| Summary: | The Origin and Evolution of the Albanian Language. This article presents a study of the origin and evolution of the Albanian language. Several events are described and analyzed. They testify that, in spite of the antiquity of the Albanian people and a written tradition, the Albanian language dates from as recently as the sixteenth century. After analyzing the ethnic origin of this language and the hypotheses advanced on its origin, it is concluded that Albanian represents an evolved phase of the old Illyrian language. This conclusion is based on geographic and linguistic criteria, since the linguistic agreements in the phonetic, morphological and lexical systems of Illyrian and Albanian are emphasized. The article also makes a brief description of both dialects of Albanian: Gheg and Tosk. After a description of the formation of standard Albanian, an analysis of the studies of the Albanian language in different historical periods inside and beyond the territory of Albania is also performed. The Indo-European characteristics of Albanian are shown by means of the analysis of the phonologic system as well as the grammatical structure. The features of Albanian as a Balkan language and a few aspects of its lexicon are also analyzed. (Catalan text).
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