi's chapter on Arvanitika also gives much useful information but contains some unfortunate errors. The northern dialect of Albanian is Geg, not Gjeg (47 et passim), and the formulation "... Albanian does not constitute the direct descendent of an Indo-European language ..." is flat out wrong. While it is true that we are not certain which lndo-European language Albanian is directly descended from, it is as much the descendent of a single language as Greek or French. The claim that Greek and Latin are "at the origin of Albanian polygensis" (48) is mistaken. To be sure, Albanian was heavily influenced by Latin (much less by Greek, especially in the north), but the core grammar and vocabulary represent a distinct and different branch of Indo-European. The primary shape of the root alban- in deriving the various forms of the relevant name is not clearly presented and the forms Shqipëria (Geg Shqipnia) and Shqip(ë)tar are misspelled. The use of Arvanitika to cover all the Albanian-speakers of Greece no doubt reflects popular Greek usage, but in the North American academic community, this label is restricted to those dialects of Greece for which the term of self-ascription is Arbërisht rather than Shqip. This latter term, which apparently came into use in the 15th century and is derived from an adverb meaning ‘[speak] clearly,’ is used by the Çams as well as in the villages near Florina, Konitsa, in Thrace and, we can add, in Mandres near Kilkis (an enclave that arrived from Mandrica in what is now Bulgaria as a result of the Balkan Wars, although the dialect is now moribund or dead [Eric Hamp, p.c., see Hamp 1965 for more data]). From a strictly dialectological point of view, what we can call Arvanitika proper (Southern Arvanitika in Botsi's terms) represents the southernmost extension of the Albanian dialect continuum with a consistent and gradual development of isoglosses. Arbëresh, on the other hand, shows a diversity of Tosk dialects, the ancestors of whose speakers must have come from all along the western part of the Northern Tosk-Lab-Çam-Arvanitika continuum (Eric Hamp, p.c.). While Arvanitika proper broke off directly from southern cam, the non-cam dialects of Epirus., Macedonia and Thrace are all the results of later northern Tosk migrations." Alongside these ethnonyms the term Arvanitia (Αρβανιτιά) for the country has also been used by Greek society in folklore, sayings, riddles, dances and toponyms. For example, some Greek writers used the term Arvanitia alongside the older Greek term Epirus for parts or all of contemporary Albania and modern Epirus in Greece until the 19th century.. "During the period of the Ottoman domination the geographic entity of Epirus was a matter of great study for the scholars and the geographers of the time. The way the subject was dealt with was mainly a matter of the ideological perspective of each scholar and of his academic and cultural background, a factor that differentiates both them and the definitions that each one gives. It can be observed that scholars who were influenced by the Ancient Greeks favoured an approach based on Ptolemy's theory that the boundaries of Epirus are the Akrokeravnia mountain range, while those inclined to Byzantine opinions added areas of what was once New Epirus such as Avlona and Dyrrachio. All of them, though, were obliged to determine the differences between the ancient term of Epirus and the new term Arvanitia or Albania, the area of which was similarly disputed. We will confine ourselves to the references of a few scholars of the period of Ottoman domination, particularly those that belong chronologically near the era we are studying. For A. Psalida, "Albania, (former Illyricon and Epirus) is bordered to the east by the lower parts of Macedonia and Thessaly, to the north by Bosnan and Serbia, to the west by the Ionian Sea and to the south by the Gulf of Amvrakia", a perception without any ethnological basis which reflects the literature of the period. The writer uses the word Albania, the scholars’ way of expressing the older Greek term Arvanitia, to refer to Epirus. "Albania consists of two toparchies or kingdoms, one of Epirus and one of Illyricon", the writer continues. With this revision he places the river Aoos as a border between Epirus and Illyricon - Ano Arvanitia (upper Arvanitia), a notion which his student Kosmas the Thesprotian also adopts to define Albania. "Albania to the west is bordered by the Adriatic Sea, to the east by the western parts of Macedonia, to the north by Bosnan, Dalmatia and Montenegro and to the south by Epirus, from which it is divided by the river Viosa or Vousa". In these descriptions it is obvious that Avlona is also included inside the borders of Epirus, although the ancient treatise clearly places it in Macedonia (Ptolemy). A few years later, at the time of the Greek revolution, Psalidas refutes, for obvious reasons, the term Arvanitia and comments: "Epirus is wrongly referred to as Arvanitia, since no one there knows how to speak Arvanitika (Albanian)". The Bishop of Athens, Meletios, in the old and new Geography (1728) defines two terms, Arvanitia which constitutes the western part of Macedonia, and the Old Epirus. The two regions are divided by the river Kelidno, which the writer identifies as a river in the area of Liapouria. We observe that this opinion coincides with Ptolemy’s scheme (Γ′, 12, 4.) to which the latest term, Arvanitia, is now added. As a subdivision of Arvanitia, Meletios newly introduces the old-Byzantine term of New Epirus in which he includes the lands between Hemmara and Dirrachio. In "Modern Geography", the Dimitries restore the boundary to Akrokeravnia mountain, which was the ancient Greeks line of demarcation for the lands of the area. They place the lower part of Arvanitia (Kato Arvanitia) in western Macedonia. All the rest of the geographical or ethnological approaches of the 18th and 19th century are theoretical texts that duplicate more or less the views mentioned above. It can be said that in general there is a tendency to identify the political transformations that occur over time with the determination of geographical boundaries and names."

