Albania (toponym)
Encyclopedia
The toponym Albania may indicate several different geographical regions: a country in the Balkans
; an ancient land in the Caucasus
; as well as Scotland
, Albania being a Latinization of a Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba
. This article will cover etymology, as well as trace the usage of the toponyms and related toponyms and ethnonyms from their earliest known occurrence down to present times.
, the state and the historical region of the eastern Caucasus
, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of Azerbaijan
(where both of its capitals were located) and partially southern Dagestan
.
as the name of a region in the Balkans
attested in Medieval Latin
. It may derive from an ethnonym, Albanoi, the name of an Illyrian tribe.
Some linguists propose a derivation from the Proto-Indo-European
root *albho-, which meant 'white
'; referring perhaps to the snow-capped mountains of Albania
.
Others think the source may be a non-Indo-European root *alb-, meaning "hill, mountain", also present in alp "mountain pasture".
in the History of the World (II century BC). It was perhaps an island in Liburnia
or another location within Illyria
. Stephanus of Byzantium
centuries later, cites Polybius, saying it was a city in Illyria and gives an ethnic name for its inhabitants.
of the Albanoi" appears on a map of Ptolemy, a place located in what is now North central Albania.
The Albanoi were Illyrians, but whether the modern Albanians have an ethnic continuity with the Illyrian Albanoi is disputed (see Origin of Albanians
), and the ethnonym may have been transferred to an unrelated people. The Albanoi are also named on a Roman-era family epitaph
at Scupi
, which has been identified with the Zgërdhesh hill-fort near Kruja in northern Albania.
. In the History written in 1079-1080, Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates
was first to refer to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople
in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the duke of Dyrrachium.
In the 12th to 13th centuries, Byzantine writers use the words Arbanon () for a principality in the region of Kruja.
Their descendants in Greece
and Italy
have been called in different ways with the passing of the years: Arbërór (in Arvanitic) or more commonly Arvanites (in Greek), Arbënuer, Arbënor, Arbëneshë, Arbëreshë.
The medieval ethnonyms Arbanitai and Arbanios and the corresponding modern ethnonyms Arvanite, Arber, and Arbëreshë
are considered by many linguists to have the same etymology as Albania, being derived from the stem Alb- by way of a rhotacism
, Alb- → Arb-. Compare the rhotacism of alb- into arv- in the Neapolitan
dialect of Italy
.
Some linguists have argued that Arbanitai derives from the place, or river, called Arbanon, and Greek linguist
Georgios Babiniotis states that Arvanite, Arber, and Arbëreshë do not derive from Albania or Albanoi.
However, the ethnonym Albanians
may itself derive from Arbanon.
, a Gaelic
name for Scotland
, may be related to the Greek name of Britain Albion
, Latinized as Albania during the High Medieval period, and later passed into Middle English as Albany
. Some recent scholarship has however connected it with one of the early names of Ireland
, "Fodla
", which is taken to mean (land of the) "going down" (of the Sun), in contrast to Alba which means (land of the) "rising" (of the Sun). This is consistent with one of the ancient emblems of Scotland consisting of a rising sun crossing the horizon, a symbol laden with much significance.
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
; an ancient land in the Caucasus
Caucasian Albania
Albania is a name for the historical region of the eastern Caucasus, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of...
; as well as Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Albania being a Latinization of a Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba
Alba
Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the two other Goidelic Insular Celtic languages, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish and Welsh also meaning Scotland.- Etymology :The term first appears in...
. This article will cover etymology, as well as trace the usage of the toponyms and related toponyms and ethnonyms from their earliest known occurrence down to present times.
Albania (Caucasus)
Albania as the name of a Caucasian AlbaniaCaucasian Albania
Albania is a name for the historical region of the eastern Caucasus, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of...
, the state and the historical region of the eastern Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
(where both of its capitals were located) and partially southern Dagestan
Dagestan
The Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital and the largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea...
.
Albania (Balkans)
AlbaniaAlbania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
as the name of a region in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
attested in Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration. Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors,...
. It may derive from an ethnonym, Albanoi, the name of an Illyrian tribe.
Some linguists propose a derivation from the Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
root *albho-, which meant 'white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
'; referring perhaps to the snow-capped mountains of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
.
Others think the source may be a non-Indo-European root *alb-, meaning "hill, mountain", also present in alp "mountain pasture".
Arbon
The toponym Arbon or Arbo () is mentioned by PolybiusPolybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
in the History of the World (II century BC). It was perhaps an island in Liburnia
Liburnia
Liburnia in ancient geography was the land of the Liburnians, a region along the northeastern Adriatic coast in Europe, in modern Croatia, whose borders shifted according to the extent of Liburnian dominance at a given time between 11th and 1st century BC...
or another location within Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
. Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephen of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus , was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica...
centuries later, cites Polybius, saying it was a city in Illyria and gives an ethnic name for its inhabitants.
