Albanian today – reflections on the “crisis” in the language

On the rostrum of the Faculty of Philosophy on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of its founding, I would like to start from the well-known idea of ​​the distinguished philosopher W. von Humboldt that "language is an emanation of the soul", an idea that with relevant variations was taken up by the American linguists E. Sapir and BL Whorf, and in another way was noted by L. von Wittgenstein as "the limits of my world are the limits of my language".

Nationalism and the struggle for language

In memory of this spirit and with legitimate concerns for our language, let us return briefly to the developments of this time regarding Albanian. Less than a decade before the establishment of the Faculty of Philosophy in Prishtina, in the “Resolution of the Albanian intellectuals of Kosovo on the language” of November 1952, concern was expressed about “a certain degradation of the Albanian language following the use of certain forms and expressions that do not agree with the spirit and nature of this language”. With this, they set forth the position and the need for urgent undertakings in this area and at the same time requested the publication of a temporary publication that would deal with language issues. They were faced with writing Ghegnish with different varieties and for this they demanded the use of a general Ghegnish based on the decisions of the 20s, but moving into a new phase, because, in addition to the variations of Elbasan and Shkodran, Kosovar now entered the game of usage, therefore a universal Ghegnish usage was required, beyond separate traditions. At the same time, concern could not be expressed about the deterioration of the language as a result of the uneven development in usage with Serbo-Croatian, which developed in step with economic and other developments, while Albanian could not keep up.

Since then, many things have happened. The reaction in question was based on the situation in the country, but it could also be an echo of the radical developments in this direction in Tirana. There were such reactions in 1957-8, as well as in 1964, when the last “Orthography” for literary Ghegnish was published. There were at least three organized reactions in the field of standardization, which in the general developments remained aside only a few years later.

Albanian towards high levels of intellectual language

Following the demands of that “Consultation of Intellectuals”, in 1953 the Albanological Institute was founded in Pristina, which was closed in 1955 by state decree. In 1958 the Higher Pedagogical School was opened in Pristina, where Albanian language lessons were held at a higher level than in high schools. In 1960 the Faculty of Philosophy/ Filozofski fakultet and in 1961 the Faculty of Law-Economics/ Pravno-ekonomski fakultet were founded as branches of the University of Belgrade and with teaching in the Serbo-Croatian language. However, there was a branch of Albanian language and literature, where lessons were held only in Albanian. There the publication of “Gjurmime albanolojike/ Albanološka istraživanja” began, a scientific journal that continues to be published and today is divided into three series. After the turn  In 1966, when Albanian gained wider use and teaching in this language was carried out in all departments, the Department of Albanian Language and Literature of the Faculty of Philosophy, which also had the branches of chemistry, physics, mathematics,  of Serbo-Croatian, after 1961 of English, Russian and history, of pedagogy, but until recently not of philosophy, it simultaneously became the bearer of many activities within that faculty and beyond (the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics became independent in 1974, while the Faculty of Philology in 1989, so we are dealing with a common tradition marked by this name). In 1967, the Albanological Institute was re-established and in 1969 the publication of "Albanological Traces" was published there. In April 1968, in the red hall of that Faculty (I don't understand why it is not in operation today), a Linguistic Consultation was held that is today considered historic for developments in this field, in which it was decided that literary Albanian would be the same as that used in the Republic of Albania: until a final decision was made, the "Orthography Project" of 1967, which was under public discussion, would be followed. This paved the way for the decision to be made at the Orthography Congress in 1972. Over time, there were further expansions and in 1970 the University of Pristina was founded. This faculty published the magazine "Buletin i punimeve scienze FF" and now also in Albanian. Meanwhile, with the growth of activities that led to the establishment of the philosophy-sociology department, the journal "Studia humanistica" was also published, with the possibility of publication in Albanian and Serbo-Croatian. This growth made possible not only the use of the Albanian language in teaching at all levels, but also its testing in old and modern theoretical fields, including philosophy beyond compulsory Marxism. At that time, magazine publications intensified, the publication of "Jetës së ré" (New Life), founded in 1949, continued, the publication of the broad-spectrum magazine "Përparimi" (Progress) from 1955, magazines in various faculties, the "Annals" of the Museum and the Archive, the newspaper "Rilindja" was strengthened, and with it the periodicals "Zëri", "Bota e re", "Dituria", "Fjala", "Gjuha shqipe", meanwhile, the publication of the magazine with sociological themes and humanistic knowledge "Thema" began, in which the use of the Albanian language aimed at the highest levels in the intellectual world. There were also important developments in the field of radio and television. The language crisis, which was clearly and painfully spoken about in the 50s, was being overcome through important developments in the field of the increasing use of the Albanian language, while going through numerous challenges. In 1974, the idea was born that it was now necessary to move to another level of communication precisely in support of the growth in the uses, study and cultivation of Albanian, at the level of international communications, so the International Seminar on Albanian Language, Literature and Culture was founded (which held its proceedings in the same hall where the aforementioned Consultation was held), which proved very successful and continues to play an important role even after more than half a century. Let us also say that at that Seminar the first text for teaching Albanian to foreigners was drafted according to the decisions of the Orthography Congress. It was later followed by wider ones. We can say that in all these activities there has been a constant "language crisis", in the first sense -  that of mastering standard Albanian without having in place the speaking experiences on which it was based, but also in understanding the situation from which new developments would arise. Extraordinary efforts were made to overcome this crisis by growth, and this meant, first of all, as widespread use as possible.