Arnaut/Arnavut


Arnaut (ارناود), Arvanid (اروانيد), Arnavud (آرناوود), plural: Arnavudlar (آرناوودلار): modern Turkish: Arnavut, plural: Arnavutlar; are ethnonyms used mainly by Ottoman and contemporary Turks for Albanians with Arnavutça being the name of the Albanian language. These ethnonyms are derived from the Greek term Arvanites and entered Turkish after the syllable cluster van was rearranged through metathesis to nav giving the final Turkish forms as Arnavut and Arnaut. Meanwhile, in Greek the name Arvanitis was derived from the original name Alvanitis [Άλβανίτης] (in return derived from Alvanos [Άλβάνος]).

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries due to socio-political disturbances by some Albanians in the Balkans the term was used as an ethnic marker for Albanians in addition to the usual millet religious terminology to identify people in Ottoman state records. While the term used in Ottoman sources for the country was Arnavudluk (آرناوودلق) for areas such as Albania, Western Macedonia, Southern Serbia, Kosovo, parts of northern Greece and southern Montenegro. During the late Ottoman period, government officials used the terms Arnavudlar (Albanians) and Arnavud kavmı (the Albanian people) for the ethnic group, along with the terms Ghegs and Tosks for northern and southern Albanian ethno-cultural subgroups. At the same time Albanian regions within the empire were referred to as Arnavudluk (Albania) and the geographic terms Gegalık (Ghegland) and Toskalık (Toskland) were also used in government documents. In modern Turkish Arnavutluk refers only to the Republic of Albania.

Historically as an exonym the Turkish term Arnaut has also been used for instance by some Western Europeans as a synonym for Albanians that were employed as soldiers in the Ottoman army. The term Arnā’ūṭ (الأرناؤوط) also entered the Arabic language as an exonym for Albanian communities that settled in the Levant during the Ottoman era onward, especially for those residing in Syria. The term Arnaut (Арнаут), plural: Arnauti (Арнаути) has also been borrowed into Balkan south Slavic languages like Bulgarian and within Serbian the word has also acquired pejorative connotations regarding Albanians. During the Ottoman era, the name was used for ethnic Albanians regardless of their religious affiliations, just like it is today.

Albanese
Albanese and Albanesi is an Italian surname meaning "Albanian", in reference to the Arbëreshë people (Italo-Albanians) of southern Italy. Among people who have the surname it is common in southern Italy and rare elsewhere in the country. In Venice, the term albanesoti (singular, albanesoto) was used in the 15th and 16th centuries for those Albanians and their descendants who had received Venetian citizenship and lived in Venetian territories in northern Italy.

