Vëshgime mbi emrin "Shqipëri" dhe "shqiptar" në mesjetë
Observation on the Name "Albania" and "Albanian" in the Middle Ages

Summary/Abstract: Analysing the ways and circumstances ofthe appearance ofthe name Albanians (arberesh) and oftheir fatherland (Arberi) in the medieval sources the author cornes to two main conclusions: Firstly, this name has its origin in the Celtic-Illyrian word alb (p) which means /11al (nlountain). The fact that this nalne appears in the I1-nd century, with Ptolemais, can indicate that it was affirmed under the conditions ofthe Roman occupation. The names Albanunl for the country, and albani for the inhabitants can be: a) or a transplantation of sitnilar nanles (AlbanllJn. alhani) "'hich were used since a long time for the mountainous region at the back of Rome and its inhabitants. In this case it makes impression the existence in the Albanian AlhanulJ1 ofsuch toponyms as Bovilla, Shkopet, Albulena (can be others, too), which apear exactly as such even in the Italian Albanum; b) or a translation Inade by the Romans of the name of I1lyrian root bardh (parth) which the ancient authors attribute to a tribe and its territory in Central Albania: Parthin, Parthon. So.. froln bardh (par/h) we have the latinism in alb, which for the Romans had just the nleaning i hardhe. In this case, too, it is worth to mention the analogy which we find with a territory of the Peloponnesus.. Bardhunia, which during the pre-historical and historical epochs has been a destination for migratory waves coming from the northern regions. The ancient authors name it Parthenion whereas in the late Middle Ages, in some doculnent of Latin language, the country is named A/banum. In this case we can have either an etytnologic reminiscence: Albanum = country of the mountains, or an affinnation on ethnic basis: Albanunl the country of the Albanians deriving from the ethnogenesis which this name had undergone (known) in the meantime in the true Albania (rAlbanie propre).

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