Preface

Dictionaries of natural languages come into being by a series of compromises. Natural vocabularies are so vast, so rich in nuance and variation, that no lexicographer in real time could capture all the available information in a finite amount of time. In order to achieve its goal of helping foreign readers in their attempts to understand Albanian documents—literary, historical, political, and linguistic—that may have been written in earlier as well as later parts of the twentieth century and may have employed varieties of the language that would not be acceptable as standard today, this dictionary has had to limit severely some of the functions that other dictionaries serve. Briefly, it is a dictionary designed for those who expect to use it to help them read and understand existing Albanian text; it is not designed for those who primarily expect to use the dictionary to tell them how to express themselves in speaking or writing Albanian.

When sample entries are given in this Guide, they are in the form they have in the Albanian-English Dictionary.  For the English-Albanian user, simply reverse the order of the Albanian and English parts of the entry.

Leonard Newmark

Professor of Linguistics, Emeritus

University of California, San Diego


PREFACE                                                                                                                                  

SUMMARY OF CONVENTIONS EMPLOYED                                                                   

SUMMARY OF GRAMMATICAL TERMS EMPLOYED                                                

ALBANIAN ALPHABET                                                                                                     

STRESS (ACCENT)                                                                                                                 

PRONUNCIATION VALUES OF LETTERS IN THE ALPHABET                                             

VARIABLE FORMS                                                                                                                

Variable Letters                                                                                                                      

Use of Brackets and Parentheses                                                                                                 

SAMPLE ENTRIES                                                                                                                  

OVERVIEW OF THE FORM AND CONTENT OF ENTRIES                                        

MAIN ENTRIES                                                                                                                      

Citation Forms                                                                                                                      

Pronunciation                                                                                                                        

Grammatical Labels                                                                                                                

Verb Entries                                                                                                                     

Transitive Verbs                                                                                                             

Intransitive Verbs                                                                                                           

Reflexive Verbs                                                                                                             

Impersonal Verbs                                                                                                           

Pronominal Entries                                                                                                            

Noun Entries                                                                                                                      

Articulated Nouns                                                                                                             

Gerund Entries                                                                                                                  

Adjective Entries                                                                                                                  

Definition                                                                                                                               

Sense Description and Differentiation                                                                                      

Usage Labels                                                                                                                      

Domain Labels                                                                                                                   

Technical Terms                                                                                                             

Examples                                                                                                                             

PHRASAL ENTRIES                                                                                                             

Variable Segments                                                                                                                 

Use of Brackets                                                                                                                  

Use of Superscript                                                                                                               

Use of Slash Marks                                                                                                             

CROSS‑REFERENCES                                                                                                           

Cross‑reference with <                                                                                                             

Cross‑reference with =                                                                                                            

GRAMMATICAL SKETCH FOR READERS OF ALBANIAN                                 

Introduction                                                                                                                         

Grammatical Categories in Albanian                                                                                        

Clitics                                                                                                                            

Verb Clitics                                                                                                                 

Pronominal Clitics                                                                                                    

The Attributive Article                                                                                                    

Full Words                                                                                                                       

Verbs                                                                                                                           

Tense                                                                                                                        

General Tenses                                                                                                         

Special Tenses                                                                                                          

Perfect Tenses                                                                                                          

Voice                                                                                                                         

Verb Stems                                                                                                                

Regular Stems                                                                                                         

Thematic Verb Stems                                                                                             

Irregular Stems                                                                                                       

Formation of Tenses                                                                                                   

General Considerations                                                                                             

Formation Rules                                                                                                    

Sound/Letter combination rules                                                                             

Person‑number rules                                                                                            

Present tense                                                                                                  

Non‑present tense                                                                                            

Subjunctive                                                                                                    

Miscellaneous                                                                                                 

Extension rules                                                                                                      

Active                                                                                                              

Passive                                                                                                             

Optative                                                                                                            

Admirative                                                                                                         

Third person singular                                                                                           

Person‑Number Endings                                                                                              

Regular Verbs: Inflectional Endings                                                                            

Irregular Verbs                                                                                                      

Participles                                                                                                                     

Nouns                                                                                                                              

Noun Stems                                                                                                                  

Case Suffixes                                                                                                               

Gerunds                                                                                                                      

Pronominals                                                                                                                  

Personal Pronouns                                                                                                       

Relative Pronouns                                                                                                       

Attributive and Predicative Modifiers                                                                                   

Adjectives                                                                                                                   

Adjective Stem Forms                                                                                               

Feminine Plurals of Masculine Singulars                                                                       

Relation of Adjectives to other Parts of Speech                                                               

Formation from Participles                                                                                      

Relation to Adverbs                                                                                                

Relation to Nouns                                                                                                  

Nominalized Adjectives                                                                                               

Genitive Case Modifiers                                                                                                

Predicatives                                                                                                                

Adverbs                                                                                                                     

Determiners                                                                                                                   

Numbers                                                                                                                       

Prepositions                                                                                                                 

Interrogatives                                                                                                                

Particles                                                                                                                      

DIALECTAL VARIATION & STANDARD ALBANIAN                                                            

Standard Literary Albanian                                                                                                    

Dialect Variants                                                                                                                     

Variable                                                                                                                 


Summary of Conventions Employed

 

Symbol

Indicates

Example

Interpretation

'

that the preceding vowel is stressed[1]

lu'le

the first syllable in this word is stressed

|

a morpheme boundary in a head entry[2]

liri|da'sh|s

free|dom lov|er

||

a morpheme boundary before an inflectional suffix

apo'||i

talon||s

the end of the stem of the citation form[3] of a verb

fut

stands for any of the inflected forms of the verb with this stem[4]

[]

an accusative object

 

[] indicates the position of a pronoun in the accusative case, which in turn may stand for any accusative object.

 

the direct object of a verb

[] bn balt

make mud of [], demolish []

 

the accusative object of a

preposition

sa pr []

as for []

<>

any pronoun in the ablative/dative case

 

The pronoun may in turn stand for an expressed or unexpressed referent.

 

the dative indirect object of a verb

<> ngre rehatin

to disturb <>'s peace and quiet

 

the ablative object of a preposition

lidhur pas <>

devoted to <>

 

the genitive object of the attributive article

n t mir t <>

to <>'s benefit

{}

the nominative object of the preposition

ndryshe nga {}

 

in contrast to {}

 

the nominative subject of the variable verb in a definition

E di qyp!

{} knows it perfectly well!

 

the kind of filler (in italics) required in an Albanian phrase

sa m {adj/adv}

as {} as possible

 

a restriction (shown in superscript italics) on the preceding Albanian variable

mban{2nd imper/subj}

vendin

stick to your own business

 

non‑obvious corresponding parts in the Albanian and English parts of a definition

sht {} pr sevda

to be a really wonderful {}

 

the context in which a particular sense appears

nj vatr {}

a whole bunch of {people}; a houseful of {children}

 

()

an optional part of the Albanian entry

(pr) s njzaj

once again; from the beginning

pr may be omitted without affecting the sense.

()

a clarification or explanation of a sense or use in the definition

jard

yard (36 inches)

=

cross‑reference to an equivalent entry

kecelu'she nf (Euph) = do'sz

kecelu'she is a euphemism whose literal sense may be found under the entry do'sz

<

cross‑reference to the citation form to which this form is related

vlle'zr np < vlla'

vlle'zr is the plural form of vlla';

the latter entry contains the definitions that apply to this form.

/

single‑word alternates

mendsh/mendjes

mendsh or mendjes

//

multiple‑word alternates;

kuti' votimesh//e votimit

kuti' votimesh or kuti' e votimit[5]

 

the scope of alternation is indicated by italicization

merimanga me kryq//e kopshteve

merimanga me kryq

   or

merimanga e kopshteve

*

forms or senses not corroborated as standard

*afr|e's

not validated by a standard source[6]

 

 

*ash‑tray

this sense not validated by a standard source

~

the portion of an entry up to the italicized portion

qark nm (pl ~qe)

qarqe is the plural of qark

a nasal vowel[7]

*shtje

the first syllable has the stressed nasal vowel

__

a slot to be filled

a __ apo __

__ or __ (fill in the blank appropriately)

null

the suffix for nominative indefinite

an empty slot, the absence of anything

a'

variable a'

budalla'

a is replaced by e in the corresponding plural stem budalle'nj

 

= a', e', or i'

shkas

shkas, shket, shkiste (forms of the same verb)

e

variable e = e' or i'

pret

pret, prit (forms of the same verb)

e

evanescent e = e or

lu'let

lule, lulja (forms of the same noun)

et

marker of a reflexive verb (after a consonant stem)

plaket

plaket, plakem, u plak, u plakm

 (forms of the same reflexive verb)

evanescent = or

li'br

libr (singular), libra (plural)

(forms of the same noun)

g

variable g = g or gj

zog

zog (singular), zogj (plural)

(forms of the same noun)

het

marker of a reflexive verb (after a vowel stem)

bhet (citation form)

bhet, bhem, u b, u bm

(forms of the same reflexive verb)

je

variable je = je, i' or o'

mbjell

mbjell, mbill|, mboll|

(stems of the same verb)

jerr

variable jerr = jerr, i'rr or o'r

nxjerr

nxjerr, nxirret, nxore

(forms of the same verb)

k

variable k = k or q

mik

mik (singular stem)

miq (plural stem)

ll

variable ll = ll or j

i'shull

i'shull (singular stem) icicle

i'shuj (plural stem) icicles

n

marker of the citation form of a thematic verb stem

kupton

kupton, kuptoj, kuptuam

(forms of the same verb)

(n)

evanescent n

bli(n)

bli (nominative indefinite)

blini (nominative definite)

o

variable o = o' or u'a

o n

oj (1st sg pres), onte (3rd sg impf)

uam (1st pl pdef)

uar (participle)

(r)

evanescent r

bli(r)

bli (nominative indefinite)

bliri (nominative definite)

t

variable t = t or s

py'et

pyet (2nd & 3rd sg pres)

pyes (1st sg pres)

u'a

variable u'a in noun stems = u'a or o'

apu'a

apua (singular stem)

apoi (oblique stem), aponj (plural stem)

 

variable u'a in verb stems = u'a or o' or u'

shkru'an

shkruaj (1st sg pres)

shkrova (1st pd pdef)

shkruhet (3rd sg pres passive)


Summary of Grammatical Terms Employed

Abbreviation

Term

Grammatical Function & Example

abl

ablative case

The ablative case is used 1) for objects of all prepositions other than those listed under nominative case and accusative case; and 2) for attributive nouns immediately following nouns in the indefinite nominative/accusative case.

abl/dat

ablative/dative

Ablative and dative case forms are distinct only for plural indefinite nouns.

acc

accusative case

The accusative case is used 1) for direct objects of transitive verbs; 2) for objects of the prepositions mbi, me, ndaj with temporal nominals, ndr, n, nn, npr, pa, pr in the senses for and about, and prmbi; and 3) for temporal nominals acting as temporal adverbials.

 

active voice

Verb forms that are not in a passive form are said to be in the active voice. Active voice verbs may be either transitive or intransitive; for both, the grammatical subject of the verb is the agentive subject.

adj

adjective

An adjective conveys an attribute of a nominal referent. In a noun phrase, adjectives follow their referent.

adj (i)

articulated adjective

An adjective is said to be articulated if it is always preceded by an attributive article.

 

adjectival

functioning as an adjective

adm

admirative mood

Admirative mood forms are composed of a stressed verb stem plus an unstressed, suffixed present or imperfect tense form of the verb ka.

They convey surprise, exasperation, or amazement in what is being said.

adv

adverb

An adverb is a word of invariable form that functions as a general modifier.

 

adverbial

functioning as a general modifier

 

attributive

ascribing a general property to a noun or pronoun

(i)

attributive article

one of a set of unstressed proclitics (i, e, t, s) that reflects the gender, case, and number of the referent; used before certain adjectives and before a nominal phrase used attributively; the nearest English equivalent is of

 

bare stem

stem without any inflectional endings

 

base

component of the word to which a suffix may be attached

C

consonant

symbol that stands for any consonant

 

citation form

that form under which the senses of the word are defined in a dictionary

collec

collective noun

noun denoting a group of individuals considered as a unit

conj

conjunction

word by which sentence components are connected

dat

dative case

the form of nouns, pronouns, attributive articles, and pronominal clitics that is used for 1) <indirect objects> of verbs (including datives of reference, indirect objects, ethical datives, possessive datives); 2) <objects of a preposition>, other than those listed under nominative case and accusative case; and 3) <genitive case> constructions that consist of a preposed attributive article followed by a noun in the dative case

 

declension

the set of case suffixes taken by a noun stem or nominalized adjective

def

definite

form with a suffix indicating that the referent of the noun is assumed to be identifiable; generally corresponds to the in English

 

derivation

process by which words or stems are created from existing stems and/or affixes

 

derivational affix

affix that creates new words or stems

det

determiner

A determiner serves to specify or quantify the noun that follows it in a noun phrase.

dimin

diminutive

form indicating smallness and/or affection

dir.obj

direct object

direct object of a verb

fem

feminine gender

most nf nouns have feminine agreement, and most nouns denoting females have nf forms, but nf nouns that denote males have masculine agreement

 

finite verb

verb form that reflects the person and number of the subject of the verb as well as its tense and mood

 

gender

category that governs agreement of forms of adjectives and attributive articles with their nominal or pronominal referents

 

general stem

The general stem of the verb, which serves as its citation form in this dictionary, is used to form the present and imperfect tenses of both the active and passive voices. For most verbs it is also the stem used to form the imperative mood.

gen

genitive case

in Albanian a construction consisting of an attributive article followed by an attributive noun in the dative case; this case is also used for the possessor in a possessive relationship

ger

gerund

From every verb stem a corresponding gerund can be derived, a noun that denotes the content of the verb. Verb stems ending in a consonant form the gerund with the suffix ‑je; thematic verb stems (ending in o' or e') form the gerund with the suffix ‑i'm; verb stems ending in the stressed vowel i' form the gerund with the suffix ‑i'm. In addition to gerunds whose form and/or meaning would not be obvious, this dictionary lists only those specifically targeted for inclusion by native Albanian speakers.

imper

imperative mood

2nd person verb forms used to give commands

impf

imperfect tense

verb tense forms indicating occurrence over an indefinite period not in the present

impers

impersonal

verb with an impersonal 3rd sg subject

indecl

indeclinable

word that functions syntactically as a noun but takes no inflections

indef

indefinite

without an identified referent; indefinite forms of nouns have no suffix for definiteness

ind.obj

indirect object

The indirect object is the person or thing involved with a verb, generally as recipient or beneficiary, but not as its subject or direct object. With transitive verbs, the indirect object may also be the possessor of the direct object. With intransitive verbs, the indirect object may also be the experiencer of the action of the verb or may be the possessor of the subject of the verb.

 

inflection

alteration of form to reflect the grammatical function of a word

 

inflectional ending

the final suffix that reflects the grammatical function of a noun or verb

interj

interjection

free‑standing, expressive and invariable part of speech

interrog

interrogative

question‑asking word

invar

invariable

having no inflected form

 

manner adverb

adverb that conveys the manner of doing something

masc

masculine gender

all nm nouns have masculine agreement, and nf nouns that denote males also have masculine agreement

 

middle voice

function of a vp form in which the subject is depicted as passively engaging or becoming engaged in the occurrence

n

noun stem

in the form listed, it denotes a male and has nm declension; followed by a feminine derivational suffix ‑e or , it denotes a female and has nf declension; followed by a plural derivational suffix ‑a, e, or , it denotes plural males or females and has np declension

neg

negative

 

nf

feminine noun stem

has feminine declension

nm

masculine noun stem

has masculine declension

nn

neuter noun stem

has neuter declension [8]

nom

nominative case

the citation form of nouns, pronouns, and attributive articles; used for subjects of verbs, subject complements, and for objects of the prepositions nga, tek, *kah, and *ne[9]

np

noun plural

has plural declension: ‑t (definite), ‑ve (dative/ablative), ‑sh (ablative).

np nouns denoting groups that include males[10] have masculine plural agreement; other np nouns derived from nf nouns have feminine plural agreement; for many other np nouns the agreement is highly variable from dialect to dialect and from speaker to speaker, even more variable than the form of the np itself

 

noun

part of speech of words that denote entities

num

number

 

obj

object

object (indirect or direct) of a verb

opt

optative mood

optative mood forms express a desire for a yet‑unrealized outcome; they are commonly used for wishes, curses, felicitations, and (after the particle n) for contrary‑to‑fact conditionals

parenth

parenthetical

word used to insert a parenthetical remark

part

participle

non‑finite (uninflected for person and tense) verb derivative used predicatively or as a constituent of 1) compound tenses, 2) verbal constructions, and 3) as adjectives

 

following a form of ka

forms perfect aspect active forms of the verb with the auxiliary ka: kam shikuar I have seen, kishin shikuar they had seen

 

following a form of sht

forms perfect aspect passive forms of the verb with the auxiliary sht: jam shikuar I have been seen, ishin shikuar they had been seen

 

following duke

forms a present participle:

duke shikuar while/by seeing

 

following a form of sht + duke

forms the progressive aspect of a verb: isha duke shikuar I was seeing

 

following me t or nj t

forms a participial absolute: me/nj t shikuar upon seeing

 

following pa

forms a privative particle: pa shikuar without seeing

 

following pr t

forms an infinitive: pr t shikuar 'to see

 

following an attributive article

adjective: i shikuar seen

pcl

particle

invariable part of speech that affects the force of a sentence or part of a sentence

 

part of speech

the grammatical class to which a word belongs according to its contextual functions; this dictionary distinguishes the following parts of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, quantifier, determiner, interjection, particle, and attributive article

passive

passive voice

Transitive verb forms in a passive form are said to be in the passive voice. The grammatical subject of a verb in the passive voice is not the agentive subject.

past

past tense

cover term for perfect, imperfect, and past definite tenses

pdef

past definite tense

verb tense forms indicating an event in the past or projected past

perf

perfect aspect

category of verb constructions consisting of an auxiliary verb plus a participle; the occurrence represented by the participle is summarized as being complete by the time represented by the tense of the auxiliary

pers

person

category identifying participation in a communication situation

1st

first person

originator (speaker/writer) of the communication: I, we

2nd

second person

recipient to whom the communication is addressed: you

3rd

third person

non‑participant in a communication situation: he, she, it, they

pl

plural

category reflected by forms of adjectives, attributive articles, some determiners, and verbs[11]

pred

predicative

invariable form serving as a predicate complement

pref

prefix

affix put before a stem to produce a new derivative stem

prep

preposition

part of speech followed by an object to form an adjectival or adverbial phrase

pres

present tense

verb tense forms used for events or relations in present, general, or future time

pron

pronoun

part of speech that categorizes referents by person, number, case, and gender

 

pronominal

functioning as a pronoun

quant

quantifier

determiner that expresses an amount or degree

recip

reciprocal

a use of passive verb forms to express mutual or reflexive action by plural subjects

referent

 

In respect to pronouns, the referent is the antecedent. In respect to attributive articles and adjectives, the referent is the word or entity that is modified or referred to. In respect to nouns, the referent is the entity that is referred to.

refl

reflexive

action directed at the subject by the subject itself

sg

singular

grammatical category of referents conceived of as single units

 

special stem

The special stem of the verb is used to form the past definite tenses of both the active and passive voices, to form the optative and admirative moods, and to form the participle. In this dictionary, it is listed only when its formation from the general stem does not follow general rules.

 

stem

component of the word to which suffixes may be attached

 

subject

the ostensible entity that determines the person‑number form of a verb tense

subj

subjunctive mood

present or imperfect tense verb forms preceded (normally) by the proclitic t; subjunctive verbs are used to express non‑assertive suppositions or suggestions, or may complement a preceding verb, adjective, or particle

v

verb

part of speech inflected for person, number, tense, voice and mood; verbs typically express occurrences or relationships processed through time

vi

intransitive verb stem

stem with active inflection and without an accusative object

vp

passive inflection

indicates that the stem takes any of the person‑number inflectional endings for the present and imperfect tenses

vpr

reflexive verb

stem

stem with passive inflection and middle voice functions (see Reflexive Verbs, p. xviii)

vt

transitive verb stem

stem with active inflection and with an accusative object

 

verbal ending

one of a set of suffixes that end a verb

 

voice

category of verb inflection that distinguishes between active and passive; also used for the functions subdivided into passive, middle, reflexive, and reciprocal

 

word formative

an element (stem or affix) used to form new words


Albanian alphabet

The alphabetic order of the Albanian alphabet is:

A B C D Dh E F G Gj H I J K L Ll M N Nj O P Q R Rr S Sh T Th U V X Xh Y Z Zh

 a b  c  d  dh  e    f  g   gj  h i  j  k  l  ll   m  n nj  o  p q  r  rr  s  sh  t  th  u v  x  xh  y  z zh

 

Many of the words that a reader will encounter in reading Albanian—henceforth called text words—can be found in this dictionary in exactly the form and in exactly the place that a reader used to ordinary dictionaries would expect to find them, so long as the reader remembers that 9 of the 36 letters in the Albanian alphabet are digraphs (two‑letter combinations that count as single letters):

Dh        Gj        Ll         Nj Rr    Sh        Th        Xh        Zh

dh        gj         ll          nj  rr     sh         th         xh        zh

 

However, many words that the reader encounters in actual Albanian publications of the twentieth century will have a form that differs in some way from any of the forms cited in this dictionary, henceforth called "dictionary forms". The purpose of this section is to enable the reader to arrive at the meaning of problematic text words with the aid of this dictionary.

In this Users Guide, the nature of many of those differences is discussed, and suggestions are made for interpreting them.

Stress (Accent)

In this dictionary, the placement of primary accent or stress is indicated in headword entries by an accent mark ' after the vowel of the most prominent syllable. Such stress is not marked in conventional Albanian orthography. Most Albanian stems are accented on their last syllable; since many words end in a suffix, this means that the stress is often on the next to last vowel of the word. In word groups and compound words, the last word of a sequence normally gets the major stress, and the other words are correspondingly reduced in the degree of stress they receive. The single vowel of a monosyllabic citation form is understood to be stressed in all polysyllabic forms based on that form, unless otherwise indicated.

For the infrequent entries that contain letter sequences that could be misread as digraphs, a respelling of the item is added, using plain letters in regular Albanian orthography, but with hyphens inserted for clarification. The same device is used for indicating the pronunciation of abbreviations and acronyms.

Pronunciation Values of Letters in the Alphabet

The table below provides a rough guide to Albanian pronunciation by showing rough correspondences between Albanian letters and English sounds. The Albanian alphabet has 36 representational units (letters). Unlike English, letters maintain consistent values in their representation of sound in all the words in which they appear, although there are minor variations in sound depending on context and on the variety of Albanian spoken by a given speaker.

 

Albanian letter

Technical Description

Approximate English equivalent

a

low back vowel

like a in father

b

voiced bilabial stop

= b

c

voiceless apical affricate

like ts in oats

voiceless palatal affricate

like ch in child

d

voiced apical stop

= d

dh

voiced interdental fricative

like th in this

e

front unrounded mid vowel

like e in pest

mid central lax vowel

like u in bun; silent in many unstressed positions

f

voiceless interdental fricative

= f

g

voiced dorsal stop

like g in go

gj

voiced palatal stop

like g in argue

h

voiceless aspiration

= h

i

high front unrounded vowel

like i in elite

j

palatal glide

like y in yolk

k

voiceless dorsal stop

= k

l

palatalized lateral liquid

(light l) like l in elite

ll

velarized lateral liquid

(dark l) like l in bull

m

voiced bilabial nasal

= m

n

voiced apical nasal

= n

nj

voiced palatal nasal

like ny in canyon

o

back rounded mid vowel

like o in more

p

voiceless bilabial stop

= p

q

voiceless palatal stop

like c in cute

r

apical flap

 like d in American pronunciation of modest

rr

apical trill

like tter in fast American pronunciation of butter

s

voiceless apical sibilant

like s in soup

sh

voiceless palatal sibilant

like sh in shine

t

voiceless apical stop

= t

th

voiceless interdental fricative

like th in thing

u

back rounded high vowel

like oo in roof

v

voiced interdental fricative

= v

x

voiced apical affricate

like dz in adz

xh

voiceless palatal affricate

like j in jar

y

high front rounded vowel

like Southern American pronunciation of uu in vacuum

z

voiceless apical sibilant

= z

zh

voiceless palatal sibilant

like z in azure (like French j in je)

 

Albanian pronunciation is reflected rather directly by standard spelling, with a few notable exceptions:

Unstressed is pronounced very lightly or not at all. At the ends of morphemes and words, voiced obstruents (b, d, g, dh, v, xh, zh) are usually devoiced by Tosk speakers, so that they sound respectively like p, t, k, th, f, , sh in those positions.

Gheg speakers use nasalized vowels and long vowels. Nasalized vowels are marked by a circumflex ^ over the vowel: , , , , . Long vowels are distinctive in Gheg but are not represented in normal orthography.

Through the years, many printers have lacked fonts containing the special characters used in printing standard Albanian orthography, and there is a substantial amount of published material that fails to distinguish e from , c from , and nasalized vowels from their oral counterparts: a from , e from , etc. Albanians have little difficulty recognizing words in context even when these clues are missing, but the foreign reader will have to struggle with the problem until words and phrases become familiar enough to be recognized despite the reduced information in the printed word.

Variable Forms

Many stems and affixes are variable in form. This dictionary does include irregularly formed stem alternants, but in general, it does not include regularly formed ones.

Variable Letters

To help the reader recognize text forms related to, but not identical to those listed in the dictionary, lightface and boldface italics have special values in this dictionary not found in normal Albanian orthography.

The evanescent letter at the end of a citation form disappears before any suffix beginning in a vowel, and evanescent at the beginning of a suffix disappears after any stem ending in a vowel. For example, the citation form rru'g reflects the inflected forms rruga, rruge, rrugat, rrugash, and rrugave,[12] which lack the final of the citation form, as well as the forms rrug, rrugn, and rrugs,[13] which have it.

In standard Albanian orthography, when two nouns differ only in the presence or absence of at the end, the one with is feminine (nf), and the one without is nm.

 

lug nm trough

lug nf spoon

breshk nm tortoise (male)

breshk nf tortoise (female)

In other positions, is an evanescent letter, indicating that it may be absent in other forms of the word; in other varieties of the language, it may be totally absent or may appear as e or i. For example, trashgim is trashgim in some varieties of Albanian, in others, trashigim; mkon is mkon in some varieties of Albanian.

 

The evanescent letter e at the end of a noun citation form is replaced by j before the nf nominative definite suffix ‑a and optionally before the nf dative indefinite suffix ‑e: for example, the nf stem lu'le, has the nominative definite case form lulja and in the colloquial dative indefinite case form lulje.

There is considerable dialectal variation between e and as terminal vowels; one person or one dialect will have a final rather than e in a particular stem and vice versa. For example, while the standard form is lu'le, a common form in some varieties of Albanian in lu'l, and that form even finds its way into the standard language in the many compound words with the latter form, alongside other compounds with the former.

The evanescent letters het (or et, if the verb stem ends in a consonant) mark the end of a citation form for a verb in the passive voice (including all vpr stems). The letters he appear in all on the present and imperfect inflected forms of the verb, while the final letter t  appears only in the present tense 3sg form. All other passive voice forms of the verb are identical to those of the active voice, except that the presence of the clitic reflexive marker u marks them as passive. For example, the vpr stem la'het, has the imperfect 1sg form la'hesha, but the past definite 1sg form u lava.

