This articleshould specify the language of its non-English content using{{lang}} or{{langx}},{{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and{{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriateISO 639 code. Wikipedia'smultilingual support templates may also be used.See why.(June 2025)

Part ofa series on
Indo-European topics
Languages List of Indo-European languages Extant Albanoid Albanian Armenian Balto-Slavic Baltic Slavic Celtic Germanic Hellenic Greek Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Nuristani Italic Romance Extinct Anatolian Tocharian Paleo-Balkan Dacian Illyrian Liburnian Messapic Mysian Paeonian Phrygian Thracian Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language Phonology:Sound laws,Accent,Ablaut Hypothetical Balkanic Daco-Thracian Graeco-Albanian Graeco-Armenian Graeco-Aryan Graeco-Phrygian Indo-Hittite Italo-Celtic Thraco-Illyrian Grammar Vocabulary Root Verbs Nouns Pronouns Numerals Particles Other Proto-Albanian Proto-Anatolian Proto-Armenian Proto-Germanic (Proto-Norse) Proto-Italo-Celtic (Proto-Celtic ·Proto-Italic) Proto-Greek Proto-Balto-Slavic (Proto-Slavic ·Proto-Baltic) Proto-Indo-Iranian (Proto-Indo-Aryan,Proto-Iranian,Proto-Nuristani)
Philology Anitta text Hittite inscriptions Hieroglyphic Luwian Linear B Rigveda Avesta Homer Behistun Greek epigraphy Phrygian epigraphy Messapic epigraphy Latin epigraphy Gaulish epigraphy Runic epigraphy Ogham Gothic Bible Bible translations into Armenian Tocharian script Old Irish glosses Albanian Kanun
Origins Homeland Proto-Indo-Europeans Society Religion Mainstream Kurgan hypothesis Indo-European migrations Eurasian nomads Alternative and fringe Anatolian hypothesis Armenian hypothesis Beech argument Indigenous Aryanism Baltic homeland Paleolithic continuity theory
Archaeology Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Pontic Steppe Domestication of the horse Kurgan Kurgan stelae Kurgan culture Steppe cultures Bug–Dniester Sredny Stog Dnieper–Donets Samara Khvalynsk Yamnaya Mykhailivka culture Novotitarovskaya culture Caucasus Maykop East Asia Afanasievo Eastern Europe Usatove Cernavodă Cucuteni Northern Europe Corded ware Baden Middle Dnieper Bronze Age Pontic Steppe Chariot Yamnaya Catacomb Multi-cordoned ware Poltavka Srubnaya Northern/Eastern Steppe Abashevo culture Andronovo Sintashta Europe Globular Amphora Corded ware Bell Beaker Únětice Trzciniec Nordic Bronze Age Terramare Tumulus Urnfield Proto-Villanovan Lusatian Este South Asia Bishkent Vakhsh BMAC Ochre Coloured Pottery Copper Hoard Cemetery H Gandhara grave Iron Age Steppe Chernoles Europe Thraco-Cimmerian Hallstatt Latial Jastorf Caucasus Colchian Central Asia Yaz India Painted Grey Ware Northern Black Polished Ware
Peoples and societies Bronze Age Anatolian peoples (Hittites) Armenians Mycenaean Greeks Indo-Iranians Iron AgeIndo-Aryans Indo-Aryans Iranians Iranians Nuristanis Nuristanis East Asia Wusun Yuezhi Europe Celts Gauls Celtiberians Insular Celts Cimmerians Hellenic peoples Italic peoples Germanic peoples Paleo-Balkan/Anatolia Thracians Dacians Illyrians Paeonians Phrygians Scythians Middle Ages East Asia Tocharians Europe Albanians Balts Slavs Norsemen/Medieval Scandinavians Middle Ages Indo-Aryan Medieval India Iranian Greater Iran
Religion and mythology Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European mythology Proto-Indo-Iranian religion Historical Vedic religion Ancient Iranian religion Historical Hittite Indo-Aryan Vedic Hinduism Buddhism Jainism Sikhism Iranian Persian Zoroastrianism Kurdish Yazidism Yarsanism Scythian Ossetian Others Armenian European Paleo-Balkan (Albanian·Illyrian·Thracian·Dacian) Greek Roman Celtic Irish Scottish Breton Welsh Cornish Germanic Anglo-Saxon Continental Norse Baltic Latvian Lithuanian Slavic Practices Fire rituals Horse sacrifice Sati Winter solstice/Yule
Indo-European studies Scholars Marija Gimbutas J. P. Mallory Institutes Copenhagen Studies in Indo-European Publications Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture The Horse, the Wheel, and Language Journal of Indo-European Studies Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch Indo-European Etymological Dictionary
Category
v t e

Proto-Albanian is the ancestralreconstructed language ofAlbanian, before theGheg–Tosk dialectal diversification (beforec. 600 CE).[2]Albanoid and otherPaleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in theBalkans after theIndo-European migrations in the region.^[3][4] Whether descendants or sister languages of what was calledIllyrian by classical sources, Albanian andMessapic, on the basis of shared features and innovations, are grouped together in acommon branch in the current phylogenetic classification of theIndo-European language family.^[5] The precursor of Albanian can be considered a completely formed independent IE language since at least the first millennium BCE, with the beginning of the early Proto-Albanian phase.^[1]

Proto-Albanian is reconstructed by way of thecomparative method between theTosk andGheg dialects and between Albanian and other Indo-European languages, as well as throughcontact linguistics studying earlyloanwords from and into Albanian andstructural andphonological convergences with other languages. Loanwords into Albanian treated through its phonetic evolution can be traced back as early as the first contacts withDoric Greek (West Greek) since the 7th century BCE, but the most important of which are those from Latin (dated by De Vaan to the period 167 BCE to 400 CE) and fromSlavic (dated from 600 CE onward).^[6] The evidence from loanwords allows linguists to construct in great detail the shape of native words at the points of major influxes of loans from well-attested languages.^[7]

