Shqiptar
Encyclopedia
Shqiptar (plural
: Shqip(ë)tarët, feminine
: Shqip(ë)tare) is an Albanian language
ethnonym
(autonym), by which Albanians
call themselves.
detailed discussion in Paliga and Teodor 2009: p. 80-84.
, Macedonian
, and other South Slavic languages
.
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
: Shqip(ë)tarët, feminine
Feminine
Feminine, or femininity, normally refers to qualities positively associated with women.Feminine may also refer to:*Feminine , a grammatical gender*Feminine cadence, a final chord falling in a metrically weak position...
: Shqip(ë)tare) is an Albanian language
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
ethnonym
Ethnonym
An ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms and autonyms or endonyms .As an example, the ethnonym for...
(autonym), by which Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
call themselves.
Origin theories
The origin of the ethnic name Shqiptar:- Gustav Meyer derived Shqiptar from the Albanian verbs shqipoj (to speak clearly) and shqiptoj (to speak out, pronounce), which are in turn derived from the Latin verb excipere, denoting brethren who speak the Albanian language, similar to the ethno-linguistic dichotomiesDichotomyA dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts, meaning it is a procedure in which a whole is divided into two parts...
Sloven-Nemac and Deutsch-Wälsch. This is the theory also sustained by Robert ElsieRobert ElsieRobert Elsie is a scholar who specializes in Albanian literature and folklore.- Life :Born on June 29, 1950 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Elsie studied at the University of British Columbia, graduating in 1972 with a diploma in Classical Studies and Linguistics...
.
- A theory by Ludwig ThallóczyLudwig ThallóczyLajos Thallóczy, was a Hungarian historian, archivist and high public servant....
, Milan ŠufflayMilan ŠufflayMilan pl. Šufflay was a Croatian historian and politician. He was one of the founders of albanology and the author of the first Croatian science fiction novel.-Life:...
and Konstantin Jireček, which is today considered obsolete, derived the name from a DrivastDrivastDrivast was an important medieval town in contemporary Albania. Today, it is located in the municipality Postribë in the Shkodër District.- History :Drivast is known to have existed before the twelfth century AD...
ine family name recorded in varying forms during the 14th century: Schepuder (1368), Scapuder (1370), Schipudar, Schibudar (1372), Schipudar (1383, 1392), Schapudar (1402), etc.
- Maximilian Lambertz derived the word from the Albanian noun shqipe,or shqiponjë (eagle), which, according to Albanian folk etymology, denoted a bird totemTotemA totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...
dating from the times of SkanderbegSkanderbegGeorge Kastrioti Skanderbeg or Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu , widely known as Skanderbeg , was a 15th-century Albanian lord. He was appointed as the governor of the Sanjak of Dibra by the Ottomans in 1440...
, as displayed on the Albanian flag.
- Petar SkokPetar SkokPetar Skok is a Croatian linguist, and one of the world's foremost onomastics experts.Skok was born in the village of Jurkovo Selo, Žumberak. From 1892 to 1900 he attended the Higher Real Gymnasium in Rakovac near Karlovac. At the University of Vienna he studied Romance and Germanic philology and...
suggested that the name originated from ScupiScupiScupi is an archaeological site located between Zajčev Rid and the Vardar River, several kilometers from the center of Skopje, in the Republic of Macedonia. A Roman military camp was founded here in the second decade BC on the site of an older Dardanian settlement...
, the capital of the ScipioScipio-Classical:* Scipio, a representation of the Cornelii Scipiones, branch of the illustrious Cornelii family from Ancient Rome.* Scipio Africanus, Roman general who defeated Hannibal at Zama, the final battle of the Second Punic War....
Roman province of Dardania (today's SkopjeSkopjeSkopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
).
- Vladimir OrelVladimir Orel-Biography:At the Moscow State University he studied theoretical linguistics and structural linguistics . He defended his Ph.D. in 1981 , on the comparative analysis of Balto-Slavic languages...
suggested that:
Alb. Shqipe, Shqiptar etc. also reflects a late, post-classical form sclavus, a variant *skljab being reconstructable for Albanian. Orel (1998: 434) assumes that shqipe would be a
calqueCalqueIn linguistics, a calque or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word or root-for-root translation.-Calque:...
after the Slavic parallel slověne ‘Slavs’ as derived from slovo ‘word’, in Albanian
shqipoj ‘to speak clearly = to speak in our language’ – Shqipe, Shqiptar.
- Sorin Paliga says that the ethnonym shqipe ‘Albanian’, shqip (adj.), proves that there is a link between the Sclaveni of the 5 century and modern Albanians. See a more
detailed discussion in Paliga and Teodor 2009: p. 80-84.
Use in South Slavic languages
The Slavic form Šiptar (Шиптар) is considered derogatory in SerbianSerbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
, and other South Slavic languages
South Slavic languages
The South Slavic languages comprise one of three branches of the Slavic languages. There are approximately 30 million speakers, mainly in the Balkans. These are separated geographically from speakers of the other two Slavic branches by a belt of German, Hungarian and Romanian speakers...
.