Letters in boldface italics generally indicate that other forms of that stem have other letters in place of the italicized ones. For example, a final t in a verb citation form represents a variable letter which may appears as either t or s in various forms of the same verb:

citation form

2 & 3 sg pres

1sg pdef

2 & 3 sg pres

1sg pres

pl pres

subj

impf

py'et

py'et

py'eta

py'etni or py'esni

py'es

 py'esim

 py'es

 py'esnim

 

The variable letter e designates a vowel which is e in the citation form, but may be absent altogether or may appear as a different vowel (e or i or o or a) in other forms of the word:

jep is represented in various inflected forms as jep, jap, or jip

sheh is represented in various inflected forms as sheh, shoh, or shih

The variable letter in the citation forms v' and z' is a reminder that the verb v' is not to be ruled out when one encounters such inflected forms as vija, vihet, vura, and vum, as well as in more transparent forms such as v, vn, vnt, and vnka.

For entries whose stem has alternate forms, the symbol ~ after a grammatical label stands for the part of the stem that precedes the italicized letters in the head entry, and the letters after the ~ indicate the addition or replacement of the italicized letters:

budalla' adj, nm (pl ~e'nj)  means that the plural stem for budalla is budalle'nj

 

Variable diphthongs are regularly replaced in certain grammatical forms:

u'a  is replaced by   o'       in oblique forms of nm stems                    potku'a       potko'i

u'a  is replaced by   o'       in sg pdef and opt of v stems                     blu'a         blo'ft

u'a  is replaced by   u'      in general passive forms of v stems            blu'a         blu'het

u'e  is replaced by   o'       in oblique forms of nm stems                    llku'e         llko'i

y'e   is replaced by   e'       in pdef forms of v stems                           ngjy'en       ngje'va

i'e   is replaced by   i'       in general passive forms of v stems            ndi'en        ndi'het

designates a letter that appears in that position in all forms of the word: prdh. In other varieties of the language it may appear as or or e or i.

e designates an invariable letter — one which appears in that position in all forms of the word in most or all varieties of the language: shtet

Use of Brackets and Parentheses

In general, brackets in this dictionary stand for components essential to the sense being defined. Square brackets [] are used if the bracketed component is in the accusative case; angle brackets <> if it is in the ablative/dative case; curly brackets or braces {} if it is in the nominative case:

abon|o'n vt to subscribe to [a periodical]

lakm|o'het vpr to get a sudden craving for <>

te prep (nom) at/to the location of {}: at/to {}'s place, at {}

Boldface parentheses () enclose optional components of the Albanian part of an entry, components that may or may not be present without affecting the sense. Italicized parentheses () enclose special information in the grammatical part of an entry, such as the case required for the object of a preposition or the indicated proclitic article for an articulated entry; they are also used to enclose usage labels (see drno'k nm [Bot] hedge hyssop Gratiola officinalis

krp nm hemp (Cannabis sativa)

Usage Labels, p. xxi). In definitional parts of an entry, plain parentheses () enclose hints or additional information in English to help the reader understand the entry.

vra'p|thi(t) adv in haste, hastily

dgj|u'ar|it nn (t) (sense of) hearing

xix|r|i'm nf crackling sound (of wood giving off sparks)

Sample Entries

Each sample entry below is composed of components—numbered below the example—distinguished by their format. The table following the examples lists the components, in the order in which they are most likely to appear in a given entry:

 

ABD a‑b‑d' abbreviation < artileria bregdetare [Mil] coastal artillery

   1       2                   3      4      6            8

afio'n I nm opium II adj (Fig) pale

     1      3a           8         3a  5      8

aj   I interj 1 hey! 2= haj II pron * = ai'

  1      3a         7   8    7    4b       3a           4b

tri'shull nm  (np ~j) [Bot] bladdernut (Staphylea)

   1    12    3      3   13    5   8         9

bam onomat (Colloq) sound of a gunshot or loud collision: wham!, bam!, bang!

   1       3               5          8

bam e bum attempt by any means, try by might and main

        10 8

ia b bam  1 to shoot, fire a gun 2 to have the daring to fight 3 to strike

      10   7         8          7    8               7   8

            out of anger 4 to finish a project 5 to do something unusually dashing or brave

            7         8                7            8

bar argjendi [Bot] "silvergrass" horsetail (Equisetum)

         10               6            11 8               9

 

Component

Format Form

1. Headword of an entry

hanging and in boldface

2. Pronunciation aid

roman characters before grammatical label

3. Grammatical label

italics

   a) if multiple within an entry

preceded by a roman numeral followed by

4. Cross‑reference

 

    a) to the source entry[14]

boldface characters after <

    b) to a synonymous entry

boldface characters after =

5. Usage label

initially capitalized italics between parentheses

    a) if applicable to all definitions

appears before number in definition

    b) if applicable to single definition

appears after number in definition

6. Domain label

initially capitalized italics between square brackets

    a) if applicable to all definitions

appears before number in definition

    b) if applicable to single definition

appears after number in definition

7. Sense number

boldface number (only if there are more‑than‑one senses)

8. Definition

roman characters

9. Technical identification

italics (scientific term: Genus species)

italics in parenthesis (technical name for a common term)

10. Phrasal entry

boldface characters after

11. Literal translation

between quotation marks

12. Variable letters

boldface italics

13. Replacement letters

followed by the replacement of the variable letters


Overview of the form and content of entries

This dictionary contains three kinds of entries: main entries, phrasal entries, and cross‑references, each with a heading in boldface letters.

The dictionary assumes that its user has some knowledge of regular Albanian grammar, but can use help with unknown stems and compounds, as well as with the hundreds of irregular (unpredictable from general rules) stem forms in the language. The initial aim of this dictionary was to list in their own proper alphabetical position all Albanian stem forms whose citation form is not automatically recognizable by the general rules for generation of forms given in the grammatical sketch. That aim has been narrowed by exigencies of time: in order to make a useful dictionary available, I have limited the lexicon to words and phrases that have appeared in print since Albanian independence, and further, to such items as have been recognized in lexical sources available to me.

Albanian stems may be bare, thematic, or compound. A bare stem, or base, consists of a single morpheme, a sound/letter or sequence of sounds/letters that function as a single unit. A compound stem contains more than one base. A thematic stem, or theme, consists at least one base and at least one derivational suffix or extension. A derivational suffix contributes a grammatical function to the word; for example, it may indicate that the stem is a plural noun, that it is a gerund, that it is a passive verb, that it is a diminutive noun of feminine gender, that it is a participle, etc. An extension does not itself contribute a grammatical function to the word, but it may 1) reflect a historically earlier pronunciation; 2) help mark the tense of a verb; 3) suggest a semantic nuance that might be absent without the extension; 4) serve the euphonic purpose of breaking up sequences of sounds that speakers of a particular variety of Albanian find difficult to pronounce.

Most stems may appear as words in their own right. In texts, verbs and nouns appear in an inflected form from which their syntactic role in the clause may be inferred. This inflected form may end in an overt inflectional suffix. When that suffix is covert, that is, when it is not represented by any sound/letter, it is termed (zero). The imperative form of many verbs has such a , and all nominative and accusative indefinite nouns have it.

Where helpful for clarification, a pair of square brackets [] is used to stand for any pronoun in the accusative case, which in turn may stand for any accusative referent; a pair of angle brackets <> stands for any pronoun in the dative/ablative case, which in turn may stand for any dative or ablative referent. The brackets may be filled to indicate the scope or nature of the object.

hij|o'n vt to turn [] to ashes: incinerate

kalpt|o'n vt to plug [a leaky wooden container] up

pr|ngja'n vi to be very much like <>, resemble <> strongly

taks vt (Colloq) to promise [something] to <someone>

To indicate a stem that appears mainly as part of larger constructions rather than as an independent word, the morpheme‑division symbol | is placed at the end of that stem. For example:

mba|jt| stem for pd, opt, adm, part < mban

indicates that the form mba|jt| is part of such constructions as mbajta, mbajtm, mbajtka, and u mbajt, all of which are inflectional forms of mban.

Unpredictable paradigmatic forms are thus referred back to the citation forms to which they are related:

Senses and collocations that apply only to a particular paradigmatic form are entered under the entry for that form and not under the main entry. This policy is unlike that of most other dictionaries, and the reader must be prepared for it. For example, if a phrasal entry requires the plural form duar hands rather than its singular form dor hand, the entry will be found under du'ar and not under do'r.

Main Entries

Main entries provide the principal information a reader needs to recognize and interpret the individual words encountered in texts. Each main entry is headed by a citation form. In order to clarify the structure of the form and help the reader relate it to other forms, morphemic divisions are indicated by a vertical mark |:

bashk|li'dh|ur joined together, united

which consists of the morphemes bashk together, lidh join, and ‑ur participial suffix.

 

Sequences of letters that are the same except for differences in morphemic division are treated as separate entries.

pish|i'n nf 1 pine grove 2 alburnum/sapwood of the pine tree

pishi'n nf swimming pool

Citation Forms

The main entry for inflected words, whose form changes to mark grammatical function, is headed by a citation form, as indicated in the following table:The decision to cite verbs in stem form was made in order to avoid the clash that results both from their traditional citation in first person singular present tense form, with the inevitable dilemma that forces on the English translation: one faces either the awkwardness of "I" subjects with verbs whose subject is normally inanimate or animal: e.g., neigh, evaporate, rust or out and out mistranslation (using "to") of forms that are clearly first person singular, not infinitives.

 

Abbreviation

Grammatical Category

            Citation Form

adj

Adjective

masculine singular stem

adj (i)

       Articulated

indicates that an attributive article appropriate for the gender of the referent precedes the adjective stem

adv (s)

Gerundial adverb

indicates that the proclitic s precedes the adverb

n

Noun

Nominative indefinite (the traditional citation form)

n (i)

       Articulated

indicates that an attributive article appropriate for the gender precedes the noun stem

nf

Feminine

singular if a singular form of the noun exists

nf (e)

       Articulated

indicates that an attributive article appropriate for feminine gender precedes the noun stem

nm

Masculine

singular if a singular form of the noun exists

nn

Neuter

singular if a singular form of the noun exists

nn (t)

       Articulated

indicates that the attributive article t precedes the noun stem

np

Plural

plural

np (t)

      Articulated

indicates that the attributive article t precedes the plural noun stem

part

Participle

Regularly formed participles are not listed as entries unless they also have special uses as adjectives.

pron

Pronoun

Nominative case

v

Verb

The 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb, with the symbol marking the end of the stem. In phrasal entries, this identifying mark enables the reader to recognize that other forms of the verb, in any tense, person, and number, share the same collocational sense.

vi

Intransitive

active form

vpr

Reflexive

passive form (ending in  et or het)

vt

Transitive

active form

 

In general, single‑word Albanian proper nouns are cited in their nominative indefinite form; the English form may give them in their more usual definite form:

Tira'n nf Tirana (capital city of Albania)

Some common Albanian personal names have been included, particularly those that 1) have non‑obvious English equivalents: Gjon = John, Sknder = Alexander; 2) designate males, but are nouns with feminine declension, 3) are homonymous with common nouns that might present interpretation problems in an actual text—for example, it might confuse the reader not to know that Drit and Liri are popular names for females and not just capitalized versions of drit light and liri freedom, and that Yll is a popular name for males and not just capitalized yll star.

Entries for prefixes are followed by a hyphen: para‑. Suffixes are included in the Reverse List of Possible Word Terminations, beginning on p. xlix.

Pronunciation

Since normal Albanian orthography is quite regular, the only special symbol needed to indicate pronunciation is the ' mark after the stressed vowel of a word.

kabo'qe nf hilltop; low hill

Grammatical Labels

A reader can sometimes determine the grammatical category of a puzzling word, even though its meaning is not known. In such cases the dictionary can be helpful by providing information about which grammatical functions its main entries may serve: in this dictionary, these functions are indicated by abbreviated grammatical labels in italics.

When the citation form at the head of the entry has multiple grammatical functions for which a single definition suffices, these functions may follow one another, separated by a comma.

gjerma'n adj, n German

When the citation form at the head of the entry has multiple grammatical functions for which a single English definition does not suffice, the grammatical label is preceded by a Roman numeral followed by the symbol .

mnda'fsh I nm silk II adj silken

treg|t|u'e|s I adj. commercial II n merchant, dealer

Verb Entries

The main entry for a verb is headed by its citation form: the stem for the 3rd person singular present tense form (3sg pres)), because all verbs appear naturally in such a form. The symbol indicates the end of the verb stem and the attachment point for inflectional suffixes. The English infinitive marker "to" marks the beginning of the definition of each separate sense of the verb, but it is not repeated for each subsense; occasionally, where a definition in negative terms is required, the word not is substituted for to.[15]

mat vt to measure

ngurr|o'n vi to hesitate

ngro'het vpr to get warm; warm up

Transitive Verbs

Transitive verbs, whose stems are labeled vt in the dictionary, take objects in the accusative case and have both active and passive forms. In the English part of the definition, square brackets [] may be used to indicate the place of a pronominal direct object in the accusative case.

The entry:

llom|i't vt to make [] muddy

is understood to imply all inflected forms, including, for example, both active forms like m llomiti he made me muddy and passive forms like the past definite u llomita I was made muddy. Note that passive forms of transitive verbs are systematically ambiguous if a corresponding reflexive verb exists; thus u llomita can also mean I got muddy, since the reflexive verb exists:

llom|i'tet vpr to get muddy

Intransitive Verbs

Intransitive verb stems, labeled vi in the dictionary, do not take objects in the accusative case. In an active form, the grammatical subject of an intransitive verb is the agent of the action represented by the verb.

rrym|o'n vi to flow in a current/stream

dsht|o'n vi to abort, miscarry; go wrong; fail

Reflexive Verbs

Entries marked vpr are reflexive verbs with passive voice inflection but middle voice uses and senses (see Voice, p. xxx). The passive voice forms that the reader sees in texts may be forms of these vpr verbs, but they may also be passive forms of a vt stem, with passive, reciprocal, or reflexive senses. These straightforward passive, reciprocal, and reflexive senses are not separately enumerated in this dictionary, since the entry for every transitive verb would be needlessly tripled in size thereby.[16]

For many vpr verbs there is no corresponding active verb:[17]

str|qi'tet vpr to be a constant nuisance to <>, constantly annoy <>

ke'qet vpr 1 to get worse 2 to speak/answer harshly to <>; threaten <> 3 to have a falling out, be on bad terms

Impersonal Verbs

Verbs marked impers have a vague 3rd person singular grammatical subject, sometimes corresponding to a grammatical subject it (in its raining) or there (in theres no convincing some people) in English. In many expressions, the experiencer of an impersonal verb is expressed as a dative referent.

e'rret vpr impers it grows dark, night falls

te'ket vpr impers <> feels like having/doing something: <> has a whim/hankering, <> gets an urge

Pronominal Entries

The labels pron and pronominal are generic terms for words and stems that function like nouns or noun phrases (e.g., they can be the objects of prepositions or verbs), but that indicate grammatical categories rather than substantive entities. Thus, un I is the nominative case form of the pronoun that refers to a 1st person singular, and is not the name of the person speaking; asnjeri no one, nobody denies the involvement of any entity in the category of persons. Some pronominal stems (e.g., cil) are declined for gender, case, and number, as if they were nominalized adjectives; some (e.g., kush) are declined only for case; some (e.g., gjkafsh) are invariable in form; some are clitics (e.g., '); some (e.g., 1st and 2nd person personal pronouns) reflect differences in person, number, and case; some (e.g., the 3rd person determiners that serve as the 3rd person pronouns for Albanian) reflect differences in gender, number, and case.

Dictionaries of Albanian list indefinite and definite nominative forms of both the singular and plural for all nouns.

Noun Entries

The citation form of a noun is its uninflected, nominative indefinite stem form.

Noun stem labels start with n, usually followed by a gender/number indicator m, f, n, p, (masculine, feminine, neuter, and plural, respectively).

A stem labeled simply n is an nm stem when it designates a male. When it designates a female, it adds a derivational suffix ‑e or ‑ and becomes an nf stem. When it designates males, it adds a derivational suffix ‑ or - and becomes an np stem. When it designates females, it adds a derivational suffix ‑a or - (if the derivational suffix is ‑e) and becomes an np stem.

In Early Albanian, a number of nm stems ended in n. When that n was immediately followed by a vowel in the same word, it became r in Tosk dialects but remained n in Gheg. If there was no immediately following vowel, the vowel preceding the n became nasalized, and then the n dropped. Such nasalized vowels continued to be spoken in Gheg dialects (and are often represented by in standard orthographies), but lost their nasalization in Tosk dialects.

As a result, in this dictionary a number of descendants of these stems have two forms: the bare stem form (which serves as the nominative/accusative indefinite case of the noun), and the oblique form, which appears when a suffix beginning in a vowel immediately follows. If the 20th century form is descended from a Tosk form, it will have the extension r in the oblique form and end in a plain vowel in the citation form; if it is a Gheg descendent, it may have the extension n in both stems or may have n only in the oblique stem. Such citation forms are listed in the alphabetical position of the bare stem form, followed by the extension italicized between parentheses (r) or (n). If the oblique form, with the ‑i suffix that invariably follows it, would not immediately follow the bare stem alphabetically in the list, it appears as a separate entry and cross‑refers to the citation form.

blet|o're nf apiary

bli'| stem for 2nd pl pres, impf, imper, vp ble'n

bli(n) nm sturgeon

bli(r) nm linden

bli|ba'rdh nm Adriatic sturgeon Acipenser naccarii

...

blin||i obl < bli(n)

...

blir||i obl < bli(r)

There are other noun stems whose bare stem and oblique stem differ in the way they end. For these, if part of the bare stem form is missing in the oblique form, that part is italicized. The extension or replacement of letters for the oblique stem is indicated between parentheses following the grammatical label. This same method is often used for nouns whose corresponding plural stem (np) is formed in some way other than by the usual suffixation of ‑a, ‑e,, –ra, or -.

she'kull nm (np ~j) century

(that is, the plural of the masculine noun she'kull century is she'kuj centuries)

Again, if the two forms, stem and oblique, are not alphabetically contiguous, the oblique form (with its appropriate suffix) appears as a separate entry and cross‑refers to the citation form.

Articulated Nouns

The label n (i) indicates a noun stem that must be used with a proclitic attributive article. In the words based on this stem, the proclitic form of the attributive article (i, e, t, or s), as well as the inflection of the stem itself, reflects the gender, number, and case of the referent of the noun:

rri'tur n (i) adult, grownup

i rrituri the adult (male)

e rritura the adult (female)

t rriturat the adults (females)

i s rriturs of the adult (female)

 

The label nf (e) indicates an nf noun stem that must be preceded by an attributive article form (e, t, or s):

shfry'r n (e) emotional outburst

e shfryra the emotional outburst

t shfryrat the emotional outbursts

The label np (t) and nn (t) indicate np and nn noun stems, respectively, that must be used with the proclitic attributive article form t. Noun stems labeled nn (t) are typically derived from participles and normally appear with the definite suffix ‑t; a vowel ‑i‑ appears before the ‑t suffix if the stem ends in ‑r at the end of an unstressed syllable.

vo'n|a np (t) fem late crops harvested in late autumn

t vonat the late fall crops

shiju'ar nn (t) sense of taste

t shijuarit the sense of taste

Gerund Entries

Entries labeled ger are verbal nouns, gerunds, that substantivize the verb stems to which they are cross‑referred and designate processes, actions, or acts implied by those verb stems. Corresponding English nouns end in ‑ing. The same noun may also designate results or states, usually corresponding to English nouns ending in ‑(a)tion, ‑ment, ‑ance, or ence.

pr|dredh|i'm nm ger [Music] trilling; trill

Basically, pr|dredh|i'm calls up the process, act, or action of trilling that the verb pr|dredh to trill represents, but it may also designate the result of the process, act or action. In this second sense, it would correspond more closely to the noun trill in English. In this second sense, it corresponds more closely to the noun trill in English. Similarly, shkurt|i'm calls up the process, act, or action of shortening that the verb shkurt|on to shorten represents, but it may also designate the result of the process, act or action, as reflected in its translation as abridgement in this dictionary. The appearance of the abbreviatiation ger as part of the identification of this word may distinguish its meaning from that of another word with the translation abridgement, e.g., shkurt|re. Formed from the adjective shkurt short rather than from the verb shkurt|on to shorten, shkurt|re suggests a short thing rather a shortened thing.

For many entries, it is assumed that the appropriate English translation can be easily deduced from the main definitions of the cross‑referred verb or verbs, and no other definition is added; for others, specific definitions may be supplied:

magje'ps|je nf ger 1 > magje'ps, magje'pset 2 enchantment, bewitchment

In its first sense, since both magje'ps and magje'pset are cross‑referred, magje'ps|je may designate either the active process, act, or action of enchanting or bewitching, or else the passive process, act, or action of being enchanted or bewitched. In its second sense, it designates the state of enchantment or bewitchment. In general, if the abbreviatiation ger is part of the identification of a noun, one should be open to both the process sense and the resultant-state sense, whether or not the particular English words in the definition reflect both senses.

Adjective Entries

A stem labeled adj (i) is always used with a proclitic attributive article; one labeled adj is used without such an article. By convention, the citation form of an adjective is the masculine singular form, but the stem is used with a full range of referents (masculine, feminine, plural, or neuter), and the attributive article (i) stands for any of the possible forms i, e, t, or s.

      Adjective stems whose citation form ends in ‑ur, ‑uar, ‑un, ‑r, ‑l, ‑t, and ‑ are identical for masculine and feminine singular and masculine plural; for feminine plural a derivational suffix ‑a is added and the evanescent disappears.

      Adjective stems whose citation form ends in ‑an, ‑al, ‑ar, ‑or, ‑m, ‑m, ‑, ‑q, and ‑s typically add the derivational suffix ‑e to form a feminine singular and feminine plural stem; the evanescent disappears.[18]

      Adjective stems whose citation form ends in ‑e are invariable in form.

      Feminine and plural adjectival stems that are not derived regularly from the citation form in the dictionary (usually by the addition of a derivational suffix ‑e for the feminine singular and plural, or ‑a for the masculine plural) are generally listed under their own heading.

Definition

How can a dictionary give the "MEANING" of an Albanian word to a reader? A moment's reflection suffices to show that the task is in fact impossible: the meaning of moll is no more giveable than its meaning "apple" is eatable: it is the apple that one can eat, not its meaning, and it is the apple that can be given, not its meaning. This dictionary must adopt a variety of strategies to help its user "get" a meaning that it cannot give.

Sense Description and Differentiation

Preceding the definition of a sense there may be an indication of the usage (in italics between round brackets) and/or semantic domain [in italics between square brackets], which may enrich or clarify the interpretation of the definition. In numbered definitions, bracketed information following the number applies only to the sense with that number; preceding the number, the bracketed information applies to all the senses for that grammatical function.

The main definition attempts to find English expressions corresponding to the Albanian ones, but quite often the correspondence can only hint at the sense conveyed by the Albanian entry. Especially for phrasal entries, a more literal definition, between parentheses and quotation marks, precedes the main definition, in order to provide greater insight into the underlying structure and sense of the Albanian entry.

For some senses, a set of possible English translations for the targeted Albanian item may be offered in the attempt to suggest the meaning of the Albanian item for the reader. Commas separate different suggested translations that are all aimed at conveying aspects of the same sense; semicolons separate closely related, but somewhat different sub‑senses. Boldface numbers (1, 2,) separate senses that are substantially or completely different from each other.

In order to offer the reader an appreciation of what is being conveyed in Albanian and thus free the reader to consider translation possibilities better suited to a given context than those suggested in a proposed list of general translation equivalents, more discursive paraphrases or explanations of senses are often given in addition to or instead of the translations. In such definitions, the translation is separated from the paraphrase/explanation by a colon (:).

In some cases, encyclopedic information may be provided to supply a context that may be missing in the passage being read.

For items whose standard scientific identification is known, that identification is given in italics. If a term is widely used, and not just by specialists, the scientific label may be placed between parentheses.

drno'k nm [Bot] hedge hyssop Gratiola officinalis

krp nm hemp (Cannabis sativa)

Usage Labels

Usage labels indicate some connotations that an Albanian reader is likely to attach to a word or sense. A capitalized usage label is indicated in italics between parentheses (round brackets). If a usage label follows the number in a definition containing several senses, it applies only to that particular sense; otherwise, it applies to all senses of the term in that grammatical category. The Albanian abbreviations in brackets below are those used by FJ:

The following labels appear, some in abbreviated form:

Label

Meaning

(Bookish)

contrived and formal in tone

(Child)

children's language, baby talk

(Collec)

collective

(Colloq)

colloquial

(Contempt)

contemptuous, scornful

(Crude)

vulgar, rude, coarse

(Curse)

curse, imprecation

(Derog)

derogatory

(Dimin)

diminutive

(Disparaging)

disparaging, derogatory

(Elevated)

elevated style [change to oratorical?]

(Euph)

euphemism

(Familial)

used among family members

(Felic)

felicitation, well‑wishing, congratulation

(Folk)

folk customs, folklore

(Hist)

historical

(HistPK)

during the Communist period in Albania (1946‑91)

(Impolite)

impolite, discourteous

(Insult)

insulting, offensive

(Intens)

intensive degree

(Iron)

ironic

(Joc)

jocular

(Mocking)

mocking, teasing

(Npc)

not politically condoned during the period 1946‑91

(Oath)

oath, swearing, prayer

(Obscene)

obscene

(Old)

archaic or obsolete or obsolescent

(Onomat)

onomatopoetic

(Pejorative)

disparaging in tone, reflecting speaker's negative attitude

(Pet)

affectionate, endearing

(Poet)

poetic

(Proverb)

proverb, adage, saying

(Pur)

purist attempt to replace a borrowing

(Regional)

regional in tone or use

(Reg Arb)

arbrisht (spoken in Italy or Greece)

(Reg Calab)

spoken in Calabria

(Reg Gheg)

characteristic of Gheg (northern) speech

(Reg Gk)

regional Greek borrowing

(Reg Kos)

spoken in Kosovo

(Reg Mont)

regional Montenegrin borrowing

(Reg Tir)

spoken in Tirana

(Reg Tosk)

characteristic of Tosk (southern) speech

(Scorn)

scornful, contemptuous

 

Domain Labels

Domain (field) labels provide a frame of reference for interpreting the definition. A capitalized domain label is indicated by italics enclosed between square brackets. If a domain label follows the number in a definition containing several senses, it applies only to that particular sense; otherwise, it applies to all senses of the term in that grammatical category.