In historical linguistics Proto-Albanian is broken up into different stages which are usually delimited by the onset of contact with different well-attested languages.^[6] Pre-Proto-Albanian is the early stage of the precursor of Albanian during the first millennium BCE, marked by contacts with Ancient Greek, but not yet by contacts with Latin. Proto-Albanian proper is dated to the period of contacts with Latin, starting from the 2nd century BCE after theRoman conquest of the Western Balkans, but the major Latin influence occurred since the first years of the common era when the Western Balkans were eventually incorporated into theRoman Empire. Common Albanian or its two dialects, Proto-Gheg and Proto-Tosk, experienced the earliest contacts with South Slavic languages since theSlavic migrations to the Balkans in the 6th–7th centuries CE. The rise of Tosk from Proto-Albanian was prompted before Slavic contacts circa 600 CE, as evidenced by the fact that Latin andancient Greek loanwords are treated like native words with regard to taxonomical differences between Gheg and Tosk, but the same is not true of Slavic loans.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Albanoid and otherPaleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in theBalkans after theIndo-European migrations in the region about 3000 to 2500 BCE.^[4][3] They replaced thepre-Indo-European languages, which left traces of the Mediterranean-Balkan substratum.^[12][13] Shortly after they had diverged from one another, Pre-Albanian, Pre-Greek, and Pre-Armenian underwent a longer period of contact, as shown by common correspondences that are irregular for other IE languages. Furthermore, intense Greek–Albanian contacts have continued thereafter.^[14]

The precursor of Albanian can be considered a completely formed independent IE language since at least the first millennium BCE, with the beginning of the early Proto-Albanian phase.^[1] The precursor of Albanian is often thought to have been anIllyrian language for obvious geographic and historical reasons as well as for some linguistic evidence,^[15] or otherwise an unmentioned Balkan Indo-European language that was closely related to Illyrian andMessapic.^[16] Messapic, which is grouped in thesame IE branch of Albanian, developed in southeast Italy after crossing the Adriatic Sea at least since the Early Iron Age, being attested in about six hundred inscriptions from Iron AgeApulia.^[17]

In classical antiquity Proto-Albanian was spoken in the central-western part of the Balkan Peninsula, to the north and west of theAncient Greeks, as shown by earlyDoric Greek (West Greek) andAncient Macedonian loanwords that were treated with characteristic Albanian features, by classicalplace names exclusively observing Albanian accent and phonetic rules, as well as by several Proto-Albanian items preserved in ancient glossaries.^[18]

Proto-Albanian speech came into contact in its earlier stage with Ancient Greek since the 7th century BCE, when theGreek colonies were founded on the Adriatic coast of Albania. In that period early loanwords were borrowed fromDoric Greek (West Greek), either directly from the colonists or indirectly through trade communication in the hinterland.^[19] During the 5th–4th centuries BCE Proto-Albanian directly loaned words fromAncient Macedonian, at a time when this languagegained prominence in the region and was not yet replaced byKoine Greek.^[20] Several Proto-Albanian terms have been preserved in the lexicon ofHesychius of Alexandria and other ancient glossaries.^[21] Some of the Proto-Albanian glosses in Hesychius are considered to have been loaned to the Dorik Greek as early as the 7th century BCE.^[22]

Evidence of a significant level of earlylinguistic contact between Albanian and Greek is provided by ancient commonstructural innovations andphonologic convergence such as:^[23][24]

• the rise of theclose front rounded vowel/y/ (documented inAttic andKoine Greek);
• the rise ofdental fricatives;
• the voicing of voicelessplosives afternasal consonants;
• the replacement, with a form that featured aprefix, of the inheritedpresent tense 3rd person singular of the verb "be" (documented inKoine Greek).

Those innovations are limited only to the Albanian and Greek languages and are not shared with other languages of theBalkan sprachbund.^[23] Since they precede the Balkan sprachbund era, those innovations date to a prehistoric phase of the Albanian language, spoken at that time in the same area as Greek and within a social frame of bilingualism among early Albanians having to be able to speak some form of Greek.^[24]

0

1

0

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

0

9

10

11

12

class=notpageimage|

Toponyms that evolved through Proto-Albanian phonetic changes in late antiquity (in bold those that were also loaned to South Slavic after antiquity):^[27] 0 Drin (river); 1 Nish (city); 2 Shkodër (city); 3 Shkup (city); 4 Sharr (mountains); 5 Ulkin (city); 6 L(j)esh (city); 7 Shtip (city); 8 Mat (river); 9 Ishëm (river); 10 Durrës (city); 11 Vlonë (city). 12 Oh(ë)r(id) (city andlake) from its ancient form required an early long-standing period of Tosk Albanian–East South Slavic bilingualism or at least contact before its first attestation in 879 CE.^[28]

Proto-Albanian came into contact withLatin since theIllyro–Roman wars in the late 3rd and early 2nd centuries BCE, when theRoman Republic defeated theIllyrians and began to establish its rule in the Western Balkans, gradually consolidating its dominion during the last two centuries BCE. But the major Latin influence in Proto-Albanian occurred since the first years of the common era, when the Western Balkans were eventually incorporated into theRoman Empire after the Great Illyrian Revolt of 6–9 CE (Bellum Batonianum).^[29]

According to Walter Breu, the earliest Latin influence in Albanian came from the coastal areas of the Western Balkans when they were Romanized, and does not concern possible contacts with Romanian whose similarities with Albanian had been strongly overestimated in the past. Many Latin-based words in Albanian have the character of indirect Latinisms, as they go back to originally Latin borrowings via Ancient and Medieval Greek.^[30] The name Albanian came from theAlbanoi, an Illyrian tribe located in north-central Albania and their cityAlbanopolis, which was located somewhere between theMat andShkumbin rivers.^[31] The Albanoi might have been mentioned first asAbroi, which may have been a constituent northern tribe of the larger group of theTaulantii; modern scholars place them near the Mat andDrin rivers.^[32][33] According to Eric P. Hamp, Albanian maintained links with both coastal western and central inland Balkan Latin formations.^[34]

