Albanian

[Kastrioti]

I would really like to know what has happend with this course? Is it like over allready? It seems like it had just got started...it would be very dissapointing if its over...

[Klee]

a room = një dhomë (feminine singular indefinite)
the room = dhoma (feminine singular definite)

I've only just started with past tense and am not sure how to conjugate the verb here - I would guess...

the verb to enter = hyj
and to leave = lë (irreg = past tense = lashë)

therefore i would suggest:
X has left the room = "X la dhoma".
X has entered the room = "X hyroi dhoma"

However - this is me conjugating so please check and feel free to correct me!

[Klee]

Where are you from? = Ku je nga? APO (or) Ku jeni nga? (for polite or plural "you")

I am from England/Albania = jam nga Angli/Shqiperia

[Klee]

1 - një
2 - dy
3 - tre
4 - katër
5 - pesë
6 - gjashtë
7 - shtatë
8 - tetë
9 - nëntë
10 - dhjetë
11 - njëmbëdhjetë
12 - dymbëdhjetë
13 - trembëdhjetë
14 - katërmbëdhjetë
15 - pesëmbëdhjetë
16 - gjashtëmbëdhjetë
17 - shtatëmbëdhjetë
18 - tetëmbëdhjetë
19 - nëntëmbëdhjetë
20 - njëzet
21 - njëzet e një
22 - njëzet e dy
23 - njëzet e tre
30 - tridhjetë
40 - dyzet
50 - pesëdhjetë
60 - gjashtëdhjetë
70 - shtatëdhjetë
80 - tetëdhjetë
90 - nëntëdhjetë
100 - njëqind
101 - njëqind e një
1000 - njëmijë
9876 - nëntëmije e tetëdhjetëqind e shtatëdhjetë e gjashtë

[Rikita]

looks quite complicated...

[Klee]

yeah sorry - had to run yesterday couldn't explain.

Basically 1 to 10 stay the same.

For the "teens" you use those numbers and attach the stem "ëmbëdhjetë" which means "and ten" so for 12 you are saying "two and ten".

then for 30, 50, 60 , 70... you use the first ten numbers and attach "dhjetë" which for 50 is like saying "five tens". However 20 (njëzet) is "one twenty" so 40 (dyzet) is "two twenties" - these you have to remember. Also watch out for 30 when three changes from tre to tri (this makes it easier to pronounce)

Then for any additional number such as for 34 you say "thirty and four" - tridhjetë e katër...

As the numbers get bigger you just use e to attach them...eg 1234 - one thousand AND two hundred AND thirty AND four = njëmijë e dyqind e tridhjetë e katër!

Does that make sense?! Really you just have to learn numbers 1-10, 20 & 40 and the two stem endings.

[Rikita]

yes, sounds logical... Well, right now I am quite busy with swedish, but once the unilang language month is over I will hopefully have time to get back to albanian (I sometimes really wonder if I shouldn't start concentrating on one language, instead of starting all the ones I find interesting, which is, basically, all of them)... I found a book in my university's mediatheque, plus tapes, and my impression is that it is quite a good course, so I will try to study with that, and of course with what is here - so if you have time to post some more stuff that would be great!

Btw - from what I understood you said you are not a native speaker, right? Where did you learn/are you learning albanian then?

[Klee]

Yes you read right...I'm just learning and somewhat slowly at that - I'm happy to post more but I'm reluctant to, simply because i don't want to teach anybody wrong and i don't know enough myself...only a beginner...

However, I can always TRY to help (for the selfish reason that it helps me learn too!) hehe so let me know what you want...hopefully i can't go wrong with numbers so i thought while it was quiet here...

Good luck with the Swedish - wasn't in time to join in unfortunately but hope it's going well! Which albanian course was it you found? I'm having lessons in London as well as learning from a couple of books and from albo friends ...one day we'll get there!

[red devil]

"X has entered the room"
"X has left the room"

Good attempt klee, although you must remember that Albanian has 5 different cases.