The following labels appear, some in abbreviated form:

Label

Meaning

[Agr]

agriculture, farming

[Anat]

anatomy

[Anth]

anthropology

[Archeology]

archeology

[Architecture]

architecture

[Art]

the visual arts

[Astron]

astronomy

[Aviation]

aviation, aeronautics

[Bacteriology]

bacteriology

[Biol]

biology

[Bot]

botany

[Broadcasting]

radio/television

[Chem]

chemistry

[Chess]

chess

[Choreography]

choreography, dance

[Cine]

cinema, film, movies

[Commerce]

business, commerce

[Constr]

building construction

[Dairy]

dairy processes or products

[Diplomacy]

diplomacy

[Econ]

economics

[Electr]

electronics, electrical work

[Entom]

entomology

[Famil]

familial

[Fin]

finance

[Fish]

fishing

[Folklore]

folk stories and beliefs

[Food]

food, food preparation, cooking

[Forestry]

forestry

[Geod]

geodesy, cartography

[Geog]

geography

[Geol]

geology

[Geom]

geometry

[Hist]

history

[Hort]

horticulture, gardening

[Hunting]

hunting

[Hydrol]

hydrology and hydrotechnology

[Ichth]

ichthyology

[Invert]

invertebrate

[Law]

law

[Ling]

linguistics, grammar

[Lit]

literature

[Logic]

logic

[Math]

mathematics

[Medic]

medicine, medical

[Meteor]

meteorology

[Milit]

military

[Min]

mineralogy or mining

[Music]

music

[Mythology]

mythology

[Naut]

nautical

[Offic]

official, government

[Optics]

optics

[Ornit]

ornithology, birds

[Paleo]

paleontology

[Pedag]

pedagogy

[Pharm]

pharmaceutics, pharmacy, pharmacology

[Philosophy]

philosophy

[Photography]

photography

[Physics]

physics

[Physiol]

physiology

[Poet]

poetry

[Politics]

politics

[Post]

postal, post‑telegraph

[Psychol]

psychology

[Publ]

publishing, printing, press

[Relig]

religion

[Rr]

railroad

[Spec]

term used in multiple specialized fields

[Sport]

sports

[Tech]

engineering, technology

[Textil]

textile industry, textiles

[Theat]

theater

[Veterinary]

veterinary medicine

[Zool]

zoology, animal

 

Technical Terms

Technical terms are generally italicized in this dictionary. The italicized scientific labels provided for flora and fauna often identify the species and varieties with which Albanians are most likely to be familiar, even when the English name in the definition has a more general reference (e.g., eagle). To indicate that the Albanian term is the every-day one, the italicized technical label is put inside parentheses. In this way, useful information is given to both specialist and non‑specialist readers. It is even possible for a same term to have one sense to the specialists and another to the general public, as in the following example. Note that the non‑specialist sense is indicated by the parentheses around its technical label:

lop deti  1 [Zool] walrus 2 [Ichth] common eagle ray Myliobatis aquila = shqiponj deti 3 [Ichth] devil ray (Mobula mobular)

This dictionary cannot vouch for the accuracy of the identifications. They are included on the general principle of including any information found in reference sources that may be helpful to a reader in understanding a text.

Examples

Illustrative examples are included in this dictionary only to help the user interpret schematic definitions. While illustrative examples would be indispensable for a dictionary aimed at writers or speakers, who need models to use the word properly, they are generally not needed in this dictionary, which is designed for readers who come to the dictionary with examples of their own, namely those encountered in the texts that sent them to the dictionary in the first place.

Phrasal Entries

This dictionary includes more than 16,000 phrasal entries whose Albanian uses are unlikely to be inferred by an English reader from the defined senses of the component parts. These entries, preceded by a raised circle , generally appear under the entry for the first verb, if there is one, in the phrase; if there is no verb, the phrase appears under the main entry of the first salient component of the phrase. Phrasal entries include multi‑word entries called by various names: collocations, idioms and figurative idioms, idiomatic expressions, locutions, fixed phrases, phrasal expressions, phrased senses, phrasal terms, sayings, proverbs, curses, and felicitations. If the meaning is easily inferable by a reader who knows English, an expression is not listed:

aeroplani ulet the airplane lands

Instead, the dictionary includes enough information under each component to make the inferences possible.: e.g., the entry u'let, includes the sense set down, come to earth, from which the reader can infer the specific English word lands in the context of airplanes.

Variable Segments

In order to extend the reader's understanding of a collocation and make it possible to recognize other instances of the collocation in a form somewhat different from that listed in the dictionary, several devices are used. First, a rather literal translation (between quotation marks) is often provided before the rest of the definition. Second, because it is often not obvious to a foreign reader what parts of a collocation may be different without affecting the integrity of the collocation, variable components are indicated in special ways:

To save space, a slash / (= or) separates alternatives that yield the same sense in the idiom.

fle'/prehet mbi dafi'na sleep/relax on laurels to rest on one's laurels

For entries with variable constituents, several devices are used to indicate the range of variation:

In phrases with a finite verb constituent, the Albanian constituent represented by the citation form of the verb—indicated by after the verb stem—represents any of the conjugated forms of the verb. For vt (transitive) verbs, the conjugation includes all vp forms; those forms are used to express passive, reflexive, and reciprocal corresponding meanings for each of the senses defined in the main entry. For vi (intransitive) verbs, the only vp forms that occur regularly are 3rd sg forms with impersonal senses corresponding to English expressions like peshkohet mir atje there is good fishing there, s'pihej duhan there was no smoking permitted. The citation form of a passive verb constituent ends in et or het.

The variability of the English constituent that corresponds to a variable Albanian verb constituent is indicated either by an infinitive (introduced by to or not) or by a verb in italics. If the variability is limited to certain tenses, persons, or numbers, that limitation may be indicated by an italicized superscript in Albanian with corresponding italicization in the English definition.

<> ha3sg pres/imperf gjuha <>'s tongue eats <> <> cannot keep from talking

Use of Brackets

As noted above, brackets stand for essential parts of an entry required for the sense being defined. Matching brackets, square [], angle <>, or curly {} in the Albanian phrase and its English definition indicate corresponding reference between them. Square brackets are used if the bracketed component in Albanian is in the accusative case, <> if it is in the ablative/dative case, {} if it is in the nominative case.

[] ka pr nder to consider [] an honor

<> jep pazar to propose a price to <>, enter into bargaining/haggling with <>

s'merr er nga {} to be completely ignorant about {}; not suspect a thing about {}

In the English definition, the form of the bracket matches that of the Albanian, although Albanian cases do not match English ones. If the English variable would be in the possessive (genitive) case, that is indicated by 's after the brackets.

<> shkon pas bishtit go behind <>'s tail to support and encourage <>

<> rrjedh3pl syt <>'s eyes flow with tears

The brackets may be filled to indicate the scope or nature of the indirect object:

<> v balluke to put a cuckold's horns on <one's husband>: make <> a cuckold

The corresponding parts often function differently in the two languages. In the Albanian expression, <> goes with the verb to indicate the dative indirect object of the verb, while in English the corresponding expression indicates the genitive possessor of the subject, a correspondence that occurs frequently between the two languages (<>'s indicates a genitive possessor). Filling in the variable represented by <> with some examples:

m rridhnin syt my eyes were flowing with tears (literally: to me were flowing the eyes)

na rrjedhin syt our eyes are flowing with tears

ju rridhnin syt your eyes were flowing with tears

i rrjedhin syt asaj her eyes are flowing with tears

i rrjedhin syt Agimit Agim's eyes are flowing with tears

u rridhnin syt atyre their eyes were flowing with tears

Before a verb, a pair of angle brackets <> indicates that a dative indirect object is essential for the sense being defined. The pronominal proclitics that may fill this slot are:

m  1st sg

t    2nd sg

i     3rd sg

na  1st pl

ju   2nd pl

u    3rd pl or specific passive [19]

Immediately following such a pair of angle brackets <>, the variable a stands for a 3rd sg direct object which has the form a when the <> slot is filled by m, t, ju, i, or u, but the form e when it is filled by na. For example, for

<>a humb dern lose <>'s door to stop visiting <>

the a will be realized as a if <> is filled by m:

ma humbi dern lost my door he stopped visiting me

but the a will be realized as e if <> is filled by na:

na e humbi dern lost my door he stopped visiting us

Similarly, immediately following a pair of angle brackets <>, the variable i stands for a 3rd pl object that has the form i when the <> slot is filled by m, t, or na, but stands for the form a when the <> slot is filled by any other pronominal clitic. For example, for

<>i di kryqet know <>s tail bones to know <someone> intimately

the i will be realized as i if <> is filled by m:

m'i dinte kryqet knew <>s tail bones he knew me intimately

but the i will be realized as a if <> is filled by i:

ia dinte kryqet he knew her intimately

Use of Superscript

In many idioms, a verb is constrained in person and number; that constraint is indicated in superscript after the . Frequently, the constraint is that the verb is found only in a 3rd sg form with an impersonal grammatical subject, while the dative indirect object matches the subject in the equivalent English expression:

<> shkon3sg/ikn3sg bizg (it goes diarrhea for <>) <> has diarrhea

[] ha3sg ana (the side eats []) [] leans badly

Use of Slash Marks

Single‑word alternates are simply separated by /, but multi‑word alternates are separated by // and are italicized to indicate the scope of the alternation.

e ka kokn e fort//shkmb. to be hard‑headed/obstinate

The italics in the Albanian expression show that the alternation extends to e, so that the alternation is between e fort and shkmb rather than between fort and shkmb, say, or between kokn e fort and shkmb. The single‑word alternation of hard‑headed with obstinate in the definition is marked simply by the single slash "/".

Collocational Entries

 In general, an attempt is made to locate lexical collocations under the entry for the collocator (following the proposals set forth in F.J. Hausmann, "Kollokationen im deutschen Wrterbuch: ein Beitrag zur Theorie des lexikographischen Beispiels", as outlined in Morton Benson, "The Structure of the Collocational Dictionary," International Journal of Lexicography, 2: 6, 1989.

  Verb + noun collocations are defined under the verb entry.

  Adjective + noun collocations are defined under the adjective entry.

  Verb + adverb collocations are defined under the adverb entry.

  Adverb + adjective collocations are defined under the adverb entry.

  Verb + noun collocations are defined under the verb entry.

  Noun + verb collocations are defined under the verb entry.

Cross‑references

Cross‑reference serves as a shorthand device to obviate the necessity of repeating full definitions.

Cross‑reference with <

Some entries provide grammatical identification of a form, followed by the symbol < and the citation form for the main entry:[20]

lango'|nj np < langu'a

The cross‑reference here indicates that lango'|nj is the plural (np) stem of langu'a. No further definition is supplied, implying that its definition can be inferred from that of the main entry to which it is cross‑referred.

Irregular stems are separately listed, especially if their own alphabetic position would not be immediately adjacent to the main entry:

vlle'zr np < vlla'

meh| stem for pdef, opt, adm, part < men

The form vlle'zr is the plural of vlla', and meh| is the stem that is used to form the past definite, optative, admirative, and participle forms of the verb men.

The symbol < is also used to cross‑refer verbal nouns (gerunds)—indicated by the label ger —to the main verb entry that provides the underlying definition. Unless otherwise indicated, a gerund in Albanian may function like a gerund in English with the ending ‑ing in designating the process embodied in the verb; for this function, the definition in English is usually not provided. For many verbs, the corresponding gerund also designates the action or result of the verb, often corresponding to a derived noun in English ending in ‑(at)ion or ‑ment; these correspondences are not always spelled out in the gerund entry, but the reader should be ready to give such an interpretation to any gerund.

 

Cross‑reference with =

Some cross‑references, in boldface characters after an equal sign =, identify a non‑standard form (marked by an asterisk *) with the more standard one cited after the equal sign:

*kmi' = kumi'

Less often, a cross‑reference may indicate that another entry expresses a sense or set of senses in a less ambiguous or more favored way than does the cross‑referring item:

dobi|pru'r|s adj = dobi'shm

mardha' nf 1 hidden defect 2 hidden locus of a disease/illness 3= hile'

The reader who encounters forms such as ap, apim, apin, apsh will find the entry

ap| = jap|

which cross‑refers to the entry jap|, the stem for the corresponding forms jap, japim, japin, japsh. The dictionary entry

kundra|= kundr|

is expected to direct the reader puzzled by a text word like kundravajts, to the dictionary entry kundr|vajt|s. Similarly, if the text has manevrimit, manevruan, or manovrueshme,

 manevr| = manovr|

is intended to send the reader to look at the entries manovr|im, manovr|on, and manovr|ue|shm.

Occasionally, cross‑reference is made even for items that are quite equivalent:

ha'p|t|azi adv = haptas


Grammatical Sketch for Readers of Albanian

Introduction

A reader needs a certain amount of grammatical knowledge of a language in order to understand texts in that language and in order to understand the entries in a dictionary. To understand Albanian, the reader must at least distinguish between the stem of a word—the part which is listed and defined in the dictionary—and its inflections—the part which indicates or reflects the grammatical function of the word, and which is normally described in a grammatical description of the language. In addition, in any extensive reading of the language, the reader will encounter new Albanian words not listed in the dictionary; some of these will be borrowed from other languages (the lucky reader may be able to guess their meaning), some will be compounds of stems that are listed in the dictionary, and some will be formed by derivation (most usually, by adding a derivational suffix) from listed stems. No dictionary of Albanian could be large enough to include every possible inflected and derived form of Albanian words.[21]

This sketch is intended to provide a minimum of grammatical information that a reader might find useful in arriving at a reasonable reading of a text in hand; it is not intended to be a general grammar of Albanian.

For a more detailed description of Albanian grammatical forms, particularly inflectional morphology and problematic syntactic constructions, see Leonard Newmark, Philip Hubbard, and Peter Prifti, Standard Albanian: A Reference Grammar for Students, Stanford University Press, 1982.

Grammatical Categories in Albanian

Person, the distinctive reference to participants in a communication, applies to certain verb, pronoun, and adjective forms: 1st person specifically includes the speaker (singular I, me, my; plural we, us, our); 2nd person specifically includes the addressee (you, your); 3rd person includes neither the speaker nor the addressee specifically (singular he, him, his; she, her; it, its; plural they, them, their). Nouns all act as 3rd person referents.

Number, the distinction between singular and plural, is a complex category with values that transcend various grammatical classes in Albanian.

1.     A finite verb has an inflection that reflects the person and number of its subject: 1sg = I; 1pl = we; 2sg = you [individual or generic]; 2pl = you [individuals or polite individual]; 3sg = he, she, or it; 3pl = they.

2.     A singular noun may function as a 3sg subject of a verb, and a plural noun may function as a 3pl subject.

3.     There are different pronouns for singular and plural referents.

4.     The form of an adjective depends on the gender and number of its referent.

5.     The form of a proclitic attributive article depends on the case, gender and number of its referent.

6.     The form of certain determiners and pronouns reflects the number of a referent.

 

gender, the distinction between masculine and feminine, is a category that is reflected in the form of adjectives, certain determiners, and pronouns. Nouns that denote males are masculine, and nouns that denote females are feminine; the gender of all other nouns is determined by their inflectional class: nouns with nm stems are masculine, and nouns with nf stems are feminine. Nouns with n stems are masculine and take nm inflection when they designate males, but add a feminine suffix ‑e or ‑ to become feminine and take nf inflection. Nouns with np stems are more variable in gender: those that designate males and those irregularly formed from other nm stems are masculine; all others are generally feminine, although great variation is apparent in spoken and written Albanian. The gender of nouns with nn stems not only varies from speaker to speaker, but may vary from time to time for the same speaker.

Clitics

Clitics are unstressed particles that are usually written as separate words, but function as part of an adjacent word.

Verb Clitics

The most common proclitic (a clitic that precedes the word to which it is attached) in Albanian is the conjunctive t, which marks the following present or imperfect tense verb as subjunctive.

t shkoj that (he) go, that (he) be going, to go

t shkonte that (he) went, that (he) were going, that (he) would go, to go

shpreson t shkoj he hopes to go

do t shkoj he will go

do t shkonte he would go

Other common verb clitics are the negative proclitics s' (actually written as part of the following word), nuk, mos, and para (only after one of the other negative clitics):

s' do t shkoj he won't go

nuk do t shkoj he won't go

mos t shkoj he shouldn't go, lest he go, if he doesn't go

mos shkoni don't go

s'para shkoni you hardly go

Pronominal Clitics

One or two pronominal clitics are attached to verbs to indicate the person and number of an identifiable indirect object and/or direct object of the verb, whether or not that object is otherwise present in the sentence. Preceding the verb, any of the following forms may occur.

Person

Number

English equivalent

Direct Object

Indirect Object

1st

 

 

 

 

 

Singular

me

m

m

 

Plural

us

na

na

2nd

 

 

 

 

 

Singular

you

t

t

 

Plural

you

ju

ju

3rd

 

 

 

 

 

Singular

him, her, it

e

i

 

Plural

them, 'em

i

u

 

When the 3rd person object pronominal clitic e occurs in combination with any of the dative pronominal clitics (except na) or after the conjunctive proclitic t, its form is a; it is now non‑standard to include an apostrophe in those combinations, but one can still find combinations written m'a, t'a, i'a, instead of the standard forms written as one word, as illustrated below. The combination of pronominal clitics i + a is pronounced ja and is sometimes found that way in non‑standard spelling, instead of as standard ia. The pronominal clitic combination i + i sometimes appears as ia (non‑standardly ja) and sometimes as simply i. It should be pointed out also that Albanians are not consistent in forming pronominal clitic combinations with the plural indirect objects ju and u, especially in combinations with the plural 3rd person object pronominal clitic; in actual texts the forms jua, ja, and ua, and in some dialects jau, may not conform to the following formulas:

Indirect Object

   Direct Object

Combination

Example

Meaning

m

e

= ma

ma dha Agimi

Agim gave it to me

m

i

= m'i

m'i dha Agimi

Agim gave them to me

t

e

= ta

ta dha Agimi

Agim gave it to you

 

 

 

ta jap Agimi

that Agim give it

t

i

= t'i

t'i dha Agimi

Agim gave them to you

 

 

 

t'i jap Agimi

that Agim give them

na

e

= na e

na e dha Agimi

Agim gave it to us

na

i

= na i

na i dha Agimi

Agim gave them to us

ju

e

= jua

jua dha Agimi

Agim gave it to you

ju

i

= jua

jua dha Agimi

Agim gave them to you

i

e

= ia

ia dha Agimi

Agim gave it to him/her

i

i

= ia

ia dha Agimi

Agim gave them to him/her

u

e

= ua

ua dha Agimi

Agim gave it to them

u

i

= ua

ua dha Agimi

Agim gave them to them

 

In positive imperative verb forms, the pronominal clitic forms, including reflexive clitic u, may be suffixed to the stem, coming before the inflectional 2nd pl suffix ‑ni if it is present: silli bring them! sillmani bring it to me! mblidhini gather them together! mblidhuni gather yourselves together!

The Attributive Article

The form of the proclitic attributive article (i, e, t, or s) reflects the gender, number, case, definiteness and position of the referent of the articulated word. The articulated word may be:

      an attributive adjective

shtpi e madhe big house

rroba t reja new clothes

      a pronominal adjective

burri i saj her husband

librat e tij his books

nna e tyre their mother

      a noun that indicates a close (inalienable) social relationship to a third person:

e ma his/her/their mother

i kunati his/her/their brother‑in‑law

i zoti his/her/their master/lord

      a nominalized adjective (see p.xlv) or articulated noun (see p. xix)

 

If the article is i:     the referent is masculine and in the nominative case.

If the article is s:   the referent is feminine and in the dative or ablative case.

If the article is e:    the referent is either feminine and in the nominative case;

            or the referent is definite, either nominative or accusative,

            and immediately precedes the articulated word.

If the article is t:   the referent is something other than these.

 

In summary:

 

masculine

feminine

plural

nominative

i

e

t or e[22]

accusative

t or e[23]

t or e[24]

t or e[25]

dative/ablative

t

t or s[26]

t

 

Full Words

Verbs
Tense

Every verb has a paradigm of finite forms, also termed its "conjugation", consisting of three sets of tenses: General, Special, and Perfect. A tense is a set of finite verb forms identical in every way except for their marking of person and number of the subject of the verb.

Many verbs have slightly different stems for their General tense forms than for their Special tense forms. All verbs form their Perfect tenses with their participle, preceded by a form of an auxiliary verb: for active verb forms, the auxiliary verb is ka; for passive verb forms, the auxiliary verb is sht.

General Tenses

The General tenses have quite general uses, depicting events or situations in relation to time that is dependent on the linguistic and real world context in which the verb is embedded. The General tenses are present and imperfect. The Imperative mood of most verbs uses the same stem as the General tenses and is included here for that reason.

The present tense may be used to make generic statements of present validity, as well as to depict ongoing, continuing, or habitual events or situations in the present time. in a narrative context, it may vividly represent events or situations in the past. after the conjunctive clitic t, present tense forms become subjunctive. present tense subjunctive forms in turn may be used as suggestive (shall we go?), or may follow the particle do to form a volitional future (we will go), the particle le to form a jussive mood (lets go!), or the particle po to form a simple hypothetical (if we go).

The imperfect tense may be used to make generic statements of past validity, as well as to depict ongoing, continuing, or habitual events or situations in the past time. in a narrative context, it may represent events or situations continuing over a period in the past. after the conjunctive clitic t, present tense forms become past subjunctive. imperfect subjunctive forms in turn may be used as a contrary‑to‑fact hypothetical (if we went), or may follow the particle do to form the conditional (we would go [if ]!), or the particle po to form a contrary‑to‑expectation hypothetical (if we would go).

Imperative mood forms express orders and commands. For all verbs, the formal imperative—addressed to one or more individuals—is the same as the informal one, with the suffix ‑ni tacked on at the end. For most verbs, the informal imperative form—addressed to an individual—is identical with its citation form. for verbs with a variable stem vowel e in the citation form, the informal imperative has the stem vowel i. Some V‑stem verbs add a suffix ‑j after the vowel

Special Tenses

The Special tenses are past definite, optative, and admirative, which have quite specific uses.

The past definite tense implies that the event or situation it depicts is anterior to a sharp boundary between present and past. While in its usual use is as a simple past tense, it may also be used in announcements of a projected past:

(Haven't you left yet?) Tani shkova. I'm leaving right now! I've already left. Largohu se t shtypa. Scram or I'll run you over!

Optative mood forms express wishes, whether for something good (as in felicitations) or something bad (as in curses); after the particle n for contrary‑to‑fact conditionals (if we were to go).

Admirative tenses (present and past) make contrary‑to‑expectation statements; they typically express surprise or amazement.

Perfect Tenses

The Perfect tenses are present perfect (called perfect for short), past perfect, and pluperfect, which all depict events or situations previous to a reference point in time.

The present perfect implies that the event or situation it depicts is previous to a reference point in the present (we have gone). There is overlap between the scope of the past definite and present perfect, and speakers vary in whether they use the one or the other to express the same idea in the same situation.

The past perfect implies that the event or situation it depicts is previous to a reference point in the past (we had gone).

The Pluperfect implies that the event or situation it depicts is previous to a reference point prior to another reference point in the past (we had gone). This tense is quite rare in actual texts.

Voice

For each tense there are two subsets of voice forms: active and passive. A voice is a set of verb forms that reflect the role of the grammatical subject of a verb with respect to the agent and object (if any) of the verb. active forms indicate that the effect of the verb is external to the subject. passive forms indicate that the effect of the verb is on the subject itself. .In a passive form the verb may express passive, reciprocal, or reflexive senses.

passive senses are those for which the subject of a verb is the object of the action of the verb.

la'hen they are washed

Reciprocal senses are those for which the subjects of a verb indiscriminately serve as agents and objects of the action of the verb.

la'hen they wash each another

Reflexive senses are those for which the subject of a verb is simultaneously both the agent and the object of the action of the verb.

la'hen they wash themselves

middle senses are those in which the subject of a verb is depicted as engaging or becoming engaged in the action without necessarily being its active agent or passive object

la'hen they bathe/wash; they get exonerated; they clear up; they have diarrhea; they spawn

impersonal senses express the general possibility (permissibility or capability) of the action represented by a verb in a 3rd sg passive form with an unexpressed subject.

la'het washing is possible (permitted/feasible)

Verb Stems

Every verb form in Albanian contains a stem and one or more suffixes. Many suffixes have different forms that depend on the form of the verb. In general, verb stems that end in a consonant are referred to as C‑stems, those ending in a vowel, as V‑stems.

Regular Stems

Regularly formed variants of stems are generally not listed in this dictionary. For the vast majority of verbs, those variants are regularly determinable from the citation form alone.

Every V‑stem regularly has an extension ‑v‑ before the 1st and 2nd sg pdef suffixes ‑a and ‑e, respectively, and ‑f‑ before the optative extension ‑sh‑:

 

Citation form

forc|o'n

gnj|e'n

la'n

shkru'an

zhy'en

1st sg pdef

forc|o'|v|a

gnj|e'|v|a

la'|v|a

shkr|o'|v|a

zh|e'|v|a

2nd sg pdef

forc|o'|v|e

gnj|e'|v|e

la'|v|e

shkr|o'|v|e

zh|e'|v|e

1st sg opt

forc|o'|f|sh|a

gnj|e'|f|sha

la'|f|sh|a

shkr|o'|f|sh|a

zh|e'|f|sh|a

1st pl opt

forc|o'|f|sh|im

gnj|e'|f|sh|im

la'|f|sh|im

shkr|o'|f|sh|im

zh|e'|f|sh|im

 

Every verb whose citation form ends in t has an unlisted alternant stem with s rather than t in the 3rd sg active impf form:

 

Citation form

strvi't

diha't

3rd sg active impf

strvi'ste

diha'ste

 

C‑stems, are of three kinds:

1) The stem is invariable.

2) The final consonant of the stem changes before the suffix ‑j.

3) The vowel preceding the final consonant of the stem changes when the suffix ‑n follows.

In citation forms of active verbs (those marked vt or vi), an italicized stressed e (as in the citation form mbledh) or je (as in the citation form rrjep) indicates that the stem will have i' instead in:

the 2nd person plural of the present tense: e.g., mbli'dh‑ni; rri'p‑ni

the past indefinite tense: e.g., mbli'dh‑ja, mbli'dh‑te, mbli'dh‑nin, rri'p‑ja, rri'p‑te, rri'p‑nin

the imperative mood: e.g., mblidh, mbli'dh‑ni, rrip, rri'p‑ni

the passive present and past indefinite tenses: e.g., mbli'dh‑et, mbli'dh‑eshim; rri'p‑et, rri'p‑eshim

In citation forms of active verbs, an italicized final jek (as in the citation form pjek) or jeg (as in the citation form djeg) indicates that the stem will have i'q or i'gj, respectively, instead in:

the 2nd person plural of the present tense: e.g., pi'q‑ni; di'gj‑ni

the past indefinite tense: e.g., pi'q‑ja, pi'q‑te, pi'q‑nin; di'gj‑ja, di'gj‑te, di'gj‑nin

the imperative mood: e.g., piq, pi'q‑ni; digj, di'gj‑ni

the passive present and past indefinite tenses: pi'q‑et, pi'q‑eshim; di'gj‑et, di'gj‑eshim

In citation forms of active verbs, an italicized final stressed je plus dh, l, r, ll, rr, g, k, or p: jell (as in the citation form mbjell), jel (as in the citation form vjel), jerr (as in the citation form nxjerr), or edh (as in the citation form mbledh) indicates that the stem will have o' instead in:

the singular past definite tense: e.g., pi'q‑ja, pi'q‑te, pi'q‑nin; di'gj‑ja, di'gj‑te, di'gj‑nin

the imperative mood: e.g., piq, pi'q‑ni; digj, di'gj‑ni

the passive present and past indefinite tenses: pi'q‑et, pi'q‑eshim; di'gj‑et, di'gj‑eshim

The citation form mbledh represents the forms mbledh|, mblidh| and mblodh|, each of which serves as a stem with the basic senses listed under the citation form, but with a different set of inflections. The citation form merr, with variable e and rr represents the irregularly formed stems mor|, muar|, marr| and mirr|, and pjek represents pjek|, piq|, and poq|.