Ancient toponyms such as Lissus, Drivastum, Candavia, Drinus, Barbanna, Mathis, Isamnus, and Ardaxanos reached their current forms asLezhe,Drisht, Kunavja, Drin,Bunë, Mat,Ishëm, andErzen respectively, through Albanian sound changes, indicating Albanian has been in the area since antiquity.^[35][36]

The Latin loanwords in Proto-Albanian were borrowed through the entire period of spoken Latin in the Western Balkans (c. 167 BCE–400 CE), reflecting different chronological layers and penetrating, without any restrictions, into virtually all semantic fields. Even the basicChristian terms are of Latin origin, and since they entered Proto-Albanian before the Gheg–Tosk dialectal diversification, the Proto-Albanian speakers werechristianized under the Latin sphere of influence, specifically in the 4th century CE.^[37]

Historical linguistic considerations indicate that the Roman province ofMoesia Superior, and more specifically the ancient region ofDardania and adjacent zones, constitute the best candidate for the area where Proto-Albanian received its major Latin influence, and where intensive contacts between Proto-Albanian andProto-Romance occurred,^[38] eventually producing the shared innovations between Tosk Albanian and(Proto-)Romanian.^{[39][note 1]} Those innovations ultimately prompted the rise of Tosk from Proto-Albanian, a diversification that began not later than the 6th–7th centuries CE (i.e. before the period of contacts with Slavic).^[41] Gheg Albanian was already separated from the Albanian–(Proto-)Romanian contact zone at an earlier period.^[39] Toponymy provides evidence that Albanian was already spoken since late antiquity in northern and central Albania, but not yet in southern Albania (south of theShkumbin river).^[42] Those considerations indicate that unlike Gheg, the Tosk dialect could not yet have already occupied its historical geographic distribution in late antiquity.^[26] On the other hand, the multi-layered Albanian dialects in western North Macedonia provide evidence that the area was inhabited by Albanian-speakers since antiquity.^[43] The historical geographic spread of the Albanian dialects as it appeared in medieval times is considered to have been shaped by thesettlement of Slavic farmers from the 6th–7th centuries CE.^[44]

During the centuries of theGreat Migration Period in the Roman Empire after the 3rd century CE, the Imperial structures progressively weakened and eventually collapsed. Proto-Albanian and Proto-Romanian speakers remained in close contact for a substantial time frame as mountainpastoralists. The fact that the Albanian language reflects a clear pastoralist stage does not allow conclusions about the Proto-Albanian speakers' way of life during classical antiquity, as only the speech of the mountain pastoralists managed to survive the Great Migrations.^[45] It has been suggested that the Latin influence on Albanian resulted from an urbanized way of life, which was followed by a flight from towns similar to what occurred to the Eastern-Romance speakers. Nevertheless, the extensive influence of the Albanian language on the pastoral vocabulary and its influence, albeit lower, on thecrop cultivation vocabulary, in Eastern Romance languages, indicate that Proto-Albanian speakers were already leading a pastoral lifestyle at the time when Latin speakers assumed the same way of life, borrowing from (Proto-)Albanian a number of technical terms.^[46]

The post-Roman contact zone between Albanian and Common Romanian is considered to have been located inDardania and adjacent areas.^{[49][note 2]} From this contact the Tosk Albanian dialect is considered to have received the first impetus of developments that were shared with Eastern Romance and that did not affect the Gheg Albanian dialect as it had already separated in earlier times.^[53] After a period of common innovations, but before the rise of therhotacismn >r (which preceded contacts with Slavic fromc. 600 CE), speakers of Eastern Romance varieties that were not yet affected by this fundamental sound change separated from the Tosk Albanian–Common Romanian contact zone.[48] In a period that followed the rise of those innovations, Tosk Albanian is considered to have moved – driven by the offensive of the Slavs – to Albania south of theShkumbin river in its historically documented location.^[47]

At the time of the South Slavic incursion and the threat of ethnic turbulence in the Albanian-inhabited regions, the Christianization of the Albanians had already been completed and it had apparently developed for Albanians as a further identity-forming feature alongside the ethnic-linguistic unity.^[54] Church administration, which was controlled by a thick network of Roman bishoprics, collapsed with the arrival of the Slavs. Between the early 7th century and the late 9th century the interior areas of the Balkans were deprived of church administration, and Christianity might have survived only as a popular tradition on a reduced degree.^[55] The reorganization of the Church as a cult institution in the region took a considerable amount of time,^[56] as the Balkans were brought back into the Christian orbit only after the recovery of theByzantine Empire and through the activity of Byzantine missionaries.^[55]

The earliest ascertained church vocabulary ofMiddle Greek origin in Albanian dates to the 8th–9th centuries, at the time of theByzantine Iconoclasm, which was started by the Byzantine EmperorLeo III the Isaurian.^[57] In 726 Leo III establishedde jure the jurisdiction of theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople over the Balkans, as the Church and the State established an institution. The Eastern Church expanded its influence in the area along with the social and political developments. Between the 7th and 12th centuries a powerful network of cult institutions were revived completely covering the ecclesiastical administration of the entire present-day Albanian-speaking compact area. In particular an important role was played by theTheme of Dyrrhachium and theArchdiocese of Ohrid.^[58] The lack ofOld Church Slavonic terms in Albanian Christian terminology shows that the missionary activities during theChristianization of the Slavs did not involve Albanian-speakers, indeed, the Christian belief among Albanians had survived through the centuries and already become an important cultural element in their ethnic identity.^[59]