The term Albanesi was used for some Balkan troops recruited (mid 18th - early 19th centuries) by the Kingdom of Naples that indicated their general origins (without implying ethnic connotations) or fighting style, due to the reputation Albanians held of serving as mercenaries in Ottoman armies.

Epirot
By the Late Middle Ages, during the period of Humanism and the European Renaissance, the terms epirot, Epir and gjuhë epirote (Latin: epirota, Epirus, lingua epirotica) were preferred in the intellectual, literary and clerical circles of the time, used as synonyms for arbën, Arbën, Dheu i Arbënit, Arbëní/rí, abënuer/arbëror, i arbënesh/arbëresh, and later, respectively for shqiptar, Shqipni/Shqipëri, (lingua) shqipe. Subsequently, this linguistic-historical ethnic association was faithfully followed also by the Albanian intellectuals and Catholic clerics during the Middle Ages. On a letter sent to the Prince of Taranto Giovanni Orsini in 1460, the Albanian Lord Skanderbeg wrote: “Se le nostre cronache non mentono, noi ci chiamiamo Epiroti” ("If our chronicles don't lie, we call ourselves Epiroti"). Published in Rome in 1635 by the Albanian bishop and writer Frang Bardhi, the first dictionary of the Albanian language was titled: Dictionarium latino-epiroticum ("Latin-Epirotan [Albanian] dictionary").

Shqiptar
Shqip(ë)tar and Shqyptar (in northern Albanian dialects) is the contemporary endonym used by Albanians for themselves while Shqipëria and Shqypnia/Shqipnia are native toponyms used by Albanians to name their country. All terms share the same Albanian root shqipoj that is derived from the Latin excipere with both terms carrying the meaning of "to speak clearly, to understand". While the Albanian public favours the explanation that the self-ethnonym is derived from the Albanian word for eagle shqipe that is displayed on the national Albanian flag.

The words Shqipëri and Shqiptar are attested from 14th century onward, but it was only at the end of 17th and beginning of the early 18th centuries that the placename Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym Shqiptarë gradually replaced Arbëria and Arbëreshë amongst Albanian speakers in the Balkans.. "The Albanians of today call themselves shqiptarë, their country Shqipëri, and their language shqipe. These terms came into use between the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. Foreigners call them albanesi (Italian), Albaner (German), Albanians (English), Alvanos (Greek), and Arbanasi (old Serbian), the country Albania, Albanie, Albanien, Alvania, and Albanija, and the language Albanese, Albanisch, Albanian, Alvaniki, and Arbanashki respectively. All these words are derived from the name Albanoi of an Illyrian tribe and their center Albanopolis, noted by the astronomer of Alexandria, Ptolemy, in the 2nd century AD. Alban could he a plural of alb- arb-, denoting the inhabitants of the plains (ÇABEJ 1976). The name passed over the boundaries of the Illyrian tribe in central Albania, and was generalised for all the Albanians. They called themselves arbënesh, arbëresh, the country Arbëni, Arbëri, and the language arbëneshe, arbëreshe. In the foreign languages, the Middle Ages denominations of these names survived, but for the Albanians they were substituted by shqiptarë, Shqipëri and shqipe. The primary root is the adverb shqip, meaning "clearly, intelligibly". There is a very close semantic parallel to this in the German noun Deutsche, "the Germans" and "the German language" (Lloshi 1984) Shqip spread out from the north to the south, and Shqipni/Shqipëri is probably a collective noun, following the common pattern of Arbëni, Arbëri. The change happened after the Ottoman conquest because of the conflict in the whole line of the political, social, economic, religious, and cultural spheres with a totally alien world of the Oriental type. A new and more generalised ethnic and linguistic consciousness of all these people responded to this." Skipetar is a historical rendering or exonym of the term Shqiptar by some Western European authors in use from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. The term Šiptar (Шиптар), plural: Šiptari (Шиптари) and also Šiftari (Шифтари) is a derivation used by Balkan Slavic peoples and former states like Yugoslavia; Albanians consider this derogatory due to its negative connotations, preferring Albanci instead.