Post by Teuta1975 on Jan 13, 2008 2:58:21 GMT -5
Arvanitic or Arvanitika (Greek: ΑÏβανίτικα; native name: ArbërÃshte, spelled ' in the Greek-based Arvanitic alphabet) is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitic is sometimes also described as Graeco-Albanian''' or similarly,E.g. Furikis (1934) although today such designations are considered offensive by many Arvanites themselves, who identify nationally and ethnically as Greeks and not Albanians (GHM 1995). Arvanitic is today an endangered language, as its speakers have been shifting to the use of Greek and most younger members of the community no longer speak it fluently.
Name
The name "ArvanÃtika" and its native equivalent Arbërishte Misspelled as Arberichte in the Ethnologue report, and in some other sources based on that. are derived from the ethnonym "Arvanites", which in turn comes from the toponym "Arbëna" (Greek: ΆÏβανα), which in the Middle Ages referred to a region in what is today Albania (Babiniotis 1998). Its native equivalents (Arbërorë, Arbëreshë and others) formerly were the self-designation of Albanians in general. Both "Arbëna" and "Albania/Albanian" go further back to name forms attested since antiquity, and may be ultimately variants of the same root, although this is debated.
Classification
The place of Arvanitic within Albanian
It is generally agreed that Arvanitic, historically, has grown out of the medieval continuum of emerging Albanian dialects, more specifically of the Tosk branch. They were brought to southern Greece during the late Middle Ages by settlers from what is today southern Albania and Epirus. Arvanitic is also closely related to Arbërisht, the diaspora dialects of Albanian in Italy, which also belong to the Tosk group. It is believed that some of the Albanophone settlers in Italy came from the Arvanitic groups in Greece, and therefore Italian Arbërisht has retained some Greek loanwords and other effects of language contact (for instance Haristis 'thank you', from ευχαÏιστώ; dhrom 'road', from δÏόμος; Ne 'yes', from ναι, in certain villages).
There is some disagreement over the present-day status of Arvanitic as a dialect of Albanian or as a separate language. The view of Arvanitic as a separate language is today widely held in Greece, and it is propagated by Arvanitic associations.E.g. by the Arvanitic League of Greece (ΑÏβανιτικός ΣÏνδεσμος Ελλάδος), see [1] Many Arvanites are reported to find the designation of their language as Albanian offensive, as they feel it implies a denial of their Greek national identity (GHM 1995). The claim to separate-language status is currently reflected in the existence of separate entries for Arvanitic in some international language classification standards. However, these standards still agree in describing it also as a part of "Albanian" as a larger unit.There is no entry for Arvanitic in parts 1 and 2 of the international ISO 639 standard of language codes, which only has a single entry for Albanian (codes "alb", "sqi", or "sq"). However, the Ethnologue has a separate sub-entry for "Albanian, Arvanitika" ([2]), along with parallel entries for Gheg Albanian, Tosk Albanian, and Italian "Arbëreshë" (i.e. Arbërisht) ([3]). This is due to the fact that the Ethnologue applies rather less restrictive criteria for separate-language status than most other linguists (cf. Hammarström 2005), treating the existence of "well-established distinct ethnolinguistic identities" in and by itself as a sufficient criterion for separate-language status even in the absence of mutual unintelligibility (Gordon 2005). The current (as of 2006) draft ISO 639-3 standard follows the Ethnologue, listing "Arvanitika Albanian" with the code "aat" ([4]). In the terminology of ISO 639, this implies treatment of Albanian as a "macrolanguage", an intermediate category between a language family on the one hand and a single language with dialects on the other. According to [5] "macrolanguages" are defined as "clusters of closely-related language varieties that [...] can be considered individual languages, yet in certain usage contexts a single language identity for all is needed". This applies in "a transitional socio-linguistic situation in which sub-communities of a single language community are diverging, creating a need for some purposes to recognize distinct languages while, for other purposes, a single common identity is still valid".
Despite the popular perception of separateness,For similar cases, cf. the concept of "apperceptional languages" proposed by Strauss (1978) mainstream linguistic scholarship unanimously describes Arvanitic as a dialect of Albanian. This is true both for internationalE.g. Haebler (1965); Trudgill (1976/77); Joseph (1999); Sasse (1985, 1991); Breu (1990). and for Greek authors.E.g. Furikis (1934), Babiniotis (1985: 41). Sociolinguistic workFor detailed sociolinguistic studies of Arvanite speech communities, see Trudgill/Tzavaras 1977; Tsitsipis 1981, 1983, 1995, 1998; Banfi 1996, Botsi 2003. has described Arvanitic within the conceptual framework of "ausbausprachen" and "abstandssprachen".Trudgill 2004, citing the conceptual framework introduced by Kloss (1967). In terms of "abstand" (objective difference of the linguistic systems), linguists' assessment of the degree of mutual intelligibility between Arvanitic and Standard Tosk range from fairly high (Trudgill 2004: 5, Botsi 2003) to only partial (Ethnologue). The Ethnologue also mentions that mutual intelligibility may even be problematic between different subdialects within Arvanitic. Mutual intelligibility between Standard Tosk and Arvanitic is higher than that between the two main dialect groups within Albanian, Tosk and Gheg. See below for a sample text in the three language forms. Trudgill (2004: 5) sums up that "[l]inguistically, there is no doubt that [Arvanitic] is a variety of Albanian".
