Part of a series of articles on Albanians Albanian culture Albanian culture • Literature Music: Kosovo , Albania • Art Cuisine • Sports: Albania , Kosovo This article briefly outlines each period in the History of Albania; details are presented in separate articles (see the links in the box and below). ... The fall of the Roman Empire and the age of great migrations brought radical changes to the Balkan Peninsula and the Illyrian people. ... The land that is today Albania was controlled by the Ottoman Empire from 1385 until 1913. ... National awakening and the birth of Albania (1876-1918) By the 1870s, the Sublime Portes reforms aimed at checking the Ottoman Empires disintegration had clearly failed. ... // Albanias re-emergence after World War I Albanias political confusion continued in the wake of World War I. The country lacked a single recognized government, and Albanians feared, with justification, that Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece would succeed in extinguishing Albanias independence and carve up the country. ... World War II and the Rise of Communism (1941-1944) Between 1941 and 1944, communist partisans and nationalist guerrillas fought Italian and German occupation forces, and more often each other, in a brutal struggle to take control of Albania. ... From 1945 until 1992 Albania had a Communist government. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Albania. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Although Albanian is an ancient tongue, the oldest known document in the language is from November 8, 1462, a formula of baptism (Albanian: Formula e Pagëzimit) by the bishop of Durrës, Pal Engjëlli. ... Kosovo is a region of Serbia and Montenegro inhabited mostly by ethnic Albanians as well as Serbs and Montenegrins. ... // A Brief History Albania, a country of southeastern Europe, has a unique culture from that of other European countries. ... Albanian cuisine consists of local dishes from around the country of Albania. ... By region or country Kosovo • Albania • Macedonia Serbia • Montenegro Romania • United States Çamëria • Greece • Italy For other uses of the name Kosovo, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ... There is an Albanian minority living in Central Serbia. ... Ethnic map of Montenegro according to the 2003 census There is an Albanian minority living in Montenegro. ... Cham Albanians (In Albanian: Çamë or Shqiptarë, in Greek: Τσάμηδες Tsámidhes or Αλβανοί Alvaní) are a group of ethnic Albanians traditionally from Çamëria, (part of the Greek region of Epirus) and live in Albania, Greece and Turkey. ... Varieties of Albanian Albanian • Gheg • Tosk Arvanitika •Arbëresh (Italy) Geg is a northern Albanian dialect. ... Tosk is the southern dialect of Albanian language, spoken by about 3 million people. ... Arvanitika or Arvanitic (Greek: Αρβανίτικα; native name: Arbëríshte, spelled in the Greek-based Arvanitic alphabet) is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. ... Arbëresh (or Arbërishte or Arbërisht) is the dialect of the Albanian language spoken by the Arbëreshë, the Albanian-speaking minority in Italy. ... History of Albanians History • Illyrians Origin of Albanians This article briefly outlines each period in the History of Albania; details are presented in separate articles (see the links in the box and below). ... Illyrians has come to refer to a broad, ill-defined group of peoples who inhabited the western Balkans (Illyria, roughly from northern Epirus to southern Pannonia) and even perhaps parts of Southern Italy in classical times into the Common era, and spoke Illyrian languages. ... Persecution of Albanians Kosovo war • Exodus The term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is often used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts (a civil war followed by an international war) in the southern Serbian province called Kosovo (officially Kosovo and Metohia), part of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. ... Albanian exodus is term used to refer to the deportation or mass migration of Albanians from their homes. ...

The origin of Albanians has been for some time a matter of dispute among historians. Albanians are people who speak Albanian, an Indo-European language. Though the vocabulary contains some Greek, Latin, Slavic and Turkish words, the language per se has no other close living relative, making it difficult to determine from what ancient Balkan language it evolved. Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Indo-European languages include some 443 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by about three billion people, including most of the major language families of Europe and western Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ... The Paleo-Balkan languages were the Indo-European languages which were spoken in the Balkans in ancient times: Dacian language Thracian language Illyrian language Paionian language Ancient Macedonian language The only remnant of them is Albanian, but it is still disputed which language was its ancestor. ...

Place of origin

The place where the Albanian language was formed is also uncertain, but analyses have suggested that it was in a mountainous region, rather than in a plain or seacoast: while the words for plants and animals characteristic of mountainous regions are entirely original, the names for fish and for agricultural activities (such as ploughing) are borrowed from other languages. It has been suggested that Mouldboard Plough be merged into this article or section. ...

