Society for the Unity of the Albanian Language

Shoqnia e Bashkimit të Gjuhës Shqipe (Society for the Unity of the Albanian Language), usually known as the Shoqnia Bashkimi (The Union Society), or simply Bashkimi i Shkodrës (The Union of Shkodra) was a literary society founded in Shkodra, Ottoman Empire (today's Albania) in 1899.

Its founder and leader was Dom Preng Doçi, Abbot of Mirdita. Other Catholic clerics who joined were Jak Serreqi, Lazër Mjeda, Ndoc Nikaj, Gjergj Fishta, Ndre Mjeda, Pashk Bardhi, Mark Shllaku, Dodë Koleci. The only non-cleric, Albanian politician Luigj Gurakuqi, joined later.

Since Albanian-language groups were forbidden by the Ottoman authorities, it opened as a "religious society". Its starting objectives were:

One of its main contributions was the so-called Bashkimi alphabet, a latin script-based alphabet without diacritic letters.

Due to differences of opinion on the future alphabet, brothers Lazër and Ndre Mjeda left the group to initiate their own society, called Agimi ("The dawn"), in 1901. The Bashkimi alphabet was discussed and approved in a conference of Catholic bishops held in Shkodra in 1902, and was presented as a main candidate during the sessions of the Congress of Monastir, 1908, where the Albanian alphabet was unified. The Bashkimi alphabet was rejected in favor of the Istanbul alphabet (Albanian: Alfabeti i Stambollit) by majority vote. The Istanbul alphabet was infused with elements of Bashkimi, i.e. replacing Greek script letters for special sounds with Latin ones, thus resulting in a fusion between the two as the standard Albanian alphabet.

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