Invariable Stems

Verbs with a C-stem ending in c, d, gj, m, nj, s, th, v, x, or z in the citation form have the stem for all tenses. For all other C-stem verbs also have a single stem form for all tenses, unless

Verbs with V‑stems have extensions before most suffixes that begin with a vowel.

Thematic Verb Stems

Large numbers of verb stems, including both those in this dictionary as well as freshly formed ones, are formed by adding a thematic suffix to a base or stem: ‑o' or ‑e' produces V‑stems; ‑e't, ‑i't, or ‑o's produces C‑stems.

In particular, every verb whose citation form stem ends in thematic o' (the largest class of verbs in Albanian) or thematic e', has an unlisted, but regular alternate stem with u'a or y'e, respectively, instead of the thematic vowel in the participle, the 1st pl pdef, 2nd pl pdef, 3rd pl pdef, 3rd sg passive pdef, 3rd sg passive pdef, and (optionally) any admirative form:

 

Citation form

forc|o'n

gnj|e'n

participle

forc|u'a|r

gnj|y'e|r

1st pl pdef

forc|u'a|m

gnj|y'e|m

2nd pl pdef

forc|u'a|t

gnj|y'e|t

3rd pl pdef

forc|u'a|n

gnj|y'e|n

3rd sg passive pdef

u forc|u'a

u gnj|y'e

3rd sg admirative

forc|u'a|ka

gnj|y'e|ka

 

If the stem of the citation form of the verb ends in a two‑vowel sequence u'a or y'e, only the first vowel of the sequence remains before the passive voice marker ‑he‑; the stem vowel becomes o' or e', respectively, before the v and f extensions:

 

Citation form

shkru'an

zhy'en

3rd sg pres

shkr|u'|het

zh|y'|het

3rd pl impf

shkr|u'|heshin

zh|y'|heshin

1st sg pdef

shkr|o'|va

zh|e'|va

2nd sg pdef

shkr|o'|ve

zh|e'|ve

1st sg opt

shkr|o'|fsha

zh|e'|fsha

1st pl opt

shkr|o'|fshim

zh|e'|fshim

 

Irregular Stems

Variants of verb stems that are not determinable from the citation form are listed in their own alphabetically placed entry and cross‑referred to the main entry for the verb:

vde'k| stem for part, opt, adm < vdes

vde'k|ur part < vdes

vdes vi

vdi'q| stem for pdef < vdes

vdi's| stem for 2nd pl pres, impf, imper, vp < vdes

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since the uses of passive forms for transitive and intransitive verbs are quite general and automatic, they are not generally listed as separate senses in the main entries of those verbs. In interpreting a particular passive form, the reader of Albanian must keep in mind the possibility that that form may represent a passive, reciprocal, reflexive, or impersonal sense of a transitive or intransitive verb not specifically listed in the dictionary, as well as one of the listed senses of a reflexive verb.

Formation of Tenses

General Considerations

The particular combination of stem form with suffixes signals the cluster of grammatical categories expressed by the verb, in addition to the senses of the verb stem as described in the dictionary. Verbs are traditionally classified into conjugation classes according to the pattern exhibited by their stem and suffix alternants. The problem with this classification is that so many verbs exhibit parts of different patterns as to necessitate sub‑classes within subclasses, and exception upon exception. Instead, this dictionary simply lists most stem alternants in ordinary alphabetical order.

The form of a verb in a text reflects the Person and Number of its subject and simultaneously its Voice, Mood, Tense, and Aspect; in the imperative mood the verb form may also reflect the person and number of its direct and/or indirect object.

In this section, rules are provided for combining stem forms with suffixes to help the reader recognize essentially all the forms of any conjugation, given the citation stem form and the stem alternant. In the Reverse List of Possible Word Endings in Albanian, p. xlix, a list of possible terminations of Albanian words is given in reverse alphabetical order, to permit a reader to identify most of the possible interpretations of any final sequence of letters in a word found in an Albanian text.

A transitive verb (vt) potentially has 58 different inflected forms: 3 persons (1st, 2nd, 3rd) times 2 numbers (sg, pl) times 3 primary tenses (pres, impf, pdef) times 2 voices (active, reflexive); plus 2 present subjunctive forms (2nd sg, 3rd sg); plus 3 persons times 2 numbers times 2 tenses (present, past) times 1 mood (admirative); plus 3 persons times 2 numbers (optative); plus 2 imperative forms (2nd sg, 2nd pl). In addition, the participle derived from the verb may be used in perfect constructions with any of 48 forms of 2 auxiliary verbs (ka, sht) for a total of 154 forms, not even counting the syntactic constructions of the particle do + subjunctive forms that serve as future tense and conditional mood functions, constructions of the particle mund + subjunctive forms that serve as a possibilitive mood, constructions of the auxiliary verb sht + duke + participle that serve to form progressive tenses, constructions of particles s', nuk, or mos + any of the other forms to form negative expressions, use of the prepositions me or pr to form an infinitive‑like construction, the preposition pa + participle to form a privative construction, or the preposition para with negative present and imperfect constructions that parallel English expressions with hardly ever.

A verb labeled vi or vp has something more than half this number of forms.

Formation Rules

While this rich array of forms looks very complicated at first sight, for most verbs only a few, quite consistent elements and rules determine each form, given the stem. Irregular verb forms that deviate from these rules are listed separately in the dictionary, identified, and cross‑referred to their main entry:

ha'|m 1st pl pres < ha

Sound/Letter combination rules

       An initial evanescent in a suffix drops if a vowel precedes; a final evanescent in a suffix appears only if the vowel in the preceding syllable is stressed.

       The unstressed vowel ‑i becomes ‑j between a vowel and a following consonant.

       The combination tsh may be spelled or t or tsh.

       sh may become when it follows n, r, rr, l, or ll.

Person‑number rules

Present tense

The marker of 2pl forms (active, passive, and imperative) is the ending ni

       For most V‑stems, the person‑number ending ‑j (‑nj in Tosk) marks the 1sg pres, and the person‑number ending ‑n marks both the 2sg pres and 3sg pres forms.

The verbs pi, ha, di, do, bi'e, shpi'e, shti'e, ve'te, and for some speakers, blen have no person‑number ending for pres 1sg, 2sg, and 3sg, and have no plural extension ‑i before in their pres pl forms.

       For most C‑stem verbs, the pres 1sg, 2sg, and 3sg forms have no person‑number ending.

       C‑stem verbs that have the variable vowel e all have i instead in their pres 2pl form.

       C‑stem verbs that end in the variable consonant t have s instead in their pres 1sg, pres 1pl, pres 3pl, pres subjunctive 2sg and pres subjunctive 3sg forms.

       Some C‑stem verbs that have the variable vowel e have the vowel a or o instead in those forms as well. These stem forms are separately listed in the body of the dictionary.

Non‑present tense

       The marker of 1sg forms is the ending ‑a.

       The marker of 2sg forms is the ending ‑e.

       The marker of 1pl forms is the ending ‑ m.

       The marker of 2pl forms is the ending ‑ t.

       The marker of 3pl forms is the ending ‑ n.

Subjunctive

       The marker of pres subjunctive 2sg is the ending ‑()sh.

The appears only after C‑stems.

       The marker of pres subjunctive 3sg is the ending ‑(j).

The j appears only after V‑stems.

       All other forms of the subjunctive following the subjunctive particle t (pres and impf only) are the same as the pres and impf forms of the verb.

Miscellaneous

       The marker of 1pl forms for passive pres forms, as well as for the verbs thot, ka, sht, and for some speakers, vete, is the ending ‑mi.

Extension rules

       Except in pdef forms, 2pl forms with ‑ni, and 1pl forms with ‑mi, an unstressed extension ‑i appears immediately before plural person‑number endings.

       Following the passive extension, the marker for passive impf forms is the extension ‑sh‑, which was formerly the marker of all impf forms.

Active

       The marker of sg impf forms is the extension ‑j‑.

       The marker of pl impf forms is the extension ‑n‑.

Passive

       The marker of passive forms in General tenses, is the extension ‑( h)e‑.

The h appears only after V‑stems.

       In all Special tenses, the passive is marked by the reflexive proclitic u preceding the active form.

Optative

       The marker for most optative forms is the extension ‑(f)sh‑.

f appears only after V‑stems.

       The marker of optative 3sg is the ending ‑(f)t.

f appears only after V‑stems.

Admirative

The marker for admirative forms is the extension ‑k and the endings are those of the auxiliary verb ka.

The greatest deviation from these generalizations is shown in the singular tense forms of the present tense, and in the markers of 3sg. As for present tense forms:

Third person singular

The markers of 3sg are different for each tense.

       The marker of impf 3sg is the ending ‑(n)te.

The n appears only after V‑stems.

C‑stem verbs that end in t or t have s instead before the ‑te.

       The marker of passive pres 3sg is the ending ‑t.

       The marker of passive impf 3sg is the ending ‑j.

       The marker of pdef 3sg is the ending ‑i after o' or any consonant except g, k, or h.

       The marker of pdef 3sg is the ending ‑u after a stem ending in one of the vowels a, e, i, or y, or a consonants g, k, or h

       The marker of passive pdef 3sg is the proclitic u followed by the bare Special stem of the verb with no person‑number ending: mblodhi he gathered [] (active form) vs. u mblodh he huddled up (passive form)

 

Person‑Number Endings

The following tables show the interplay among stem types and tenseRecognizing Present Tense Forms

Present tense forms are the most difficult to recognize because there is no overt marker of the tense. The characterisic termination of the present tense form is different for different classes of stems. The relevant classes are:Stems which end in

Ia    a consonant orther than t

Ib    t

Ic    eC

IIa    a single vowel or u'a

IIb    i'e

IIc    A, I

i'e    other vowels

After    most V-stems    i'e    special monosyllabic V-stems    most C-stems    t   

1sg    f

    thematic

The largest set of V‑stems have a variable final vowel o' in the citation form (listed in the dictionary), which stands for o' in general tense forms and u'a thematic‑vowel stems in specific and perfect tense forms. A much smaller number of V‑stems have a final vowel in the citation form than (V'‑stems), plain‑vowel stems (V`‑stems), variable‑consonant stems (C‑stems), and plain consonant stems (C`‑stems). For many forms the choice of suffix form depends only on whether the stem terminates in a vowel (V‑stem) or a consonant (C‑stem).

 

After thematic V

After athematic V

 

present

past definite

present

past definite

person

singular

plural

singular

plural

singular

plural

singular

plural

1st

‑j

‑jm

‑va

‑m

-

‑m

  ‑a

‑m

2nd

‑n

‑ni

‑ve

‑t

-

‑ni

  ‑e

‑t

3rd

‑n

‑jn

‑u or ‑i (after o')

‑n

-

‑n

  ‑u

‑n

Group I, stems whose citation form ends in the thematic vowel o', is by far the most largest and the most productive: new verbs, including those borrowed from other languages, typically fall into this group. The citation form Group I, stems whose citation form ends in the thematic vowel o', is by far the most largest and the most productive: new verbs, including those borrowed from other languages, typically fall into this group. The citation form

Table showing the most common inflectional endings that mark the person/number of the subject of a verb:

 

present

other

 

singular

plural

singular

plural

 

after most V‑stems

after most C‑stems

after most V‑stems

after most C‑stems

 

 

1st person

‑j

-

‑jm

‑im

‑a

()m()

2nd person

‑n

-

‑ni

‑ni

‑e

()t()

3rd person

‑n

-

‑jn

‑in

‑i/‑u/-

()n()


Group I, stems whose citation form ends in the thematic vowel o', is by far the most largest and the most productive: new verbs, including those borrowed from other languages, typically fall into this group. The citation form Group I, stems whose citation form ends in the thematic vowel o', is by far the most largest and the most productive: new verbs, including those borrowed from other languages, typically fall into this group. The citation form

Regular Verbs: Inflectional Endings

 

 

Regular V‑stems

Regular C‑stems

ACTIVE

o'‑stems

u'astems

e'‑stems

y'estems

other V‑stems

most Cstems

Vt stems

Vt stems

eCstems

pres

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'j

u'aj

e'j

y'ej

V'j

C

Vt

Vs

eC

2

o'n

u'an

e'n

y'en

V'n

C

Vt

Vt

eC

3

o'n

u'an

e'n

y'en

V'n

C

Vt

Vt

eC

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'jm

u'ajm

e'jm

y'ejm

V'jm

Cim

Vtim

Vsim

eCim

2

o'ni

u'ani

i'ni or e'ni

y'eni

V'ni

Cni

Vtni

Vtni

iCni

3

o'jn

u'ajn

e'jn

y'ejn

V'jn

Cin

Vtin

Vsin

eCin

pres subjunctive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

o'sh

u'ash

e'sh

y'esh

V'sh

Csh

Vtsh

Vssh

eCsh

3

o'j

u'aj

e'j

y'ej

V'j

C

Vt

Vs

eC

impf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'ja

u'aja

e'ja

y'eja

V'ja

Cja

Vtja

Vtja

iCja

2

o'je

u'aje

e'je

y'eje

V'je

Cje

Vtje

Vtje

iCje

3

o'nte

u'ante

e'nte

y'ente

V'nte

Cte

Vste

Vste

iCte

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'nim

u'anim

e'nim

y'enim

V'nim

Cnim

Vtnim

Vtnim

iCnim

2

o'nit

u'anit

e'nit

y'enit

V'nit

Cnit

Vtnit

Vtnit

iCnit

3

o'nin

u'anin

e'nin

y'enin

V'nin

Cnin

Vtnin

Vtnin

iCnin

pdef

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'va

o'va

e'va

e'va

V'va

Ca

Vta

Vta

iCa

2

o've

o've

e've

e've

V've

Ce

Vte

Vte

iCe

3

o'i

o'i

e'u

e'u

V'u

Ci[27]

Vti

Vti

iCi

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

u'am

u'am

y'em

y'em

V'm

Cm

Vtm

Vtm

iCm

2

u'at

u'at

y'et

y'et

V't

Ct

Vtt

Vtt

iCt

3

u'an

u'an

y'en

y'en

V'n

Cn

Vtn

Vtn

iCn

optative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'fsha

o'fsha

e'fsha

e'fsha

V'fsha

Csha

Vtsha

Vtsha

iCsha

2

o'fsh

o'fsh

e'fsh

e'fsh

V'fsh

Csh

Vtsh

Vtsh

iCsh

3

o'ft

o'ft

e'ft

e'ft

V'ft

Ct

Vtt

Vtt

iCt

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'fshim

o'fshim

e'fshim

e'fshim

V'fshim

Cshim

Vtshim

Vtshim

iCshim

2

o'fshit

o'fshit

e'fshit

e'fshit

V'fshit

Cshit

Vtshit

Vtshit

iCshit

3

o'fshin

o'fshin

e'fshin

e'fshin

V'fshin

Cshin

Vtshin

Vtshin

iCshin

imperative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

o'

u'aj

e'

y'ej

V'j

C

Vt

Vt

iC

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

o'ni

u'ani

e'ni

y'eni

V'ni

Cni

Vtni

Vtni

iCni

participle

u'ar

u'ar

y'er

y'er

V'r

Cur

Vtur

Vtur

iCur

 


 

 

Regular V‑stems

Regular C‑stems

PASSIVE[28]

o'‑stems

u'a‑stems

e'‑stems

y'e ‑stems

other V‑stems

most C‑stems

Vtstems &

Vtstems

eC‑stems

pres

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'hem

u'hem

e'hem

y'hem

V'hem

Cem

V'tem

 

iCem

2

o'hesh

u'hesh

e'hesh

y'hesh

V'hesh

Cesh

V'tesh

 

iCesh

3

o'het

u'het

e'het

y'het

V'het

Cet

V'tet

 

iCet

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'hemi

u'hemi

e'hemi

y'hemi

V'hemi

Cemi

V'temi

 

iCemi

2

o'heni

u'heni

e'heni

y'heni

V'heni

Ceni

V'teni

 

iCeni

3

o'hen

u'hen

e'hen

y'hen

V'hen

Cen

V'ten

 

iCen

impf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'hesha

u'hesha

e'hesha

y'hesha

V'hesha

Cesha

V'tesha

 

iCesha

2

o'heshe

u'heshe

e'heshe

y'heshe

V'heshe

Ceshe

V'teshe

 

iCeshe

3

o'hej

u'hej

e'hej

y'hej

V'hej

Cej

V'tej

 

iCej

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

o'heshim

u'heshim

e'heshim

y'heshim

V'heshim

Ceshim

V'teshim

 

iCeshim

2

o'heshit

u'heshit

e'heshit

y'heshit

V'heshit

Ceshit

V'teshit

 

iCeshit

3

o'heshin

u'heshin

e'heshin

y'heshin

V'heshin

Ceshin

V'teshin

 

iCeshin

imperative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

o'hu

u'hu

e'hu

y'hu

V'hu

Cu

V'tu

 

iCu

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

o'huni

u'huni

e'huni

y'huni

V'huni

Cuni

V'tuni

 

iCuni

 


Irregular Verbs

 

di

do

flet

ha

ik

jep

pres

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

di'

du'a

flas

ha'

i'ki

jap

2

di'

do

flet

ha'

i'kn

jep

3

di'

do

flet

ha'

i'kn

jep

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

di'm

du'am

fla'sim

ha'm

i'kim

ja'pim

2

di'ni

do'ni

fli'tni or fli'sni

ha'ni

i'kni

je'pni or ji'pni or i'pni

3

di'n

du'an

fla'sin

ha'n

i'kin

ja'pin

pres subjunctive

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

di'sh

du'ash

fla'ssh

ha'sh

i'ksh

ja'psh

3

di'j

do'j

fla's

ha'j

i'k

ja'p

impf

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

di'ja

doja

fli'tja or fli'sja

ha'ja

i'kja

je'pja or ji'pja or i'pja

2

di'je

doje

fli'tje or fli'sje

ha'je

i'kje

je'pje or ji'pje or i'pje

3

di'nte

donte

fli'ste

ha'nte

i'kte

je'pte or ji'pte or i'pte

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

di'nim

donim

fli'tnim or fli'snim

ha'nim

i'knim

je'pnim or ji'pnim or i'pnim

2

di'nit

donit

fli'tnit or fli'snit

ha'nit

i'knit

je'pnit or ji'pnit or i'pnit

3

di'nin

donin

fli'tnin or fli'snin

ha'nin

i'knin

je'pnin or ji'pnin or i'pnin

pdef

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

di'ta

de'sha

fo'la

h'ngra

i'ka

dha'sh

2

di''te

de'she

fo'le

h'ngre

i'ke

dhe

3

di'ti

de'shi

fo'li

h'ngri

i'ku

dha

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

di'tm

de'shm

fo'lm

h'ngrm

i'km

dha'm

2

di'tt

de'sht

fo''lt

h'ngrt

i'kt

dha't

3

di'tn

de'shn

fo'ln

h'ngrn

i'kn

dha'n

optative

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

di'tsha

da'a

fo'lsha

ngr'nsha

i'ksha

dh'na

2

ditsh

da

folsh

ngrnsh

iksh

dh'n

3

di'tt

da'sht

fo'lt

ngr'nt

i'kt

dh'nt

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

di'tshim

da'im

fo'lshim

ngr'nshim

i'kshim

dh'nim

2

di'tshit

da'i

fo'lshit

ngr'nshit

i'kshit

dh'nit

3

di'tshin

da'in

fo'lshin

ngr'nshin

i'kshin

dh'nin

imperative

 

 

 

 

 

 

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

di

du'aj

fol

ha

ik

jep or jip or nm

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

di'ni

do'ni

fli'tni or fli'sni

ha'ni

i'kni

je'pni or ji'pni or n'mni

 


 

 

pi

tho't

ve'te

vjen

vjedh

vret

z'

pres

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

pi

them

ve'te

vij

vjedh

vras

z'

2

pi

thu'a

ve'te

vjen

vjedh

vret

z'

3

pi

tho't

ve'te

vjen

vjedh

vret

z'

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

pi'm

the'mi

ve'm or ve'mi

vi'jm

vje'dhim

vra'sim

z'm

2

pi'ni

tho'ni

vi'ni

 

vi'dhni

vri'tni or vri'sni

zi'ni

3

pi'n

tho'n

ve'n

vi'jn

vje'dhin

vra'sin

z'n

pres subjunctive

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

pi'sh

thu'ash

ve'sh

vi'sh

vje'dhsh

vra'ssh

z'sh

3

pi'j

tho't

ve'j

vi'j

vje'dh

vra's

z'r

impf

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

pi'ja

tho'sha or tho'ja

vi'ja

vi'dhja

vri'tja or vri'sja

zi'ja

2

pi'je

tho'she or tho'je

vi'je

vi'dhje

vri'tje or vri'sje

zi'je

3

pi'nte

tho'shte or tho'nte

vi'nte

vi'dhte

vri'ste

zi'nte

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

pi'nim

tho'shnim or tho'nim

vi'nim

vi'dhnim

vri'tnim or vri'snim

zi'nim

2

pi'nit

tho'shnit or tho'nit

vi'nit

vi'dhnit

vri'tnit or vri'snit

zi'nit

3

pi'nin

tho'shnin or tho'nin

vi'nin

vi'dhnin

vri'tnin or vri'snin

zi'nin

pdef

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

pi'va

tha'sh

va'jta

e'rdha

vo'dha

vri'ta

zu'ra

2

pi've

the

va'jte

e'rdhe

vo'dhe

vri'te

zu're

3

pi'u

tha

va'jti

e'rdhi

vo'dhi

vri'ti

zu'ri

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

pi'm

tha'm

va'jtm

e'rdhm

vo'dhm

vri'tm

zu'm

2

pi't

tha't

va'jtt

e'rdht

vo'dht

vri'tn

zu't

3

pi'n

tha'n

va'jtn

e'rdhn

vo'dhn

vri'tn

zu'n

optative

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

pi'fsha

th'na

va'fsha

a'rdhsha

vo'dhsha

vra'fsha

z'na

2

pifsh

th'n

vafsh

a'rdhsh

vo'dhsh

vra'fsh

zn

3

pi'ft

th'nt

va'ft

a'rdht

vo'dht

vra'ft

z'nt

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

pi'fshim

th'nim

va'fshim

a'rdhshim

vo'dhshim

vra'fshim

z'nim

2

pi'fshit

th'nit

va'fshit

a'rdhshit

vo'dhshit

vra'fshit

z'nit

3

pi'fshin

th'nin

va'fshin

a'rdhshin

vo'dhshin

vra'fshin

z'nin

imperative

sg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

pi

thu'aj

 

e'ja

vidh

vrit

z'r

pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

pi'ni

tho'ni

 

e'jani

vi'dhni

vri'tni

zi'ni


 

 

bi'e1

bi'e2

shpi'e

shti'e

pres

sg

 

 

 

1

bi'e

shpi'e

shti'e

2

bi'e

shpi'e

shti'e

3

bi'e

shpi'e

shti'e

pl

 

 

 

1

bi'em

shpi'em

shti'em

2

bi'ni

shpi'ni

shti'ni

3

bi'en

shpi'en

shti'en

pres subjunctive

sg

 

 

 

2

bi'esh

shpi'esh

shti'esh

3

bje'r

shpje'r

shtje'r

impf

sg

 

 

 

1

bi'ja

shpi'ja

shti'ja

2

bi'je

shpi'je

shti'je

3

bi'nte

shpi'nte

shti'nte

pl

 

 

 

1

bi'nim

shpi'nim

shti'nim

2

bi'nit

shpi'nit

shti'nit

3

bi'nin

shpi'nin

shti'nin

pdef

sg

 

 

 

 

1

ra'sh

pru'ra

shpu'ra

shti'va

2

re

pru're

shpu're

shti've

3

ra

pru'ri

shpu'ri

shti'u

pl

 

 

 

 

1

ra'm

pru'm

shpu'm

shti'm

2

ra't

pru't

shpu't

shti't

3

ra'n

pru'n

shpu'n

shti'n

optative

sg

 

 

 

 

1

r'na

pru'fsha

shp'na

sht'nsha

2

rn

prufsh

shpn

shtnsh

3

r'nt

pru'ft

shp'nt

sht'nt

pl

 

 

 

 

1

r'nim

pru'fshim

shp'nim

sht'nshim

2

r'nit

pru'fshit

shp'nit

sht'nshit

3

r'nin

pru'fshin

shp'nin

sht'nshin

imperative

sg

 

 

 

 

2

bje'r

bje'r

shpjer

shtjer

pl

 

 

 

 

2

bi'ni

bi'ni

shpi'ni

shti'ni

 


Participles

The typical marker of a participle is ‑r (‑n or ‑m or - in Gheg). After a regular verb stem ending in a consonant, the participial ending is ‑ur (‑un in Gheg) ; after a regular verb stem ending in an unstressed vowel, the participial ending is ‑r (‑m, ‑m or - in Gheg); after a regular verb stem ending in a stressed vowel,[29] the participial ending is ‑r (- in Gheg); after a verb stem ending in a stressed variable , the participial ending is ‑n (no such verb stems in Gheg); after a verb stem ending in err (and for some verb stems, jell or edh) the participial ending in Gheg may be ‑.

 

Verb stem ends in:

Stem

Participle

(in Gheg)

a consonant

var, prit|, hekuro's

va'rur, pri'tur, hekuro'sur

va'run, pri'tun, hekuro'sun

an unstressed vowel

kuptu'a, ly'e

kuptu'ar, ly'er

kuptu'em, ly'em

or

kuptu'e, ly'e

or

kuptu', ly'

a stressed vowel

b (b in Gheg)

a, lpi'

b'r

a'r, lpi'r

ba'm, bam, b

, lp

stressed variable

v', parath'

v'n, parath'n

v'n, parath'n

err

 

jell

edh

jerr

shqerr

mbjell

mbledh

je'rrur

shqe'rrur

mbje'llur

mble'dhur

je'rr or je'rrun, shqe'rr or shqe'rrun

mbje'll or mbje'llun mble'dh or mble'dhun

 

Nouns
Noun Stems

A noun stem is labeled nm, nf, np, n, or nn, according to which set of case suffixes it takes, its declension.

For most nouns, the grammatical label following a noun stem (nm, nf, np, nn —masculine, feminine, plural, neuter, respectively) is sufficient to indicate its declension and its gender agreement—that is, the form of variable pronouns, adjectives, adjectival articles, and determiners that have that noun as referent. For exceptional words, its declension and its gender are both listed:

g'rxho nf with masculine agreement 1 old man suffering from senility 2 uncultivated person, boor

Nouns that have nm stems serve as masculine referents, and unless otherwise specified, nouns that have nf stems serve as feminine referents.

For an nm stem, there are four distinct case forms: the uninflected form, which serves as the nominative/accusative indefinite case of the noun; the oblique form with the inflectional suffix ‑i or ‑u (after stems that end in a stressed vowel, g, k, or h), which serves as both the nominative definite and the ablative/dative indefinite case of the noun; the oblique form plus the inflectional suffix ‑n, which serves as the accusative definite case of the noun;[30] and the oblique form plus the inflectional suffix ‑t, which serves as the ablative/dative indefinite case of the noun.