When theSlavic-speaking farmers migrated to the Balkans and settled the plains from the 6th–7th centuries CE, they encountered Albanian-speaking Indo-Europeans and assimilated part of them,^[60] but the language of the Albanians who had taken refuge in the mountainous areas of present-day northern and centralAlbania, easternMontenegro, westernNorth Macedonia, andKosovo, managed to survive the Great Migrations.^[44][45] Leading apastoral lifestyle and although separated from Slavic-speakers, Albanian-speakers were not isolated, and contacts between Albanian and Slavic occurred thereafter.^[61] In particular, Tosk Albanian came into contact withEastern South Slavic dialects, and Gheg Albanian withWestern South Slavic dialects.^[62] Early long-standing contacts between Slavic-speakers and Albanian-speakers might have been common in mountain passages and agriculture or fishing areas, such as the valleys of theWhite andBlack branches of theDrin and around theShkodër andOhrid lakes. Such contacts in these areas caused many changes in Slavic and Albanian local varieties.^[44]

As Albanian and South Slavic have been in contact since the early Middle Ages, loanwords in both belong to different chronological strata and reveal different periods of acquisition. The earliest phase of contacts is dated to the 6th–8th century CE, reflecting some of the more archaic phonetic features of Slavic as well as early Albanian phonology.^[63] The early Slavic loanwords into Albanian developed Slavic*s as/ʃ/ and*y as/u/ within Albanian phonology of that era.^[64] Such toponyms includeBushtricë (Kukës),^[65]Dishnica (Përmet),^[66]Dragoshtunjë (Elbasan),^[67]Leshnjë (Leshnjë,Berat and other areas),^[68]Shelcan (Elbasan),Shishtavec (Kukës/Gora),Shuec (Devoll) andShtëpëz (Gjirokastër),^[69]Shopël (Iballë),^[70]Veleshnjë (Skrapar)^[71] and others.^{[72][note 3]} Part of the toponyms of early Slavic origin were acquired in Albanian before undergoing the changes of theSlavic liquid metathesis (beforec. end of the 8th century CE). They includeArdenicë (Lushnjë),Berzanë (Lezhë),Gërdec andBerzi (Tiranë) and a cluster of toponyms along the route Berat-Tepelenë-Përmet.^[74]

The evolution of the ancient toponymLychnidus intoOh(ë)r(id) (city andlake), which is attested in this form from 879 CE, required an early long-standing period of Tosk Albanian–East South Slavic bilingualism, or at least contact, resulting from the Tosk Albanianrhotacism-n- into-r- and Eastern South Slavicl-vocalizationly- intoo-.^[28] The name of the regionLabëri resulted through the Slavic liquid metathesis: South Slavic*Labanьja < Late Common Slavic*Olbanьja 'Albania', and was reborrowed in that form into Albanian, in the period whenrhotacism was still active in Tosk Albanian.^[75]

Vladimir Orel is one of the main modern international linguists to have dealt with the passage fromProto-Indo-European to Proto-Albanian to Modern Albanian. According to Orel, the study of Proto-Albaniansyntax remains in its infancy so there are some limitations to the work. However, there have been developments in the understanding of the historical development ofphonetics andvocabulary.^[76]Other major work has been done byEqrem Çabej andShaban Demiraj as well as by major scholars in the field of Romanian historical linguistics as it relates to Albanian (seeAlbanian–Romanian linguistic relationship) as well as other Balkan linguists. A large amount of work done on Proto-Albanian is published in German, rather than English.

Vladimir Orel distinguishes the following periods of Proto-Albanian: 1) "Early Proto-Albanian" (EPA): spoken before the 1st century CE, when Albanian had not yet acquired extensive influence vialanguage contact fromLatin/Proto-Romance. 2) "Late Proto-Albanian" (LPA): after extensive Latin contact, with the end of the period seeing contacts between ancient Slavic idioms still close to theProto-Slavic language, in the 6th and 7th centuries CE. During this period the structure of Proto-Albanian was "shattered" by major changes.^[77]

Ranko Matasović distinguishes the following periods of Proto-Albanian: 1) "Pre-Proto-Albanian": essentially equivalent to Vladimir Orel's "Early Proto-Albanian", except that the newer paradigm of Matasović dates Latin/Albanian contact a century earlier, and thus it ends for Matasović in the 1st century BCE rather than the 1st century CE.^[78] After this period ends, Latin contact begins to transform the language. 2) "Early Proto-Albanian": corresponds to the earlier phases of what is for Orel "Late Proto-Albanian". For Matasović, the period spans the 1st century BCE to the 6th century CE, halting before contact with Slavic idioms begins.^[78] 3) "Late Proto-Albanian": includes the last two centuries of LPA for Orel, plus most of the unattested period of "Old Albanian", halting before Turkish influence begins.^[78] In this paradigm, Gheg and Tosk split from Early Proto-Albanian, not Late Proto-Albanian, consistent with our knowledge that the split preceded Slavic contact. 4) "Early Albanian": corresponds to the late, Ottoman, phase of Old Albanian in the traditional paradigm, ending in 1800, at which point it transitions to Modern Albanian.^[78]

Demiraj, like Matasović and unlike Orel, observes the 5th/6th centuries as a boundary between stages, but instead places the "emergence of Albanian" from its parent after this point, rather than the 14th.^[79]

In an Albanian chapter penned byMichiel de Vaan within Klein, Joseph and Fritz' 2018Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics,^[6] Demiraj's periods are adhered to. Orel's "Later Proto-Albanian", which is for them also definitively placed before Slavic contact, is referred to as simply "Proto-Albanian" (PAlb) or, in German, "Uralbanisch", reflecting the terminology of earlier writing in German.^[80][81][82] What is for Orel "Early Proto-Albanian" (EPA), dated definitively before the onset of Latin contact, is for De Vaan, "Pre-Proto-Albanian" (PPAlb); in German, this stage is called "Voruralbanisch" or "Frühuralbanisch".^[6] De Vaan also discusses the possibility of breaking "Pre-Proto-Albanian" into two stages: one before the first Greek loanwords, and one that is after the first Greek loanwords, but before contact with Latin.^[6]

This page at present is using the paradigm of Orel.