It can also be presumed that the Albanians did not live in Dalmatia, because the Latin influence over Albanian is of Balkan Romance (that evolved into Romanian) origin, rather than of Dalmatian origin. This Balkan Romance influence includes Latin words exhibiting idiomatic expressions and changes in meaning found only in Romanian and not in other Romance languages. Adding to this the words common only to Albanian and Romanian, it may be assumed that Romanians and Albanians lived in close proximity at one time. Generally, the areas where this might have happened are considered to be regions varying from Transylvania, Eastern Serbia (the region around Naissus), Kosovo and Northern Albania/Macedonia. Map of Dalmatia, in present day Croatia highlighted Dalmatia (Croatian: Dalmacija, Italian: Dalmazia) is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, in modern Croatia, spreading between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Gulf of Kotor (Boka Kotorska) in the southeast. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Dalmatian is an extinct Romance language formerly spoken along the Dalmatian coast of Croatia and as far south as Kotor in Montenegro. ... The Romance languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, comprise all languages that descended from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. ... Map of Romania with Transylvania in yellow Transylvania (Romanian: or Transilvania; Hungarian: ; German: ; Serbian: or Erdelj / Ердељ) is a historical region in the center of Romania. ... Motto: none Anthem: Bože pravde (English: God of Justice) Capital (and largest city) Belgrade Serbian written with the Cyrillic alphabet1 Government Republic  - Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica  - President Boris Tadić Establishment    - Formation 814   - First Serbian Uprising 1804   - Internationally recognized July 13, 1878   - Kingdom of SCS created December 1, 1918... NiÅ¡ or Nish (Serbian: Ниш / NiÅ¡, Latin: Naissus, Greek: Naissos) is a city in Serbia situated at 43. ... For other uses of the name Kosovo, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ...

However, most agricultural terms in Romanian are of Latin origin, but not the terms related to city activities — indicating that Romanians were an agricultural people in the low plains, as opposed to Albanians, who were originally shepherds in the highlands.

Some scholars even explain the gap between the Bulgarian and Serbian languages by postulating an Albanian-Romanian buffer-zone east of the Morava river. Although an intermediary Serbian dialect exists, it was formed only later, after the Serbian expansion to the east. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The Morava or Great Morava (Морава or Велика Морава) is a major river system in Serbia. ...

Another argument that sustains a northern origin of Albanians is the relatively small number of words of Greek origin, although Southern Illyria was under the influence of Greek/Byzantine civilization and language, especially after the breakdown of the Roman Empire. Illyria Illyria (disambiguation) Illyria (Anc. ... The Byzantine Empire (Greek name: - Basileia tōn Romaiōn) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered around its capital of Constantinople. ...

Written sources

See also:Albania (toponym). 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. ...

The following written sources are presented as relevant to the origin of Albanians:

Albani (Albanoi), tribe in ancient Illyria, from Alexander G. Findlay's Classical Atlas to Illustrate Ancient Geography, New York, 1849

Download high resolution version (2038x1677, 721 KB)Classical Balkans: from Map from rothers Publishers, New York, 1849A Classical Atlas to Illustrate Ancient Geography, Alexander G. Findlay, Harper and B ros. ... Download high resolution version (2038x1677, 721 KB)Classical Balkans: from Map from rothers Publishers, New York, 1849A Classical Atlas to Illustrate Ancient Geography, Alexander G. Findlay, Harper and B ros. ...

References to early peoples of uncertain ethnic identity

• In the 2nd century BC, the History of the World written by Polybius, mentions a city named Arbon in present day central Albania. The people who lived there were called Arbanios and Arbanitai.
• In the 1st century AD, Pliny mentions an Illyrian tribe named Olbonenses.
• In the 2nd century AD, Ptolemy, the geographer and astronomer from Alexandria, drafted a map of remarkable significance for the history of Illyria. This map shows the city of Albanopolis (located south of Durrës). Ptolemy also mentions the Illyrian tribe named Albanoi, who lived around this city.

(2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 2nd century BC started on January 1, 200 BC and ended on December 31, 101 BC. // Coin of Antiochus IV. Reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ... Polybius (c. ... The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 100 according the Gregorian calendar. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ... The 2nd century is the period from 101 - 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... A medieval artists rendition of Claudius Ptolemaeus Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; c. ... Alexandria Modern Alexandria. ... Durrës (Italian: Durazzo; see also different names) is the most ancient and one of the most economically important important cities of Albania. ...