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The crisis of the 90s

The difficult years of the 1990s brought a new major crisis in all aspects, including the Albanian language in Kosovo and the former Yugoslavia. Contacts with Albania could only be clandestine, while schools, publications, and universities could only be illegal and outside institutions and with unusual efforts of private initiatives, but while maintaining the organizational structure. In parallel with the chaotic developments in Albania, this situation deepened the crisis in the language, to the point of banning its use, or allowing only private and clandestine use. The technological developments in the world that were slowly penetrating opened a window. Even after the 1999 war, a war for the language also took place in the neighborhood of the now liberated state of Kosovo. I had already seen the definitions "language war" and "language war" in the British sociologist Glyn Williams in his criticism of sociolinguistic theories from the perspective of pure sociological theories of the early 90s, and they seemed more than appropriate, necessary to me while I was writing the book with that title in 1997, which was published in 1998.

The new situation in the 21st century

After liberation, the year 2000 brought a new situation, in which the use of Albanian was once again put to multiple tests: in relation to the globalization situation, with English in many situations as the first language, and especially the language of the supervisory plus international power, and with the explosion of all barriers in the relations of the uses of the different layers of our society to the standard language, which was seen as already achieved. To all this, new horizons were added with the technological developments of the Internet and line communications, and with it the completely revolutionized telephony. The spaces of use of all possible Albanians became accessible to everyone, but over time something happened that, at least in my assessment, contains a damaging dimension: seduced by the endless possibilities offered by modern technology, as if we suddenly gave up on traditional means of printed information and within a decade Kosovo was left without newspapers (with the exception of some temporary ones) and the press. Moreover, the rush to globalization also brought about the eclipse of the use of Albanian in various fields of the intellectual world: the specialized journals of the Pristina Albanological Institute of the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts have barely survived, and there are few cases of faculty publications and “Jeta e ré” with wider use. In addition, rapid communication via satellite and the Internet brought advantages and developments that had not been experienced before, but also a kind of satisfaction with quick superficial acquaintances.

In discussions within universities, I heard that there were demands that in some fields where there are few Albanian readers, doctoral theses be written only in English, with the reasoning that there would be space for presenting achievements. We would say that the first and fundamental moment of the language crisis is the moment of disuse. Where will there be an opportunity to talk about those subjects in the Albanian language, which, in order to survive, will need the levels of expression in those fields, if it does not happen in Kosovo, in Albania? Such logic has begun to spread to other fields, because, hand on heart, with the size we have, we are not without difficulties in this regard. But do we have protection mechanisms? Use despite the difficulties is the first mechanism.