For an nf stem, there are five distinct case forms: the uninflected form, which serves as the nominative/accusative indefinite case of the noun; the nominative definite form with the inflectional suffix ‑a or ‑ja (after stems ending in any vowel other than ); the accusative definite form with the inflectional suffix ‑n or ‑n (after stems that end in a stressed vowel); the ablative/dative definite form with the inflectional suffix ‑s or ‑s (after stems that end in a stressed vowel); and the ablative/dative indefinite form with the inflectional suffix ‑e or ‑je (after stems ending in any vowel other than ). If the nf stem ends in the unstressed vowel e, that vowel drops when the ‑ja suffix is added, and it may or may not drop when the ‑je suffix is added:[31] nf lule flower, lulja (nominative definite), lulje or luleje (ablative/dative indefinite)

For an np stem, there are four distinct case forms: the uninflected form, which serves as the nominative/accusative indefinite case of the noun; the nominative definite form with the inflectional suffix ‑t, -t (after stems that end in a stressed vowel), -t (after stems ending in a consonant), or -it (after stems that end in a derivational suffix -s or -r); the ablative/dative—indefinite or definite— form with the inflectional suffix ‑ve;[32] and the ablative indefinite form with the inflectional suffix ‑sh.

For most nouns, the plural stem (np) is derived from a singular (nm, nf, n) stem by adding a suffix -,[33]‑a, ‑e, ‑, or ‑ra. Stems so formed are listed in this dictionary only when the np stem has different or more limited senses or uses than the singular form. Readers must be open to the possibility that a stem with any of these suffixes may have an interpretation as a plural, since there is in fact great variability in noun‑plural formation in both spoken and written Albanian. The senses of such plural nouns are just the plural of the senses of the underlying nm or nf stem. Nouns with np stems, plural determiners and pronouns, and compound phrases composed of nouns and/or pronouns may all serve as plural referents.

The plurals of nf stems are all feminine plural. The plurals of nm stems that designate males are all masculine plural; but the plurals of other nm stems may be masculine plural or feminine plural.

Nouns that have n stems are listed in the form that takes nm inflectional endings and serves as a masculine referent. For every such noun, an nf stem can, in principle,[34] be derived with the same senses except that it has a feminine referent rather than a masculine one. The nf stem is not listed in the dictionary, since it is regularly formed from the n stem—for most n stems, especially those ending in ‑a'r, ‑s, ‑a'n, or ‑as, simply by adding the feminine suffix ‑e.

Stems that serve both as nouns and adjectives (e.g. afrika'n) may be marked either n, adj or adj, n; the definition may provide a generic noun between parentheses to indicate the meaning when used as a noun:

labr|qa'r adj n (Pej) (person) wanting something for nothing, parasitic on others

Nouns with nn stems may take adjectives that are either masculine or feminine. Nominalized participles preceded by a proclitic attributive article t all have nn stems. Otherwise, there is considerable variation among Albanians as to which nouns are "neuter"—i.e., have nn stems.

If a proclitic attributive article is required for a particular noun or noun sense, the grammatical label is followed by the nominative form of the appropriate article between parentheses: nm (i) , nf (e), np (t ), nn (t) . The label n (i) indicates a nominalized adjective which will take either nm or nf (or np) inflectional endings depending on whether the referent is male, female, or plural.


Case Suffixes

The form of the suffixes which mark the case of a noun or nominalized adjectives (see p. xlv) depends on two factors: 1) the function of the suffix in marking case, gender, number, and definiteness; and 2) the terminal letters of the stem.

 

 

Singular

 

 

Masculine

Feminine

Plural

 

Indef

Def

Indef

Def

Indef

Def

Nominative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i

 

a

 

t

  after r or s

 

i

 

a

 

it

  after k, g, h

 

u

 

 

 

 

  after V

 

j or u

 

ja

 

t

  after o'

 

 

 

ja

 

t

  after o

 

 

 

ua

 

t

Accusative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

in or n

 

n

 

t

  after r or s

 

in

 

n

 

it

  after k, g, h

 

un

 

 

 

 

  after V

 

jn or un

 

n

 

t

  after o

 

n

 

n

 

t

Dative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i

it

e

s

ve

ve(t)

  after r or s

i

it

e

‑s

ve

ve(t)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  after k, g, h

ut

u

 

 

 

 

  after V

j or u

jt or ut

je

s

ve

ve(t)

  after unstressed V

 

 

je

s

ve

ve(t)

Ablative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i

 

e

 

sh

 

  after r or s

i

 

e

‑s

‑sh

 

  after k, g, h

u

 

 

 

 

 

  after V

j or u

 

je

s

sh

 

  after unstressed V

 

 

je

s

sh

 

 

Leaving out the details:

 

singular

plural

 

indefinite

definite

indefinite

definite

 

nm

nf

nm

nf

np

np

nominative

-

-

i/‑u[35]

‑a/‑ja[36]

-

‑t/‑it

accusative

-

-

‑in/‑un

‑n

-

‑t/‑it

dative[37]

i/‑u

‑e

‑it/‑ut

‑s

‑ve

‑ve/‑vet

ablative

i/‑u

‑e

‑it/‑ut

‑s

sh

‑ve/‑vet

 

Gerunds

Gerunds are nouns that are formed regularly from verb stems:

1. by dropping a stressed thematic vowel o' or e' and suffixing ‑i'm to form an nm stem

2. by suffixing ‑m after the stem‑final stressed vowel i' to form an nf stem

3. by suffixing ‑je after the stem‑final consonant to form an nf stem

4. by suffixing ‑rje or ‑jtje after a stem‑final stressed vowel a' or e' to form an nf stem

5. by suffixing ‑jtje after a stem‑final stressed vowel u' to form an nf stem

In addition to these, a gerundial construction may always be formed by creating a nominalized adjective from the participle of the verb, designating the process conveyed by the verb. The nominalized adjective so created has nn‑stem characteristics, but restricted in use and forms. As a nominative or accusative noun it ends in the suffix ‑it and is preceded by the proclitic article t: t ngji'turit the ascension

Pronominals

Pronominals are words that may function as noun phrases.

Personal Pronouns

Pronominal subjects of verbs are normally indicated by inflectional endings, while pronominal direct and indirect objects are indicated by pronominal clitics. A personal pronoun is used when the pronoun is isolated or emphasized, or when it serves as object of a preposition.

First and second person personal pronouns distinguish four cases, though no pronoun has distinct forms for the same four. To complicate matters, in practice some Albanians use the form ne've and ju've throughout their respective declensions, a practice opposed but not altogether eliminated by the proponents of standard Albanian. The ablative forms are used exclusively as objects of prepositions.

           

 

English equivalent

Nominative

Accusative

Dative

Ablative

1st person

 

 

 

 

 

Singular

I, me

u'n

mu'a

mu'a

me'je

Plural

 we, us

ne

ne

ne've

nesh

2nd person

 

 

 

 

 

Singular

you

ti

ty

ty

te'je

Plural

 you

ju

ju

ju've

jush

As stressed forms of 3rd person personal pronouns, Albanian uses deictic determiners whose form conveys the distance—actual or felt—of the referent.

 

 

English

Nominative

Accusative

Dative

Ablative

3rd person

equivalent

Far

Near

Far

Near

Far

Near

Far

Near

Singular

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Masculine

that one: he, it, him

ai'

ky

at'

kt'

ati'j

ati'j

ati'j

ati'j

Feminine

that one: she, it, her

ajo'

kjo

at'

kt'

asa'j

ksa'j

asa'j

ksa'j

Plural

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Masculine

they, them

ata'

ky

ata'

kta'

aty're

kty're

aso'sh

kso'sh

Feminine

they, them

ato'

kjo'

ato'

kto'

aty're

kty're

aso'sh

kso'sh

Relative Pronouns

With definite noun suffixes, cil which is used as an interrogative pronoun, translated as which (one) or who in English, depending on whether the referent is considered human or not. Preceded by a proclitic attributive article (indicated between parentheses below), these same forms serve as relative pronouns.

 

 

English equivalent

Nominative

Accusative

Dative

Singular

 

 

 

 

Masculine

which (one), who; whom

(i) ci'li

(t) ci'lin

(t) ci'lit

Feminine

which (one), who; whom

(e) ci'la

(t) ci'ln

(s) ci'ls

Plural

 

 

 

 

Masculine

which (one), who; whom

(t) ci'lt

(t) ci'lt

(t) ci'lve

Feminine

which (one), who; whom

(t) ci'lat

(t) ci'lat

(t) ci'lave

 

Like cil which is seci'l, used as a determiner each or as a nominalized adjective each one.

Possessive adjectives are of two types: nominal and pronominal. The nominal form is the genitive case of the noun; the pronominal forms are covered in the section on pronouns.

t gjyshin his/her/their grandfather (accusative case form)

t kunatit (to/for/of) his/her/their brother‑in‑law (dative case form)

s motrs (to/for/of) his/her/their sister (dative case form)

 

Attributive and Predicative Modifiers

 

Modifiers may be used attributively or predicatively. Used attributively, a modifier generally implies an inherent characteristic of the referent. In Albanian, attributive modifiers typically follow nouns; predicative modifiers typically follow verbs.

A referent may precede the modifier in the discourse, come after it, or merely be understood by the participants in the discourse.

ka trup t lidhur he [unexpressed overtly] has a strong build

sht i mir he is good

i ati his/her/their father

i ati i Agronit Agron's father

e fejuara his fiance

e fejuara e Agronit Agron's fiance

 

Used predicatively, a modifier implies a temporary characteristic of the referent:

e uan lidhur they conducted him bound

sht mir he is well

Adjectives

Articulated adjectives consist of the proclitic attributive article, followed by the base, or adjective proper. In i mir good, the base is mir and the article is i and the form of both parts may reflect the gender and number of the referent of the adjective. Like articulated adjectives, unarticulated adjectives may have different endings for feminine and/or plural forms.

Adjective Stem Forms

In addition to the masculine singular base form listed in the dictionary, adjectives have feminine and/or plural forms that are used for feminine and/or plural referents. A few common adjectives have special feminine or plural forms, which are listed in their proper alphabetical order in this dictionary and cross‑referred after the symbol < to the main entry for the adjective.

mdha' fem pl < madh

mdhe'nj masc pl < madh

 

Adjective stems that end in ‑ or formerly ended in ‑, such as participles (whose stems now end in ‑ur, ‑uar, ‑yer, or ‑un) and stems ending in ‑r, ‑rr, ‑l, ‑ll, ‑ull, have the same form for the feminine singular.

Many other adjective stems whose base form ends in a consonant have an easily recognizable feminine form derived from that base. In particular, many feminine adjectives are regularly derived by adding unstressed ‑e to the dictionary base form, including all articulated adjectives whose base form ends in m or m. The of the base form disappears, of course, before the ending ‑e. The derived form also serves as the feminine plural form of the adjective.

goj|u'sh adj (i) garrulous

gru'a e goju'shme garrulous woman

gra t goju'shme garrulous women

 

i a'frm (masc), e a'frme (fem), t a'frm (masc pl), t a'frm (fem pl)

i vle'fshm (masc), e vle'fshme (fem), t vle'fshm (masc pl), t vle'fshme (fem pl)

i so'tm (masc), e so'tme (fem), t so'tm (masc pl), t so'tme (fem pl)

 

Similarly, unarticulated adjectives whose base form ends in ‑a'k, ‑a'n, ‑a'r, ‑e'z, ‑i'st, ‑sh, ‑ta'r, ‑to'r, ‑as, ‑s, or ‑u'es all add a suffix ‑e to form a feminine singular and plural. Of these, ‑a'k, ‑a'n, ‑a'r, ‑e'z, ‑i'st, sh, ‑ta'r, ‑to'r also form a masculine plural form by adding the suffix ‑:

shqipta'r (masc), shqipta're (fem), shqipta'r (masc pl) shqipta're (fem pl)

tira'nas (masc), tira'nase (fem), tira'nas (masc pl), tira'nase (fem pl)

 

Most adjectives whose feminine singular form does not end in a stressed vowel or ‑e have a derived feminine plural form ending in ‑a.

ngro'h|t adj (i) warm

duar t ngrohta warm hands

 

The following table summarizes the relationships among various adjective forms:

 

Ending of stem

Examples

 

masculine

feminine

masculine

feminine

Main Sense

singular

i mi'r

e mi'r

good

plural

‑a

t mi'r

t mi'ra

 

singular

C

‑e

amfi'b

amfi'be

amphibian

plural

C

‑e

amfi'b

amfi'be

 

singular

m

‑me

i e'pshm

e e'pshme

flexible

plural

m

‑me

t e'pshm

t e'pshme

 

singular

r

r

i va'rfr

e va'rfr

poor

plural

r

‑ra

t va'rfr

t va'rfra

 

singular

C

C

i pa'fund

e pa'fund

endless

plural

C

C

t pa'fund

t pa'fund

 

singular

ur

‑ur

i di'tur

e di'tur

knowledgeable

plural

‑ur

‑ura

t di'tur

t di'tura

 

singular

uar

‑uar

i shku'ar

e shku'ar

past

plural

‑uar

‑uara

t shku'ar

t shku'ara

 

singular

t

t

i la'gt

e la'gt

wet

plural

t

ta

t la'gt

t la'gta

 

singular

l

l

i vo'gl

e vo'gl

small

plural

l

‑la

t ve'gjl

t vo'gla

 

singular

 

 

i zi'

e ze'z

black

plural

 

 

t zi'nj

t ze'za

 

singular

 

 

i ri'

e re'

new

plural

 

 

t ri'nj

t re'ja

 

singular

 

 

i ma'dh

e ma'dhe

big

plural

 

 

t mdhe'nj

t mdha'

 

singular

 

 

i ke'q

e ke'qe

bad

plural

 

 

t kqi'(n)j

t ke'qe

 

 

Feminine Plurals of Masculine Singulars

When the referent of an adjective is a plural noun whose singular form is grammatically masculine but semantically inanimate, the adjective typically has its feminine plural form. For example, all gerunds ending in ‑im are masculine nouns in the singular and have corresponding plurals ending in ‑ime; an adjective with such a plural as referent will have its feminine plural form: msime t mdha great teachings

Relation of Adjectives to other Parts of Speech

Adjectives are regularly formed from participles, adverbs, and certain classes of nouns, and vice versa. Knowing a few simple correspondences will greatly enhance the readers vocabulary.

Formation from Participles

A participle preceded by an attributive article serves as an adjective: shkruar writtenfjala e shkruar the written word.

Relation to Adverbs

The difference between an adjective and an adverb may be simply the presence or absence of an attributive article: i mir goodmir well, i keq badkeq badly.

Relation to Nouns

As in English, a number of forms, especially those ending in‑a'k, ‑a'n, ‑a'r, ‑e'z, ‑i'st, ‑sh, ‑ta'r, ‑to'r, ‑as, ‑s, or ‑u'es may be used either as nouns or as unarticulated adjectives: amerika'n American (person)—gaze't amerika'ne American newspaper.

Nominalized Adjectives

An adjective in Albanian is nominalized when it either precedes the noun it modifies, or is used in place of the noun altogether (as in English "The big must protect the small."). In either case, the adjective takes the endings for case, gender, number and definiteness that a noun would take in the same place. A nominalized adjective is articulated if its underlying adjective is articulated.

i pasho'qi the peerless one (from the adjective i pasho'q peerless)

i bu'kuri the handsome one (masc)

e bu'kura the beautiful one (fem)

nj i bu'kur a good one (masc)

nj e bu'kur a good one (fem)

ca t bu'kurave to some beautiful ones

Adjectives generally follow their referent noun in Albanian, but that order may be inverted to put emphasis on the adjective. If the adjective precedes the noun, the adjective takes its nominalized form, while the noun has its bare stem (singular or plural, masculine or feminine) form.

i bu'kuri dja'l the handsome boy

afr t bu'kurave va'jza near the beautiful girls

i bu'kuri gjerma'n the handsome German (male)

e bu'kura gjerma'ne the beautiful German (female)

In principle, any stem labeled adj (including articulated adjectives) may be nominalized and used as a noun stem with the meaning one with the characteristic of the adjective. Such a noun stem will be masculine, feminine, or plural to reflect the gender of the intended referent and will take nm, nf, or np case suffixes, respectively. An attributive article stays with an articulated adjective if that adjective is nominalized, the form of the article reflecting the gender and case of the nominalized adjective. For example, i fejuar is an adjective (itself derived from the participle fejuar engaged to be married) that means engaged to be married, affianced, from which the nominalized nominative definite nouns meaning literally one engaged to be married, i fejuari the fianc and e fejuara, the fiance are derived.

Since such a nominalized adjective can function as a noun, in genitive constructions, a second article whose form reflects the gender and case of the referent would be preposed:

kunati i s fejuars the fiances brother‑in law

me vllan e s fejuars with the fiances brother

kunati i t fejuarit the fiancs brother‑in law

Note that the form of the article in all these examples reflects the gender and grammatical function of the word to which the article is attached, rather than the properties of the referent.

For some adjectives, the adjective and its nominalization have the same English correspondent. For example, many ethnic adjectives have this characteristic: e.g., amerika'n as adjective or noun both correspond to English American. To eliminate unnecessary repetition, this fact is indicated by simply putting both grammatical labels after the form:

amerik|a'n adj, n American

For other nominalized adjectives, English syntax requires a noun after the adjective to express the nominalized sense. In such cases, an English noun is put between parentheses to indicate the scope of the nominalization:

dy|grre'm adj, nm (pitchfork) with two prongs

This entry means that there is an adjective dygrre'm conveying the quality of being two‑pronged, and that its nominalization dygrre'm takes nm inflectional endings and has the specific sense: pitchfork with two prongs.

The nominalization of adjectives is a living, productive process in Albanian, and a reader must be open to words listed as adjectives in the dictionary being used as nouns, as just described. In addition, there are many fossilized nominalizations: earlier adjectives (many themselves formed from participles, sometimes from varieties of Albanian that are no longer in regular use) that have lost their adjectival function, but still are used in their nominalized form. Such nominalizations are listed in this dictionary as articulated nouns (see p. xix).

Genitive Case Modifiers

Attributive modifiers may consist of a proclitic attributive article (i, e, t, or s) followed by a noun in the dative case. In traditional Albanian grammars such a modifier is called the genitive case of the noun, since in other languages the same function may be served by a separate genitive case form of the noun. The functions served by genitive case modifiers in Albanian are very similar to those served by of phrases, nouns used as modifiers, and s words in English:

pr shkak t zhurms because of the noise

e dini emrin e fshatit you know the name of the town

shtpia e Zotit the house of the Lord

turigjati i luleve flower weevil

shtpia e Agimit Agim's house

 

Predicatives

In contrast with adverbs, predicatives modify nouns. In contrast with attributive adjectives, they convey states into which the noun is brought, rather than characteristic attributes of the noun. As an attributive adjective li'r|shm, preceded by a proclitic attributive article means loose‑fitting, loose. As an adverb, li'r|shm it means in a loose/easygoing manner. Contrast the predicative he attached the rope loosely with the adverb he attached the rope quickly. The predicative, defined as loosely, characterizes not the verb action itself, but its effect on the noun rope.

Many adjectives in Albanian are preceded by a proclitic attributive article when they are used attributively or are nominalized. In this dictionary, such adjectives are indicated by the label adj (i):

i'mt adj (I) fine, thin

When used predicatively, adjectives do not have this article. Absence of the article leads many scholars to label them "adverb" in this use:

e bluan grurin t imt he is grinding the fine grain

e bluan grurin imt he is grinding the grain fine

Adverbs

The label adv is used in this dictionary, as in most others, to designate a wide variety of uninflected words with adverbial functions. Most of the subtypes are not specifically identified by label; the English definition usually makes their specific function evident.

Determiners

A determiner characterizes the scope of the noun that follows it in a noun phrase.

With definite noun suffixes, secil each (one) is used as both determiner and pronoun.

 

English equivalent

Nominative

Accusative

Dative

Singular

 

 

 

 

Masculine

each (one)

secili

secilin

secilit

Feminine

each (one)

secila

seciln

secils

Plural

 

 

 

 

Masculine

each (one)

secilt

secilt

secilve

Feminine

each (one)

secilat

secilat

secilave

 

With definite noun suffixes added before the final suffix ‑do', secil‑do every (one) is used as both determiner and pronoun.

 

English equivalent

Nominative

Accusative

Dative

Singular

 

 

 

 

Masculine

each (one)

secilido

secilindo

secilitdo

Feminine

each (one)

secilado

secilndo

secilsdo

Plural

 

 

 

 

Masculine

each (one)

seciltdo

seciltdo

secilvedo

Feminine

each (one)

secilatdo

secilatdo

secilavedo

 

Numbers

0   zero  10   dhjet                            

1   nj   11   njmbdhjet                       100                   njqind 1000          nj mij

2   dy    12   dymbdhjet    20            njzet                    200   dyqind          2000  dy mij

3   tre/tri     13   trembdhjet             30 tridhjet            300   treqind          3000  tre mij

4   katr      14   katermbdhjet          40 dyzet                 400   katrqind       4000  katr mij

5   pes 15   pesmbdhjet  50            pesdhjet              500   pesqind        5000  pes mij

6   gjasht   16   gjashtmbdhjet       60 gjashtdhjet     600   gjashtqind    6000  gjasht mij

7   shtat     17   shtatmbdhjet         70 shtatdhjet       700   shtatqind      7000  shtat mij

8   tet   18   tetmbdhjet   80            tetdhjet               800   tetqind         8000  tet mij

9   nnt      19   nntmbdhjet         90 nntdhjet        900   nntqind      9000  nnt mij

Joining these numbers with the conjunction e creates the rest of the numbers. For example:

21      njzet e nj                               101  njqind e nj

22      njzet e dy                                220  dyqind e njzet

142    njeqind e dyzet e dy

Contrary to English practice, written out large numbers in Albanian use periods, rather than commas,  to separate groups of three digits, whereas decimal numbers are written with a comma (presje) rather than a period as the decimal point.

1,000,000                            nj milion

2,000,000                            dy milion

3,000,000                            tri milion

10,000,000                           dhjet milion

1,000,001       1.000.001       nj milion e nj                   

12.027            12,027            dymbdhjet presje zero njzet e shtat

.04                 ,04                 presje zero katr

23.516.798      njzet e tri milion e pesqind e gjashtmbdhjet mij e shtat qind e nntdhjet e tet

Prepositions

Dictionary entries for prepositions are marked prep followed by an indication between parentheses of the case of the object of the preposition. The majority of prepositions in Albanian have ablative case objects, but a few very frequent prepositions me, pa, n, m, pr, mbi, nn, ndr, npr, as well as phrasal prepositions ending in one of these (e.g., pr n. brenda n, tok me, bashk me), have objects in the accusative case. The prepositions nga and tek (or te) and their dialectal variants (ka and ne, respectively) have objects in the nominative case.

Interrogatives

Interrogatives are uninflected words used to introduce direct and indirect questions. Their further classification as adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, or conjunctions depends on their further grammatical role in the clause.

Particles

Particles are uninflected words with some of the functions in language that gestures have in face‑to‑face communication. The expression on your face can tell someone you are talking to directly whether you really mean what you are saying; head, hand, and arm gestures can emphasize particular parts of what you are saying, can express different kinds of negativity, and in various ways can help express speaker attitudes in ways that are difficult to define. Many of those gestural functions can be performed in Albanian by particles; the definitions of particles in this dictionary attempt to characterize these particles to help the reader understand them, but as with gesture, the differences between one particle and another can sometimes only be hinted at.


Finding Your Word in the Dictionary

Since foreign readers of Albanian cannot be expected to know all the intricate details of Albanian grammar thoroughly, this dictionary presents extensive aids for recognizing forms encountered in texts which are not identical to the citation forms in the dictionary.

Grammar books typically show all the forms that inflected nouns and verbs may have. The learner is expected to memorize these paradigms of sample stems and then somehow recognize the inflected forms of other stems by analogy to these samples. For some people, this method works. For others, the ones who hated grammar in school, the paradigms are badly learned or soon forgotten, and the analogical method fails them in actual reading. Since we cannot know which kind of reader will be trying to use this dictionary, a long Reverse List of Possible Word Terminations, starting on p. xlix, has been provided as a detailed list of the possibilities for the reader to consider in interpreting a puzzling word encountered in a text, when the whole form is itself not in the dictionary, but a partial match is found for the beginning of the word.

Aspect

For a number of locutions, the verb is marked {past}, indicating that the locution comes into being only for verbs processed in the past time with respect to the observer. Albanian distinguishes several verb tenses that fit into the category {past}: in addition to the past indefinite and past definite tenses, there are the perfect, past perfect, and pluperfect tenses (each of these tenses in both active and passive forms). Their differences in form convey differences in aspect: the way in which a possible observer maps the action denoted by the verb onto the passage of time. Verbs in one of the terminated (or perfect) tenses (present perfect, past perfect, and pluperfect) are formed with the auxiliary verb ka for active tenses, sht for passive tenses, plus the participle of the main verb. In these tenses, the action is pictured as terminated before the moment of observation. If the auxiliary is in the present tense, the action is related to the present moment of observation; if the auxiliary is in the past indefinite tense, the action is related to an indefinite period of time before the moment of observation; if the auxiliary is in the past definite tense, the action is related to a definite moment before the moment of observation.

For Non-terminated tenses (present or past indefinite) the moment of observation is left unspecified by the verb. Verbs in these tenses may depict actions as ongoing or perpetual or temporary or repeated or habitual. In the subjunctive mood, verbs in these tenses may express future or conditional or contrary-to-fact conditional senses.

The past definite tense pictures the action as finished and complete in itself, without regard to an observer.

In practice, some of these distinctions of aspect are ignored in people's actual use of the language. The pluperfect tense is rarely seen, and the present perfect is at times used when the past definite would be expected.

Working Backwards

Most text words in Albanian differ from a dictionary form only in their last part; that is, the first part of the text word matches the first part of some dictionary form, but the last part does not match. The usual source of this mismatch is in the ending of the word, since suffixes are so frequently added to indicate the grammatical and syntactic functions of words, as described in the section Grammatical Sketch for Readers of Albanian. You may get help in understanding an unknown word in Albanian by noting both the way it begins and the way it ends. The stem of any written Albanian word starts from the beginning of the word; for many words, you will find their meaning in the usual way by finding the word in its expected alphabetical order in the dictionary. However, how can the reader recognize which stem is involved in a word which ends differently from the stems listed in the dictionary? The answer, of course, is for the user to have a thorough command of Albanian grammar. However, if users who in fact have a command of the grammar sufficient to recognize unaided all the possible grammatical forms in Albanian already often know enough Albanian not to need this dictionary. For those users whose command of Albanian grammar is not complete, the following section may be helpful.

Depending on the date and provenance of its author and/or editor, a text word may also differ from a corresponding dictionary form in other parts of the word, as well as in its ending, and a frequent source for such differences is the dialectal variation so common in spoken and written Albanian. Many of these differences are tabulated in the section Dialectal Variation & Standard Albanian.

Reverse List of Possible Word Terminations

The following list provides information that the reader can use to interpret the structure of a puzzling text form not listed as such in the body of the dictionary. The list makes use of the fact that a word can end in only very limited ways, and that particular terminal sequences of letters have limited possible analyses.

