WORDS FOR VILLAGE ‘FSHAT’ AND ‘KATUND’ IN THE ALBANIAN LANGUAGE
WORDS FOR VILLAGE ‘FSHAT’ AND ‘KATUND’ IN THE ALBANIAN LANGUAGE

Summary/Abstract: In the lexical system of the Albanian language, there are two words with synonymous meaning, but with different dialectal and sociolinguistic distribution, namely ‘fshat’ in Tosk dialect and ‘katun(d)’ in Gheg dialect that express rural settlements in opposition to the meaning of the word city that names urban settlements. The paper examines and analyzes both words in many aspects of their use in the Albanian language. In the framework of language planning, especially regarding the drafting of explanatory dictionaries of Albanian, the ideological element has determined the status of these words in terms of their use in certain situations and domains. In the diachronic aspect, their etymology is described, as is their use in literary Albanian of the XVI–XVIII century. On the dialectal level, their distribution is presented in the two Albanian dialects and in the Arbëresh diaspora in Italy. In the lexicographic aspect, the status of these two words and their derivatives is scrutinized in the three explanatory dictionaries of the Albanian language: 1954, 1980, and 2006, in which, based on the semantic analysis of the relevant words and their derivatives, it appears that the word ‘fshat’ and its derivatives have gained legitimacy and thus prestige against the word ‘katund’ and its derivatives, which have remained marginalized. In this way, through these two cases, the ideological influence on the work of drafting dictionaries is highlighted, which has further determined their status in terms of use.

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