Indo-European roots which Albanian and English share

[Jay_Albanophile]

Here are some cognates between Albanian and English. Remember these are not English translations of the Albanian words, but these are the words that both Albanian and English share from their parent language Proto-Indo-European. The PIE root is first, the Albanian word is second, and the English word is third:

*bher-/bie/bear (the verb)
*bherəg’-/bardhë/bright
*dek’m./ dhjetë/ten
*deru-/dru/tree
*deuk-/nduk/tow
*dwo-/dy/two
*dhg’hem-/dhè/groom (the man at a wedding)
*dhg’hes-/dje/yesterday
*dhwer-/derë/door
*es-/është/is
*g’hel-/dhelpër/gold
*g’emb-/dhëmb/comb
*g’enə-/dhëndër/kin
*g’eus-/dashur/choose
*g’nō-/njeh/know
*gwher-/zjarr/burn
*knid-/thërijë/nit
*kwetwer-/katër/four
*māter-/motër/mother
*me/mua/me
*meg’-/madh/much
*melit-/mjaltë/mildew
*mē-/muaj/moon
*mu-/mizë/midge
*mūs-/mi/mouse
*nekw-t-/natë/night
*newn./nëntë/nine
*nomn./emër/name
*oi-no-/një/one
*ok’tō(u)-/tetë/eight
*okw-/sy/eye
*ous-/vesh/ear
*penkwe/pesë/five
*per/i pare/first
*sal-/gjelbson/salt
*selp-/gjalpë/salve
*sem-/gjithë/some
*septm./shtatë/seven
*sū-/thi/sow
*swek’s/gjashtë/six
*trei-/tre/three
*wed-/ujë/water
*wl.kwo-/ujk/wolf

There are more roots which English and Albanian shares, but these are the few I could find and verify in a short time. Albanian also has Indo-European roots which English does not have such as:

*dek’s-/djathtë
*dō-/dhashë
*g’hei-/dimër
*r.kto-/ari
*serpe-/gjarpër
*wīk’mtī-/njëzet


Some of the w's are superscript, but due to the text I can't show those here.

[DardanianGolden]

Here are some cognates between Albanian and English. Remember these are not English translations of the Albanian words, but these are the words that both Albanian and English share from their parent language Proto-Indo-European. The PIE root is first, the Albanian word is second, and the English word is third:
.

proved from from which linguist?

man, English language is mixed language (Latin/Germanic/Persian) and is new language of european.

i dont se any similarity with albanian and english...just look words nothing similarity.

[EdliA]

proved from from which linguist?

man, English language is mixed language (Latin/Germanic/Persian) and is new language of european.

i dont se any similarity with albanian and english...just look words nothing similarity.

What about the word night-nate. Are written in different way but the spelling is the same. This is a basic word, every one have a word for the night, is not like television (international word)

[MATO]

we similar to english ? hahah dont think so we have better teeth ,English found out that Albania has oil now wana make us family HAHAHAHA.Bloody people .

[Jay_Albanophile]

These are bona fide cognates and are accepted by all linguists. Albanian is in the Albanian branch of Indo-European while English is in the Germanic branch. The branches of Indo-European are:
Albanian
Anatolian
Armenian
Baltic
Celtic
Germanic
Greek
Indo-Iranian
Italic
Slavic
Tocharian

English is not a mixed language. English is a Germanic language with a lot of Latin and French loans, but that does not make it mixed. The basic vocabulary and grammar of English are not Italic borrowings. English does not have any influence from Persian and only a few borrowed words are from Persian as these two languages are spoken near each other. English has regular sound correspondences with Germanic and other Indo-European languages. For example with cognates, Albanian gj- often corresponds to English s-. If one makes the claim that a language which borrows words is a mixed language, then every every language in the world would be mixed since every language has borrowed from other languages. No, languages are based upon descent and finding a regular sound correspondence between them. This is how Indo-European was founded by the regular sound correspondences.

[harmony]

But if it came Sanskrit?

[Macoku]

These are bona fide cognates and are accepted by all linguists. Albanian is in the Albanian branch of Indo-European while English is in the Germanic branch. The branches of Indo-European are:
Albanian
Anatolian
Armenian
Baltic
Celtic
Germanic
Greek
Indo-Iranian
Italic
Slavic
Tocharian

English is not a mixed language. English is a Germanic language with a lot of Latin and French loans, but that does not make it mixed. The basic vocabulary and grammar of English are not Italic borrowings. English does not have any influence from Persian and only a few borrowed words are from Persian as these two languages are spoken near each other. English has regular sound correspondences with Germanic and other Indo-European languages. For example with cognates, Albanian gj- often corresponds to English s-. If one makes the claim that a language which borrows words is a mixed language, then every every language in the world would be mixed since every language has borrowed from other languages. No, languages are based upon descent and finding a regular sound correspondence between them. This is how Indo-European was founded by the regular sound correspondences.

