Arbëresh language
| Arbëresh | |
|---|---|
| Arbërisht(e) | |
| Pronunciation | [ˌæɾbəˈɾiʃt] |
| Native to | Italy |
| Region | Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Sicily |
| Ethnicity | Arbëreshë |
|
Native speakers
|
100,000 (2007) |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | arbe1236 |
| Linguasphere | 55-AAA-aha to 55-AAA-ahe |
Arbëresh (also known as Arbërisht, Arbërishtja or T'arbrisht) is an ethnolect spoken by the Arbëreshë, the Albanian ethnic and language group in Italy.
Arbëresh derives from Tosk spoken in southern Albania and follows a similar divergence pattern to Arvanitika; a similar ethnolect spoken in Greece. Arbëresh is spoken in Southern Italy in the regions of Abruzzi, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Apulia and Sicily. All dialects are closely related to each other but are not entirely mutually intelligible.
Arbëresh retains many archaisms of medieval Albanian from the time before the Ottoman invasion of Albania in the 15th century. It also retains some Greek elements, including vocabulary and pronunciation, most of which it shares with its relative Arvanitika. It has also 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. Arbëresh gluhë /ˈɡluxə/ ('language/tongue'), vs. Standard Albanian gjuhë /ˈɟuhə/). Arbëresh most resembles the dialect of Albanian spoken in the south-central region of Albania.
Arbëresh was commonly called 'Albanese' ("Albanian" in the Italian language) in Italy until the 1990s. Arbëresh speakers used to have only very vague notions about how related or unrelated their language was to Albanian. Until the 1980s Arbëresh was exclusively a spoken language, except for its written form used in the Italo-Albanian Byzantine Church, and Arbëreshë people had no practical connection with the Standard Albanian language used in Albania, as they did not use this form in writing or in media. When a large number of immigrants from Albania began to enter Italy in the 1990s and came into contact with local Arbëreshë communities, the differences and similarities were for the first time made apparent. The Arbëreshë have mixed feelings towards the "new Albanians".
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Wikipedia