Extensive recent studies on Proto-Albanian phonology have been published by Huld (1984), Beekes (1995), Shaban Demiraj (1996), Bardhyl Demiraj (1997), Orel (2000), Hock (2005), Matzinger (2006), Vermeer (2008), Schumacher (2013), and De Vaan (2018).^[6]

At present, this page follows Orel's paradigm for periods of Proto-Albanian, and presents the relationship between the synchronic phonologies of both "EPA" and "LPA" with diachronic relationships to each other and to ancestralIndo-European forms as well as descendant Albanian forms.

In Early Proto-Albanian, stress was paradigmatic, and behaved according to morphological class,^[83] with a base on the first syllable.^[84] In different paradigms, the stress pattern was varyingly barytonic, oxytonic, and mobile.^[83] Unstressed vowels lost one mora—long vowels were shortened, already short vowels were often deleted. In Later Proto-Albanian, however, a new system of unstressed vowel reduction emerged where *a reduced to *ë while all others were simply deleted (except for post-tonic inlaut vowels, which became *ë).^[83] Orel gives the following examples:

• EPA *dáusas "ram" (sg) >*dauš > ... > moderndash
• EPA *dáusai "rams" (pl) > *dauši > ... > moderndesh
• EPA *dwáigā "branch" (sg) > *déga > ... > moderndegë
• EPA *dwáigāi "branches" (pl) > *dégai > ... > moderndegë

Early Proto-Albanian possessed four distinctive short vowels: *a, *e, *i and *u. Proto-Indo-European *o had merged into *a by the Early Proto-Albanian stage. A five-way distinction was maintained for long vowels: *ā, *ē, *ī, *ō, and *ū. Early Proto-Albanian also had four diphthongs: *ei, *ai, *eu and *au.

Early Proto-Albanian's vowel inventory began to change as a result of Latin contact. Initially Albanian was resistant to the restoration of short *o as a separate phoneme, with Latin unstressed *o being replaced by *a, and stressed Latin *o being replaced by *u. However, in later loans, Latin *o is maintained in Albanian as *o. Additionally, some Latin loans with short *u saw Latin *u replaced by *o, as well as *ə specifically in unstressed positions before sonorants. In two cases, Orel argues that Latin short /u/ was lengthened in Albanian to /u:/, ultimately to render /y/. On the other hand, whatever effect Ancient Greek loanwords had at their time of absorption is unclear, but diachronically the vowels always agree with regular internal Albanian developments.

Late Proto-Albanian

Late Proto-Albanian exhibited *a, *i and *u throughout its development as distinctive short vowels. *o was restored to the phonemic inventory as a result of loanwords where it was increasingly maintained instead of replaced. Although *e was eliminated by breaking to *ie (which would render je and ja), it was restored by the leveling of /ai/ to /e/ and other phenomena that replaced /a/, /ie/, and /ue/ with /e/. The only long vowel preserved in its original form was *ī. *ō was replaced by *ue, *ē was merged into *ā and both were rounded and eventually raised to *o, while *ū merged with the diphthong *ui, ultimately rendering *y. By Late Proto-Albanian, all the original Indo-European diphthongs had now leveled, but new diphthongs were absorbed in loans, and were also innovated by breaking phenomena: *ie, *ue and *ui. *ai in Latin words with AE shared the fate of inherited Early Proto-Albanian *ai, becoming *e, while Latin AU similarly shared the fate of inherited *au and became *a.

Phonemically nasal vowels emerged in Late Proto-Albanian.^[87] First, all vowels standing before nasal consonants were nasalized. The following nasal consonant was then lost in certain morphological contexts, while the vowel remained nasalized, resulting in the emergence of LPA phonemes denoted*â,*ê,*î, and*û.^[87] Except in certain Gheg varieties,*ê merged into*â.^[87] The traditional view presented by Orel^[87] and Desnickaja^[88] is that distinctive nasalization was lost by Tosk but retained by Gheg and that this is a taxonomical difference between the two.^[87] However this has now been challenged,^[88] after Sheper and Gjinari discovered Lab dialects (Lab is a subdialect of Tosk) in the Kurvelesh region that still had distinctive nasal vowels,^[88] and Totoni likewise found that the Lab speech ofBorsh also still has nasal vowel phonemes.^[89] This means that, instead of the traditional view, it is possible that denasalization happened in most Tosk dialects only after the split from Gheg.^[88]

Slavic *ū appears to still have been back and round when it was loaned into Albanian, but it is after the diphthongization and resulting fronting of the original Early Proto-Albanian *ū to *y was no longer absorbing new *ū segments, as they are, with only three exceptions, reflected as *u. Slavic *o had already become *a in the Slavic languages that contacted Albanian by the time of contact, and was loaned as *a for the most part; as is reflected also in other non-Slavic languages absorbing these words. After /v/, this *a became *o again in two attested cases:kos ("yogurt", from Proto-Slavic *kvasъ) andvorbë ("clay pot").

It was at the end of the LPA period that length became no longer distinctive in Albanian,^[90] although many Gheg and some Lab dialects preserved it and/or re-innovated it. Furthermore, by Old Albanian, all diphthongs had been lost: those ending in -i were all leveled, the -u was lost in those ending in -u, and those ending in -e were converted to glide + vowel sequences; further changes including the frequent effacement of the former first element or otherwise its hardening into an occlusive (typically /v/ for former u-, andgj /ɟ/ for former i-) rendering the former presence of a diphthong rather opaque in many reflexes.

This table differentiates short vowels form long vowels with the IPA symbol <ː> being applied to the long vowels.

Specifically contextualized reflex results are placed in parentheses.