Undisputed references to Albanians

• The first undisputed mention of the ancestors of modern Albanians seems to be in the form of Arbanitai of Arbanon in an account by Anna Comnena of the troubles in that region during the reign of her father Alexius I Comnenus (1081-1118) by the Normans. (The Alexiad, 4)
• In History written in 1079-1080, Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates referred 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.
• 1285 in Dubrovnik (Ragusa) a sizeable Albanian community had existed for some time. In the investigation of a robbery in the house of Petro del Volcio of Belena (now Prati), a certain Matthew, son of Mark of Mançe, who appears to have been witness to the crime, states: "Audivi unam vocem clamantem in monte in lingua albanesca" (I heard a voice crying in the mountains in the Albanian language).

Anna Comnena or better Komnene (Greek: Άννα Κομνηνή, Anna KomnÄ“nÄ“) (December 1, 1083 – 1153). ... Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus Alexius I (1048–August 15, 1118), Byzantine emperor (1081–1118), was the third son of John Comnenus, the nephew of Isaac I Comnenus (emperor 1057–1059). ... Norman conquests in red. ... The Alexiad is a book written around the year 1148 by the Byzantine historian Anna Comnena, the daughter of Emperor Alexius I. In it, she describes the political and military history of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of her father (1081-1118), making it one of the most important... 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. ... Map of Constantinople. ... Durrës (Italian: Durazzo; see also different names) is the most ancient and one of the most economically important important cities of Albania. ... County Dubrovnik–Neretva Area 143. ...

Ethnic origin

The three chief candidates considered by historians are Illyrian, Dacian, or Thracian, though there were other non-Greek groups in the ancient Balkans, including Paionians (who lived north of Macedon) and Agrianians. The Illyrian language and the Thracian language are generally considered to have been on different Indo-European branches. Not much is left of the old Illyrian, Dacian or Thracian tongues, making it difficult to match Albanian with them. The Illyrian languages are a group of Indo-European languages that were spoken in the western part of the Balkans in former times by ethnic groups identified as Illyrians: Delmatae, Pannoni, Illyrioi, Autariates, Taulanti (see List of Illyrian tribes). ... The Dacian language was an Indo-European language spoken by the ancient people of Dacia. ... The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times by the Thracians in South-Eastern Europe. ... Paionia (also Romanized as Paeonia) was, in ancient geography, the land of the Paionians (Gk. ... Macedons regions and towns Macedon or Macedonia (from Greek ; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was the name of an ancient kingdom in the northern-most part of ancient Greece, bordering the kingdom of Epirus on the west and the region of Thrace to the east. ... The Agrianians were crack javelinmen and the elite unit of Alexanders light infantry, who fought under the command of Attalus. ...

There is debate whether the Illyrian language was a Centum or Satem language. Some evidence suggests that it was centum, but it is not conclusive. It is also uncertain whether Illyrians spoke a homogeneous language or rather a collection of different but related languages that were wrongly considered the same language by ancient writers. The same is sometimes said of the Thracian language. For example, based on the toponyms and other lexical items, Thracian and Dacian were probably different but related languages. Diachronic map showing the Centum (blue) and Satem (red) areals. ... Diachronic map showing the Centum (blue) and Satem (red) areals. ... The Dacian language was an Indo-European language spoken by the ancient people of Dacia. ...

In the early half of the 20th century, many scholars thought that Thracian and Illyrian were one language branch, but due to the lack of evidence, most linguists are skeptical and now reject this idea, and usually place them on different branches. The Messapian language is often included as an Illyrian language, but this is disputed. Messapian (also known as Messapic) is an extinct Indo-European language of South-Eastern Italy, in the regions of Apulia and Calabria. ...

Illyrian Origin

There are two variants of the theory: one is that the Albanian language represents a survival of an indigenous Illyrian language spoken in what is now Albania. The other is that the Albanian language is the descendant of an Illyrian language that was spoken north of the Jireček Line and probably north or northeast of Albania.

There is a gap of several centuries between the last historical mention of Illyrians (and the Illyrian tribe Albanoi) and the later mention of Albanians and of the names Albanon and Arbanon to indicate the region. Supporters of either theory say that the term Albanian gradually came to be applied to the surviving Illyrians.