In terms of "ausbau" (sociolinguistic "upgrading" towards an autonomous standard language), the strongest indicator of autonomy is the existence of a separate writing system, the Greek-based Arvanitic alphabet. A very similar system was formerly in use also by other Tosk speakers between the 16th and 18th century ([6], [7]) However, this script is very rarely used in practice today, as Arvanitic is almost exclusively a spoken language confined to the private sphere. There is also some disagreement amongst Arvanites (as with the Aromanians) as to whether the Latin alphabet should be used to write their language (GHM 1995). Spoken Arvanitic is internally richly diversified into sub-dialects, and no further standardization towards a common (spoken or written) Standard Arvanitic has taken place. At the same time, Arvanites do not use Standard Albanian as their standard language either, as they are generally not literate in the Latin-based standard Albanian orthography, and are not reported to use spoken-language media in Standard Albanian. In this sense, then, Arvanitic is not functionally subordinated to Standard Albanian as a dachsprache ("roof language"), in the way dialects of a national language within the same country usually are.
Geographic distribution
There are three main groups of Arvanitic settlements in Greece. Most Arvanites live in the south of Greece, across Attica, Boeotia, the Peloponnese and some neighbouring areas and islands. A second, smaller group live in the northwest of Greece, in a zone contiguous with the Albanian-speaking lands proper. A third, outlying group is found in the northeast of Greece, in a few villages in Thrace.
According to some authors, the term "Arvanitic" in its proper sense applies only to the southern group (Botsi 2003: 21) or to the southern and the Thracian groups together (Gordon 2005), i.e. to those dialects that have been separated from the core of Albanian for several centuries. The dialects in the northwest are reported to be more similar to neighbouring Tosk dialects within Albania and to the speech of the former Muslim Cham Albanians (Çamërishte), who used to live in the same region (Euromosaic 1996). These dialects are classified by Ethnologue as part of core "Tosk Albanian", as opposed to "Arvanitic Albanian" in the narrow sense, although Ethnologue notes that the term "Arvanitic" is also often applied indiscriminately to both forms in Greece (Gordon 2005). In their own language, the groups in the north-west are reported to use the term "Shqip" ("Albanian") to refer to their own language as well as to that of Albanian nationals, and this has sometimes been interpreted as implying that they are ethnically Albanians (GHM 1995, quoting Banfi 1994).
The Arvanitic of southern Greece is richly sub-divided into local dialects. Sasse (1991) distinguishes as many as eleven dialect groups within that area: West Attic, Southeast Attic, Northeast-Attic-Boeotian, West Boeotian, Central Boeotian, Northeast Peloponnesian, Northwest Peloponnesian, South Peloponnesian, West Peloponnesian, Euboean, and Andriote.
Estimated numbers of speakers of Arvanitic vary widely, between c.30,000 and 150,000. These figures include "terminal speakers" (Tsitsipis 1998) of the younger generation, who have only acquired an imperfect command of the language and are unlikely to pass it on to future generations. The number of villages with traditional Arvanitic populations is estimated to c.300. There are no monolingual Arvanitic-speakers, as all are today bilingual in Greek. Arvanitic is considered an endangered language due to the large-scale language shift towards Greek among the descendants of Arvanitic-speakers in recent decades.Salminen (1993) lists it as "seriously endangered" in the Unesco Red Book of Endangered Languages. ([8]). See also Sasse (1992) and Tsitsipis (1981).
Characteristics
Arvanitic shares many features with the Tosk dialect spoken in Southern Albania. However, it has received a great deal of influence from Greek, mostly related to the vocabulary and the phonological system. At the same time, it is reported to have preserved some conservative features that were lost in mainstream Albanian Tosk. For example, it has preserved certain syllable-initial consonant clusters which have been simplified in Standard Albanian (cf. Arvanitic gljuhë // ('language/tongue'), vs. Standard Albanian gjuhë //). In recent times, linguists have observed signs of accelerated structural convergence towards Greek and structural simplification of the language, which have been interpreted as signs of language attrition, i.e. effects of impoverishment leading towards language death (Trudgill 1976/77; Thomason 2001, quoting Sasse 1992).
Language samples
Grammar
Source: Arvanitikos Syndesmos Ellados
Pronouns
Personal pronouns Possessive pronouns
1Sg. û I Ãmi my
2Sg. ti you Ãti your
3Sg.m. ái he atÃa his
3Sg.f. ajó she asája her
1Pl. ne, neve we Ãni our
2Pl. ju, juve you júai your
3Pl.m. atá they (m.) atÃre their (m.)
