The toponym Albania may indicate several different geographical regions: a country in the Balkans; an ancient land in the Caucasus; as well as Scotland, Albania being a Latinization of a Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba. This article will cover etymology, as well as trace the usage of the toponyms and related toponyms and ethnonyms from their earliest known occurrence down to present times. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Ancient countries of Caucasus: Armenia, Iberia, Colchis and Albania Caucasian Albania (or Aghbania) was an ancient kingdom that covered what is now southern Dagestan and most of todays Azerbaijan of the Caucasus. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Goidelic is one of two major divisions of modern-day Celtic languages (the other being Brythonic). ... Alba is the ancient and modern Gaelic name (IPA: ) for the country of Scotland (also Alba in Irish, and in Old Gaelic Albu). ... An ethnonym (Gk. ...

Albania (Balkans)

The Balkan toponym Albania may share the same etymology as the Alps, which is of disputed etymology[1]. The West face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace. ...

Some linguists propose a derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root *albho-, which meant 'white'; referring perhaps to the snow-capped mountains of Albania. The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages. ... White is a color, (more accurately it contains all the colors of the visible spectrum and is sometimes described as an achromatic color—black is the absence of color) that has high brightness but zero hue. ...

Others think the source may be a non-Indo-European root *alb-, meaning 'mountain' (cf. pre-Celtic alb, "hill"). Mount McKinley (Denali) in Alaska (USA) has the largest visible base-to-summit elevation difference on Earth. ... A Celtic cross. ...

Another idea is that Albania derives from PIE *al-, 'to grow, nourish', from which comes Latin altus, 'high, elevated'. The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Albania as the name of a region in the Balkans does not seem to go back to ancient times, but rather it appears that Balkan Albania derives from an ethnonym, Albanoi, the name of an Illyrian tribe. It is thus agreed that Albanoi, Albania, and Albanian share the same etymon. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article is about an ancient civilization in southeastern Europe; see also Illyria (software), Illyria (character in the TV series Angel). ... Etymology is the study of the origins of words. ...

Arbon

The toponym Arbon (Άρβων or Αρβών) is mentioned by Polybius in the History of the World (second century BC). The people who lived there were called Arbonitai (Αρβωνίται). Biris relates the name Arbon with the name Arbanitai, and notes the similarities of Arbon with Arben and Arbana. Polybius (ca 203 BC - 120 BC, Greek Πολυβιος) was a Greek historian of the Mediterranean world famous for his book called The Histories or The Rise of the Roman Empire, covering the period of 220 BC to 146 BC. // Personal experiences As the former tutor of Scipio Aemilianus , the famous adopted...

Albanoi

Albanoi first occurs in extant written sources in a work of Ptolemy dating back to 130 AD. "Albanopolis of the Albanoi" appears on a map of Ptolemy, a place located in what is now North central Albania. This article is about the geographer and astronomer Ptolemy. ... Events Claudius Ptolemaeus tabulated angles of refraction for several media. ...

The Albanoi were Illyrians, but whether the modern Albanians have an ethnic continuity with the Illyrian Albanoi is disputed (see Origin of Albanians), and the ethnonym may have been transferred to an unrelated people. The Albanoi are also named on a Roman-era family epitaph at Scupi, which has been identified with the Zgërdhesh hill-fort near Kruja in northern Albania. The origin of Albanians has been for some time a matter of dispute among historians. ... See Epitaph Records for the record label An epitaph (literally: on the gravestone in ancient Greek) is text honoring the deceased, most commonly inscribed on a tombstone or plaque. ... Modern Skopje Skopje (Macedonian: Скопје, Albanian Shkup, Latin Scupi; Turkish: Üsküb) is the capital city of the Republic of Macedonia. ... Categories: Albania geography stubs | Cities in Albania ...