English is mixed with different germanic dialects, latin, french and local language of the celts

[Jay_Albanophile]

Sanskrit is an Indo-Iranian language which is one branch of Indo-European. There are modern Indo-Aryan languages which descend from it such as Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Sinhalese, etc. English nor Albanian descend from Sanskrit. Sanskrit, Albanian, and English are sister languages, the mother of all of them is Proto-Indo-European. A lot of people misunderstand languages related by descent versus language which borrow words from other languages. English is a Germanic language. English has borrowed words from almost every language in which it came in contact, but borrowing words does not signify a relationship.

[liverpool]

Why do you think Albanian , an isolated language in its own right,coped and survived throughout the history invasions ,also considering it was not until recent times that its written form was discovered. Also, the English Isles where Celtic was the original language before the successive invasions from the rest of Europe, was subject of these other language domination which brought about the assimilation of Celtic language hence the English of today.Why did this happen and the contrary was with Albanian in more or less the same circumstances.

[Jay_Albanophile]

Good question Liverpool. Present day England was mostly Brythonic Celtic. Scotland's oldest inhabitants were the Picts and their language is not known. There is no consensus if they were Celts or not. They do not seem to have been Celtic or Indo-European as they had matrilineal descent. Various Germanic tribes pushed into England (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, later Vikings) and the Brythonic Celts (who were partially Romanized in culture) moved back. Hence they still exist in Wales and Cornwall. Some of these Brythonic Celts moved into present day Brittany in France due to the Germanic tribes. The Celtic Cumbrians in northern England eventually were assimilated by the local Germanic tribes as well, but this was later than in the south. Yes, there was some pushing out of people, but also a lot of assimilation. It is not uncommon and it has occurred everywhere in history. The Dacians switched to Latin, hence Romanian of today. Now, Ireland is Goidelic Celtic and some Irish settled into Scotland and eventually merged with them to form the modern day Scots. Even with the Scots independent of England, they eventually assimilated into the English language. It started by having English speakers move into lowland Scotland and their language spread. Eventually, Scottish Gaelic was reduced to the highlands.

Sometimes conquers are the ones who assimilate. The Normans became English, the Vikings who founded the modern states of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine were assimilated by the Slavs. Usually if the conquerers are a smaller population, they tend to assimilate to the larger group.

Now, Albania is an interesting case. They had managed to keep their language, while most of their neighbors assimilated to the Slavs who had moved in at some later point. Why is this? I wish I could answer that! It may be due to geography as northern Albania is rather mountainous and since the Albanians are known to keep to their customs, it was perhaps the Albanian's own strong cultural sense that kept them from assimilating.

In a way all languages are the same age in the world because all languages descend from an older form. Now, there is oldest attested which means the earliest date a language was written down. When one thinks of language families, at what point did the branch break off the parent comes to mind. With Indo-European, there is not a consensus when the various branches broke off. I would say it is not improbable that Albanian was one of the first branches to break off, especially if Indo-European originated in the Balkans which is very possible. I'd say if you want to know more do some research in academic sources. It is amazing what one finds.

[liverpool]

Thanks ,that was brilliant.

[liverpool]

Wondered though, if there is any affinity at all between west Abanian and Caucasian Albanian. Is it just a coincidence or at some very early time Albanians were pushed or moved into the East..or could it be the other way round?

[Jay_Albanophile]

It is just a coincidence that the names are similar. The Albanians of the Caucasus spoke a language which was in the language family: Northeast Caucasian. Their descendants are the Udi. Remember too there is an Iberia in the Caucasus which has nothing to do with the Iberian peninsula of Spain. Linguistically, the two Albanians are unrelated.

Just to show you how unrelated they are:

Albanian/Udi
një/sa
dy/p'a'
tre/xib
katër/bip'
pesë/qo
gjashtë/u'q
shtatë/vu'g
tetë/mu'g
nëntë/vui
dhjetë/vic'

Albanians did go East during Ottoman times. I theorize that many Middle Eastern countries have a much larger Albanian ancestry than they would ever admit to such as Turkey and Syria. Kemal Ataturk was mostly Albanian, ironic how the Father of Turks was probably mostly Albanian...lol

[Bigwavesurfer]

It is just a coincidence that the names are similar. The Albanians of the Caucasus spoke a language which was in the language family: Northeast Caucasian. Their descendants are the Udi. Remember too there is an Iberia in the Caucasus which has nothing to do with the Iberian peninsula of Spain. Linguistically, the two Albanians are unrelated.

