Lab Albanian dialect

The Lab Albanian dialect (Albanian: Labërishtja or Dialekti lab) is a Tosk Albanian dialect associated with the wider definition of the ethnographic region of Labëria, spoken by Lab Albanians. Under this wider definition of Labëria, Lab Albanian stretches from Vlorë and Mallakastër south and east up to Gjirokastër, Lunxhëria and Sarandë. Notable aspects of Lab in Albanian and wider Balkan areal linguistics include its peculiar mix of conservative and innovative features, the lack (in some varieties) of typical Albanian Balkanisms like the admirative, and the presence of features typical of Northern Gheg dialects despite it being a Southern dialect.

Labërishtja is a subdivision of the Southern Tosk group, which is itself a subdivision of Tosk Albanian, the collection of Albanian dialects south of the Shkumbin River. As such, it is most closely related to the Cham dialect of Chamëria, the Arbereshe of the old Albanian diaspora in Italy, and the Arvanitika of Arvanites in Greece.

Features typical of Lab include the unrounding of Albanian /y/ ([y]) to /i/ ([i]), thus merging it with the /i/ phoneme, and a velar articulation for Albanian gj ([ɟ]) and q ([c]). As such, in areas where Lab is less influenced by Standard Albanian, Albanians from elsewhere may be shocked to hear words like gjyshi ([ɟyʃi], grandfather) pronounced as gishi ([ɡiʃi]). Likewise, Lab Albanians may say they speak "shkip" ([ʃkip]), not shqip ([ʃcip]).

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