Column 1, Terminations, lists possible ways words in Albanian texts may end; the terminal sequences are listed in alphabetical order, working from the end of the word towards the beginning. For most terminal sequences in the list, more than one interpretation is available.

Column 2, Analysis, indicates the composition of these sequences in terms of morpheme divisions: a single | precedes a derivational suffix, a double || precedes an inflectional suffix. This enables the user to see where the stem, which may be listed in the dictionary, breaks off and the suffix begins.

If the word ends in a derivational suffix, Column 3, Derivational Category, identifies the category of the word created by that suffix. If the word ends in an inflectional suffix, that column is blank.

Column 4, Grammatical Function, indicates the grammatical function that may be served by a word with this termination.

Column 5, End of Dictionary Entry, indicates the likely termination of the dictionary entry under which the definition may be found that matches the puzzling form.

Column 6, Stem Label, indicates the grammatical label that would precede that definition; the abbreviations are those used in the body of the dictionary to label the grammatical functions of stems.

Column 7, Examples, provides examples of forms with the termination in question.

For some entries, Column 8, Clarification, may make the example clearer by presenting a standard Albanian equivalent—for a termination marked *—or by giving a short English gloss of the example.

 

Analysis

Derivational Category

Grammatical Function

End of Dictionary Entry

Stem Label of Dictionary Entry

Examples

Clarification

ba

b||a

 

nom def

b

nf

vorba

 

ba

b|a

pl fem

nom/acc

b

nf

kmba

 

ba

b|a

pl masc

nom/acc

b

nm

krimba

 

ba

b|a

pl fem

 

b or b

adj

kokshkmba

kokzhgaba

 

ba

b||a

 

1st sg pdef

b

v

gjerba

 

ca

c||a

 

nom def

c

nf

hardhuca

 

ca

c|a

pl fem

nom acc

c

nf

hardhuca

 

ca

c|a

pl fem

nom acc

c

nm

beca

 

ca

c|a

 

pl fem

c

adj

sygaca

 

ca

c||a

 

1st sg pdef

c

v

bltuca

 

a

||a

 

nom def

nf

bruma

 

a

|a

pl fem

nom acc

nf

bruma

 

a

|a

pl fem

nom acc

nm

via

 

a

||a

 

1st sg pdef

v

shkya

 

da

d||a

 

nom def

d

nf

parmenda

 

da

d|a

pl fem

nom acc

d

nf

parmenda

 

da

d|a

pl fem

nom acc

d

nm

kinda

 

da

d|a

 

pl fem

d or d

adj

t rnda

 

da

d||a

 

1st sg pdef

d

v

shkunda

 

dha

dh||a

 

nom def

dh

nf

udha

 

dha

dh|a

pl fem

nom acc

dh

nf

udha

 

dha

dh|a

pl fem

nom acc

dh

nm

kudha

 

dha

dh|a

 

pl fem

dh or dh

adj

t verdha

 

dha

dh||a

 

1st sg pdef

dh

v

zbardha

 

fa

f||a

 

nom def

f

nf

gufa

 

fa

f|a

pl fem

nom acc

f

nf

gufa

 

fa

f|a

pl fem

nom acc

f

nm

pefa

 

fa

f|a

 

pl fem

f

adj

t paqejfa

 

fa

f||a

 

1st sg pdef

f

v

brofa

 

ga

g||a

 

nom def

g

nf

paga

 

ga

g|a

pl fem

nom acc

g

nf

paga

 

ga

g|a

 

pl fem

g or g

adj

zhunga

 

ga

g||a

 

1st sg pdef

g

v

croga

 

gja

gj||a

 

nom def

gj

nf

vegja

 

gja

gj|a

pl fem

nom acc

gj

nf

vegja

 

gja

gj|a

pl fem

nom acc

gj

nm

qengja

 

gja

gj||a

 

1st sg pdef

gj

v

gjegja

 

ha

h||a

 

nom def

h

nf

koha

 

ha

h|a

pl fem

nom acc

h

nf

koha

 

ha

h|a

pl fem

nom acc

h

nm

*mteha

 

ha

h|a

 

pl fem

h

adj

t pagjuha

 

ha

h||a

 

1st sg pdef

h

v

njoha

 

ia

i||a

 

nom def

i

nf

shtpia

 

ia

|i|a

 

imper sg | 3rd ind.obj | 3rd dir.obj

C

v

sillia

 

gia

g||ia

 

1st sg impf

g

v

crogia

 

ja

e||a

 

nom def

e

nf

lulja

 

ja

j|a

pl fem

nom acc

j

nf

akullnaja

 

ja

i||e

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj | 3rd dir.obj

V

v

drejtoja

 

ja

j|a

 

pl fem

j or j

adj

t huaja

 

ja

j||a

 

1st sg pdef

j

v

uja

 

ja

||ja

 

1st sg impf

Any (except g)

v

gudulisja

 

ka

k||a

 

nom def

k

nf

pika

 

ka

k|a

pl fem

nom acc

k

nf

pika

 

ka

k|a

pl fem

nom acc

k

nm

petka

 

ka

k|a

 

pl fem

k

adj

mendjelaraska

 

ka

k||a

 

1st sg pdef

k

v

fika

 

ka

||ka

 

3rd sg pres adm

Any

v

paska

 

*krka

|kr|ka

 

3rd sg pres adm

Any

v

*qnkrka

 

uaka

o'||ka||

 

3rd sg pres adm

o'

v

mbaruaka

 

yeka

e'||ka||

 

3rd sg pres adm

e'

v

krcyeka

 

la

l||a

 

nom def

l

nf

pula

 

la

l|a

pl fem

nom acc

l

nf

pula

 

la

l|a

pl fem

nom acc

l

nm

tela

 

la

l|a

 

pl fem

l

adj

lela

 

la

l||a

 

1st sg pdef

l

v

ngula

 

lla

ll||a

 

nom def

ll

nf

njolla

 

lla

ll|a

pl fem

nom acc

ll

nf

njolla

 

lla

ll|a

pl fem

nom acc

ll

nm

kshilla

 

lla

ll|a

 

pl fem

ll

adj

t gjalla

 

lla

ll||a

 

1st sg pdef

ll

v

kalla

 

ma

m||a

 

nom def

m

nf

dhoma

 

ma

m|a

pl fem

nom acc

m

nf

dhoma

 

ma

m|a

pl fem

nom acc

m

nm

qilima

 

ma

m||a

 

1st sg pdef

m

v

njoma

 

ma

|m|a

 

imper sg | 1st sg ind.obj | 3rd sg dir.obj

Any

v

sillma

bring it to me

na

n||a

 

nom def

n

nf

pishina

 

na

n|a

pl fem

nom acc

n

nf

pishina

 

na

n|a

pl fem

nom acc

n

nm

una

 

na

n|a

 

pl fem

n

adj

t vona

 

na

||na

 

imper sg || 1st pl ind.obj/dir.obj

Any

v

sillna

 

nja

nj||a

 

nom def

nj

nf

rrfenja

 

nja

nj||a

pl fem

nom acc

nj

nf

rrfenja

 

nja

nj|a

pl fem

nom acc

nj

nm

kunja

 

nja

nj|a

 

pl fem

nj

adj

t denja

 

*nja

nj||a

 

1st sg impf

Any

v

*shkonja

 

pa

p||a

 

nom def

p

nf

gropa

 

pa

p|a

pl fem

nom acc

p

nf

gropa

 

pa

p|a

pl fem

nom acc

p

nm

xhepa

 

pa

p||a

 

1st sg pdef

p

v

hapa

 

pa

p|a

 

pl fem

p

adj

t prapa

 

qa

q||a

 

nom def

q

nf

heqa

 

qa

q||a

 

1st sg pdef

q

v

shfaqa

 

ra

r||a

 

nom def

r

nf

ara

 

ra

r|a

pl fem

nom acc

r

nf

ara

 

ra

r|a

pl fem

nom acc

r

nm

hekura

 

ra

r|a

pl fem

nom acc

r

nm

emra

 

ra

r|a

pl fem

nom acc

r

nf

qendra

 

ra

|ra

pl fem

nom acc

Any

nm

shira, fshatra

 

ra

|ra

pl fem

nom acc

Any

nf

ujra

 

ra

r|a

 

pl fem

r

adj

t prejardhura

 

ra

r|a

 

pl fem

r

adj

t mira

 

ra

r||a

 

1st sg pdef

r

v

prdora

 

rra

rr||a

 

nom def

rr

nf

arra

 

rra

rr|a

pl fem

nom acc

rr

nf

arra

 

rra

rr|a

pl fem

nom acc

rr

nm

burra

 

rra

rr|a

pl fem

nom acc

rr

nm

derra

 

rra

rr|a

 

pl fem

rr or rr

adj

t marra

 

rra

rr|a

 

pl fem

rr or rr

adj

feckderra

 

rra

rr||a

 

1st sg pdef

rr

v

shporra

 

sa

s||a

 

nom def

s

nf

banesa

 

sa

s|a

pl fem

nom acc

s

nf

banesa

 

sa

s|a

pl fem

nom acc

s

nm

lisa

 

sa

s|a

 

pl fem

s

adj

gresa

 

sa

s||a

 

1st sg pdef

s

v

zmbrapsa

 

sha

sh||a

 

nom def

sh

nf

kisha

 

sha

sh|a

pl fem

nom acc

sh

nf

kisha

 

sha

sh|a

pl fem

nom acc

sh

nm

tetfaqsha

 

sha

sh||a

 

1st sg pdef

sh

v

prisha

 

sha

||sh||a

 

1st sg impf

ish

kish

thosh

v

isha

kisha

thosha

 

esha

|e||sh||a

 

1st sg impf

C

vp

trhiqesha

 

hesha

|he||sh||a

 

1st sg impf

V

vp

lahesha

 

fsha

fsh||a

 

nom def

fsh

nf

kafsha

 

fsha

fsh|a

pl fem

nom acc

fsh

nf

kafsha

 

fsha

||fsh||a

 

1st sg opt

V

v

mbarofsha

 

ta

t||a

 

nom def

t

nf

drita

 

ta

t|a

pl fem

nom acc

t

nf

drita

 

ta

t|a

pl fem

nom acc

t

nm

pleshta

 

ta

t|a

 

pl fem

t or t

adj

t gjata

 

ta

t||a

 

1st sg pdef

t

v

mata

 

tha

th||a

 

nom def

th

nf

vatha

 

tha

th|a

pl fem

nom acc

th

nf

vatha

 

tha

th|a

pl fem

nom acc

th

nm

katha

 

tha

th|a

 

pl fem

th

adj

t gjitha

 

tha

th||a

 

1st sg pdef

th

v

mbatha

 

*ua

o||a

 

nom def

o

nm

vito

 

ua

ua

 

3rd sg pdef non‑active (and the verb is preceded by the reflexive pronominal clitic u)

o'het

vp

u kuptua

 

va

v||a

 

nom def

v

nf

brava

 

va

v|a

pl fem

nom acc

v

nf

brava

 

va

v|a

pl fem

nom acc

v

nm

nerva

 

va

||v||a

 

1st sg pdef

o'/e'

v

mbarova

 mbrtheva

 

va

v||a

 

1st sg pdef

v

v

hova

 

xa

x||a

 

nom def

x

nf

xixa

 

xa

x|a

pl fem

nom acc

x

nf

xixa

 

xha

xh||a

 

nom def

xh

nf

kanxha

 

xha

xh|a

pl fem

nom acc

xh

nf

kanxha

 

za

z||a

 

nom def

z

nf

driza

 

za

z|a

pl fem

nom acc

z

nf

driza

 

za

z|a

pl fem

nom acc

z

nm

breza

 

za

z|a

 

pl fem

z

adj

symiza

 

za

z||a

 

1st sg pdef

z

v

lviza

 

zha

zh||a

 

nom def

zh

nf

grezha

 

zha

zh|a

pl fem

nom acc

zh

nf

grezha

 

zha

zh|a

 

pl fem

zh

adj

mazha

 

b

 

 

 

b

 

*shtalb

 

b

 

 

 

p

 

*shtalp

 

alec

|alec

(pejorative) noun or adjective

nom/acc

C

n/adj

bardhalec

 

avec

|avec

(pejorative) noun or adjective

nom/acc

C

n/adj

jargavec

 

aluc

|aluc

(pejorative) noun or adjective

nom/acc

C

n/adj

ngrehaluc

 

*c

 

 

 

 

 

 

c

*d

 

 

 

 

 

*mnd

d; t

*Vdh

 

 

 

 

 

 

dh; th

be

b||e

 

abl indef

b

nf

kmbe

 

be

b|e

pl fem

nom acc

b

nm

umbe

 

be

b|e

 

fem sg/pl

b

adj

arabe

 

be

b||e

 

2nd sg pdef

b

v

gjerbe; hurbe

 

be

b||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

b

v

gjerbe; hurbe

 

ce

c||e

 

abl indef

c

nf

hardhuce

 

ce

c|e

pl fem

nom acc

c

nm

kotece

 

ce

c|e

 

fem sg/pl

c

adj

kurnace

 

ce

c||e

 

2nd sg pdef

c

v

kice

 

ce

c||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

c

v

kice

 

e

||e

 

abl indef

nf

brume

 

e

|e

pl fem

nom acc

nm

tae

 

e

|e

 

fem sg/pl

adj

trazovae

 

e

||e

 

2nd sg pdef

v

shkye

 

e

||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

v

shkye

 

de

d||e

 

abl indef

d

nf

parmende

 

de

d|e

pl fem

nom acc

d

nm

okside

 

de

d|e

 

fem sg/pl

d

adj

bojargjende

 

de

d||e

 

2nd sg pdef

d

v

shkunde

 

de

d||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

d

v

shkunde

 

dhe

dh||e

 

abl indef

dh

nf

udhe

 

dhe

dh|e

pl fem

nom acc

dh

nm

gardhe

 

dhe

dh|e

 

fem sg/pl

dh

adj

e madhe

 

dhe

dh||e

 

2nd sg pdef

dh

v

zbardhe

 

dhe

dh||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

dh

v

zbardhe

 

fe

f||e

 

abl indef

f

nf

gufe

 

fe

f|e

pl fem

nom acc

f

nm

zarfe

 

fe

f|e

 

fem sg/pl

f

adj

tuhafe

 

fe

f||e

 

2nd sg pdef

f

v

brofe; qafe

 

fe

f||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

f

v

brofe; qafe

 

ge

g||e

 

abl indef

g

nf

page

 

ge

g|e

pl fem

nom acc

g

nm

zigzage

 

ge

g|e

 

fem sg/pl

g

adj

bishtcunge

 

ge

g||e

 

2nd sg pdef

g

v

croge

 

ge

g||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

g

v

croge

 

gje

gj||e

 

abl indef

gj

nf

vegje

 

gje

gj|e

pl fem

nom acc

gj

nm

ligje

 

gje

gj|e

 

fem sg/pl

gj

adj

*karravagje

 

gje

gj||e

 

2nd sg pdef

gj

v

gjegje

 

gje

gj||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

gj

v

gjegje

 

he

h||e

 

abl indef

h

nf

kohe

 

he

h|e

pl fem

nom acc

h

nm

tehe

 

he

h||e

 

2nd sg pdef

h

v

njohe

 

he

h||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

h

v

krihe

 

ie

i||e

 

abl indef

i

nf

shtpie

 

*ie

 

 

bare stem

je

any

 

 

je

|je

gerund

nom/acc indef

C

nf

trheqje

 

je

j||e

 

abl indef

j

nf

akullnaje

 

je

j|e

pl fem

nom acc

j

nm

faje

 

je

j||e

 

2nd sg pdef

j

v

uje

 

je

j||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

j

v

uje

 

ke

k||e

 

abl indef

k

nf

pike

 

ke

k|e

pl fem

nom acc

k

nm

bronke

 

ke

k|e

 

fem sg/pl

k

adj

petullake

 

ke

k||e

 

2nd sg pdef

k

v

fike

 

ke

k||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

k

v

fike

 

ke

||ke

 

2nd sg pres adm

Any

v

paske

 

*krke

|kr||ke

 

2nd sg pres adm

Any

v

*qnkrke

 

uake

o'||ke

 

2nd sg pres adm

o'

v

mbaruake

 

yeke

e'||ke

 

2nd sg pres adm

e'

v

krcyeke

 

le

l||e

 

abl indef

l

nf

pule

 

le

l|e

pl fem

nom acc

l

nm

male

 

le

l|e

 

fem sg/pl

l

adj

jeshile

 

le

l||e

 

2nd sg pdef

l

v

ngule

 

le

l||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

l

v

ngule

 

lle

ll||e

 

abl indef

ll

nf

njolle

 

lle

ll|e

pl fem

nom acc

l

nm

kavalle

 

lle

ll|e

 

fem sg/pl

ll

adj

katrasyll

 

lle

ll||e

 

2nd sg pdef

ll

v

kalle

 

lle

ll||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

ll

v

kalle

 

me

m||e

 

abl indef

m

nf

dhome

 

me

m|e

pl fem

nom acc

m

nm

gabime

 

me

m|e

 

fem sg/pl

m

adj

e siprme

 

me

m|e

 

fem sg/pl

m, m

adj

e vetme

 

shme

shm|e

 

fem sg/pl

shm

adj

e vajshme

 

me

m||e

 

2nd sg pdef

m

v

njome

 

me

m||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

m

v

njome

 

ne

n||e

 

abl indef

n

nf

pishine

 

ne

n|e

pl fem

nom acc

n

nm

zakone

 

ne

n|e

 

fem sg/pl

n

adj

arushane

 

nje

nj||e

 

abl indef

nj

nf

rrfenje

 

nje

nj||e

 

2nd sg pdef

nj

v

thinje

 

nje

nj||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

nj

v

thinje

 

*nje

nj||e

 

2nd sg impf

Any

v

*shkonje

 

pe

p||e

 

abl indef

p

nf

grope

 

pe

p|e

pl fem

nom acc

p

nm

djepe

 

pe

p|e

 

fem sg/pl

p

adj

shterpe

 

pe

p||e

 

2nd sg pdef

p

v

hape

 

pe

p||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

p

v

hape

 

qe

q||e

 

abl indef

q

nf

heqe

 

qe

q|e

pl fem

nom acc

q

nm

kryqe

 

qe

q|e

pl fem

nom acc

k

nm

caqe

gomarllqe

 

qe

q|e

 

fem sg/pl

q

adj

e kuqe

 

qe

q||e

 

2nd sg pdef

q

v

shfaqe

 

qe

q||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

q

v

shfaqe

 

re

r||e

 

abl indef

r

nf

are

 

re

r|e

pl fem

nom acc

r

nm

pazare

 

re

r|e

fem

nf nom/acc indef

r

n

tregtare

 

re

r|e

fem

fem sg/pl

r

adj

tregtare

 

re

r||e

 

2nd sg pdef

r

v

prdore

 

re

r||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

r

v

prdore

 

rre

rr||e

 

abl indef

rr

nf

arre

 

rre

rr|e

pl fem

nom acc

rr

nm

zjarre

 

rre

rr|e

fem

fem sg/pl

rr

adj

qorre

 

rre

rr||e

 

2nd sg pdef

rr

v

shporre

 

rre

rr||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

rr

v

shporre

 

se

s||e

 

abl indef

s

nf

banese

 

se

s|e

fem

nf nom/acc indef

s

n

nxnse

 

se

s|e

fem

pl fem nom/acc indef

s

n

nxnse

 

se

s|e

fem

fem sg/pl

s

adj

shklqyese

 

se

s||e

 

2nd sg pdef

s

v

zmbrapse

 

se

s||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

s

v

zmbrapse

 

she

sh||e

 

abl indef

sh

nf

kishe

 

she

sh|e

pl fem

nom acc

s

nm

tallashe

 

she

sh|e

fem

fem sg/pl

sh

adj

thartoshe

 

she

sh||e

 

2nd sg pdef

sh

v

prishe

 

she

sh||e

 

imper sg | 3rd dir.obj

sh

v

prishe

 

eshe

|e||she

 

2nd sg impf

C

vp

trhiqeshe

 

heshe

|he||she

 

2nd sg impf

V

vp

laheshe

 

she

||sh||e

 

2nd sg impf

ish

kish

thosh

v

ishe

kishe

thoshe

 

*she

||sh||e

 

1st or 2nd sg impf

C

v

*falshe

 

*she

||sh||e

 

1st or 2nd sg impf

blen

di

do

ha

pi

v

*bleshe

*dishe

*doshe

*hashe

*pishe

 

*jshe

||jsh||e

 

1st or 2nd sg impf

o'

v

*punojshe

 

*jshe

||jsh||e

 

1st or 2nd sg impf

e'

v

*krcejshe

 

fshe

||fsh||e

 

1st sg opt

V

v

mbarofshe

 

fshe

fsh|e

pl fem

nom acc

fsh

nm

afshe

 

fshe

fsh||e

 

abl indef

fsh

nf

kafshe

 

te

t||e

 

abl indef

t

nf

drite

 

te

t|e

pl fem

nom acc

t

nm

grushte

 

te

t|e

 

fem sg/pl

t

adj

delikate

 

te

t||e

 

2nd sg pdef

t

v

mate

 

te

t||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

t

v

mate

 

te

||te

 

3rd sg impf

Any

v

hapte

 

nte

||n||te

 

3rd sg impf

V

v

shkonte

 

ste

||te

 

3rd sg impf

t

v

kulloste

preste

 

the

th||e

 

abl indef

th

nf

vathe

 

the

th|e

pl fem

nom acc

t

nm

gypthe

 

the

th||e

 

2nd sg pdef

th

v

mbathe

 

the

th||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

th

v

mbathe

 

*ue

|ue

 

participle

uar

v

shikuar

 

*ue

ue

 

nom/acc sg indef

ua

nm

*thue

 

*ue

ue

 

nom/acc sg indef

ua

nf

*grue

 

*ue

|ue

 

participle

o'

v

*me shkue

 

ve

v||e

 

abl indef

v

nf

brave

 

ve

v|e

pl fem

nom acc

v

nm

hove

 

ve

v|e

 

fem sg/pl

v

adj

pozitive

 

ve

||v||e

 

2nd sg pdef

o'

v

mbarove

 

ve

||v||e

 

2nd sg pdef

e'

v

mbrtheve

 

ve

v||e

 

2nd sg pdef

v

v

hove

 

ve

||()ve

 

abl/dat

Any

np

grave

nxnsve

netve

 

xe

x||e

 

abl indef

x

nf

xixe

 

xhe

xh||e

 

abl indef

xh

nf

kanxhe

 

xhe

xh|e

pl fem

nom acc

xh

nm

borxhe

 

ze

z||e

 

abl indef

z

nf

drize

 

ze

z||e

 

abl indef

z

nf

arze

 

ze

z|e

pl fem

nom acc

z

nm

buzagaze

 

ze

z|e

 

fem sg/pl

z

adj

angleze

 

ze

z||e

 

2nd sg pdef

z

v

lvize

 

ze

z||e

 

imper sg || 3rd dir.obj

z

v

lvize

 

zhe

zh||e

 

abl indef

zh

nf

grezhe

 

zhe

zh|e

pl fem

nom acc

zh

nm

drenazhe

 

b

b||

 

3rd sg subj

b

v

t dhemb

 

b

b|

pl fem

nom acc

b

nm

humb

 

b

b|

 

pl masc

b

adj

amfib

 

c

c||

 

3rd sg subj

c

v

t nguc

 

c

c|

pl fem

nom acc

c

nm

memec

 

c

c|

 

pl masc

c

adj

prtac

 

||

 

3rd sg subj

v

t ky

 

|

pl fem

nom acc

nm

gaga

 

|

 

pl masc

adj

gunga

 

d

d||

 

3rd sg subj

d

v

t bind

 

d

d|

pl fem

nom acc

d

nm

invalid

 

d

d|

 

pl masc

d

adj

solid

 

dh

dh||

 

3rd sg subj

dh

v

t lidh

 

dh

dh|

pl fem

nom acc

dh

nm

gjedh

 

dh

dh|

 

pl masc

dh

adj

aguridh

 

f

f||

 

3rd sg subj

f

v

t qaf

 

f

f|

pl fem

nom acc

f

nm

fotograf

 

f

f|

 

pl masc

f

adj

tuhaf

 

g

g||

 

3rd sg subj

g

v

t shmang

 

gj

gj||

 

3rd sg subj

gj

v

t gjegj

 

*gj

gj|

 

pl masc

gj

adj

*karravagj

 

h

h||

 

3rd sg subj

h

v

t njoh

 

h

h|

pl fem

nom acc

h

nm

krah

 

j

j||

 

3rd sg subj

j

v

t uj

 

j

j|

pl fem

nom acc

j

nm

samuraj

 

j

j|

 

pl masc

j

adj

t pafaj

 

ej

e||j

 

3rd sg subj

e'n

v

t plcej

 

yej

ye||j

 

3rd sg subj

y'en

v

t lyej

 

oj

o||j

 

3rd sg subj

o'n

v

t shkoj

 

uaj

ua||j

 

3rd sg subj

u'an

v

t luaj

 

yj

y||j

 

3rd sg subj

yn

v

t hyj

 

k

k||

 

3rd sg subj

k

v

t zhduk

 

k

k|

pl fem

nom acc

k

nm

abak

 

k

k|

 

pl masc

k

adj

besnik

 

l

l||

 

3rd sg subj

l

v

t ngul

 

l

l|

pl fem

nom acc

l

nm

gjeneral

 

l

l|

 

pl masc

l

adj

aktual

 

ll

ll||

 

3rd sg subj

ll

v

t kall

 

ll

ll|

pl fem

nom acc

ll

nm

kaptell

 

ll

ll|

 

pl masc

ll

adj

fodull

 

m

m||

 

3rd sg subj

m

v

t njom

 

m

m|

 

pl masc

m

adj

legjitim

 

m

|m

 

1st pl pd

V'

v

lam

 

m

|m

 

1st pl pres

di

fle

ha

l

pi

rri

v

z

v

dim

flem

ham

lm

pim

rrim

vm

zm

 

jm

|jm

 

1st pl pres

ble'n

mbaro'n

ru'an

v

blejm

mbarojm

ruajm

 

n

n|

pl fem

nom acc

n

nm

timon

 

n

n|

 

pl masc

n

adj

amerikan

 

n

|n

 

3rd pl pd

V'

v

lan

 

n

|n

 

3rd pl pres

di

fle

ha

l

pi

rri

v

z

v

din

flen

han

ln

pin

rrin

vn

zn

 

in

|in

noun denoting an area

nom/acc indef

C

nf

gurin

 

jn

|jn

 

3rd pl pres

V

v

blejn

mbarojn

ruajn

 

nj

nj||

 

3rd sg subj

nj

v

t thinj

 

p

p||

 

3rd sg subj

p

v

t hap

 

p

p|

pl fem

nom acc

p()

nm

dollap

 

p

p|

 

pl masc

p()

adj

kallp

 

q

q||

 

3rd sg subj

q

v

t heq

 

q

q|

pl fem

nom acc

q

nm

hutaq

 

q

q|

 

pl masc

q

adj

lakuriq

 

r

r||

 

3rd sg subj

r

v

t prdor

 

r

r|

pl fem

nom acc

r

nm

berber

 

r

r|

 

pl masc

r

adj

fillestar

 

rr

rr|

pl fem

nom acc

rr

nm

picorr

 

rr

rr|

 

pl masc

rr

adj

qorr

 

s

s||

 

