Albanian languageArticle Free Pass Albanian language, Indo-
European language spoken in Albania and by smaller numbers of
ethnic Albanians in other parts of the southern Balkans, along
the east coast of Italy and in Sicily, in southern Greece, and
in Germany, Sweden, the United States, Ukraine, and Belgium.
Albanian is the only modern representative of a distinct branch
of the Indo-European language family. The origins of the general
name Albanian, which traditionally referred to a restricted area
in central Albania, and of the current official name Shqip or
Shqipëri, which may well be derived from a term meaning
“pronounce clearly, intelligibly,” are still disputed. The name
Albanian has been found in records since the time of Ptolemy. In
Calabrian Albanian the name is Arbresh, in Modern Greek
Arvanítis, and in Turkish Arnaut; the name must have been
transmitted early through Greek speech. The two principal
dialects, Gheg in the north and Tosk in the south, are separated
roughly by the Shkumbin River. Gheg an