3Pl.f. ató they (f.) atÃreve their (f.)
Verb paradigms
The verb HAVE The verb BE
Pres. Imperf. Subj.Impf. Subj.Perf. Pres. Imperf. Subj.Impf. Subj.Perf.
1Sg. kam keshë të kem të keshë jam jeshë të jem të jeshë
2Sg. ke keshe të kesh të keshe je jeshe të jesh të jëshe
3Sg. ka kish të ket të kish ishtë, është ish të jet të ish
1Pl. kemi keshëm të kemi te keshëm jemi jeshëm të jeshëm të jeshëm
2Pl. kine keshëtë të kini te keshëtë jini jeshëtë të jeshëtë të jeshëtë
3Pl, kanë kishnë të kenë të kishnë janë ishnë të jenë të ishnë
Comparison with other forms of Albanian
The Lord's Prayer in ArvaniticCompared with Standard Tosk Albanian (second row),
and Gheg Albanian (third row).Ãti ýnë që jé ndë qiéjet, ushënjtëróft' émëri ýt.
Ati ynë që je në qiell, u shënjtëroftë emri yt.
Ati ynë që je në qiell, shejtnue kjoftë emni yt.
Our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name
árthtë mbëretërÃa jóte; ubëftë dashurÃmi ýt,
arthtë mbretëria jote; u bëftë dëshira jote,
ardhtë mbretnia jote; u baftë vullnesa jote,
thy kingdom come thy will be done
si ndë qiél, edhé mbë dhét;
si në qiell, edhe mbi dhe.
si në qiell ashtu në dhe.
on earth as it is in heaven
búkënë tónë të përdÃtëshimen' ép-na néve sót;
bukën tonë të përditëshme jepna neve sot;
Bukën tonë të përditshme epna ne sot;
give us this day our daily bread
edhé fálj-na fájetë tóna,
edhe falna fajet tona,
e ndiejna ne fajet e mëkatet tona,
and forgive us our trespasses
sikúndrë edhé néve ua fáljmë fajtórëvet tánë;
sikundër edhe ne ua falim fajtorëvet tanë;
si i ndiejmë na fajtorët tanë;
as we forgive those who trespass against us
edhé mos na shtiér ndë ngásie, pó shpëtó-na nga i ljÃgu;
edhe mos na shtjerë në ngasje, po shpëtona nga i ligu;
e mos na len me ra në keq, por largona prej gjith së keq;
and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
sepsé jótia është mbëretërÃa e fuqÃa e ljavdÃa ndë jétët të jétëvet.
sepse jotja është mbretëria e fuqia e lavdia në jetët të jetëvet.
sepse joteja âsht rregjinija e fuqia e lafti në jetët të jetëvet.
for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Source: Η Καινή Î"ιαθήκη στα ΑÏβανίτικα; "Christus Rex" website
Some common phrases
Source: Arvanitikos Syndesmos ElladosFlet fare Arbërishte? Do you speak Arvanitic at all?
Flas shumë pak. I speak very little.
Je mirë? Are you well?
Jam shumë mirë. I am very well.
References
*Babiniotis, Georgios (1985): Συνοπτική ΙστοÏία της ελληνικής γλώσσας με εισαγωγή στην ιστοÏικοσυγκÏιτική γλωσσολογία. ["A concise history of the Greek language, with an introduction to historical-comparative linguistics] Athens: Ellinika Grammata.
*Babiniotis, Georgios (1998), Λεξικό της ÎÎας Ελληνικής Î"λώσσας ["Dictionary of Modern Greek"]. Athens: Kentro Lexikologias.
*Banfi, Emanuele (1994): "Minorités linguistiques en Grèce: Langues cachées, idéologie nationale, religion." ["Linguistic minorities in Greece: Hidden languages, national ideology, religion."] Paper presented at the Mercator Program Seminar at the Maison des Sciences de l' Homme, on 6 June 1994, in Paris.
*Banfi, Emanuele (1996), "Minoranze linguistiche in Grecia: problemi storico- e sociolinguistici" ["Linguistic minorities in Greece: Historical and sociolinguistic problems"]. In: C. Vallini (ed.), Minoranze e lingue minoritarie: convegno internazionale. Naples: Universtario Orientale. 89-115.
*Botsi, Eleni (2003): Die sprachliche Selbst- und Fremdkonstruktion am Beispiel eines arvanitischen Dorfes Griechenlands: Eine soziolinguistische Studie. ("Linguistic construction of the self and the other in an Arvanitic village in Greece: A sociolinguistic study"). PhD dissertation, University of Konstanz, Germany. Online text
*Breu, Walter (1990): "Sprachliche Minderheiten in Italien und Griechenland." ["Linguistic minorities in Italy and Greece"]. In: B. Spillner (ed.), Interkulturelle Kommunikation. Frankfurt: Lang. 169-170.