Albania

According to the Albanian scholar Faïk bey Konitza, the term "Albania" did not displace "Illyria" completely until the end of the fourteenth century. The word "Alba" or "Arba" seems to be connected with the town Arba (modern Rab, Croatia), in prehistoric times inhabited by the Illyrian Liburnians, first mentioned in 360 BC. Faik Konica (1875-1942) was one of the great figures of Albanian intellectual culture in the early decades of the twentieth century. ... Coat of arms The historic town center of Rab Rab (Italian Arbe) is an island and a town of the same name located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea, today in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 365 BC 364 BC 363 BC 362 BC 361 BC 360 BC 359 BC 358 BC 357...

Approximately a millennium after, some Byzantine writers use the words "Albanon" and "Arbanon" to indicate the region of Kruja. Under the Angiò, in the 13th century, the names "Albania" and "Albanenses" indicate the whole country and all the population, as it is demonstrated by the works of many ancient Albanian writers such as Budi, Blanco and Bogdano. (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ...

We first learn of the ancestors of the modern Albanians in their native land as the Arbanites of Arbanon in Anna Comnena's account (Alexiad, IV) of the troubles in that region caused in the reign of her father Alexius I Comneus (1081-1118) by the Normans. In the History written in 1079-1080, Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates was first to refer to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the duke of Dyrrachium. Anna Comnena or better Komnene (Greek: Άννα Κομνηνή, Anna Komnēnē) (December 1, 1083 – 1153). ... Events Corfu taken from Byzantine Empire by Robert Guiscard, Italy Byzantine emperor Nicephorus III is overthrown by Alexius I Comnenus, ending the Middle Byzantine period and beginning the Comnenan dynasty Alexius I helps defend Albania from the Normans (the first recorded mention of Albania), but is defeated at the Battle... Events Knights Templar founded Baldwin of Le Bourg succeeds his cousin Baldwin I as king of Jerusalem John II Comnenus succeeds Alexius I as Byzantine emperor Gelasius II succeeds Paschal II as pope Births November 28 - Manuel I Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (died 1180) Andronicus I Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (died 1185... The Normans (adapted from the name Northmen or Norsemen) were a mixture of the indigenous people of France and the Viking invaders under the leadership of Hrolf Ganger, who adopted the French name Rollo and swore allegiance to the king of France (Charles the Simple). ... Events Persian astronomer, Omar Khayyám, computed the length of the year as 365. ... Events William I of England, in a letter, reminds the Bishop of Rome that the King of England owes him no allegiance. ... Attaliates or Michael Attaliates was a Byzantine stateman and historian, probably a native of Attalia in Pamphylia, whence he seems to have come to Constantinople between 1130 and 1140. ... Constantinople[1] was the name of the modern-day city of İstanbul, Turkey over the centuries that it served as the second capital of the unified Roman Empire, and after its division into East and West, of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire (from the city... // Events Edward the Confessor crowned King of England at Winchester Cathedral. ... The Greek city of Epidamnos (Strabo Geography vi. ...

Their descendants in Greece and Italy have been called in different ways with the passing of the years: Arbërór (in Arvanitic) or more commonly Arvanites (in Greek), Arbënuer, Arbënor, Arbëneshë, Arbëreshë.

Arbanon

Arbanon may have been the name of a district, rather than a particular place. The plain of the Mat has been suggested.

The mediaeval ethnonyms Arbanitai and Arbanios and the corresponding modern ethnonyms Arvanite, Arber, and Arbëreshë are considered by many linguists to have the same etymology as Albania, being derived from the stem Alb- by way of a rhotacism, Alb- → Arb-. Compare the rhotacism of alb- into arv- in the Neapolitan dialect of Italy. Arvanites (Αρbε̰ρόρ, Arbërór or Σ̈κ̇ιπτάρ, Shqiptár in Arvanitic, Arvanitë in Albanian, Αρβανίτες, Arvanítes in Greek) are the descendants of settlers of Albanian ancestry from central Albania that settled in various Greek lands during the Middle Ages, principally between the 13th century and 15th century. ... Arbëreshë are an Albanian speaking population living in southern Italy. ... Rhotacism may refer to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r: the excessive or idiosyncratic use of the r; conversely, the inability or difficulty in pronouncing r. ... Neapolitan (autonym: nnapulitano; Italian: napoletano) is a Romance language spoken in the city and region of Naples, Campania (Neapolitan: Nàpule, Italian: Napoli), as well as throughout most of southern Italy including the Gaeta and Sora districts of southern Lazio, the southern part of Ascoli province in Marche, most of...