Others have gone through such phases before us. Scandinavian countries, in principle with a comparable number of speakers to ours, but with a very high level of development, and with a need to export the knowledge produced by them, had begun the radical turn towards the predominant use of English in fields of higher university education, but over time they felt the dangers for their languages ​​and began to demand that, at least in social sciences, the use of their languages ​​be returned to all levels of university preparation, and by increasing publications in the languages ​​of the country. The demands in our country for the absolutization of the uses of English in certain fields, without creating a corresponding space for the use of Albanian, would lead to a serious endangerment of our language, especially in the processes that are currently taking place. The legitimate and necessary demand for modernization and global integration must be put forward together with the particularities that we have: in parallel, the level of uses and achievements in the Albanian language should increase, as well as the level of uses and publications in the English language. We cannot know the developments in these directions in the future, but history is there to teach us something. My American friend, the great Balkanologist Victor Friedman, never ceases to repeat: today's English is like the Ottoman of the former Empire. We would add, like the Latin of the Middle Ages. This is the context in which languages ​​with a small number of speakers must remain, if we want to escape the accelerated process of obsolescence (the state of archaism of the language towards the level of endangerment).

The developments have been much broader. Where is Albanian today in relation to a look at the crisis, is there a crisis of Albanian, where can its manifestations be seen in the current horizons? If there is a language crisis, does this mean that there is also a cultural crisis, a moral crisis? If there is a language crisis, let's first take a look at issues such as what is the Albanian language today? But about that another time.

As for the language itself, the relationship to the eventual crisis of Albanian, at least two blocks of interests can be observed: linguists and sociolinguists, on the one hand, lean towards explanations of linguistic variation as the basis of expression and communication in social reality in order to reach a judgment regarding the feeling of what we call “crisis”. On the other hand, it is educators, politicians, journalists and publicists who most often dramatize the difficulties that arise in learning a variety of speech that has been standardized, and that is identified with the language itself, without paying attention to questions regarding the meaning of the clashes of usage nor regarding their resolution. The former usually have doubts about the crisis and emphasize in a democratic manner the egalitarian character of the relationship between speakers and their linguistic system. The latter complain about the difficulties of mastery and exaggerate the failures of teaching by assembling value judgments, referring to a situation in the past assumed to be ideal.

Discussions about a language's "crisis" are not something that is rarely encountered. Without being entirely systematic, they reflect a previously unknown phase of development in the history of a language. We are witnessing the increasing development of standardization processes.  and the stabilization of uses at this level. Albanian is experiencing a phase of developments never experienced before in its history, moving from functioning in relatively defined communities of speakers, with the corresponding written varieties, through the unprecedented flourishing of written uses and in direct competition with many other languages, with opportunities and horizons of development in the spaces offered by the technological revolution in the field of communications. The often chaotic processes of integration on the global horizon, the unfinished processes or in accelerated dynamism of completion at the state level, together with the ambivalences and contradictory ideologies related to them, in pursuit of goals for a state unit, have also become a suitable bed for the growth of two-way, contradictory ideologies within the community of Albanian speakers and generally within the sociocultural community with different sociopolitical realities. "Dangers" and crises not experienced before are emerging. How should we view the "crisis in language"? Beyond the multifaceted implications of the notion of crisis, from the oscillations around proven values ​​to the horizon of the birth of a new one that is continuous and different from the previous one, there are two proven aspects of its perspective in the field of language: the linguistic perspective, which is related to issues of norms, and the sociolinguistic, sociocultural, anthropological perspective. The two horizons appear intertwined, they are complementary.

In the case of the language with a long history of standardization and cultural flourishing, French, as early as the 1930s, the prominent linguist Ch. Bally had raised the issue of the “crisis in language”, addressing primarily teaching, in the context of the specific manifestations of Swiss French, which was under the influence of two important moments: the pressure of German widely spoken in the Helvetian state and the tutelage of French from its Parisian center. Of course, Bally [Bají], a direct student of F. de Saussure, in principles slightly different from his teacher, was a linguist with special interests in the pragmatic aspects of language, in speech (parole) and in matters of style. In this entire sphere, his ideas regarding the crisis were also carried, which they want to see in the broad framework of the French "bon usage", a term that has its roots in the concepts of CF de Vaugelas [Vozhëlà] of the 17th century, followed to the point of identification with his name as a pseudonym by Faik Konica.