X ka hyrë në dhomë (X has entered the room)
X hyu në dhomë (X entered the room)

X ka lëshuar dhomën (X has left the room)
X lëshoi dhomën (X left the room)

për të lëshuar is a common usage for leaving a place (it is also a verb for 'to drop' almost exclusively used in the imperative form) or just plain "leaving"(in spanish this would be SALIR)

për ta lënë (or lërë) is used when you leave something behind, as in I left the keyes [i lash qelësat], or to your boyfriend: I want to leave you [dua me t'lënë] (again in spanish this would be DEJAR)

[Klee]

ah! - i did say not to trust me!

Can i ask what form ive used there? - I was just guessing using over verbs as examples - when you say 5 cases do you mean nominative, accusative, dative, ablative and genetive?!

does this mean left is regular and enter is irregular?!

Many thanks - and apologies to anyone who used my wrong guess

[red devil]

My Dear Students,

I wish to apologize for the abrupt cancellation of lessons which I had originally promised to see though till the end, but I have lately been very busy at work, and just simply didn't get time to prepare for the lessons.

For those of you that are still interested in grasping the basics of the Albanian language, I would emphatically recommend the following web site.


http://www.argjiro.net/albi/green/?book ... bchapter=2

I will still continue to offer my help to anyone here in this forum. Although the continuation of the standard lessons will depend on the available time I have.



Many thanks

[red devil]

Can i ask what form ive used there? - I was just guessing using over verbs as examples - when you say 5 cases do you mean nominative, accusative, dative, ablative and genetive?!

Yes thats right, and with such sentences as the previous example, you would almost always use the acusative form.

You have used the nominative in both cases

[Klee]

AH thank you - in a way thats a relief ...

I forgot to check the sentence structure - theres always SO much to remember - hehe - ill remember now - thank you

[Rikita]

hi! thanks for the link... i will check it out, and get back here if i have questions... hope your work is going well and becoming less stressful soon...

[red devil]

Where are you from? = Ku je nga? APO (or) Ku jeni nga? (for polite or plural "you")

I am from England/Albania = jam nga Angli/Shqiperia

Where are you from?
Prej nga jeni? (formal)
Prej nga je? (semi-formal)
I kahit je? (informal)


Ku jeni? (on its own) does indeed mean Where are you?, but you wouldn use it like that when constructing slightly more complex qustions. 'Prej' and 'Nga' both incidentally in English mean from, but are still very different.


prej - is the general word for 'from' and you can use it to construct any sentences.

nga - always describes ones origin. it always has its own place and you would only occassionaly use it instead of 'prej' to emphasize.

prej nga je? would therefrore translate into :
from (what)from are you?. You get the idea!


Nga je? (on its own) - translates into 'Where abouts are you hanging?' or 'where are you right now?'[/b]

[red devil]

Basic expressions in Albanian:

Tung: Means both hi and bye. It is short for tungjatjeta, which is seldom used, and sounds quite tacky even when directed towards an elderly person. You could use 'Ciao' when you want to say bye, or 'Shihmi' for 'See ya'

Si jeni? (formal)
Si je? (semi-formal)
Qysh je? (informal)
All three mean: 'How are you?'

Ç'a i ki punt?: a very friendly and informal way of greeting someone, which roughly translates into "Hows your stuff doing?" or "How's things?"


Çka bone?: What have you been up to (see below for an alternative)



A jeni mire? (formal)
A je mire? (informal)
Means "are you ok?" or "everything alright?" depending on your tone of voice.


Ku jeni? (formal, although never used formally but used widely for greeting a group)
ku je (informal)
Literally "where are you?", but it really means "what have you been up to?"

Mirë - means "OK", feel free to use this freely, it will make you sound fluent.


