Rofte Gjuha Shqipe!

So Wikipedia, pretty much my favorite website and a crutch that I have leaned on for the past five years, has a new splash page, and so I decided to see if they had Albanian up, and sure enough they DO! Here's a link to the main page in Albanian if you'd like to see for yourself!

CLICK HERE

And for those of you who don't know, I'd like to take this opportunity to explain a few basic terms in the Albanian language. Albania, like Germany, Greece, Hungary, Japan, China, and I'm sure a lot of others, is a country that is known internationally as "ALBANIA", but to Albanians there is a whole other set of words for their country's name, language, etc., just as Germany really is Deutschland, and Greece is Ellas, and Hungary is something I can't remember right now, and Japan is Nihon....allow me to introduce you to things "Albanian".

Albania=Shqiperia
Albanian (person)=Shqiptari (m)/Shqiptarja (f)
Albanian (language)=Shqip

These are all derivatives of the word 'shqiponja' which means 'the eagle'. Albania is the land of eagles, hence the name. And, furthermore, Albania's flag shows the double headed eagle, symbolizing the two main groups of Albanians (North and South, basically) who were united hundreds of years ago by their national hero (kind of like our Washington or Lincoln), Skenderbeu.



I'd be more than happy to continue this discussion if anybody has any questions. You know how to reach me.