*Euromosaic (1996): "L'arvanite / albanais en Grèce". Report published by the Institut de SociolingüÃstica Catalana. Online version
*Furikis, Petros (1934): "Η εν Αττική ελληνοαλβανική διάλεκτος". ["The Greek-Albanian dialect in Attica"] Αθήνα 45: 49-181.
*GHM (=Greek Helsinki Monitor) (1995): "Report: The Arvanites". Online report
*Gordon, Raymond G. (ed.) (2005): Ethnologue: Languages of the world. 15th edition. Dallas: SIL International. Online database
*Haebler, Claus (1965): Grammatik der albanischen Mundarten von Salamis. ["Grammar of the Albanian dialects of Salamis"]. Wiesbaden: Harassowitz.
*Hammarström, Harald (2005): Review of Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th Edition. LINGUIST List 16.2637 (5 Sept 2005). Online article
*Joseph, Brian D. "Comparative perspectives on the place of Arvanitika within Greece and the Greek environment", 1999, pp. 208-214 in L. Tsitsipis (ed.), Arvanitika ke Elinika: Zitimata Poliglosikon ke Polipolitismikon Kinotiton Vol. II. Livadia: Exandas, 1999 PDF.
*Η Καινή Î"ιαθήκη στα ΑÏβανίτικα: Î"ιάτα ε Ρε ['The New Testament in Arvanitic']. Athens: Ekdoseis Gerou. No date.
*Kloss, Heinz (1967): "Abstand-languages and Ausbau-languages". Anthropological linguistics 9.
*Salminen, Tapani (1993-1999): Unesco Red Book on Endangered Languages: Europe. [9].
*Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1985): "Sprachkontakt und Sprachwandel: Die Gräzisierung der albanischen Mundarten Griechenlands" ["Language contact and language change: The Hellenization of the Albanian dialects of Greece"]. Papiere zur Linguistik 32(1). 37-95.
*Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1991): Arvanitika: Die albanischen Sprachreste in Griechenland. ["Arvanitic: The Albanian language relics in Greece"]. Wiesbaden.
*Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1992): "Theory of language death". In: M. Brenzinger (ed.), Language death: Factual and theoretical explorations with special reference to East Africa. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 7-30.
*Sella-Mazi, Eleni (1997): "Î"ιγλωσσία και ολιγώτεÏο ομιλοÏμενες γλώσσες στην Ελλάδα" ["Diglossia and lesser-spoken languages in Greece"]. In: K. Tsitselikis, D. Christopoulos (eds.), Το μειονοτικό φαινόμενο στην Ελλάδα ["The minority phenomenon in Greece"]. Athens: Ekdoseis Kritiki. 349-413.
*Strauss, Dietrich (1978): "Scots is not alone: Further comparative considerations". Actes du 2e Colloque de Language et de Litterature Ecossaises, Strasbourg 1978. 80-97.
*Thomason, Sarah G. (2001): Language contact: An introduction. Washington: Georgetown University Press. Online chapter
*Trudgill, Peter (1976-77): "Creolization in reverse: reduction and simplification in the Albanian dialects of Greece", Transactions of the Philological Society, 32-50.
*Trudgill, Peter (2004): "Glocalisation [sic] and the Ausbau sociolinguistics of modern Europe". In: A. Duszak, U. Okulska (eds.), Speaking from the margin: Global English from a European perspective. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Online article
*Trudgill, Peter, George A. Tzavaras (1977): "Why Albanian-Greeks are not Albanians: Language shift in Attika and Biotia." In: H. Giles (ed.), Language, ethnicity and intergroup relations. London: Academic Press. 171-184.
*Tsitsipis, Lukas (1981): Language change and language death in Albanian speech communities in Greece: A sociolinguistic study. PhD dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
*Tsitsipis, Lukas (1983): "Language shift among the Albanian speakers of Greece." Anthropological Linguisitcs 25(3): 288-308.
*Tsitsipis, Lukas (1995): "The coding of linguistic ideology in Arvanitika (Albanian): Language shift, congruent and contradictory discourse." Anthropological Linguistics 37: 541-577.
*Tsitsipis, Lukas (1998a): ΑÏβανίτικα και Ελληνικά: Ζητήματα πολυγλωσσικών και πολυπολιτισμικών κοινοτήτων. ["Arvanitic and Greek: Issues of multilingual and multicultural communities"]. Vol. 1. Livadeia.
* Tsitsipis, Lukas (1998b): A Linguistic Anthropology of Praxis and Language Shift: Arvanitika (Albanian) and Greek in Contact. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198237316. (Review by Alexander Rusakov on Linguist List.)
* The bilingual New Testament: H καινη Î"ιαθηκη του ΚυÏιου και ΣωτηÏος ημων Iησου ΧÏιστου, διγλωττος, τουτεστι γÏαικικη και αλβανιτικη''. Dhjata e re e Zotit sonë që na shpëtoi, Iisu Hrishtoit mbë di gjuhë, do me thënë gërqishte e dhe shqipëtarçe. Epistasia Grêgoriou Archiepiskopou tês Euboias. Korfoi. En tê typografia tês Dioikêseôs. 1827
External links
*Ethnologue entry
*UNESCO's entry on Arvanitika Albanian
*Arvanitic dialogues - Arvanite League of Greece (in Arvanitika and in Greek)
*[10] Study of the pronoun in the arvanitic dialect of Hydra.
