Albanian Alphabets:

Borrowed and Invented

Albanian Studies, Vol. 35

ISBN 978-1544294094 Centre for Albanian Studies, London 2017 117 pp. The hundred years between 1750 and 1850 were an age of astounding orthographic diversity in Albania. In this period, the Albanian language was put to writing in at least ten different alphabets – most certainly a record for European languages. This book introduces the diverse forms in which this old Balkan language was recorded, from the earliest documents to the beginning of the twentieth century. They consist of adaptations of the Latin, Greek, Arabic and Cyrillic alphabets and, what is even more interesting, a number of locally invented writing systems. Most of the latter alphabets have now been forgotten and are unknown, even to the Albanians themselves.

Table of Contents

Introduction Borrowed Albanian Alphabets: The Latin Alphabet The Greek Alphabet The Arabic Alphabet The Cyrillic Alphabet Invented Albanian alphabets: The Alphabet of Gregory of Durrës (Elbasan Gospel Manuscript) 1761 The Alphabet of Dhaskal Todhri late 18th - early 19th century The Alphabet of Jan Vellara 1801 The Alphabet of Naum Veqilharxhi 1844 / 1845 Minor Albanian alphabets The so-called Alphabet of Papa Totasi ca. 1761 The Alphabet of Vezo Bey ca. 1850 The Alphabet of Constantine of Berat late 18th - early 19th century Bibliography Buy this Book on AMAZON