I did not remember Ch. Bally's idea by chance or because of French. It remains to discuss the conditions of Albanian both in relation to the languages ​​whose pressure it lives in certain parts of the Albanian-speaking community, and in the relations between the center and the various peripheries of the parts within this community of speakers. In the case of Albanian, there has been no center as powerful as Paris, which would eclipse in every aspect the other parts of the Albanian-speaking community. In our time, centers of the community of speakers are being outlined with different relations in terms of hierarchy to centers such as Tirana, Prishtina, to them and to them among themselves. First of all, a tension that occasionally breaks out on the surface regarding primacy is noticeable and it is precisely there that phenomena of the demand for possession of the respective variety and only that one occur, consequently the segregation of those who do not meet this criterion. At the same time, we are talking about the process of "brain gain." "Brain gain" brings us phenomena for which we must definitely have other attitudes, of tolerance, understanding, and inclusion with all the peculiarities, even in relation to realities and speech habits.

"Crisis" in language and beyond

Is there a language crisis? This is related to the issue of norms. The examination of norms is approached from a linguistic perspective. But in the case of the language crisis we are dealing with a sociocultural and anthropological approach.

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The current state of the Albanian-speaking community, with its status dynamism and therefore contacts with equal status/or not, differs greatly from the state of the time when decisions were made about standard Albanian. After 1990, a phase of rather chaotic developments came on both sides of the border: in Albania, the collapse of the controlling one-party system was not replaced by any other suitable system, in the relations of social anomie the issue of language became completely irrelevant, while in the former Yugoslavia, Albanian was completely excluded from official public life, institutions of education, knowledge, and culture could only operate clandestinely. A wave of uncontrolled migration towards Western countries erupted from both sides of the border, which is in no way returning to normal. The unorganized diaspora in Western European countries and the USA grew rapidly. After 2000, the mechanisms that made it possible for Albanian to function as an official language throughout Kosovo were restored in Kosovo, while in the Republic of Macedonia a real war for the language was taking place. In other spaces there were fewer opportunities. During this period, communication between different parts of the community, thanks to the means of internet technology and satellite television communication, increased. The spaces for the use of Albanian in public life at the levels of cultural life increased significantly and emerged from the control of foreign powers. At the same time, the relationship between Albanian and languages ​​with international status changed. In Kosovo, English became the language with superior official status. Even in Albania, English had already acquired the status of the first international language. Local educational, scientific, and cultural institutions with reduced material resources were becoming increasingly dependent on financial and other international aid institutions. The spread of new technology slowly eclipsed traditional forms of printed communication: a new disproportion was created, in Albania a number of newspapers survived, while in Kosovo they all disappeared, while broad layers of speakers were still trying to embrace the new way of communication. Digital communication completely dominated, and with this the use of Albanian in important communicative-cultural functions was reduced to the level of primarily rapid, previously superficial communication. The worldwide diaspora benefited from new communication opportunities, while the level of use of Albanian in important functions of cultural and scientific life dropped significantly. The previous institutions of state and social support for cultural and scientific activities faded, but the possibilities of publications increased, now beyond any control. The few mechanisms of public scrutiny or eventual linguistic criticism were practically extinguished. In Albania, however, a logic of linguistic control survived in state institutions, while in Kosovo these spaces remained uncovered (there is, for example, no core for teaching oratory, public speaking in Kosovo). The television communications network grew significantly, but there were no serious investments in the field of life - theatrical, for example. Meanwhile, the space for communication between Albanian speakers in the regions has grown more than ever before. The standard sanctioned in the 70s seems to be seeking growth in line with the dimensions of the dynamic Albanian-speaking community today. The pressure of vernaculars and different varieties of usage on the standard, on a regional, class, and generational basis, is increasing.

At the institutional level, the still chaotic situation in relation to the adaptations to the order towards which we aspire has not created sufficient space for the increase in the use of standard Albanian. In some areas of activity, in the field of science and knowledge, despite the greatest possible use ever of standard Albanian, especially in translations from other languages, genuine production in the Albanian language has declined significantly. Paradoxically, today also in the fields of Albanology the use of Albanian has declined significantly: scientific periodicals have been marginalized, the use of Albanian has been marginalized. The somewhat chaotic adaptation to the rules of Western university scientific organization with the obvious dominance of the still poorly mastered mechanisms of private institutions and with the neglect or unacceptable control of the political mechanisms of the institutions of public university and scientific life, seems to be asphyxiating the use of Albanian at these levels, especially in the publications of scientific periodicals. Without institutional support, without the possibility of integration into the networks of international periodicals controlled by UNESCO, where Kosovo is not yet, such periodicals seem to be being reduced and are slowly at risk of disappearing. Well, "where can standard Albanian of these levels be located?"