3rd sg subj

s

v

t zmbraps

 

s

s|

pl fem

nom acc

s

nm

qeros

 

s

s|

 

pl masc

s

adj

jetos

 

sh

sh||

 

3rd sg subj

sh

v

t prish

 

sh

sh|

pl fem

nom acc

sh

nm

katarosh

 

sh

sh|

 

pl masc

sh

adj

murrmash

 

sh

||sh

 

1st sg pdef

jep

l

sht

bie1

thot

v

dha||sh

la||sh

qe||sh

ra||sh

tha||sh

 

t

|t

 

2nd pl pd

V'

v

lat

 

t

t||

 

3rd sg subj

t

v

t mat

 

t

||t

 

pl nom/acc def

V'

nf

shtpit

 

t

t|

pl fem

nom acc

t

nm

aspirant

 

t

t|

 

pl masc

t

adj

delikat

 

t

||t

 

3rd sg opt

C

v

lidht

 

ft

||ft

 

3rd sg opt

V'

v

mbaroft

 

isht

|isht

noun denoting an area

nf

Any

v

kurpnisht

 

th

th||

 

3rd sg subj

th

v

t mbath

 

th

th|

pl fem

nom acc

th

nm

urith

 

th

th|

 

pl masc

th

adj

skith

 

v

v||

 

3rd sg subj

v

v

t hov

 

v

v|

pl fem

nom acc

v

nm

detektiv

 

v

v|

 

pl masc

v

adj

sportiv

 

xh

xh|

pl fem

nom acc

xh

nm

xhuxh

 

z

z||

 

3rd sg subj

z

v

t lviz

 

z

z|

pl fem

nom acc

z

nm

marangoz

 

z

z|

 

pl masc

z

adj

kanadez

 

z

|z

diminutive

nf

V'(C)

 

rrufez

 

*f

 

 

 

 

 

 

f; v

*g

 

 

 

 

 

 

g; k

*Vh

 

 

 

 

 

ngreh

Vh; V

ai

a||i

 

nom def

a

nm

babai

 

bi

b||i

 

nom def

b

nm

elbi

 

bi

b||i

 

indef abl

b

nm

elbi

 

bi

b||i

 

3rd sg pdef

b

v

humbi

 

bi

b||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

b

v

humbi

 

bi

b||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

b

v

humbi

 

ci

c||i

 

nom def

c

nm

keci

 

ci

c||i

 

indef abl

c

nm

keci

 

ci

c||i

 

3rd sg pdef

c

v

nguci

 

ci

c||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

c

v

nguci

 

ci

c||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

c

v

nguci

 

i

||i

 

nom def

nm

kyi

 

i

||i

 

indef abl

nm

kyi

 

i

||i

 

3rd sg pdef

v

kyi

 

i

||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

v

kyi

 

i

||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

v

kyi

 

di

d||i

 

nom def

d

nm

vendi

 

di

d||i

 

indef abl

d

nm

vendi

 

di

d||i

 

3rd sg pdef

d

v

bindi

 

di

d||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

d

v

bindi

 

di

d||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

d

v

bindi

 

dhi

dh||i

 

nom def

dh

nm

gardhi

 

dhi

dh||i

 

indef abl

dh

nm

gardhi

 

dhi

dh||i

 

3rd sg pdef

dh

v

lidhi

 

dhi

dh||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

dh

v

lidhi

 

dhi

dh||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

dh

v

lidhi

 

fi

f||i

 

nom def

f

nm

qejfi

 

fi

f||i

 

indef abl

f

nm

qejfi

 

fi

f||i

 

3rd sg pdef

f

v

qafi

 

fi

f||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

f

v

qafi

 

fi

f||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

f

v

qafi

 

gi

g||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

g

v

shmangi

 

gi

g||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

g

v

shmangi

 

gji

gj||i

 

nom def

gj

nm

ligji

 

gji

gj||i

 

indef abl

gj

nm

ligji

 

gji

gj||i

 

3rd sg pdef

gj

v

gjegji

 

gji

gj||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

gj

v

gjegji

 

gji

gj||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

gj

v

gjegji

 

hi

h||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

h

v

krihi

 

hi

h||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

h

v

krihi

 

ji

j||i

 

nom def

j

nm

faji

 

ji

j||i

 

indef abl

j

nm

faji

 

ji

j||i

 

3rd sg pdef

j

v

uji

 

ji

|j|i

 

imper sg | 3rd ind.obj

j

v

laji

 

ji

|j|i

 

imper sg | 3rd pl dir.obj

j

v

laji

 

ki

k||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

k

v

zhduki

 

ki

k||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

k

v

zhduki

 

li

l||i

 

nom def

l

nm

mali

 

li

l||i

 

indef abl

l

nm

mali

 

li

l||i

 

3rd sg pdef

l

v

nguli

 

li

l||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

l

v

nguli

 

li

l||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

l

v

nguli

 

lli

ll||i

 

nom def

ll

nm

kavalli

 

lli

ll||i

 

indef abl

ll

nm

kavalli

 

lli

ll||i

 

3rd sg pdef

ll

v

kalli

 

lli

ll||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

ll

v

kalli

 

lli

ll||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

ll

v

kalli

 

mi

m||i

 

nom def

m

nm

gabimi

 

mi

m||i

 

indef abl

m

nm

gabimi

 

mi

m||i

 

3rd sg pdef

m

v

njomi

he wet them

mi

m||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

m

v

blldumi

splash down in it!

mi

m||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

m

v

njomi

wet them!

mi

|m|i

 

imper sg | 1st sg ind.obj | 3rd pl dir.obj

Any

v

sillmi

tregomi

bring me them!

show them to me!

emi

|e||mi

 

1st pl pres

C

vp

trhiqemi

 

hemi

|he||mi

 

1st pl pres

V

vp

lahemi

 

kemi

||ke||mi

 

1st pl pres adm

V

vp

lakemi

 

uakemi

o'||ke||mi

 

1st pl pres adm

o'

v

mbaruakemi

 

yekemi

e'||ke||mi

 

1st pl pres adm

e'

v

krcyekemi

 

ni

n||i

 

nom def

n

nm

zakoni

 

ni

n||i

 

indef abl

n

nm

zakoni

 

ni

ni

 

2nd pl pres

Any

v

shkoni

 

ni

ni

 

imper pl

Any

v

shkoni

 

eni

|e||ni

 

1st pl pres

C

vp

trhiqeni

 

heni

|he||ni

 

1st pl pres

V

vp

laheni

 

keni

||ke||ni

 

2nd pl pres adm

V

vp

lakeni

 

uakeni

o'||ke||ni

 

2nd pl pres adm

o'

v

mbaruakeni

 

yekeni

e'||ke||ni

 

2nd pl pres adm

e'

v

krcyekeni

 

nji

nj||i

 

3rd sg pdef

nj

v

thinji

 

nji

nj||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

nj

v

thinji

 

nji

nj||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

nj

v

thinji

 

oi

o||i

 

nom def

ua

nm

thoi

 

oi

o||i

 

3rd sg pdef

o'n

v

shkoi

shkroi

 

oi

o||i

 

3rd sg pdef

u'an

v

shkoi

shkroi

 

pi

p||i

 

nom def

p

nm

djepi

 

pi

p||i

 

indef abl

p

nm

djepi

 

pi

p||i

 

3rd sg pdef

p

v

hapi

 

pi

p||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

p

v

hapi

 

pi

p||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

p

v

hapi

 

qi

q||i

 

nom def

q

nm

kryqi

 

qi

q||i

 

indef abl

q

nm

kryqi

 

qi

q||i

 

3rd sg pdef

q

v

heqi

 

qi

q||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

q

v

heqi

 

qi

q||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

q

v

heqi

 

ri

r||i

 

nom def

r

nm

pazari

 

ri

r||i

 

indef abl

r

nm

pazari

 

ri

r||i

 

3rd sg pdef

r

v

prdori

 

ri

r||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

r

v

prdori

 

ri

r||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

r

v

prdori

 

rri

rr||i

 

nom def

rr

nm

zjarri

 

rri

rr||i

 

indef abl

rr

nm

zjarri

 

rri

rr||i

 

3rd sg pdef

rr

v

shporri

 

rri

rr||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

rr

v

shporri

 

rri

rr||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

rr

v

shporri

 

si

s||i

 

nom def

s

nm

nxnsi

 

si

s||i

 

indef abl

s

nm

nxnsi

 

si

s||i

 

3rd sg pdef

s

v

zmbrapsi

 

si

s||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

s

v

zmbrapsi

 

si

s||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

s

v

zmbrapsi

 

shi

sh||i

 

nom def

sh

nm

gjyshi

 

shi

sh||i

 

indef abl

sh

nm

gjyshi

 

shi

sh||i

 

3rd sg pdef

sh

v

prishi

 

shi

sh||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

sh

v

prishi

 

shi

sh||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

sh

v

prishi

 

shi

||sh||i

 

2nd pl opt

C

v

gjetshi

 

fshi

||fsh||i

 

2nd pl opt

V

v

mbarofshi

 

ti

t||i

 

nom def

t

nm

grushti

 

ti

t||i

 

indef abl

t

nm

grushti

 

ti

t||i

 

3rd sg pdef

t

v

mati

 

ti

t||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

t

v

mati

 

ti

t||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

t

v

mati

 

thi

th||i

 

nom def

th

nm

gypthi

 

thi

th||i

 

indef abl

th

nm

gypthi

 

thi

th||i

 

3rd sg pdef

th

v

mbathi

 

thi

th||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

th

v

mbathi

 

thi

th||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

th

v

mbathi

 

thi

|thi

adv

 

Any

 

mbrapthi

 

vi

v||i

 

nom def

v

nm

hovi

 

vi

v||i

 

indef abl

v

nm

hovi

 

vi

v||i

 

3rd sg pdef

v

v

hovi

 

vi

v||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

v

v

hovi

 

vi

v||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

v

v

hovi

 

xi

x||i

 

nom def

x

nm

*thinxi

 

xi

x||i

 

indef abl

x

nm

*thinxi

 

xhi

xh||i

 

nom def

xh

nm

borxhi

 

xhi

xh||i

 

indef abl

xh

nm

borxhi

 

zi

z||i

 

nom def

z

nm

breza

 

zi

z||i

 

indef abl

z

nm

breza

 

zi

z||i

 

3rd sg pdef

z

v

lvizi

 

zi

z||i

 

imper sg || 3rd ind.obj

z

v

lvizi

 

zi

z||i

 

imper sg || 3rd pl dir.obj

z

v

lvizi

 

azi

|azi

adv

adverb

C()

 

mbarkazi

 

zhi

zh||i

 

nom def

zh

nm

drenazhi

 

zhi

zh||i

 

indef abl

zh

nm

drenazhi

 

*j

 

 

 

j

 

 

 

aj

a|j

 

imper sg

a'n

v

mbaj

 

aj

a||j

 

1st sg pres

a'n

v

mbaj

 

ej

e|j

 

imper sg

e'n

v

brej

 

ej

e||j

 

1st sg pres

e'n

v

plqej

 

ej

|e||j

 

3rd sg impf

C

vp

trhiqej

 

hej

|he||j

 

3rd sg impf

V

vp

lahej

 

j

|j

 

imper sg

'n

v

bj

 

j

||j

 

1st sg pres

n

v

bj

 

ij

i||j

 

1st sg pres

in

v

prij

 

*kj

 

 

 

q

 

 

 

oj

o||j

 

1st sg pres

o'

v

mbaroj

 

uj

u|j

 

imper sg

u'n

v

mbruj

 

uj

u||j

 

1st sg pres

u'n

v

mbruj

 

yj

y||j

 

1st sg pres

yn

v

shtyj

 

*k

 

 

 

 

nm

*brek

k

*k

 

 

 

 

nm

*brek

g

*k

k

diminutive

 

 

 

*brethk, *bushk

k

ak

|ak

diminutive; augmentative

 

C()

nm

qafak

 

ak

|ak

diminutive; augmentative

 

C()

adj

qafak

 

*ak

|ak

ethnonym: ‑ese, ‑an, ‑ian, ‑man

 

C()

nm

*bosnjak

an

*ak

|ak

ethnonym: ‑ese, ‑an, ‑ian, ‑man

 

C()

adj

*bosnjak

an

ek

|ek

diminutive; augmentative

 

C()

nm

tymek

 

ek

|ek

diminutive; augmentative

 

C()

adj

tymek

 

ik

|ik

 ‑ic

masc sg indef

C()

adj

barbarik

 

ok

|ok

diminutive; augmentative

 

C()

n

capok

 

ok

|ok

diminutive; augmentative

 

C()

adj

capok

 

uk

|uk

diminutive; augmentative

 

C()

nm

bishtuk

 

uk

|uk

diminutive; augmentative

 

C()

adj

bishtuk

 

*l

 

 

 

l

 

*djal

 

*l

 

 

 

ll

 

 

 

al

|al

 

 

 

 

 

 

el

|el

 

 

 

 

 

 

ol

|ol

 

 

 

 

 

 

ul

|ul

 

 

 

 

 

 

ll

 

 

 

ll

 

 

 

ll

 

 

 

l

 

 

 

ll

 

 

 

dh

 

 

 

ll

 

 

 

dh

 

 

 

ell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ll

|ull

 

 

ull

 

 

 

ill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ull

|ull

 

 

ll

 

 

 

oll

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*m

 

 

 

m

 

 

 

*m

 

 

 

mb

 

 

 

kam

||ka||m

 

1st sg pres adm

Any

v

qnkam

 

uakam

o'||ka||m

 

1st sg pres adm

o'

v

mbaruakam

 

yekam

e'||ka||m

 

1st sg pres adm

e'

v

krcyekam

 

uam

o'||m

 

1st pl pd

o'

v

mbaruam

 

hem

|he||m

 

1st sg pres

V

vp

lahem

 

yem

e'||m

 

1st pl pd

e'

v

krcyem

 

*m

 

 

 

m

 

dasm

 

shm

|shm

derivational suffix

masc sg

Any

adj (i)

i vajshm

 

im

||im

 

1st pl pres

C

v

ngulim

 

im

|im

gerund

nom/acc indef

o' or e'

 

shtizim

 

nim

||n||im

 

1st pl impf

Any

v

mbaronim

 

shim

||sh||im

 

1st pl impf

ish

kish

thosh

v

ishim

kishim

thoshim

 

eshim

|e||sh||im

 

1st pl impf

C

vp

trhiqeshim

 

heshim

|he||sh||im

 

1st pl impf

V

vp

laheshim

 

kshim

||k||sh||im

 

1st pl impf adm

Any

v

qnkshim

 

fshim

||fsh||im

 

1st pl opt

V

v

mbarofshim

 

sm

 

 

 

sm

 

 

 

sm

 

 

 

sm

 

 

 

shm

 

 

 

shm

 

 

 

shm

 

 

 

shm

 

 

 

zm

 

 

 

zm

 

 

 

zm

 

 

 

zm

 

 

 

zhm

 

 

 

zhm

 

 

 

zhm

 

 

 

zhm

 

 

 

*n

 

 

 

n

 

 

 

*n

 

 

 

nd

 

 

 

kan

||ka||n

 

3rd pl pres adm

Any

v

qnkan

 

uakan

o'||ka||n

 

3rd pl pres adm

o'

v

mbaruakan

 

uan

o'||n

 

3rd pl pd

o'

v

mbaruan

 

hen

|he||n

 

3rd sg pres

V

vp

lahen

 

yen

e'||n

 

3rd pl pd

e'

v

krcyen

 

yekan

e'||ka||n

 

3rd pl pres adm

e'

v

krcyekan

 

en

|e||n

 

3rd pl pres

C

vp

trhiqen

 

hen

|he||n

 

3rd pl pres

V

vp

lahen

 

*n

 

 

 

n

 

cikn

 

*n

 

 

 

r

 

*shkurtn

 

in

||i||n

 

def acc

C except g, h, k

nm

malin

 

nin

||n||in

 

3rd pl impf

Any

v

mbaronin

 

shin

||sh||in

 

3rd pl impf

ish

kish

thosh

v

ishin

kishin

thoshin

 

eshin

|e||sh||in

 

3rd pl impf

C

vp

trhiqeshin

 

heshin

|he||sh||in

 

3rd pl impf

V

vp

laheshin

 

kshin

||k||sh||in

 

3rd pl impf adm

Any

v

qnkshin

 

fshin

||fsh||in

 

3rd pl opt

V

v

mbarofshin

 

sn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

shn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*un

 

 

participle

ur

 

*ditun

 

zn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

zhn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*anj

a||nj

 

1st sg pres

an

v

*lanj

 

*enj

e||nj

 

1st sg pres

e'n

v

*plqenj

 

*inj

i||nj

 

1st sg pres

in

v

*prinj

 

*onj

o||nj

 

1st sg pres

on

v

*kuptonj

 

*unj

u||nj

 

1st sg pres

un

v

*zbrunj

 

*ynj

y||nj

 

1st sg pres

yn

v

*ndrhynj

 

o

|o'

thematic suffix

imper sg

C()

v

*retifiko

 

*o

|o'

 

imper sg

e', i'

v

*fishkllo

 

*o

o

 

nom/acc indef

ua

nm

*drago

 

*o

 

 

imper sg

u'an

v

*shkro

 

uo

 

 

 

ua, o

 

 

 

p

 

 

 

p

 

*prap

 

p

 

 

 

b

 

*tharp

 

aq

|aq

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

nm

ngordhaq

 

aq

|aq

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

adj

ngordhaq

 

alaq

|alaq

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

nm

ngordhalaq

 

alaq

|alaq

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

adj

ngordhalaq

 

iq

|iq

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

nm

bubuliq

 

iq

|iq

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

adj

bubuliq

 

uq

|uq

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

nm

nanuq

 

uq

|uq

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

adj

nanuq

 

*r

 

 

 

 

 

 

r; rr; n

ar

|ar

agent

 

C()

nm

shular

 

ar

|ar

agent

 

C()

adj

shular

 

()tar

t|ar

agent

 

Any

nm

treg()tar

 

()tar

t|ar

agent

 

Any

adj

treg()tar

 

uar

ua|r

participle

 

o'

v

 

 

uar

ua|r

adj (i)

 

o'

v

 

 

r

|r

adj (i)

 

C

v

 

 

or

|or

agent

 

C()

nm

koreanojugor

 

or

|or

agent

 

C()

adj

koreanojugor

 

ator

|ator

agent

 

C()

nm

racator

 

ator

|ator

agent

 

C()

adj

racator

 

ur

|ur

participle

 

C

v

 

 

ur

|ur

adj (i)

 

C

v

 

 

yer

ye|r

participle

 

e'n

v

 

 

yer

ye|r

adj (i)

 

e'n

v

 

 

*rr

 

 

 

rr

 

 

 

*rr

 

 

 

r

 

 

 

*s

 

 

 

 

 

*oris

s; z

as

|as

adv

adverb

C()

 

lehtas

 

s

|s

agent

adj

C

v

 

 

s

|s

agent

n

C

v

 

 

is

|is

v

1st sg pres

C

 

 

 

os

|is

v

1st/2nd/3rd sg pres

C

 

hekuros

 

ps

 

borrowing from Greek

 

 

 

 

 

ts

 

 

 

 

 

 

c

ues

ue|s

agent

adj

o'

v

 

 

ues

ue|s

agent

n

o'

v

 

 

yes

ye|s

agent

adj

e'

v

 

 

yes

ye|s

agent

n

e'

v

 

 

*us

u|s

agent

adj

o'

v

 

ues

*us

u|s

agent

n

o'

v

 

ues

*ys

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes

sh

||sh

 

2nd sg subj

V

v

mbarosh

 

sh

||sh

 

2nd sg opt

C

v

lidhsh

 

*sh

 

 

 

 

 

 

sh;

esh

|e||sh

 

2nd sg impf

C

vp

trhiqesh

 

hesh

|he||sh

 

2nd sg impf

V

vp

lahesh

 

sh

||sh

 

2nd sg subj

C

v

lidhsh

 

fsh

||fsh

 

2nd sg opt

V

nf

mbarofsh

 

osh

|osh

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

nm

mjekrrosh

 

osh

|osh

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

adj

mjekrrosh

 

*mpsh

 

 

 

 

 

 

msh

*tsh

 

 

 

 

 

 

ush

|ush

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

nm

gjatush

 

ush

|ush

diminutive

augmentative

 

C()

adj

gjatush

 

*t

 

 

 

 

 

 

t; d

at

|a||t

 

pl nom/acc def

nf

kmbat

 

at

|a||t

 

pl nom/acc def

C

nm

krimbat

 

uat

o'||t

 

2nd pl pd

o'

v

mbaruat

 

et

|e||t

 

pl nom/acc def

C

nm

gardhet

 

et

|e||t

 

1st sg pres

C

vp

trhiqet

 

Vhet

|he||t

 

1st sg pres

V

vp

lahet

 

yet

e'||t

 

2nd pl pd

e'

v

krcyet

 

Ct

C||t

 

pl nom/acc def

C()

np

amerikant

kafsht

 

*Ct

 

 

 

t

 

*i imt

 

sht

sh||t

 

2nd pl pdef

sh

v

prisht

 

it

||i||t

 

def abl

C except g, h, k

nm

malit

 

it

||i||t

 

def abl

V'

nm

babait

 

nit

||n||it

 

2nd pl impf

Any

v

mbaronit

 

rit

r||i||t

 

nom/acc def

r

np

prindrit

 

sit

s||i||t

 

pl nom/acc def

s

nm

nxnsit

 

shit

||sh||it

 

2nd pl impf

ish

kish

thosh

v

ishit

kishit

thoshit

 

shit

||sh||it

 

2nd pl opt

C

v

gjetshit

 

eshit

|e||sh||it

 

2nd pl impf

C

vp

trhiqeshit

 

heshit

|he||sh||it

 

2nd pl impf

V'

vp

laheshit

 

kshit

||k||sh||it

 

2nd pl impf adm

Any

v

qnkshit

 

fshit

||fsh||it

 

2nd pl opt

V'

v

mbarofshit

 

*ft

||ft

 

3rd sg opt

V'

v

*mbroft

ft

*ht

 

 

 

 

 

*ftoht

ht

*jt

|jt

extension

3rd sg pdef

V'

vp

 

 

*njt

 

 

 

 

adj (i)

*i shtrnjt

njt

ot

o||t

 

pl nom/acc def

o

nf

balot

 

*rt

 

 

 

 

adj (i)

*i lart

rt

*sht

 

 

 

 

adj (i)

*i gjasht

sht

ut

||u||t

 

def abl

g, h, k

nm

bregut

 

*th

 

 

 

 

 

*gjith

th

*th

|th

diminutive

 

 

 

*birth

 

u

C||u

 

imper sg

Cet

vp

krimbu

 

au

a||u

 

3rd sg pdef

a'

v

lau

 

*au

a||u

 

nom def

a'

nm

*vllau

 

bu

b||u

 

imper sg

bet

vp

krimbu

 

bu

b||u

 

imper sg | 3rd pl ind.obj

b

v

krimbu

 

cu

c||u

 

imper sg

cet

vp

ngucu

 

cu

c||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

c

v

ngeci

 

u

||u

 

imper sg

et

vp

prllou

 

du

d||u

 

imper sg

det

vp

bindu

 

du

d||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

d

v

rendu

 

dhu

dh||u

 

imper sg

dhet

vp

hidhu

 

dhu

dh||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

dh

v

bridhu

 

eu

e||u

 

nom def

e'

nm

atdheu

 

eu

e||u

 

3rd sg pdef

e'

v

bleu

 

fu

f||u

 

imper sg

fet

vp

plafu

 

fu

f||u

 

imper sg |3rd pl ind.obj

f

v

brofu

 

gu

g||u

 

nom def

g

nm

bregu

 

gu

g||u

 

3rd sg pdef

g

v

shtangu

 

gju

gj||u

 

imper sg

gjet

vp

prligju

 

gju

gj||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

gj

v

gjegju

 

hu

h||u

 

imper sg

het

vp

mbahu

 

hu

h||u

 

3rd sg pdef

h

v

fshehu

 

hu

h||u

 

nom def

h

nm

krahu

 

iu

a||i

 

nom def

i'

nm

bariu

 

ju

j||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

V'

v

mbaju

 

ku

k||u

 

imper sg

ket

vp

duku

 

ku

k||u

 

nom def

k

nm

miku

 

ku

k||u

 

3rd sg pdef

k

v

iku

 

lu

l||u

 

imper sg

let

vp

ulu

 

lu

l||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

l

v

falu

 

llu

ll||u

 

imper sg

llet

vp

mallu

 

llu

ll||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

ll

v

mbyllu

 

mu

m||u

 

imper sg

met

vp

shprgjumu

 

mu

m||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

m

v

grymu

 

nju

nj||u

 

imper sg

njet

vp

prgjunju

 

nju

nj||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

nj

v

kakinju

 

nu

n||u

 

imper sg

net

vp

mnjanu

 

pu

p||u

 

imper sg

pet

vp

zhdpu

 

pu

p||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

p

v

hapu

 

qu

q||u

 

imper sg

qet

vp

ndrequ

 

qu

q||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

q

v

flliqu

 

ru

r||u

 

imper sg

ret

vp

dliru

 

ru

r||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

r

v

lbyru

 

rru

rr||u

 

imper sg

rret

vp

pirru

 

rru

rr||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

rr

v

shperru

 

su

s||u

 

imper sg

set

vp

kujdesu

 

su

s||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

s

v

kujdesu

 

shu

sh||u

 

imper sg

shet

vp

vishu

 

shu

sh||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

sh

v

buzqeshu

 

tu

t||u

 

imper sg

tet

vp

morritu

 

tu

t||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

t

v

brtitu

 

thu

th||u

 

imper sg

thet

vp

mbathu

 

thu

th||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

th

v

zbathu

 

vu

v||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

v

v

hovu

 

zu

z||u

 

imper sg

zet

vp

zbrazu

 

zu

z||u

 

imper sg ||3rd pl ind.obj

z

v

lvizu

 

iv

|iv

adjectival

‑ive

 

adj

alternativ

 

*z

z

diminutive

 

 

 

*thuprz

 

Cez

|ez

ethnonym

‑ese, ‑an, ‑ian, ‑man

C()

n

eskimez

anglez

Eskimo

Englishman

Cez

e|z

diminutive

 

Ce

nf

fijez

 

Cz

|z

diminutive

 

C()

nf

gurz

gushz

 

oz

|oz

adjectival

‑ous

 

adj

melodioz

 

 

 


Dialectal Variation & Standard Albanian

Standard Literary Albanian

Albanians are used to considerable variability in form of words, both in terms of inflection and in terms of dialectal variation; foreign readers whose own language shows greater standardization of forms must be prepared to be quite flexible in reading Albanian texts. There have been several attempts to establish a standard set of forms for Albanian that would be the same for all writers, irrespective of their regional provenance. The most effective of these attempts, promulgated as a set of orthographic rules in the 1968 publication of Rregullat e drejtshkrimit t shqipes (The Rules of Albanian Orthography) in Tirana and supported in Kosovo by the Linguistic Conference of Prishtin in 1968 (at the expense of their own regional standard Gheg), was enforced by the full power of the government in Albania and embodied in the two large dictionaries Fjalor i shqipes s sotme (Dictionary of present‑day Albanian) and Fjalor i gjuhs s sotme shqipe (Dictionary of the present‑day Albanian language) published in 1980 and 1984, respectively, in Tirana by the Instituti i Gjuhsis dhe i Letrsis of the Akademia e Shkencave (Institute of Linguistics and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the People's Republic of Albania). It would be impossible to discuss the way in which decisions were made as to the principles on which this Standard Literary Albanian was based without a lengthy discussion of Albanian politics and political personalities, discussion which would lead us far afield of the use of this dictionary. Suffice it to say here that for a period of over 40 years, Albanian children were taught this standard in schools, publications in Albania were strictly forced to conform to this standard, radio and television broadcasts, plays and films shown in Albanian were required to adhere to this standard, so that by the end of the period of official enforcement of the standard, it had become natural for large numbers of people all over the Albanian‑speaking world to understand and use the forms promulgated to fit that standard.

