Albanian, Arbëreshë
PrintA language of Italy
ISO 639-3
Alternate Names
Arbëreshë
Population
100,000 (Salminen 2007). Ethnic population: 260,000 (Stephens 1976).
Location
South; Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Molise, Sicily.
Language Status
6b (Threatened).
Classification
Dialects
Calabrian Albanian, Campo Marino Albanian, Central Mountain Albanian, Molise Albanian, Sicilian Albanian. Speakers say 4 Italian dialects not mutually inherently intelligible. Lexical similarity: 45% with Tosk Albanian [als].
Language Use
Strong position in some districts. Taught in some schools. No official status. Home. In some places there may be children learning the language but many stop using it at school age (2007). Also use Italian [ita] and regional Italian varieties.
Language Development
Some literature. Bible portions: 1868–1869.
Language Resources
Writing
Greek script, no longer in use. Latin script.
Descendants of 15th century mercenaries and refugees from the Ottoman invasion. Christian.