The nasal sonorants *n̥ and *m̥ both rendered Early Proto-Albanian *a, which remains *a in modern Albanian (PIE*ǵʰh₂éns "goose" > EPA*gatā > Albgatë "heron").Like EPA *a elsewhere, in some cases it was raised to *e, as seen in PIE*h₁ln̥gʷʰtós > EPA*lekta > Albanianlehtë (suffixed with -të).^[98]

Indo-European languages are traditionally divided intotwo groups based on the development of the three series ofdorsal (often called "guttural") stops, viz. the palatal (*ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ), velar (*k *g *gʰ) and labiovelar (*kʷ *gʷ *gʷʰ) series. In the "centum" languages (e.g.Italic languages,Germanic languages,Greek) the palatal series has merged with velar series, while the labiovelar series remained distinct; whereas in the "satem" languages (Indo-Iranian languages,Balto-Slavic languages), the labiovelars merged with the plain velars, while the palatals shifted tosibilant consonants.^[103]

Many Indo-Europeanists have classified Albanian as a satem language since it has dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ as the common reflex of the palatal series, while velar and labiovelar stops in most cases have merged.^[104] However, there is clear evidence that all three IE dorsal series remained distinct (at least before front vowels) in Proto-Albanian:^{[105][106][107]}

• *ḱ > /θ/, *ǵ/*ǵʰ > /ð/
• *k > /k/, *g/*gʰ > /g/
• *kʷ > /s/ (before high vowels), /k/ (elsewhere); *gʷ/*gʷʰ > /z/ (before high vowels), /g/ elsewhere.

In the later phonological history of Albanian, the velars /k/ and /g/ were subject to further palatalizations.^[108]

The (partial) retention of the Proto-IE three-way contrast for dorsal stops is an archaic feature that links Albanian with the widerPaleo-Balkanic group and is shared with Messapic^[109] and Armenian.^[110]

Verbs in Early Proto-Albanian (Early PA) and contemporary Albanian are divided into thematic verbs and athematic verbs, thus following this division from Proto-Indo-European (PIE).

PA*-a in the first person singular of the present cannot come from PIE*-oh₂, since its reflex in Proto-Albanian would be*-e (if stressed) or*-ë (if unstressed). Therefore,*-a comes from dialectal PIE*-om.^{[111][page needed]}

The second and third person singular come from PIE*-esi, *-eti with the loss of PIE final*-i already occurred in pre-Albanian.

The second person plural has no reflex from PA but it was shaped later, between the passage from PA to Old Albanian; the modern ending-ni could come from*nū, a PA adverb meaning "now", identical to PIE*nū and Sanskritnū; otherwise, it derives from the nasal verbal stem-nj- with a final*-i coming from the PA personal pronoun*jus, "you (all)".^{[111][page needed]}

Most verb stems ending in a closed diphthong (-aj, -ej, -ij, -oj, -uj, -yj) in the singular come from a nasal stem in PA, ending in*-Cnj- or*-Vnj- (e.g., first person singular*-nja)-

As for the third person plural, the PIE thematic vowel*-o- mutates into PA*-i- perhaps due to the influence of the /i̯/ from the verbs in-oj- in the plural.

MostLatin (Classical Latin,Late Latin,Vulgar Latin) verbs belonging to the first declension (infinite-āre) were adapted into stems ending with PA*-ānj- (first person singular*-ānja > Old Gheg-onj > modern Albanian-oj) and, in rarer cases (usually verbal roots ending in liquids, hence -lāre and -rāre), with PA*-enj- (> modern-ej-). An example is modernkëndoj < Latincantāre,^[112] which points to a hypothetical PA ~*kandānj- (first person singular~*kandānja). Another example isshëmbëllej < Late Latinsimilāre.

Most Latin verbs belonging to the second declension (infinite-ēre) were adapted into stems ending with-oj- and PA*-enj-.

Most Latin verbs belonging to the third declension(unstressed and short infinite-ere) were adapted into stems ending with PA*-ānj- > modern-oj- and, in rarer cases, with-ej-. An example is modernfërgoj < Vulgar Latinfrīgĕre.

Most Latin verbs belonging to the fourth declension (infinite-īre) were adapted into stems ending with PA*-inj- (> modern-ij-) and, in rarer cases, with-ej-. An example is modernvij < Old Ghegvijn < Latinvenīre.

MostProto-Slavic verbs ending in*-iti /i:ti:/ in the infinite were adapted into stems ending with PA*-itj- (first person singular*-itja > modern-is; the consonant /t/ was probably weakened to /s/ and the final /a/ was unstressed and thus lost). An example ismolis < LPA*melitja < PSL*mъdьliti /mudi'li:ti:/, "to debilitate/weaken".^[113]

Most Proto-Slavic verbs ending in*-ati /a:ti:/ in the infinitive were adapted into stems ending with PA*-atj- (first person singular*-atja > modern-as).^[114]

The remaining Proto-Slavic verbs were adapted into stems ending with*-itj- (> modern-is, -it).

The following examples, except forkap andjap, are all in Old Gheg, a dialect of Old Albanian, and show the verb declension in Old Albanian to trace an idea of the passage between PIE morphology and Proto-Albanian, which then evolved into Old Albanian:

• Standard Albaniankap < *PA*kapa < PIE*kh₂pyéti means "to seize"
• Standard Albanianjap < earlierap < PA*apa; participledhënë (Ghegdhanë < ; suppletive/eteroclytic verb)
• Standard Albaniankujtoj (Old Ghegkujtonj, earlierkultonj < Proto-Albanian*kugitānja < perhaps Latincōgitō, 1° declension) means "to recall";
• di < PA*dīja < PIE*dʰeyh₂- means "to know";
• hjek (Tosk/Standard Albanianheq < earlierhelq) < Proto-Albanian*(w)alkja < PIE causative*h₂wolkéyeti means "to pull out, to remove";
• përkas < verbprek < PA *praka means "to touch"

The verb "to be" (jam < PA*esmi < PIE*h₁ésmi ), as in PIE, is athematic and has a nasal infix*-n- in the third person singular and plural; perhaps, this infix is taken from the original third person plural in PIE,*-enti. PA had two more athematic verbs,kam ("to have" < PA*kapmi < Latincapiō) which is cognate with thematickap < PA*kapa < PIE*kh₂pyóh₂, andthom ("to say" < PA*tsānsmi < Latincēnseō). Probably, PA had a fourth athematic verb,ik ("to go") < PA*eika < earlier*eimi (identical to Ancient Greek), but then it was transformed into a thematic verb through the stem of the imperative.