Some linguists have argued that Arbanitai derives from the place, or river, called Arbanon, and Greek linguist Georgios Babiniotis states that Arvanite, Arber, and Arbëreshë do not derive from Albania or Albanoi. Greek (, IPA - Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest in the Indo-European family. ...

However, the ethnonym Albanians may itself derive from Arbanon [2].

Shqipëria

There seems to be no doubt that the root Alb- or Arb- is earlier than Shqip-, from which the modern name of the state Shqipëria (Tosk: Shqipërija, Gheg: Shqipnija) derives, a name which appears only in the time of the Turkish invasions. The Albanian name of the country, Shqipëria, translates into English as "Land of the Eagles", hence the two-headed bird on the national flag and emblem, and because of the large presence of these animals in the mountainous zones of Albania. Tosk is the southern dialect of Albanian language, spoken by about 3 million people. ... Geg is a northern Albanian dialect. ...

Biris notes that the terms Shqipëria and Shqiptarë probably weren't Turkish, since the Ottomans used the term Arnaut. Kollias writes: "I believe that the name Shqiptarë was first used by the greatest Albanian hero, Scanderbeg", and he also notes the connection with the eagle (shqipe or shqiponjë is Albanian for eagle) of Scanderbeg's emblem. Scanderbeg and the people, sculpture by Janaq Paço and Genc Hajdari in the National Museum, Kruje, Albania George Kastrioti (Gjergj Kastrioti) (1405 - January 17, 1468), better known as Skanderbeg, is the most prominent figure in the history of Albania. ...

The Tale of the Eagle is an Albanian folk tale about the origin of the name Shqipetar. The flag of Albania features an eagle. ... Folklore is the ethnographic concept of the tales, legends, or superstitions current among a particular ethnic population, a part of the oral history of a particular culture. ...

Albania (Caucasus)

Albania in antiquity was the name of a land in the Caucasus region, now usually referred to as Caucasian Albania. It is not known for certain whether Caucasian Albania has the same etymology as the Balkan Albania. The Entholinguistic patchwork of the modern Caucasus - CIA map The Caucasus, a region bordering Asia Minor, is located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus Mountains and surrounding lowlands. ... Ancient countries of Caucasus: Armenia, Iberia, Colchis and Albania Caucasian Albania (or Aghbania) was an ancient kingdom that covered what is now southern Dagestan and most of todays Azerbaijan of the Caucasus. ...

Albania (Scotland)

Alba, a Gaelic name for Scotland, may be related to the Greek name of Britain Albion, latinized as Albania during the High Medieval period, and later passed into Middle English as Albany. Some recent scholarship has however connected it with one of the the early names of Ireland, "Fodla", which is taken to mean (land of the) "going down" (of the Sun), in contrast to Alba which means (land of the) "rising" (of the Sun). This is consistent with one of the ancient emblems of Scotland consisting of a rising sun crossing the horizon, a symbol laden with much significance. Alba is the ancient and modern Gaelic name (IPA: ) for the country of Scotland (also Alba in Irish, and in Old Gaelic Albu). ... Gaelic as an adjective means pertaining to the Gaels, whether to their language or their culture. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... The white cliffs of Dover Albion (in Ptolemy Alouion), is the most ancient name of Great Britain, though often used to refer specifically to England. ... The name Albany is an ancient and literary name for Scotland, north of the Firth of Forth (east) and Firth of Clyde (west). ... In Irish mythology, Fodla, daughter of Ernmas, was one of the patron goddesses of Ireland. ...

References

• Johann Georg von Hahn, Albanesische Studien, 1854
• Kostas Biris, Arvanites, 1960 (3rd edition, 1998: ISBN 9602040319)
• Aristeides Kollias, Arvanites, 1983
• John J. Wilkes, The Illyrians, 1992

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