Similar problems have been faced by other societies of similar dimensions to ours, but with a high level of development, such as the Scandinavian countries. There, modalities have been found for integration at a high international level where English dominates, but at the same time institutional mechanisms have been provided for the functioning and development of their own language. States have found opportunities for financial support and have created spaces with appropriate social status for the use of the standard language. This aspect of the language crisis in our country needs to be addressed urgently.

The other problem of the language crisis arises from the imbalances that are being created by chaotic integrations in global flows through migrations. From statistics that are not very accurate, it appears that half of the Albanian-speaking community today lives scattered in the new diaspora. The Albanian language, no longer the standard variety, but any form of its use, has descended to the level of the home language, while in the second generation the category known in sociolinguistics of semi-speakers is prevailing. Thus, the Albanian-speaking community, with about 7 million speakers, as was estimated, has now declined significantly. The accelerated diaspora and the lack of effective support from the government are creating fears of a drastic reduction in the number of Albanian speakers as the first language of life and work, as a prerequisite for stability and normal development. Albania and Kosovo, the largest areas of the Albanian-speaking community, are becoming areas dominated by older speakers, increasingly economically dependent. This language crisis is neither managed nor solved by linguists; other social, political and state mechanisms must come to the fore. In the long term, this could be the biggest possible crisis, leading to the endangerment of the language.

The novel about the silent 'ë'

The young Albanian writer, who this year, with her first novel, entered the inner circle for the best novel award in Germany, Jehona Kicaj, born in Kosovo in 1991, educated in Germany, in her novel 'ë' finds the opportunity to express her and her generation's feelings regarding these issues. Let's listen to her for a moment:

“When I write Albanian, I make mistakes. Even today, I don’t know the Albanian alphabet by heart and I’m ashamed of it. I didn’t go to school in Albanian and I only have a few Albanian books. It’s obvious from them that they haven’t been read. I learned to write mainly from chat portals. In the late 2000s, they gave me the opportunity to keep in touch with my cousins ​​outside of summer vacations. Since I believed that Albanian writing and pronunciation were almost identical to the way I spoke, I wrote ‘kalcom’ instead of ‘kallxom’ and ‘naschta’ instead of ‘ndoshta’. When I made such mistakes, my cousins ​​would correct me by repeating the word in the chat and I would try to memorize the correct spelling later. While they were amused by the mistakes I made at one time, the correct spelling stuck with me relatively quickly.

Despite everything, I speak an Albanian that makes people say: you can't tell you live abroad. They say this as if it were a small miracle. But, if they talk to me for a little longer, moments of irritation finally appear. They laugh. Not because I pronounce the word incorrectly, but because it is no longer used. 'You are speaking like my grandfather,' they say in a haughty voice, or they correct me by choosing a more modern word that I do not know, or do not have sufficient knowledge to use. I speak a language that has been preserved in Germany; a frozen Albanian that I keep warm in my mouth' (new emphasis, p. 77).

The narrator's uncle in this innocent-style novel (sometimes almost with a child's perspective), who, when young relatives from different regions in Germany met at his house, would tell them bluntly: "In this house Albanian is spoken," before he died, had left a letter in a sealed envelope with the message that the hoxha read it at his grave during the funeral ceremony:

"I came to this country as a guest worker (Gastarbeiter), not knowing that I would spend my whole life here. Always away from home. I have come to terms with this: now my days are numbered. But it pains me to see that our children and grandchildren are increasingly forgetting our culture and language. Maybe I am wrong, but I think we will lose future generations among foreigners. That was all I wanted to share with you."

In another place, the author/narrator spoke of the state of Sprachlosigkeit (languagelessness). In fact, even her perfect German, like that of the speakers who dub voices in animated films, seemed to doubt whether it suited her mouth.

Let each person draw their own conclusions from this. But this is someone speaking at a mature age, and in the novel he describes the situation he went through until he reached the voiceless vowel ë, to its silence and not only.

In the stands of this Faculty, the minds of all those you are honoring today have been enlightened. He has had and still has the courage, the knowledge, and the space to seek and find answers, just as he has known and dared throughout this turbulent history.   

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Lecture delivered at the Conference on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Philosophy of Pristina on October 29, 2025

Published with permission of the author.