The last verb,vete(m) in Standard Albanian, has two historical versions: an original version from PIE and a later version which culminates into the contemporary version. The original versions in Early PA and PA are the direct reflex of athematic PIE*weh₂dʰ-, perhaps*weh₂dʰmi; then, the pre-modern version in Late PA is a reworked version that fuses the original version in PA and the suffix*-te,^{[111][page needed]} originally the preposition "to",*tek(u) (< PIE neuter demonstrative*to-, "this/that" < PIE*só).

The asigmatic aorist conjugation is based on the athematic paradygm and has a mobile accent perhaps due to the augmentation, which consists in the prefix*e-. The same structure can be found in Greek. In contemporary Albanian, the augmentation prefix is lost. In the third person singular, the ending*-i should come from PA and PIE personal/demonstrative pronoun*is.

The sigmatic aorist conjugation is based on the athematic paradygm as well and zero-grade in morphology is explained by the influence of the participles in PA.

The endings of the imperfect originally come from the endings of the asigmatic aorist; at a later stage, the original vowel*-e- changed into*-i-.

Nouns in Proto-Albanian are divided in to *a-stem nouns (< PIE*-os, whence they are also called *o-stem nouns) and *ā-stem nouns (< PIE*-éh₂). There was a third group of nouns in Early PA, the *i-stem nouns (e.g.,natë "night" < PA*naktā < PIE*nókʷts), which then merged into *o-stem nouns.^{[111][page needed]}

There are 5 cases (2 strong cases and 2 weak cases): nominative, genitive, dative, accusative and ablative, with a strong degree of syncretism among cases. PIE locative, vocative and instrumental were lost.^{[111][page needed]}

Contemporary Albanian has a vocative case-o for both masculine and feminine names:^[116]this vocative was borrowed fromSouth Slavic languages (Serbo-Croatian,Macedonian,Bulgarian) since, inProto-Slavic, the feminine vocative became*-o, which is an innovation from PIE*-éh₂.

*a-stem nouns had a final*-a in the strong cases (nominative and accusative), reflecting PIE*-o-; since this final*-a was unstressed in most cases, it was lost in contemporary Albanian.^{[111][page needed]} Hence, today most of masculine words in the strong cases end in consonants except for some false feminine words ending in-ë. The two strong cases already merged into a single ending in the singular in Early PA, while the three weak cases already converged into a single ending in the singular as well. The ending was either*-i or*-u; the second one was used after preceding vowels, semi-vowels and velar consonants*k- and*g-. These two endings reflect PIE locative*-éy, but it is unknown if the weak cases already merged in Pre-Albanian. Today, weak cases are distinguished each other by the use of clitics.

In the plural, *a-stem nouns, strong cases ended in*-ō/*-ai.*-ō is the reflex of PIE*-ōs, while*-ai is the reflex of PIE*-oy. Then, in some words, one of the two ending became either fixed or preferred. In the words without preferred ending, stressed*-ō/*-ai developed into contemporary-e and-a (this last ending is the result of an overlap from the feminine declension already in PA in which the expected*-ō/*-ai was substituted by*-ā); in words with preferred ending*-ō (unstressed), it developed into contemporary-ë; in words with preferred ending*-ai (unstressed), it developed into contemporary zero-ending, which means that most of the plural end in consonant.^{[111][page needed]}

In the genitive and dative plural,*-ō comes from PIE genitive plural*-ōm (stressed) and culminates into contemporary-e. The other modern ending-eve comes from a modification of PIE genitive plural,*-wōm > PA*-wō;^[117]the alternative modern ending -ave comes from a modification of PIE genitive plural*-éh₂wōm through the feminine thematic vowel of the feminine*-éh₂-, thus reflecting the overlap with the feminine in the strong cases.

The ablative plural-esh comes from PA*-aisu, from PIE*-oysu. Ablative in-t is common in North Gheg and it was transferred from the definite declension.^[118]

*ā-stem nouns had a final *-ā in the nominative; this vowel was hit by vowel reduction and became-ë, which is the mark of the indefinite feminine words.^{[111][page needed]} The two strong cases (nominative and accusative) already merged in Early PA. The plural of all weak cases comes from PA*-āi, which comes from PIE dative-locative*-éh₂i.

The nominative plural*-ā is identical to the nominative singular and comes from PIE*-éh₂s. If the long vowel was stressed, it becomes contemporary Albanian-a, otherwise it becomes contemporary-ë.

The weak cases in PA were copied by analogy from the *a-stem nouns^{[111][page needed]} and show the thematic vowel of the feminine,*-éh₂-.

In PA adjectival declension, all cases other than the nominative singular and plural were lost. Adjectives in PA had either masculine or feminine gender depending on the gender of the word they refer to. The derivation of adjectives from PIE to Proto-Albanian follows all the rules for indefinite nouns.^{[111][page needed]} Masculine adjectives in PA usually ended in*-a in the singular (< PIE*-os), while their feminine counterparts usually ended in*-ā (< PIE*-éh₂); rarely, masculine adjectives ended in*-i. In contemporary Albanian, masculine adjectives can either end in consonant or in-ë (< stressed PA *-a).

Adjectives in contemporary Albanian always go in couple with the "adjectival article", a particle always found before the adjective. It's declination in the masculine singular, feminine singular and plural is "i, e, të". The adjectival article in the feminine comes from PA*ō(d) < PIE*ēd ~ *ōd (ablative sg. stem of PIE*ē- ~ *ō-); this particle was most likely a demonstrative.

