Albanian Written Language

Spoken Albanian:

There are two main dialects divided geographically by the Shkumbin river:

Tosk (Toskësisht)

The official language is spoken in Southern Albania

Gheg (Gegërisht)

is spoken in Northern Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia and parts of Bulgaria

One of the main differences between the dialect are nasalized letters, which are abundant in Gheg but not used in Tosk. Many Gheg speakers feel themselves discriminated by Tosk speakers.

General

Shqipëria (Albania) derives from the Albanian word Shqiptonjë, which means "eagle". Albanians refer to themselves as Sons of the Eagles.

Written Albanian

In its spoken form, it is spoken/pronounced how it is written (except for the letter ë). German as a second language is used more than English, especially outside the Capital.

Written (Tosk) using the Latin Alphabet. Additions to the Latin Alphabet:

ë, ç, and 9 digraphs: dh, gj, ll, nj, rr, sh, th, xh, zh

Prior to 1908 the Arabian and Greek alphabet was used, although since this date it is exclusively the Latin alphabet.

Albanian accents

To type accents with ALT codes, hold down the ALT key, then on the numeric keypad type the three or four digits listed here. However not with laptops, ALT codes only work with the numeric keypad, NOT the row of numbers across the top of your keyboard, as on laptops.

Albanian Alphabet

The Albanian alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet and has 36 letters.

To type accents with ALT codes, hold down the ALT key, then on the numeric keypad type the three or four digits listed here. However not with laptops, ALT codes only work with the numeric keypad, NOT the row of numbers across the top of your keyboard, as on laptops.

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