Name
The name "ArvanÃtika" and its native equivalent Arbërishte Misspelled as Arberichte in the Ethnologue report, and in some other sources based on that. are derived from the ethnonym "Arvanites", which in turn comes from the toponym "Arbëna" (Greek: ΆÏβανα), which in the Middle Ages referred to a region in what is today Albania (Babiniotis 1998). Its native equivalents (Arbërorë, Arbëreshë and others) formerly were the self-designation of Albanians in general. Both "Arbëna" and "Albania/Albanian" go further back to name forms attested since antiquity, and may be ultimately variants of the same root, although this is debated.
Classification
The place of Arvanitic within Albanian
It is generally agreed that Arvanitic, historically, has grown out of the medieval continuum of emerging Albanian dialects, more specifically of the Tosk branch. They were brought to southern Greece during the late Middle Ages by settlers from what is today southern Albania and Epirus. Arvanitic is also closely related to Arbërisht, the diaspora dialects of Albanian in Italy, which also belong to the Tosk group. It is believed that some of the Albanophone settlers in Italy came from the Arvanitic groups in Greece, and therefore Italian Arbërisht has retained some Greek loanwords and other effects of language contact (for instance Haristis 'thank you', from ευχαÏιστώ; dhrom 'road', from δÏόμος; Ne 'yes', from ναι, in certain villages).
There is some disagreement over the present-day status of Arvanitic as a dialect of Albanian or as a separate language. The view of Arvanitic as a separate language is today widely held in Greece, and it is propagated by Arvanitic associations.E.g. by the Arvanitic League of Greece (ΑÏβανιτικός ΣÏνδεσμος Ελλάδος), see [1] Many Arvanites are reported to find the designation of their language as Albanian offensive, as they feel it implies a denial of their Greek national identity (GHM 1995). The claim to separate-language status is currently reflected in the existence of separate entries for Arvanitic in some international language classification standards. However, these standards still agree in describing it also as a part of "Albanian" as a larger unit.There is no entry for Arvanitic in parts 1 and 2 of the international ISO 639 standard of language codes, which only has a single entry for Albanian (codes "alb", "sqi", or "sq"). However, the Ethnologue has a separate sub-entry for "Albanian, Arvanitika" ([2]), along with parallel entries for Gheg Albanian, Tosk Albanian, and Italian "Arbëreshë" (i.e. Arbërisht) ([3]). This is due to the fact that the Ethnologue applies rather less restrictive criteria for separate-language status than most other linguists (cf. Hammarström 2005), treating the existence of "well-established distinct ethnolinguistic identities" in and by itself as a sufficient criterion for separate-language status even in the absence of mutual unintelligibility (Gordon 2005). The current (as of 2006) draft ISO 639-3 standard follows the Ethnologue, listing "Arvanitika Albanian" with the code "aat" ([4]). In the terminology of ISO 639, this implies treatment of Albanian as a "macrolanguage", an intermediate category between a language family on the one hand and a single language with dialects on the other. According to [5] "macrolanguages" are defined as "clusters of closely-related language varieties that [...] can be considered individual languages, yet in certain usage contexts a single language identity for all is needed". This applies in "a transitional socio-linguistic situation in which sub-communities of a single language community are diverging, creating a need for some purposes to recognize distinct languages while, for other purposes, a single common identity is still valid".
Despite the popular perception of separateness,For similar cases, cf. the concept of "apperceptional languages" proposed by Strauss (1978) mainstream linguistic scholarship unanimously describes Arvanitic as a dialect of Albanian. This is true both for internationalE.g. Haebler (1965); Trudgill (1976/77); Joseph (1999); Sasse (1985, 1991); Breu (1990). and for Greek authors.E.g. Furikis (1934), Babiniotis (1985: 41). Sociolinguistic workFor detailed sociolinguistic studies of Arvanite speech communities, see Trudgill/Tzavaras 1977; Tsitsipis 1981, 1983, 1995, 1998; Banfi 1996, Botsi 2003. has described Arvanitic within the conceptual framework of "ausbausprachen" and "abstandssprachen".Trudgill 2004, citing the conceptual framework introduced by Kloss (1967). In terms of "abstand" (objective difference of the linguistic systems), linguists' assessment of the degree of mutual intelligibility between Arvanitic and Standard Tosk range from fairly high (Trudgill 2004: 5, Botsi 2003) to only partial (Ethnologue). The Ethnologue also mentions that mutual intelligibility may even be problematic between different subdialects within Arvanitic. Mutual intelligibility between Standard Tosk and Arvanitic is higher than that between the two main dialect groups within Albanian, Tosk and Gheg. See below for a sample text in the three language forms. Trudgill (2004: 5) sums up that "[l]inguistically, there is no doubt that [Arvanitic] is a variety of Albanian".