There are some direct correspondences of vocabulary between Albanian and Illyrian ^[1], but none of these correspondences is conclusive for the purpose of determining whether or not Albanian is an Illyrian language. A few Illyrian lexical items (toponyms, hydronyms, oronyms, anthroponyms, etc.) have been linked to Albanian. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A hydronym (from Greek hudor, water and onuma, name) is a proper name of a body of water. ... An oronym is a word or phrase which is homophonic with another word or phrase. ... An anthroponym (Gk. ...

Author John Wilkes argued against Illyrian-Albanian theory:

"In the matter of physical character, skeletal evidence from prehistoric cemeteries suggests no more than average height (male 1.65 m; female 1.53). Not much reliance should perhaps be placed on attempts to define an Illyrian anthropological type as short and dark-skinned similar to modern Albanians".

John Wilkes The Peoples of Europe: The Illyrians Page: 219 1992

Continuity in Albania south of the Jireček Line

The Jireček Line divides the areas of the Balkans which were under Latin and Greek influence.

Many problems for the theory of Albanian continuity in Albania are recognized, and are addressed in various ways as the case may be. I, the creator of this image, hereby release it into the public domain. ... I, the creator of this image, hereby release it into the public domain. ... The Jireček Line The Jireček Line is an imaginary line that divided in the ancient Balkans, until the 4th century, the influences of the Latin (in North) and Greek (in South) languages. ...

One problem is the lack of clear archaeological evidence for a continuous settlement of an Albanian-speaking population since Illyrian times. For example, while several scholars maintain that the Komani-Kruja burial sites support the Illyrian-Albanian continuity theory, other scholars reject this and consider that the remains indicate a population of Romanized Illyrians who spoke a Romanic language ^[2].

The lack ^[3] or scarcity of definite loans from ancient Greek into Albanian is another problem (v. Hemp). As the Jireček Line shows, if Albanians were continuously settled throughout Albania since Illyrian times, they would have been, in the south, in more or less constant contact with the Greeks, and the absence or scarcity of definite loans from ancient Greek is hard to explain within the context of Albanian continuity. Even Greek loans into Illyrian are known (cf. Wilkes, et al.; including Illyrian names borrowed from Greek), so their absence in Albanian as an alleged descendant of Illlyrian as it was spoken in Albania is doubly difficult to explain. Note: This article contains special characters. ... The Jireček Line The Jireček Line is an imaginary line that divided in the ancient Balkans, until the 4th century, the influences of the Latin (in North) and Greek (in South) languages. ...

Another problem is the ancient Illyrian and Roman toponyms (including hydronyms, etc.) in what is now Albania compared to their equivalents in the Albanian language. While a number may (most cases are contested among linguists) pose no major or definite problem in terms of linguistic evolution (v. Hemp), many others appear to have entered through one or more intermediary languages, which strongly indicates that the ancestors of Albanians were not in Albania (v. Hemp et al.). For example, Albanian Shkodër from Latin Scodra and Albanian Tomor from Latin Tomarus do not match the Albanian phonological evolution (v. Hemp). In geography and cartography, a toponym is a place name, a geographical name, a proper name of locality, region, or some other part of Earths surface or its natural or artificial feature. ... A hydronym (Gk. ... Ãœsküdar, a district of Istanbul, was also known as Scutari. ... The name Tamar has a number of different meanings: Tamar of Georgia Tamar (biblical figure) Tamar - palm tree, Arecaceae River Tamar, Devon, England Tamar River, Tasmania, Australia Tamar, Slovenia, the end of the Planica valley This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might...

The written historical records pose another problem. The modern Albanians were not mentioned in Byzantine chronicles until 1043, although Illyria was part of the Byzantine Empire. The Illyrians are referred to for the last time as an ethnic group in Miracula Sancti Demetri (7th century AD). ^[4] The Byzantine Empire (Greek name: - Basileia tōn Romaiōn) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered around its capital of Constantinople. ...

Thracian/Dacian origin

Albanians in the 5th-10th centuries according to the Dacian theory

Aside from an Illyrian origin, a Dacian or Thracian origin is also hypothesized. There are a number of factors taken as evidence for a Dacian or Thracian origin of Albanians. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (972x675, 689 KB) This is a map of the general areas in which ethnogenesis of the Romanian people is believed to have occured. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (972x675, 689 KB) This is a map of the general areas in which ethnogenesis of the Romanian people is believed to have occured. ...