More than half of the entries in this dictionary are based on forms and senses sanctioned by inclusion in those 1980 and 1984 Tirana dictionaries. The spellings and senses without an asterisk in this dictionary reflect these attempts over a half century to standardize the spelling of Albanian words, attempts that have succeeded in some respects and failed in others. Dialectal, stylistic, and personal variation continue to characterize Albanian speech and continue to be reflected in different degrees in print. However, readers of Albanian need to be aware that in actual documents, particularly those published before and after the great normalization efforts from 1968 to 1989, many words appear in forms different from the present‑day standard ones. In this dictionary, words and senses that have not been judged to conform to that standard are preceded by an asterisk: *. Such marking does not imply any kind of value judgement wrong vs. right, bad vs. good, unacceptable vs. acceptable. The asterisk is provided only to inform the reader that the word or sense that follows is likely to be viewed by many present‑day educated Albanians as aberrant in some way from the standard. Such knowledge may be useful, for example, in understanding intended nuances in modern literary works, or in judging the provenance or age of older non‑literary publications. But the sensitive reader must be aware that linguistic variation is rampant in Albanian texts and must be flexible in dealing with word forms and senses that are not matched by those chosen for inclusion here.

Dialect Variants

Readers must be especially aware that unstressed and e are particularly unstable in Albanian: is often not pronounced and is often omitted in writing, even when the official orthography would require its presence. In modern standard literary Albanian, there have been valiant attempts to control spellings in regard to , but dialectal, stylistic, and personal variation continues to resist standardization. For nouns, presence of or e in final position in writing the nominative singular indefinite form (the usual citation form) reflects the treatment of the noun as feminine (with inflectional endings ‑a (or ‑ja), ‑e (or ‑je), ‑s, ‑n, while their absence indicates that the noun is treated as masculine (with inflectional endings ‑i (or ‑u), ‑it (or ‑un), ‑in (or ‑un). For example, some Albanians (and some dictionaries) would insist that the correct form of the word for millipede is dyzetkmbshe, a feminine noun in declension and agreement, while others insist that it is dyzetkmbsh, a masculine noun in declension and agreement (still others think that the word is shumkmbsh).

Variable

Because unstressed is pronounced very lightly, if at all, in most spoken varieties of Albanian, the appearance of the letter is highly variable in print, even when the official orthography would require its presence. Readers must be especially flexible in recognizing that a form found in a text with may be found in the dictionary without that letter, and vice versa; a text form that ends in a consonant plus plus l—which can be represented schematically as Cl—may be found in the dictionary with the at the end rather than in the middle of the sequence—represented schematically as Cl. The same is true for the letters ll, r, rr, m, n, k, t, s, z around . The same word may end in C in one dialect of Albanian, Ce in another, and just C in a third.

At the end of a stem, unstressed always drops out before a suffix that begins in a vowel. In other positions, the appearance of in print continues to reflect dialectal, stylistic, and personal variation. For example, between two consonants, an unstressed may drop out before a vowel, but only if the sequence of consonants left by its disappearance is pronounceable in the variety of Albanian in which the text is written; but that implies that speakers of different varieties of Albanian will differ in whether they say (and write) that in a particular word. The implication for the Albanian dictionary user is that the possibility must be kept open that a form found in a text with an may be found in the dictionary without that letter, and vice versa. Since there would be room for little else if every possible variant with and without were separately listed, for the most part this dictionary follows the choice of the 1980 Fjalor i gjuhs s sotme shqipe for its primary entries, but for certain sub‑entries—e.g., the feminine forms of adjectives that drop the stem when the suffix ‑e is added—including those forms would needlessly pad the dictionary with easily interpretable forms.

In modern standard Albanian, suffixes with an underlying form consisting of a single consonant followed by schematically ‑C—typically lose the if the vowel in the preceding syllable is unstressed:

qen + ‑t = qent

shtpi' + ‑t = shtpi't

lume'nj + ‑t = lume'njt

armi'q + ‑t = armi'qt

        but

lu'le + ‑t = lu'let

bu'rra + ‑t = bu'rrat

du'ar + ‑t = duart

nje'rz + ‑t = nje'rzit

 

shtpi' + ‑s = shtpi's

        but

lu'le + ‑s = lu'les

It is common to lengthen (in pronunciation) a stressed vowel in a syllable preceding a final . In varieties of Albanian that have dropped the final (e.g., most northern dialects), that lengthening may have been preserved. Just as an English speaker used a different vowel to distinguish bit from bite, even though the final written e is no longer pronounced, so an Albanian who does not pronounce the final unstressed may still distinguish between bishtu'k and bishtu'k, on the basis of the length of the u'. However, for many speakers of Albanian, the unstressed seems quite arbitrary in the orthography, and many variations appear in print.

Table of Dialectal Variants

In order to help readers find their text word, this dictionary alphabetizes an entry whose standard form is spelled with , but is subject to such variation, as if the were not there at all, and indicates the evanescence of that letter by putting it in italics: . The result is that forms with or without the unstressed will be found in the same place. Thus a reader puzzled by the form ikrri in a text will find the standard form ikrri where ikrri would have been, and will recognize immediately that it is the same word. Conversely, a reader puzzled by the form laps in a text can find its equivalent laps by ignoring the in searching in the dictionary.

The following Table of Dialectal Variants includes many of the possible ways in which text forms differ from dictionary forms. For words found in work published outside of Albania or before 1969 inside Albania, the reader may find it necessary to try out several possibilities listed in the table in order to find the proper match—proper meaning that the match enables the reader to make sense of the passage in which the troublesome word is found. Because this dictionary is so large, and because it is not the usual case that a single word will be crucial for the needs of a reader, this cryptoanalytic technique should not be required often; the tools here are provided for those rare cases when it is so required.

1 When printed this appears as a degree sign: e.g., shik.

2 When printed this appears as a dagger: e.g., afr|s.

3 When printed this appears as a dagger: e.g., merr avull to become heated, get angry [lit., take steam].

4 If items must be omitted from the printed dictionary to save space, eliminate: a).cognates. [A cognate is taken to be a word or compound in Albanian with apparently the same range of meaning as the English word with which it is easily identifiable by someone who has elementary knowledge of Albanian/English derivational correspondences]

b) Compounds and derivatives formed by general processes and having easily predictable meanings:

 

In Text[38]

Standard

Form

Pre‑standard

Function

Example

Standard

 

spelling difference

djal

djal

e

 

grammatical difference

angjinar

angjinare

CC

CC

Northern

spelling difference

fajsi

ancak

fajsi

ancak

CCV'

CCV'

Older

spelling difference

shndrit

shndrit

CC#

CC#

Older

spelling difference

laps

laps

Cs

Cs

Older

pronunciation difference

hiths

hiths

CRV

CRV

Older

spelling difference

ndrron

ndrron

VV

VjV

Older

spelling difference

bia

bija

VV

VhV

Older

pronunciation difference

tuaf

tuhaf

'

Northern

pronunciation difference

sht

b

hngra

sht

b

hngra

Vn

Northern

pronunciation difference

dum

duman

j

nj

Northern

pronunciation difference

jtun

njtur

am

m

Northern

pronunciation difference

bam

bm

n

Vn

Northern

pronunciation difference

dng

dang

an

n

Northern

2nd sg pres of verbs

ban

bn

anV

rV

Northern

pronunciation difference

ban

bre

ar

or

Older

derivational suffix

cikalar

ndrqytetar

cikalor

ndrqytetor

ardh|

erdh|

Northern

verb stem

ardha

erdha

c

Older

pronunciation difference

kacamill

kaamill

c

s

Older

pronunciation difference

cfurk

frakcion

sfurk

fraksion

c

x

Older

pronunciation difference

gucim

kaprcej

guxim

kaprxej

cb

zb

Older

spelling difference

cbardh

cbath

zbardh

zbath

cd

zd

Older

pronunciation difference

cdrukth

zdrukth

cf

sf

Older

pronunciation difference

cfurk

sfurk

cg

zg

Older

pronunciation difference

cfurk

sfurk

ci

si

Northern

derivational suffix

egrci

egrsi

ck

sk

Older

pronunciation difference

ckallua

skallua

cm

sm

Older

pronunciation difference

cmag

smag

co

so

Northern

derivational suffix

egrcoj

egrsoj

cp

sp

Older

pronunciation difference

cprkas

sprkas

cq

sq

Older

pronunciation difference

cqufur

squfur

crr

cr

Older

pronunciation difference

crrule

crule

cv

zv

Older

pronunciation difference

cverk

zverk

q

Northern

pronunciation difference

arkim

qarkim

c

 

pronunciation difference

ikl

cikl

#

xh

Southern

pronunciation difference

bor

borxh

b

zhb

Southern

pronunciation difference

balancim

zhbalancim

d

zhd

Southern

pronunciation difference

dfrim

duk

zhdfrim

zhduk

f

sf

Southern

pronunciation difference

filit

sfilit

f

shf

Southern

pronunciation difference

faq

shfaq

g

zhg

Southern

pronunciation difference

gnjim

zhgnjim

gj

zhgj

Southern

pronunciation difference

gjaksim

zhgjaksim

k

shk

Southern

pronunciation difference

kput

kishroj

shkput

shkishroj

p

shp

Southern

pronunciation difference

porr

shporr

q

shq

Southern

pronunciation difference

shqis

qis

t

shth

Southern

pronunciation difference

thur

shthur

th

sht

Southern

pronunciation difference

tillem

shtillem

v

zhv

Southern

pronunciation difference

varros

zhvarros

d

nd

Mountain

pronunciation difference

dal

ndal

dh

ll

Mountain

pronunciation difference

modh

moll

dh

gdh

Northern

pronunciation difference

drudhnds

drugdhends

e

Variable

pronunciation difference

athere

ather

e

ej

Northern

pronunciation difference

artaqefas

artaqejfas

e

Northern

pronunciation difference

fr

p

fre

pe

Older

pronunciation difference

mng

mng

n

n

Northern

pronunciation difference

krnd

krnd

esha#

ej#

Southern

1st sg impf vpr

nderohesh

nderohej

Older or

Regional

gender difference

fren

fren

Older

older spelling

mollz

mollz

ll

ull

Older

spelling difference

gargll

rrotll

gargull

rrotull

m

m

Older

spelling difference

dogm

murrm

dogm

murrm

n

en

Older

pronunciation difference

dndur

mndje

dendur

mendje

ni

ri

Northern

pronunciation difference

dndur

dendur

r

ur

Older

pronunciation difference

frtun

bukr

furtun

bukur

rV

rV

Variable

spelling difference

afrisht

afrisht

t

t

Older

spelling difference

cemt

cemt

z

z

Older

spelling difference

fejz

fejz

f

th

Regional

pronunciation difference

fell

thell

f#

v#

Southern

spelling difference

dif

administratif

div

administrativ

f#

h#

Northern

pronunciation difference

shof

shoh

g

gj

Regional

pronunciation difference

legend

legjend

g

ng

Older

pronunciation difference

gastr

ngastr

g#

k#

Older

spelling difference

dyfeg

dyfek

V

hV

Older

pronunciation difference[39]

al

duet

hal

duhet

i

e

Southern

pronunciation difference

il

cel

i

Older

pronunciation difference

diftes

dftes

i

y

Dialectal

pronunciation difference

diqan

kacafit

lip

dyqan

kacafyt

lyp

i'

Northern

pronunciation difference

br

ull

bri

ulli

i'n

Northern

pronunciation difference

kof

kofin

iV

jV

Older

spelling difference

diamant

djamant

ie

je

Older

spelling difference

ierr

viell

jerr

vjell

ie

ije

Older

spelling difference

dietar

dijetar

j

inj

Northern

pronunciation difference

krthjt

krthinjt

im

im

Older

derivational suffix

bulurim

bulurim

in

im

 

derivational suffix

bubullin

bubullim

in

ir

 

derivational suffix

butsin

butsir

ism

izm

Older

derivational suffix

komunism

komunizm

Vj

Vi

Older

spelling difference

hajr

hair

Vj

Vnj

Northern

pronunciation difference

kuj

lumej

kunj

lumenj

jV

iV

Older

spelling difference

dhjat

dhiat

je

ie

Older

spelling difference

kantjer

kantier

je

ie

Southern

spelling difference

djell

diell

je

e

Regional

pronunciation difference

aguridhje

aguridhe

k

g

Southern

spelling difference

akzot

agzot

k#

g#

 

spelling difference

prak

ahenk

prag

aheng

kc

ks

Older

pronunciation difference

injekcion

injeksion

kt

gt

Southern

spelling difference

dhokt

dhogt

l

ll

Older

pronunciation difference

portokal

abdhel

portokall

abdhell

ll

dh

Mountain

pronunciation difference

brell

bredh

ll

l

Older

pronunciation difference

billanc

formulloj

bilanc

formuloj

 llz

llz

Older

spelling difference

mollz

mollz

m

mb

Northern

pronunciation difference

pamuk

mes

plum

pambuk

mbes

plumb

m

m

Northern

pronunciation difference

mpar

mpar

mb

m

Southern

pronunciation difference

damblla

damlla

m

r

Northern

pronunciation difference

buzqam

buzqar

m

r

Northern

participle

lam

lar

ml

mbl

Northern

pronunciation difference

mlodha

mblodha

mll

mbll

Northern

pronunciation difference

mllais

mbllais

mr

mbr

Northern

pronunciation difference

mres

mbres

msh

fsh

Older

pronunciation difference

msheh

fsheh

msh

fsh

Older

pronunciation difference

msheh

fsheh

msh

mbsh

Older

pronunciation difference

mshtjell

mbshtjell

mpsh

msh

Older

pronunciation difference

lmpsh

lmsh

mv

v

Southern

pronunciation difference

mvjedh

vjedh

n

nd

Northern

pronunciation difference

kanil

nr

askun

kandil

ndr

askund

VnV

VrV

Northern

pronunciation difference

atyne

dreni

pruni

atyre

dreri

pruri

Cn

n

Northern

pronunciation difference

dnes

dnes

Cn

r

Northern

pronunciation difference

kafshnore

kafshrore

Cn #

r#

Northern

pronunciation difference

dimn

emn

dimr

emr

CnV

CrV

Northern

pronunciation difference

emni

emri

na

ra

Northern

noun plural suffix

shina

shira

nd

n

Southern

pronunciation difference

ndofull

nofull

ndr

dr

Older

pronunciation difference

ndrejt

drejt

ni

ri

Northern

derivational suffix

pleqni

pleqri

ns

nc

Older

spelling difference

agjensi

agjenci

nsh

n

 

pronunciation difference

(especially for optative)

vnshin

vnin

nj

j

Southern

pronunciation difference

kuptonj

bnj

kuptoj

bj

nj

ngj

Northern

pronunciation difference

njall

njyr

ngjall

ngjyr

njs

ues

Southern

pronunciation difference

pushtonjs

msonjs

pushtues

msues

o'

u'a

Non‑standard

theme vowel

loj

pagoj

luaj

paguaj

vo

va

Northern

pronunciation difference

votr

vatr

p

b

Older

pronunciation difference

kupl

kupl

p#

b#

Southern

pronunciation difference

thelp

korp

thelb

korb

p#

b#

Southern

pronunciation difference

lap

elp

komp

korp

lab

elb

komb

korb

pr

pr

Older

spelling difference

prart

prart

psh

fsh

Older

pronunciation difference

pshat

fshat

psh

mbsh

Older

pronunciation difference

pshtjellje

mbshtjellje

psht

shpt

Older

pronunciation difference

pshtoj

shptoj

pt

bt

Older

pronunciation difference

dopta

dobta

pth

bth

Older

spelling difference

elpth

elbth

q

gj

Southern

pronunciation difference

qenq

qengj

q

k

Older

pronunciation difference

kanisq

kanisk

r

rr

Southern

pronunciation difference

mar

rot

tmer

marr

rrot

tmerr

ri

si

Arbitrary

abstract noun formative

miqri

miqsi

rr

r

Northern

pronunciation difference

bythkrrom

rradh

bythkrom

radh

s#

z#

Southern

spelling difference

apras

oris

apraz

oriz

s

s

Older

spelling difference

gryks

gryks

sg

zg

Older

spelling difference

sgafullon

zgafullon

sgj

zgj

Older

spelling difference

sgjebe

zgjebe

sj

sq

Older

pronunciation difference

sjoll

sqoll

skj

sq

Older

spelling difference

skjep

sqep

sh

Older

pronunciation difference

dishka

shradhit

dika

radhit

sh

zh

Southern

pronunciation difference

proshm

prozhm

sh#

zh#

Southern

pronunciation difference

garash

garazh

sh

n

Northern

pl impf

hapshim

hapnim

shm

ja

Northern

1st sg impf

hapshm

hapja

shm

m

Older

pronunciation difference

prshmoj

prmoj

t

d

Older

spelling difference

tefter

defter

t#

d#

Southern

spelling difference

murtat

ment

murtad

mend

tm

tshm

Older

spelling difference

barabitm

barabitshm

ts

c

Older

spelling difference

tsar

car

ts

t

Older

pronunciation difference

fajtsoj

fajtoj

th#

dh#

Older

spelling difference

i math

kukuth

i madh

kukudh

u

y

Older

pronunciation difference

burek

musafir

byrek

mysafir

u'

u'a

Northern

pronunciation difference

rruj

rruaj

u

Northern

pronunciation difference

dr

krc

dru

krcu

u'a

o

Older Southern

theme vowel

rruaj

rroj

u'ame

u'ar

Northern

feminine adjective

e kaluame

e kaluar

u'ar

o'r

Southern

adjectival suffix

lakruar

lakror

u'arshm

u'eshm

Southern

adjectival suffix

afru'arshm

afru'eshm

u'e

u'a

Northern

theme vowel

apue

apua

u'e

u'a

Northern

pronunciation difference

grue

grua

u'e

u'ar

Northern

participles,

adjectives

takue

takuar

u'em

o'r

Northern

adjectives

botuem

botor

u'em

u'ar

Northern

participles,

adjectives

buem

punuem

buar

punuar

u'eme

u'ar

Northern

feminine adjective

e kalueme

e kaluar

u'er

o'r

Northern

qualitative nouns,

adjectives

balluer

aeruer

ballor

aeror

u'es

u's

Northern

agentive nouns,

adjectives

shkues

shkus

un

ur

Northern

participles,

adjectives

pjekun

pritun

pjekur

pritur

ull

 ll

Northern

spelling difference

esull

esll

x

z

Older

pronunciation difference

horixont

xbavit

xylyfe

horizont

zbavit

zylyfe

xh

zh

Older

pronunciation difference

grixhl

kuxhin

xhvesh

grizhl

kuzhin

zhvesh

xh

gj

Northern

pronunciation difference

xherdek

gjerdek

y

i

Northern

pronunciation difference

bylbyl

krymb

bilbil

krimb

y

u

Regional

pronunciation difference

dyke

duke

y'

y'e

Older

theme vowel

rryshm

pys

rryeshm

pyes

ye

e

Older

theme vowel

kaptyell

kaptell

ye

e

Older

theme vowel

brdyell

brdil

yem

yer

Northern

participles, adjectives

pashlyem

pashlyer

z

x

Older

pronunciation difference

zamare

xamare

z

z

Older

diminutive suffix

gjuhz

gjuhz


 



[1]Stress is not indicated in normal Albanian orthography. In this dictionary the placement of stress is marked for words and stems with more than one vowel, as a convenience for foreign readers; stems containing a single vowel can be assumed to be stressed, even when they are not so marked. Inflected forms all have the stress on the stem.

[2] Morphemes can be thought of as the smallest functional parts of words.

[3]A citation form is that form of a word which contains the definitions common to all forms that the word may take. If a particular definition applies only to a particular form of a word (e.g., the plural of a noun or the participle of a verb) that form generally has its own listing as a separate entry in its own position in the alphabetical order.

[4]The form chosen for citation of verbs in this dictionary is the stem of the 3rd sg active present tense form of the verb. See p. xvii.

[5] When at least one of the alternates consists of more than one word, they are all italicized.

[6]    * at the head of an entry means that the entry does not come from a standard source.

      *  before a grammatical label means that the grammatical function is not given in a standard source.

      * preceding a definition means that the sense is not found in standard sources.

[7]Nasal vowels are represented in Albanian orthography by the carat symbol above the vowel: , , , . They are the most striking characteristic of northern (Gheg) speech. The nasal vowel in a word is always stressed, unless another vowel is marked with the stress mark, as in bi'ste.

[8] The definite nominative/accusative suffix ‑t is identical with that used for np stems, but the resultant neuter form has singular agreement (masculine or feminine) rather than plural. The neuter referential suffixes are identical to those of nm stems. Most nn stems are abstract nouns derived from adjectives, especially participial adjectives, and preceded by the attributive article t (or s for the ablative case). The number of other noun stems with neuter declension has steadily decreased during the history of Albanian; most formerly nn stems have become nm, nf, or np; the notable exceptions are krye and uj, and in some varieties of Albanian even the latter gets treated as nm or nf, going the way of mish and lesh, which may now be either nn or nm.

[9] Or prepositional clusters ending in one of these.

[10] Also included in this category are np nouns derived irregularly from nm nouns

[11] This dictionary does not list the plural forms of countable nouns (with nm and nf stems) that derive np stems (with plural sense and agreement) regularly with one of the derivational suffixes ‑e, ‑a, ‑ra, or - (the latter indicating that the singular and plural stems are identical). The main reason for this omission is that there is so much dialectal and individual variation as to which of these is used that a reader would be in peril of rejecting a plural interpretation of a legitimate form that did not match the one chosen arbitrarily for dictionary listing.

[12]rruga and rruge are the nominative definite and ablative/dative indefinite case forms of the noun; rrugat, rrugash and rrugave are case forms of its plural derivative rruga.

[13]rrug serves as the nominative and accusative indefinite, rrugn as the accusative definite, and rrugs as the ablative/dative definite.

[14]That is, the entry which provides the sense(s) of the stem from which this form is derived.

[15] So‑called Albanian infinitives—pr t + participle, e.g., pr t shkuar (in order) to go, do not serve most of the functions of English infinitives.

[16] For the same reason, for many verbs, the gerund formed regularly by suffixing ‑i'm (for verb stems ending in o', u'a, y', or y'e) or by suffixing ‑je (for verb stems ending in a consonant) are not provided, if a reader can be expected to arrive at their identity and meaning easily.

[17] For a linguistically sophisticated account of syntax and semantics of passive voice forms, see Philip Hubbard, The Syntax of the Albanian Verb Complex, New York, Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985.

[18]The ‑ of s is retained in spelling the feminine stem, although in normal speech it is usually not pronounced.

[19] The specific tenses of the passive voice are formed by preceding the active tense form by the proclitic u.

[20]That is, the entry which provides the sense(s) of the stem from which this form is derived.

[21]Existing dictionaries differ in the degree to which they include stem variants. One common practice is to list a single citation form for any inflected stem and to list few dialectal variants, if any. For the foreign reader, this practices presents grave difficulties: in order to be able to use the dictionary—something necessary especially in early stages of study—he must already know the language well, a peculiarity that seems either to escape the notice of the guilty lexicographers or to be answered by, "If words are too easy to find, the reader will never gain the discipline necessary to learn more." I reject such arguments as a dodge of the lexicographer's responsibility to produce the maximally usefully tool for the intended users of the particular dictionary, and have tried here to make the dictionary as easy for the foreign reader to use as I can, recognizing that the task of reading a foreign language is difficult enough without putting artificial roadblocks in the way.

[22]e appears only after an immediately preceding noun referent ending in the definite accusative suffix t.

[23]e appears only after an immediately preceding noun referent ending in the definite accusative suffix n.

[24]e appears only after an immediately preceding noun referent ending in the definite accusative suffix n.

[25]e appears only after an immediately preceding noun referent ending in the definite accusative suffix t.

[26]s appears after an immediately preceding noun referent ending in the definite ablative/dative suffix s and before nominalized adjectives in the definite ablative/dative case

[27] If C = g, k, or h, then the 3sg pdef suffix is u, rather than i.

[28] With the exception of the 3 rd sg pdef noted above, all passive forms in Special tenses are identical to their corresponding active forms, except that the reflexive dative clitic u precedes the verb.

[29]Throughout this dictionary, the term stressed vowel includes both the single vowel in monosyllabic stems with a single syllable, as well as the vowels marked with a stress mark ' in stems with more than one vowel.

[30]The reader may encounter alternate accusative definite case forms with the inflectional suffix ‑n directly added to bare nm stems ending in a stressed vowel: the accusative definite form of the nm noun dhe earth may be either dheun or dhen.

[31]There is considerable vacillation as to which variant is chosen; the choice is not entirely determined by regional variation.

[32]According to the prescriptive standard. There are varieties of Albanian that distinguish the dative indefinite ‑ve from the dative definite ‑vet for the plural.

[33]Thus the singular and plural stems for many nouns are identical in form, distinguishable formally only by the inflectional suffixes they take and syntactically by their grammatical agreement with other forms. Nouns that typically have identical singular and plural stems are nf stems that end in any vowel except . Without exception, nf stems formed with the agentive derivational suffix ‑s or with a derivational suffix that ends in r (in particular, the participial suffix) are identical their singular forms, except that they add i before the single‑consonant plural suffixes ‑t and ‑sh.

[34]Albanian society traditionally divided male and female roles sharply, so that for many such nouns only the nm stem was used and used exclusively for masculine referents. As the role of women shifts in Albania society, a number of new nf stems (derived with the suffix ‑e) serving as feminine referents have come into use, and the potential for new ones is, in principle, unlimited.

[35]In all endings in which i and u alternate, u is the alternant that appears immediately after g, k or h.

[36]If the target word has ja after a vowel, the citation form of the stem ends in that vowel; if ja appears after a consonant, the citation form of the stem ends in the unstressed vowel e.

[37]The so‑called genitive form is just the dative form preceded by a proclitic attributive article.

[38]In this chart:

                  V stands for any vowel.

                  V' stands for any stressed vowel.

                  V stands for any unstressed vowel.

                  C stands for any consonant.

                  Co stands for any voiceless consonant.

                  Cv stands for any voiceless consonant.

                  N stands for any nasal consonant—n, m, or nj

                  R stands for any liquid consonant—r, rr, l, or ll

                  # stands for the end of a word

                  stands for nothing, that is, null, the absence of anything

[39] Most present‑day speakers of Albanian pronounce h very weakly, if at all, in ordinary speech, especially if the vowel following the h is unstressed.  However, for many educated speakers, failure to write the letter in words that have a standard spelling would be evidence of poor education.