The closest language to Albanian isMessapic, with which it forms a common branch titledIllyric in Hyllested & Joseph (2022).^[119] Hyllested & Joseph (2022) in agreement with recent bibliography identify Greco-Phrygian as the IE branch closest to the Albanian-Messapic one. These two branches form an areal grouping – which is often called "Balkan IE" – with Armenian.^[119] Hyllested & Joseph (2022) identify the highest shared number of innovations between (Proto-)Albanian and (Proto-)Greek.^[120]

Innovative creations of agricultural terms shared only between Albanian and Greek, such as*h2(e)lbh-it- 'barley' and*spor-eh2- 'seed', were formed from non-agricultural Proto-Indo-European roots through semantic changes to adapt them for agriculture. Since they are limited only to Albanian and Greek, they can be traced back with certainty only to their last common Indo-European ancestor, and not projected back intoProto-Indo-European.^[121] A remarkable Greek/Albanian isogloss is a very ancient form for "hand":*mər-, cf. the Albanian verbmarr ("hold") and the Greekmárē ("hand"), and also Greekmárptō ("grab").^[122]

A commonBalkan Indo-European root*aiğ(i)- ("goat") can be reflected in Albanianedh ("goat, kid") < PAlb*aidza anddhi ("nanny goat) < PAlb*aidzijɑ̄ with Greek αἴξ ("goat", gen. αἰγός) and Armenianayc ("(nanny) goat"). It has been noted that the Balkan IE root and all the alleged Balto-Slavic and Indo-Iranian roots with a meaning "goat" are likely to be not Proto-Indo-European, as they may all originate as independent and relatively early, post-PIE borrowings, from the substrate languages spoken by thesedentary farmers who were encountered by immigrating Indo-Europeanpastoralists. The view of a substrate borrowing can be corroborated by areal words for "goat" in other IE languages, such asGothicgaits ("goat") andLatinhaedus ("kid"), reflecting*gʰaid̯(-o)-, considered as a substrate word usually linked withSemitic languages (cf.Akkadiangadû,Aramaicgaδiā ̄"kid"). However it was most likely not directly borrowed from Semitic, but from a European substrate language that in turn had loaned the word from a common third source. Hence it can be viewed as an old cultural word, which was slowly transmitted to different European languages, and then adopted by the newcoming Indo-European speakers. Within this scenario it should be remarked the exclusive sharing of a common proto-form between Albanian, Greek, and Armenian, which could have been borrowed at a pre-stage that was common to these languages.^[123]

Shortly after they had diverged from one another, Albanian, Greek, and Armenian, undoubtedly also underwent a longer period of contact (as can be seen, for example, in the irregular correspondence: Greek σκόρ(ο)δον, Armeniansxtor,xstor, and Albanianhudhër,hurdhë "garlic"). Furthermore, intense Greek–Albanian contacts certainly have occurred thereafter.^[14][124] An example of secondary derivations from Palaeo-Balkan linguistic contacts is theThracian word σπίνοςspínos 'a kind of stone, which blazes when water touches it' (i.e. 'lime'), attested inAristotle andTheophrastus, with cognate Greek τίτανος (Attic) and κίττανος (Doric) 'gypsum, chalk, lime', stemmingPIE*k̑witn̥Hos 'white, whitish': although from the same PIE root, Albanianshpâ(ni) 'lime, tartar' and Greek σπίνος 'lime' derive from a secondary origin as they were probably borrowed from Thracian due to phonetic reasons. Indeed, the original IE cluster*k̑w-yields Albanians- before any vowel, while in Thracian it could yieldsp-.^[125]

Specifically Indo-Iranian/Greek/Albanian and Greek/Armenian/Albanian isoglosses are both relatively rare, examples includingndaj (to divide; Indo-Greek-Albanian) andëndërr ("dream"; Greek/Armenian/Albanian). Armenian/Albanian isoglosses are considered "insignificant" by Orel. There are a considerable number of Indo-Iranian/Albanian isoglosses, which are notably often connected with horses, horse tending, and milk products.^[126]

In older literature, Orel (2000) argues that Albanian has a large number ofisoglosses that are common to Albanian,Germanic,Baltic andSlavic, as part of a "North Eastern" lexical grouping, with a large number of these referring towood or objects made out of wood.^[127] Orel (1998) noted 24 isoglosses between Balto-Slavic and Albanian, 48 common words between Baltic and Albanian and 24 between Albanian and Slavic. Hyllested & Joseph (2022) review Orel's common items and argue that a substantial number don't have convincing etymologies or do not constitute isoglosses between Balto-Slavic and Albanian. An example is Albanianmurg (dark) and Lithuanianmargas (colourful) which Orel considers to be isoglosses but both are equally related to Proto-Germanic*murkaz, ancient Greek ἀμορβόςamorbos and Proto-Slavic*mergъ.^[128]

Orel identifies only one Albanian/Italic/Celtic isogloss,blertë ("green"), cognate toLatinflōrus ("bright") andIrishblár ("gray").^[129] Specifically Celtic/Albanian vocabulary was previously thought to be limited although including at least one core vocabulary item (hënë "moon", cognate to Welshcann "white" and Bretoncann "full moon"),^[130] but recent work by Trumper in 2018 has proposed a larger though still not overwhelming set, with the notable addition ofdritë ("light").^[131]

Although knowledge ofTocharian is fragmentary, the one known Albanian/Tocharian isogloss is "very important" as noted by Orel:kush ("who", cognate to Tocharian Akus, with the same meaning).^[132]

• Indo-European linguistics
• Paleo-Balkan languages
• Albanian language
• Proto-languages

• Harv and Sfn no-target errors
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Pages with non-English text lacking appropriate markup and no ISO hint
• Pages with non-English text lacking appropriate markup from June 2025
• Pages with plain IPA
• Articles with text in Indo-European languages
• Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from August 2024
• CS1 Albanian-language sources (sq)
• CS1 German-language sources (de)
• CS1 foreign language sources (ISO 639-2)
• CS1 Italian-language sources (it)
• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
• CS1 maint: publisher location