Russian Linguistic Bulletin (Sep 2020)
ALBANIAN LEXICOLOGY AND THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ITS DICTIONARIES
Abstract
Lexicology is one of the earliest branches of the Albanian language. It begins with the "Latin-Albanian Dictionary" (1635), written by Albanian Catholic bishops and writer Mr. Frang Bardhi. Attempts to write dictionaries before Bardhi included "The Dictionary of Arnold von Harff (1497)" and "The Dictionary of Pjetër Mazreku (1633)". These dictionaries also contain some words in foreign languages. Frang Bardhi is the first Albanian lexicographer. His dictionary in Latin-Albanian language consists of 5,000 words. Studies about the lexical features of the development of the Albanian lexicon over the centuries, according to the evidence given to us by written books, were done by Eqrem Çabej, Idriz Ajeti, Shaban Demiraj. The Albanian language, supposed to be one of the oldest languages in the Balkans, has a relatively late writing tradition compared to other languages. The oldest edition that has been discovered before today in Albanian Culture is Gjon Buzuku's book, "Meshari", published in the year 1555. There are different reasons why the Albanian language started being documented in writing later than other languages, such as the long invasions by foreign states and their administrations, which have used the respective languages for their own needs.
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