So ok, lets have a brief encounter between two friends

Ilir: Hej, tung! (hey, hi)
Milot: Hej njeri, tung, çka bone? (hey man, hi, what have you been up to?)
Ilir: Qe, ti? (the usual, you?)
Milot: Mirë, mirë? ( fine, fine )
Ilir: mirë, najsen t're (ok, anything new?)
Milot: Jo bre, krejt met vjetra, qishtu me punë, me qika, me kerre, me sport. (not really, same old thing, work, girls, cars, sports)
Ilir: Qenke i zanun... (man you're busy...)
Milot: Po njeri, hajt tung se m'duhet me ec! (yes man, ok bye I need to walk now!)
Ilir: Mirë, shihmi (ok, see ya)

[red devil]

Idiom (translation) - Literal translation


jo po t'doket (it's real, no joke) - no, it just appears to you

po ma merr mendja (i think so) - my mind is taking it

s'po merr vesh (you don't get it) - you don't take ears

mos mbaj zi (don't worry) - don't wear black

me faqe t'bardhë ( to do something with good intentions) - with white cheeks

ta hanksha syrin (you're so cute) - I hope to eat your eye

ç'ta kom lshu (gotcha) - how I dropped it to you

mos i shti veshtë n'lesh (oi, listen up) - don't put your ears in wool

shtatzanë (pregnant) - bodytaken or bodybusy

po fryhet (he's showing off) - he's blowing himself

keptë nën krye (keeping a secret) - onions under your head

hyp se t'vrava, zhdryp se t'vrava (whatever I do, I will always be wrong) - go up I kill you, go down I kill you

mos ia nxerr bishtin (don't abuse it) - don't take its tail out

shko n'lesh (f**k off) - go to hair

prit magar dej t'del bari, kur del bari cofë magari (I can't wait forever)- wait donkey till
grass grows, when grass grows donkey dies

m'la me gishta n'gojë (to be stunned, to no know what to say after someone just said something) - left me with fingers in my mouth

pini maca ujë (too late, done now) - the cat drank water

sa pa lidhje (how stupid) - so without connection

ai punon n't'zezėn (illegal working) - he works in black

të njoh si paren e kuqe
(I know you too well)- I know you like the red(copper) money

t'boftë mire (bon appetit) - I hope it will do you good

shkel e shko (referred to a piece of work that has not been done up to the standard) – tread and go

qysh jo (of course) – how not

[Soassae]

Ehi! Very nice; and some are very strange!
I like in particular ta hanksha syrin

[red devil]

1 - një
2 - dy
3 - tre
4 - katër
5 - pesë
6 - gjashtë
7 - shtatë
8 - tetë
9 - nëntë
10 - dhjetë
11 - njëmbëdhjetë
12 - dymbëdhjetë
13 - trembëdhjetë
14 - katërmbëdhjetë
15 - pesëmbëdhjetë
16 - gjashtëmbëdhjetë
17 - shtatëmbëdhjetë
18 - tetëmbëdhjetë
19 - nëntëmbëdhjetë
20 - njëzet
21 - njëzet e një
22 - njëzet e dy
23 - njëzet e tre
30 - tridhjetë
40 - dyzet
50 - pesëdhjetë
60 - gjashtëdhjetë
70 - shtatëdhjetë
80 - tetëdhjetë
90 - nëntëdhjetë
100 - njëqind
101 - njëqind e një
1000 - njëmijë
9876 - nëntëmije e tetë[s]dhjetë[/s]qind e shtatëdhjetë e gjashtë

[red devil]

Hello Vina,

Welcome to the Albanian Language Forum.

With regards to the Arbëreshë language, my knowledge is very limited, and sadly that little knowledge (and culture) that remains in Calabria and Sicily is quickly disappearing.

From as much as I know and from as much as I've heard (I've seen a documentary and listened to the language being spoken by the locals), it is very different to all the other modern Albanian dialects. So much so that I found it very difficult to understand more than 50% of it.

However if you want to learn the modern Albanian spoken in the Balkans, you're more than welcome to post any questions or requests in this forum.