Albanoi
Albanoi first occurs in extant written sources in a work of Ptolemy dating back to 150 AD. "AlbanopolisAlbanopolis
Albanopolis was a city in ancient Roman Macedon specifically in Epirus Nova, the city of the Albanoi, an Illyrian tribe. The editors of the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World locate Albanopolis at the modern-day village of Zgërdhesh, near Krujë, Albania...
of the Albanoi" appears on a map of Ptolemy, a place located in what is now North central Albania.
The Albanoi were Illyrians, but whether the modern Albanians have an ethnic continuity with the Illyrian Albanoi is disputed (see Origin of Albanians
Origin of Albanians
The origin of the Albanians has been for some time a matter of dispute among historians. Most historians conclude that the Albanians are descendants of populations of the prehistoric Balkans, such as the Illyrians, Dacians or Thracians...
), and the ethnonym may have been transferred to an unrelated people. The Albanoi are also named on a Roman-era family epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
at Scupi
Scupi
Scupi is an archaeological site located between Zajčev Rid and the Vardar River, several kilometers from the center of Skopje, in the Republic of Macedonia. A Roman military camp was founded here in the second decade BC on the site of an older Dardanian settlement...
, which has been identified with the Zgërdhesh hill-fort near Kruja in northern Albania.
Albania
We first learn of the ancestors of the modern Albanians in their native land as the Arbanites of Arbanon in Anna Comnena's account (Alexiad, IV) of the troubles in that region caused in the reign of her father Alexius I Comneus (1081–1118) by the NormansNormans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
. In the History written in 1079-1080, Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates
Michael Attaliates
Michael Attaleiates or Attaliates was a Greek public servant and historian at Constantinople.Michael was probably a native of Attalia...
was first to refer to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the duke of Dyrrachium.
In the 12th to 13th centuries, Byzantine writers use the words Arbanon () for a principality in the region of Kruja.
Their descendants in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
have been called in different ways with the passing of the years: Arbërór (in Arvanitic) or more commonly Arvanites (in Greek), Arbënuer, Arbënor, Arbëneshë, Arbëreshë.
Arbanon
Arbanon was a region in the mountainous area to the west of Lake Ochrida and the upper valley of the river Shkumbin in 11th century AD.The medieval ethnonyms Arbanitai and Arbanios and the corresponding modern ethnonyms Arvanite, Arber, and Arbëreshë
Arbëreshë
The Arbëreshë are a linguistic and ethnic Albanian minority community living in southern Italy, especially the regions of Apulia, Basilicata, Molise, Calabria and Sicily...
are considered by many linguists to have the same etymology as Albania, being derived from the stem Alb- by way of a rhotacism
Rhotacism
Rhotacism refers to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r :*the excessive or idiosyncratic use of the r;...
, Alb- → Arb-. Compare the rhotacism of alb- into arv- in the Neapolitan
Neapolitan language
Neapolitan is the language of the city and region of Naples , and Campania. On October 14, 2008 a law by the Region of Campania stated that the Neapolitan language had to be protected....
dialect of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Some linguists have argued that Arbanitai derives from the place, or river, called Arbanon, and Greek linguist
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
Georgios Babiniotis states that Arvanite, Arber, and Arbëreshë do not derive from Albania or Albanoi.
However, the ethnonym Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
may itself derive from Arbanon.
Albania (Scotland)
AlbaAlba
Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the two other Goidelic Insular Celtic languages, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish and Welsh also meaning Scotland.- Etymology :The term first appears in...
, a Gaelic
Goidelic languages
The Goidelic languages or Gaelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland through the Isle of Man to the north of Scotland...
name for Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, may be related to the Greek name of Britain Albion
Albion
Albion is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain. Today, it is still sometimes used poetically to refer to the island or England in particular. It is also the basis of the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba...
, Latinized as Albania during the High Medieval period, and later passed into Middle English as Albany
Albany (disambiguation)
Albany is a common place name. It is derived from Alba and its Latinisation, Albania. In older English it is used to mean Scotland generally, and in particular the part of Scotland north of the Firth of Forth and Firth of Clyde....
. Some recent scholarship has however connected it with one of the early names of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, "Fodla
Fódla
In Irish mythology, Fódla or Fótla , daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was one of the tutelary goddesses of Ireland. Her husband was Mac Cecht....
", which is taken to mean (land of the) "going down" (of the Sun), in contrast to Alba which means (land of the) "rising" (of the Sun). This is consistent with one of the ancient emblems of Scotland consisting of a rising sun crossing the horizon, a symbol laden with much significance.