In terms of "ausbau" (sociolinguistic "upgrading" towards an autonomous standard language), the strongest indicator of autonomy is the existence of a separate writing system, the Greek-based Arvanitic alphabet. A very similar system was formerly in use also by other Tosk speakers between the 16th and 18th century ([6], [7]) However, this script is very rarely used in practice today, as Arvanitic is almost exclusively a spoken language confined to the private sphere. There is also some disagreement amongst Arvanites (as with the Aromanians) as to whether the Latin alphabet should be used to write their language (GHM 1995). Spoken Arvanitic is internally richly diversified into sub-dialects, and no further standardization towards a common (spoken or written) Standard Arvanitic has taken place. At the same time, Arvanites do not use Standard Albanian as their standard language either, as they are generally not literate in the Latin-based standard Albanian orthography, and are not reported to use spoken-language media in Standard Albanian. In this sense, then, Arvanitic is not functionally subordinated to Standard Albanian as a dachsprache ("roof language"), in the way dialects of a national language within the same country usually are.
Geographic distribution
There are three main groups of Arvanitic settlements in Greece. Most Arvanites live in the south of Greece, across Attica, Boeotia, the Peloponnese and some neighbouring areas and islands. A second, smaller group live in the northwest of Greece, in a zone contiguous with the Albanian-speaking lands proper. A third, outlying group is found in the northeast of Greece, in a few villages in Thrace.
According to some authors, the term "Arvanitic" in its proper sense applies only to the southern group (Botsi 2003: 21) or to the southern and the Thracian groups together (Gordon 2005), i.e. to those dialects that have been separated from the core of Albanian for several centuries. The dialects in the northwest are reported to be more similar to neighbouring Tosk dialects within Albania and to the speech of the former Muslim Cham Albanians (Çamërishte), who used to live in the same region (Euromosaic 1996). These dialects are classified by Ethnologue as part of core "Tosk Albanian", as opposed to "Arvanitic Albanian" in the narrow sense, although Ethnologue notes that the term "Arvanitic" is also often applied indiscriminately to both forms in Greece (Gordon 2005). In their own language, the groups in the north-west are reported to use the term "Shqip" ("Albanian") to refer to their own language as well as to that of Albanian nationals, and this has sometimes been interpreted as implying that they are ethnically Albanians (GHM 1995, quoting Banfi 1994).
The Arvanitic of southern Greece is richly sub-divided into local dialects. Sasse (1991) distinguishes as many as eleven dialect groups within that area: West Attic, Southeast Attic, Northeast-Attic-Boeotian, West Boeotian, Central Boeotian, Northeast Peloponnesian, Northwest Peloponnesian, South Peloponnesian, West Peloponnesian, Euboean, and Andriote.
Estimated numbers of speakers of Arvanitic vary widely, between c.30,000 and 150,000. These figures include "terminal speakers" (Tsitsipis 1998) of the younger generation, who have only acquired an imperfect command of the language and are unlikely to pass it on to future generations. The number of villages with traditional Arvanitic populations is estimated to c.300. There are no monolingual Arvanitic-speakers, as all are today bilingual in Greek. Arvanitic is considered an endangered language due to the large-scale language shift towards Greek among the descendants of Arvanitic-speakers in recent decades.Salminen (1993) lists it as "seriously endangered" in the Unesco Red Book of Endangered Languages. ([8]). See also Sasse (1992) and Tsitsipis (1981).
Characteristics
Arvanitic shares many features with the Tosk dialect spoken in Southern Albania. However, it has received a great deal of influence from Greek, mostly related to the vocabulary and the phonological system. At the same time, it is reported to have preserved some conservative features that were lost in mainstream Albanian Tosk. For example, it has preserved certain syllable-initial consonant clusters which have been simplified in Standard Albanian (cf. Arvanitic gljuhë // ('language/tongue'), vs. Standard Albanian gjuhë //). In recent times, linguists have observed signs of accelerated structural convergence towards Greek and structural simplification of the language, which have been interpreted as signs of language attrition, i.e. effects of impoverishment leading towards language death (Trudgill 1976/77; Thomason 2001, quoting Sasse 1992).
Language samples
Grammar
Source: Arvanitikos Syndesmos Ellados
Pronouns
Personal pronouns Possessive pronouns
1Sg. û I Ãmi my
2Sg. ti you Ãti your
3Sg.m. ái he atÃa his
3Sg.f. ajó she asája her
1Pl. ne, neve we Ãni our
2Pl. ju, juve you júai your
3Pl.m. atá they (m.) atÃre their (m.)
3Pl.f. ató they (f.) atÃreve their (f.)
Verb paradigms
The verb HAVE The verb BE
Pres. Imperf. Subj.Impf. Subj.Perf. Pres. Imperf. Subj.Impf. Subj.Perf.