Albanian shares several hundred common words with Eastern Romance, these Eastern Romance words being part of the pre-Roman substrate (see: Eastern Romance substratum) and not loans; Albanian and Eastern Romance also share grammatical features (see Balkan language union) and phonological features, such as the common phonemes or the rhotacism of "n". ^[5] The Eastern Romance languages, sometimes known as the Vlach languages, are a group of Romance languages that developed in Southeastern Europe from the local eastern variant of Vulgar Latin. ... The Eastern Romance languages contain around 300 words considered by many linguists to be of substratum origin [1]. Including place-names and river-names, and most of the forms labelled as being of unknown etymology, the number of the substratum elements in Eastern Romance may surpass 500 basic roots. ... A loanword (or a borrowing) is a word taken in by one language from another. ... Balkan linguistic union or Balkan sprachbund is a name given to the similarities in syntax, vocabulary and phonology found in the languages of the Balkans, term coined by the Romanian linguist Alexandru Rosetti. ... Rhotacism may refer to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r (whether as an alveolar tap, alveolar trill, or the rarer uvular trill). ...

Linguists such as Vladimir Georgiev have concluded that the phonology of the Dacian language is close to those of Albanian. However, the degree of this closeness has been criticized and challenged by other linguists, and it is based on incomplete evidence. ^[6] The vowels of modern (Standard) Arabic and (Israeli) Hebrew from the phonological point of view. ...

Names of the cities that follow Albanian phonetic laws (which include Shtip, Shkupi and Niš) are in the areas once inhabited by Thracians, Dardani ^[7], and Paionians; however, Illyrians also inhabited or may have inhabited these regions, including Naissus. Hemp for example states that Naissus may as well be considered Illyrian territory. ^[8] Å tip is a city in Republic of Macedonia. ... Skopje (Macedonian: ) is the capital and largest city in the Republic of Macedonia, with more than a quarter of the population of the country, as well as the political, cultural, economical and academic centre of the country. ... NiÅ¡ or Nish (Serbian: Ниш / NiÅ¡, Latin: Naissus, Greek: Naissos) is a city in Serbia situated at 43. ... Thracian peltast, 5th to 4th century BC Thracian Horseman Thracians in an ethnic sense refers to various ancient peoples who spoke Dacian and Thracian, a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family. ... Albani (Albanoi), tribe in ancient Illyria, from Alexander G. Findlays Classical Atlas to Illustrate Ancient Geography, New York, 1849 The Dardani were an ancient Indo-European tribe that lived in Dardania (largely corresponding to present day Kosovo, as well as other parts of present day southern Serbia) and was...

There are some close correspondences between Thracian and Albanian words ^[9]. However, as with Illyrian, most Dacian and Thracian words and names have not been closely linked with Albanian (v. Hemp). Also, many Dacian and Thracian placenames were made out of joined names (such as Dacian Sucidava or Thracian Bessapara; see List of Dacian cities and List of ancient Thracian cities), while the modern Albanian language does not allow this. ^[10] The cities of the Dacians were known as Dava, Daua, Deva, Deba or Daba. ... This is a list of ancient Thracian cities, towns, villages, and fortresses. ...

There are no records that indicate a migration of Dacians into present day Albania. However, Thracian tribes such as the Briges were present in Albania near Durres since before the Roman conquest (v. Hemp) ^[11]. An argument against a Thracian origin (which does not apply to Dacian) is that most Thracian territory was on the Greek half of the Jirecek Line, aside from varied Thracian populations stretching from Thrace into Albania, passing through Paionia and Dardania and up into Moesia; it is considered that most Thracians were Hellenized in Thrace (v. Hoddinott) and Macedonia. Durrës (Photo by Marc Morell) Durrës (Albanian: Durrës or Durrësi) is the most ancient city of Albania and one of the most economically important as the biggest port city. ... Paionia (also Romanized as Paeonia) was, in ancient geography, the land of the Paionians (Gk. ... Dardania region Dardania was a region encompassing the area of the modern-day province under UN administration Kosovo, southern parts of Serbia, mostly, but not entirely, western parts of the Republic of Macedonia, and parts of north-eastern Albania. ... Moesia is an ancient province situated in the areas of modern Serbia and Bulgaria. ... Thrace (Bulgarian: , Greek: , Latin: , Turkish: ) is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. ...

