EQREM ÇABEJ ON THE NATIONAL ALBANIAN NAME

Abstract

To determine the origins of a language or the origin of a nation, it is of great relevance to know about its national title and its continuation from ancient times to our days. Undoubtedly, for Albanians and their language, a study of national name is relevant, together with scientific arguments on whether there is continuation through many centuries. Foreign and Albanian scholars engaged in a study of origin or the continuation of the national name of Albanians based on the fact that Ptolemy had mentioned the tribe Albanoi and the city of Albanopolis since the 2nd Century AD. This was in the territory of the ancient Illyrians, the territory which is today inhabited by Albanians, and they study this continuity of territorial inhabitation and this comparison of the names Albanoi-Albanopolis. According to some scholars, there may be some points of approximation with the ethnicity name arbëror-Arbëri, or there may be some direct descent. There are still scholars who do not support such a thesis. According to the second group of scholars, the relation of the ancient name albanoi and the name of today’s arbër does not exist, because Albanians, even being newcomers to the place, could have inherited the name from the ancient residents, the Illyrians, as has happened with several other peoples.

Keywords

• autochthony
• albanian language
• national name arber
• name albanoi
• автохтония
• албанский язык
• название народа «arber»
• название «albanoi»