1Sg. kam keshë të kem të keshë jam jeshë të jem të jeshë
2Sg. ke keshe të kesh të keshe je jeshe të jesh të jëshe
3Sg. ka kish të ket të kish ishtë, është ish të jet të ish
1Pl. kemi keshëm të kemi te keshëm jemi jeshëm të jeshëm të jeshëm
2Pl. kine keshëtë të kini te keshëtë jini jeshëtë të jeshëtë të jeshëtë
3Pl, kanë kishnë të kenë të kishnë janë ishnë të jenë të ishnë
Comparison with other forms of Albanian
The Lord's Prayer in ArvaniticCompared with Standard Tosk Albanian (second row),
and Gheg Albanian (third row).Ãti ýnë që jé ndë qiéjet, ushënjtëróft' émëri ýt.
Ati ynë që je në qiell, u shënjtëroftë emri yt.
Ati ynë që je në qiell, shejtnue kjoftë emni yt.
Our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name
árthtë mbëretërÃa jóte; ubëftë dashurÃmi ýt,
arthtë mbretëria jote; u bëftë dëshira jote,
ardhtë mbretnia jote; u baftë vullnesa jote,
thy kingdom come thy will be done
si ndë qiél, edhé mbë dhét;
si në qiell, edhe mbi dhe.
si në qiell ashtu në dhe.
on earth as it is in heaven
búkënë tónë të përdÃtëshimen' ép-na néve sót;
bukën tonë të përditëshme jepna neve sot;
Bukën tonë të përditshme epna ne sot;
give us this day our daily bread
edhé fálj-na fájetë tóna,
edhe falna fajet tona,
e ndiejna ne fajet e mëkatet tona,
and forgive us our trespasses
sikúndrë edhé néve ua fáljmë fajtórëvet tánë;
sikundër edhe ne ua falim fajtorëvet tanë;
si i ndiejmë na fajtorët tanë;
as we forgive those who trespass against us
edhé mos na shtiér ndë ngásie, pó shpëtó-na nga i ljÃgu;
edhe mos na shtjerë në ngasje, po shpëtona nga i ligu;
e mos na len me ra në keq, por largona prej gjith së keq;
and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
sepsé jótia është mbëretërÃa e fuqÃa e ljavdÃa ndë jétët të jétëvet.
sepse jotja është mbretëria e fuqia e lavdia në jetët të jetëvet.
sepse joteja âsht rregjinija e fuqia e lafti në jetët të jetëvet.
for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Source: Η Καινή Î"ιαθήκη στα ΑÏβανίτικα; "Christus Rex" website
Some common phrases
Source: Arvanitikos Syndesmos ElladosFlet fare Arbërishte? Do you speak Arvanitic at all?
Flas shumë pak. I speak very little.
Je mirë? Are you well?
Jam shumë mirë. I am very well.
References
*Babiniotis, Georgios (1985): Συνοπτική ΙστοÏία της ελληνικής γλώσσας με εισαγωγή στην ιστοÏικοσυγκÏιτική γλωσσολογία. ["A concise history of the Greek language, with an introduction to historical-comparative linguistics] Athens: Ellinika Grammata.
*Babiniotis, Georgios (1998), Λεξικό της ÎÎας Ελληνικής Î"λώσσας ["Dictionary of Modern Greek"]. Athens: Kentro Lexikologias.
*Banfi, Emanuele (1994): "Minorités linguistiques en Grèce: Langues cachées, idéologie nationale, religion." ["Linguistic minorities in Greece: Hidden languages, national ideology, religion."] Paper presented at the Mercator Program Seminar at the Maison des Sciences de l' Homme, on 6 June 1994, in Paris.
*Banfi, Emanuele (1996), "Minoranze linguistiche in Grecia: problemi storico- e sociolinguistici" ["Linguistic minorities in Greece: Historical and sociolinguistic problems"]. In: C. Vallini (ed.), Minoranze e lingue minoritarie: convegno internazionale. Naples: Universtario Orientale. 89-115.
*Botsi, Eleni (2003): Die sprachliche Selbst- und Fremdkonstruktion am Beispiel eines arvanitischen Dorfes Griechenlands: Eine soziolinguistische Studie. ("Linguistic construction of the self and the other in an Arvanitic village in Greece: A sociolinguistic study"). PhD dissertation, University of Konstanz, Germany. Online text
*Breu, Walter (1990): "Sprachliche Minderheiten in Italien und Griechenland." ["Linguistic minorities in Italy and Greece"]. In: B. Spillner (ed.), Interkulturelle Kommunikation. Frankfurt: Lang. 169-170.
*Euromosaic (1996): "L'arvanite / albanais en Grèce". Report published by the Institut de SociolingüÃstica Catalana. Online version
*Furikis, Petros (1934): "Η εν Αττική ελληνοαλβανική διάλεκτος". ["The Greek-Albanian dialect in Attica"] Αθήνα 45: 49-181.