Anatolian-Dardanian Origin

• Asiatic Dardanians mix with Illyrian Survivors in Northern and Central Albania

See also

• History of Albania
• Paleo-Balkan languages
• Illyrian language
• Origin of Romanians
• Dacian language
• Thracian language
• Pre-Indo-European origin of Albanians
• Concept of a Caucasian origin of Albanians
• Ethnogenesis

This article briefly outlines each period in the History of Albania; details are presented in separate articles (see the links in the box and below). ... The Paleo-Balkan languages were the Indo-European languages which were spoken in the Balkans in ancient times: Dacian language Thracian language Illyrian language Paionian language Ancient Macedonian language The only remnant of them is Albanian, but it is still disputed which language was its ancestor. ... The Illyrian languages are a group of Indo-European languages that were spoken in the western part of the Balkans in pre-Roman times. ... The Romanians (also sometimes referred to along with other Balkan Latin peoples as Vlachs) are a nation speaking Romanian, a Romance language, and living in Central and Eastern Europe. ... The Dacian language was an Indo-European language spoken by the ancient people of Dacia. ... The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times by the Thracians in South-Eastern Europe. ... Theories of a Pre-Indo-European origin of Albanians, that the Albanian language descends from a Pre-Indo-European language of southern Europe — Etruscan or Pelasgian — continue to be rejected by mainstream science, because the Albanian language is agreed by mainstream linguists to be an Indo-European language, descending from... Caucasian Albania and city Albana (Albanopolis), shown on a map printed in London, ca 1770 The concept of a Caucasian origin of Albanians was first expounded by Renaissance humanists (such as Enea Silvio Piccolomini) who were familiar with the works of the classical geographers and historians; it was developed in... Ethnogenesis is the process by which a group of human beings comes to be understood or to understand themselves as ethnically distinct from the wider social landscape from which their grouping emerges. ...

Notes

1. ↑  It is disputed whether or not the Dardani can be considered Illyrians. However, the evidence indicates at least a strong Illyrian element.
2. ↑  The lack of ancient Greek loans in Albanian is disputed (see Hemp; Cabej). It is unanimously admitted however, that if they are present, they are very rare (Hemp, Cabej).

Albani (Albanoi), tribe in ancient Illyria, from Alexander G. Findlays Classical Atlas to Illustrate Ancient Geography, New York, 1849 The Dardani were an ancient Indo-European tribe that lived in Dardania (largely corresponding to present day Kosovo, as well as other parts of present day southern Serbia) and was... Illyrians has come to refer to a broad, ill-defined group of peoples who inhabited the western Balkans (Illyria, roughly from northern Epirus to southern Pannonia) and even perhaps parts of Southern Italy in classical times into the Common era, and spoke Illyrian languages. ...

References

1. ↑  Duridanov, Ivan. "The Language of the Thracians", (Ezikyt na trakite), Nauka i izkustvo, Sofia, 1976
2. ↑  Georgiev, Vladimir. "Genesis of the Balkan People", The Slavonic and East European Review 44, no. 103, 1960, p. 285-297
3. ↑  Malcolm, Noel. "Kosovo, a short history", Macmilan, London, 1998, p. 22-40
4. ↑  Eric P. Hamp, University of Chigaco The Position of Albanian (Ancient IE dialects, Proceedings of the Conference on IE linguistics held at the University of California, Los Angeles, April 25-27, 1963, ed. By Henrik Birnbaum and Jaan Puhvel)
5. ↑  Rosetti, Alexandru. "History of the Romanian language" (Istoria limbii române), 2 vols., Bucharest, 1965-1969.
6. ↑  Wilkes, John. "The Illyrians", Oxford, 1992.
7. ↑  Jirecek, Konstantin. "The history of the Serbians" (Geschichte der Serben), Gotha, 1911
8. ↑  Cabej, Eqrem "Die aelteren Wohnsitze der Albaner auf der Balkanhalbinsel im Lichte der Sprache und Ortsnamen", Florence, 1961
9. ↑  G. Weigand, "Sind die Albaner die Nachkommen der Illyrier oder der Thraker"
10. ↑  By Dr. S.S. Juka Kosova: The Albanians in Yugoslavia in light of historical documents
11. ↑  Michael Attaliota: Historia, Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae. Impensis ed. NJeberi, Bonnae
12. ↑  Kladas Uprising, constains translated letter of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus
13. ↑  Hasdeu, Bogdan Petriceicu "Cine sunt albanesiǐ?", Academia Română, 1901.