Just to show you how unrelated they are:

Albanian/Udi
një/sa
dy/p'a'
tre/xib
katër/bip'
pesë/qo
gjashtë/u'q
shtatë/vu'g
tetë/mu'g
nëntë/vui
dhjetë/vic'

Albanians did go East during Ottoman times. I theorize that many Middle Eastern countries have a much larger Albanian ancestry than they would ever admit to such as Turkey and Syria. Kemal Ataturk was mostly Albanian, ironic how the Father of Turks was probably mostly Albanian...lol

Yes, it is very absurd to connect albania with caucausia-albania, just because one name.
The name Albania and even Shiqpetar are new. Albania was given to us by an italian, since there was an illyrian tribe called albanoi.

In the earlier times as u know we appeared as Arber. THere was no such words like shqiperie, or albania.

Do u think albanian acenstry by some turks can be related to, that trojans were dardan? Or werent Trojans Dardan?

[Jay_Albanophile]

Anatolia is very complicated. Prehistory, we have no idea what languages were spoken there as there are no written records. The first language we know of is Hattic which was a non-Indo-European language. Later came the Indo-Europeans and their branch of Indo-European is called Anatolian: Hittite, Luwian, and Palaic are among the oldest attested. Later we find the languages Lycian, Lydian, Carian, Sidetian, and Pisidic. I am not sure what the people of Troy spoke. It does not seem to have been decided by any consensus yet. Another extinct Indo-European language Phrygian was spoken in northern Anatolia and was the likely parent of Armenian. The Greeks come in and later the Cimmerians. Alexander conquers the area. I would say that much of the Anatolian speaking people become Hellenized around this time. Later even, the Celtic Galatians settle in Anatolia. Armenians are by now in eastern Anatolia. Let's see the Romans conquer the area and eventually it becomes part of the Byzantine Empire. Some Iranian groups (Kurds, Zaza) are in eastern Anatolia and Aramaic speakers in the south. Last, but historically not least, the Turks come in. Much of central Anatolia was Turkified and the rest of Anatolia was essentially non-Turkish. It was not until after WWI when there was mass ethnic cleansing/genocide of the Armenians, Aramaic peoples, and the Greeks which radically changed the ethnic distribution of Anatolia. I am probably missing a few ethnic groups.

[liverpool]

Its interesting to find out Albania as a name originated from Italy just because an arberesh tribe bore this similar name.I am not really sure this is the case and i need more factual evidence to support the view that just because of the name of the tribe this name took hold and became a common name for the rest of the country which yet had a tribal existence.Is there any explanation how we came to be called Albanians and why was Iliria and then Arberia dropped for Albania?

[Jay_Albanophile]

Ethnic names are interesting and their origins vary greatly. For example, Americans (those citizens of the United States), the term comes from an Italian guy's first name Amerigo as in Amerigo Vespucci. Germans are called many different things by different people, derivatives: Þeudiskaz (Deutsch, etc.), German (by the English and Albanian, etc.), Alamanni (by the French and Spanish, etc.), Saxon (by the Finns and others), or Mute (by most of the Slavs such as Russian: Nemtsy). China is another fun example. The English term for China comes from the Qin Dynasty. The Chinese call their country Zhongguo (The Middle Kingdom) while they call themselves the Han (named for the Han Dynasty). So the Chinese term for themselves has nothing to do with their country name nor what Westerners call them. The Russian term for China, Kitai (Cathay) is named for the Khitan. One can go on and on....lol

[liverpool]

Its so unfortunate Albanian historians and linguists of the Hoxha era didnot make enough effort to get to the bottom of albanian origins.It was so superficial that today we are experiencing ,Iwould say, their failure to do so. I do not understand how finding and telling the truth about our origins could interfere with the communist regime.We were taught history and geography and considering the new facts about our history,of the last 50 years which was politically motivated, you are at a loss to find out the real truth.At least now we are free to judge facts for ourselves.

[Jay_Albanophile]

What was the party line of the origins of the Albanians during the Hoxha era? I am curious. Albania was not open to much of the world for nearly 50 years and Albanian remained a mystery.