*GHM (=Greek Helsinki Monitor) (1995): "Report: The Arvanites". Online report
*Gordon, Raymond G. (ed.) (2005): Ethnologue: Languages of the world. 15th edition. Dallas: SIL International. Online database
*Haebler, Claus (1965): Grammatik der albanischen Mundarten von Salamis. ["Grammar of the Albanian dialects of Salamis"]. Wiesbaden: Harassowitz.
*Hammarström, Harald (2005): Review of Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th Edition. LINGUIST List 16.2637 (5 Sept 2005). Online article
*Joseph, Brian D. "Comparative perspectives on the place of Arvanitika within Greece and the Greek environment", 1999, pp. 208-214 in L. Tsitsipis (ed.), Arvanitika ke Elinika: Zitimata Poliglosikon ke Polipolitismikon Kinotiton Vol. II. Livadia: Exandas, 1999 PDF.
*Η Καινή Î"ιαθήκη στα ΑÏβανίτικα: Î"ιάτα ε Ρε ['The New Testament in Arvanitic']. Athens: Ekdoseis Gerou. No date.
*Kloss, Heinz (1967): "Abstand-languages and Ausbau-languages". Anthropological linguistics 9.
*Salminen, Tapani (1993-1999): Unesco Red Book on Endangered Languages: Europe. [9].
*Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1985): "Sprachkontakt und Sprachwandel: Die Gräzisierung der albanischen Mundarten Griechenlands" ["Language contact and language change: The Hellenization of the Albanian dialects of Greece"]. Papiere zur Linguistik 32(1). 37-95.
*Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1991): Arvanitika: Die albanischen Sprachreste in Griechenland. ["Arvanitic: The Albanian language relics in Greece"]. Wiesbaden.
*Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1992): "Theory of language death". In: M. Brenzinger (ed.), Language death: Factual and theoretical explorations with special reference to East Africa. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 7-30.
*Sella-Mazi, Eleni (1997): "Î"ιγλωσσία και ολιγώτεÏο ομιλοÏμενες γλώσσες στην Ελλάδα" ["Diglossia and lesser-spoken languages in Greece"]. In: K. Tsitselikis, D. Christopoulos (eds.), Το μειονοτικό φαινόμενο στην Ελλάδα ["The minority phenomenon in Greece"]. Athens: Ekdoseis Kritiki. 349-413.
*Strauss, Dietrich (1978): "Scots is not alone: Further comparative considerations". Actes du 2e Colloque de Language et de Litterature Ecossaises, Strasbourg 1978. 80-97.
*Thomason, Sarah G. (2001): Language contact: An introduction. Washington: Georgetown University Press. Online chapter
*Trudgill, Peter (1976-77): "Creolization in reverse: reduction and simplification in the Albanian dialects of Greece", Transactions of the Philological Society, 32-50.
*Trudgill, Peter (2004): "Glocalisation [sic] and the Ausbau sociolinguistics of modern Europe". In: A. Duszak, U. Okulska (eds.), Speaking from the margin: Global English from a European perspective. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Online article
*Trudgill, Peter, George A. Tzavaras (1977): "Why Albanian-Greeks are not Albanians: Language shift in Attika and Biotia." In: H. Giles (ed.), Language, ethnicity and intergroup relations. London: Academic Press. 171-184.
*Tsitsipis, Lukas (1981): Language change and language death in Albanian speech communities in Greece: A sociolinguistic study. PhD dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
*Tsitsipis, Lukas (1983): "Language shift among the Albanian speakers of Greece." Anthropological Linguisitcs 25(3): 288-308.
*Tsitsipis, Lukas (1995): "The coding of linguistic ideology in Arvanitika (Albanian): Language shift, congruent and contradictory discourse." Anthropological Linguistics 37: 541-577.
*Tsitsipis, Lukas (1998a): ΑÏβανίτικα και Ελληνικά: Ζητήματα πολυγλωσσικών και πολυπολιτισμικών κοινοτήτων. ["Arvanitic and Greek: Issues of multilingual and multicultural communities"]. Vol. 1. Livadeia.
* Tsitsipis, Lukas (1998b): A Linguistic Anthropology of Praxis and Language Shift: Arvanitika (Albanian) and Greek in Contact. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198237316. (Review by Alexander Rusakov on Linguist List.)
* The bilingual New Testament: H καινη Î"ιαθηκη του ΚυÏιου και ΣωτηÏος ημων Iησου ΧÏιστου, διγλωττος, τουτεστι γÏαικικη και αλβανιτικη''. Dhjata e re e Zotit sonë që na shpëtoi, Iisu Hrishtoit mbë di gjuhë, do me thënë gërqishte e dhe shqipëtarçe. Epistasia Grêgoriou Archiepiskopou tês Euboias. Korfoi. En tê typografia tês Dioikêseôs. 1827
External links
*Ethnologue entry
*UNESCO's entry on Arvanitika Albanian
*Arvanitic dialogues - Arvanite League of Greece (in Arvanitika and in Greek)
*[10] Study of the pronoun in the arvanitic dialect of Hydra.