Neuter Nouns to the Old Authors of the Albanian Language. Evidence from the Albanian Language Lexicon of Gjon Buzuku
Neuter Nouns to the Old Authors of the Albanian Language. Evidence from the Albanian Language Lexicon of Gjon Buzuku

Summary/Abstract: The object of this paper is related to the description and explanation of some grammatical aspects of the simple nouns of the neuter gender in the work of Gjon Buzuku. In Albanian, the category of gender is one of the main grammatical categories of the name. By its nature, it differs from other grammatical categories of the noun, because the masculine-feminine-neuter opposite refers to the whole class of nouns taken as a whole and appears in their distribution in different genders and not in different forms of the same word. The issue of neutrality in the Albanian language is addressed by many authors, who in their studies emphasize the types of neuter nouns in the Albanian language, the extension of this category beyond the class of nouns, arguments for the presence of neutrality in the Albanian language and other issues that relate to this grammatical phenomenon. The main argument of the work is based on the fact that the work of Gjon Buzuku, „Meshari” (1555) is the first work documented in writing in the Albanian language. In this way, the grammatical category of the neuter gender, which today is quite reduced in the Albanian language, can be investigated and described in the early forms of Albanian writing, where it is possible to identify conservative elements and its special features which are not found in today's Albanian. This is especially true when referring to the neuter nouns forms of the neuter gender. For the realization of the work it was necessary to use the method of research and tabulation of words from the work „Dictionary of Buzuku’s Albanian” by Thoma Qendro. The method of classifying neuter gender nouns according to their semantics and origin has been deemed necessary, from which we have singled out only the simple neutrals as well as the comparative method in some cases when we have referred to today's Albanian language. At the end, the most characteristic elements of the gender of the simple neuter nouns in Albanian are underlined, used by Gjon Buzuku, to create a clearer idea about its condition in the 16th century.

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