View source for Albanian alphabet

{{Short description|Alphabets used for Albanian}}
{{For|the alphabet formerly used in the Caucasus|Caucasian Albanian script}}
The '''Albanian alphabet''' ({{langx|sq|abetarja shqipe}}) is a variant of the [[Latin script|Latin alphabet]] used to write the [[Albanian language]]. It consists of 36 letters representing all the phonemes of Standard Albanian:<ref>{{Harvnb|Newmark|Hubbard|Prifti|1982|pp=9–11}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;" style=text-align:center
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" colspan="37" | '''[[Capital letters]]'''
|-
| width=15|A || width=15|B || width=15|C || width=15|Ç || width=15|D || width=15|Dh || width=15|E || width=15|Ë || width=15|F || width=15|G || width=15|Gj || width=15|H || width=15|I || width=15|J || width=15|K || width=15|L || width=15|Ll || width=15|M || width=15|N || width=15|Nj || width=15|O || width=15|P || width=15|Q || width=15|R || width=15|Rr || width=15|S || width=15|Sh || width=15|T || width=15|Th ||width=15|U || width=15|V || width=15|X || width=15|Xh || width=15|Y
| width=15|Z || width=15|Zh
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" colspan="37" | '''[[Lower case]] letters'''
|-
|a ||b ||c ||ç ||d ||dh ||e ||ë ||f ||g ||gj ||h ||i ||j ||k ||l ||ll ||m ||n
|nj ||o ||p ||q ||r ||rr ||s ||sh ||t ||th ||u ||v ||x ||xh ||y
|z ||zh
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" colspan="37" | '''IPA value'''
|-
| {{IPA link|ä}}<ref>Sometimes pronounced as {{IPAblink|ɑ}}, usually in Gheg when written as â. Can also be pronounced in some Gheg dialects as {{IPAblink|ɒ}}, {{IPAblink|æ}}</ref> || {{IPA link|b}} || {{IPA link|ts}} || {{IPA link|tʃ}} || {{IPA link|d}} || {{IPA link|ð}} || {{IPA link|ɛ}}<ref>Also realised as {{IPAblink|e}} in some dialects.</ref> || {{IPA link|ə}}<ref>Sometimes realised as {{IPAblink|ɜ}}.</ref> || {{IPA link|f}} || {{IPA link|ɡ}} || {{IPA link|ɟ}}<ref>May also be [[affricate consonant|affricated]] as {{IPAblink|ɟʝ}}. Often pronounced as {{IPAblink|dʒ}} in Gheg.</ref> || {{IPA link|h}}<ref>May also be [[pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeal]] {{IPAblink|ħ}}.</ref> || {{IPA link|i}}<ref>Sometimes realised as {{IPAblink|ɪ}} in Gheg.</ref> || {{IPA link|j}} || {{IPA link|k}}<ref>Historically pronounced allophonically as {{IPAblink|q}}.</ref> || {{IPA link|l̪}} || {{IPA link|ɫ}} || {{IPA link|m}} || {{IPA link|n}}<ref>Often pronounced {{IPAblink|ŋ}} before g.</ref> || {{IPA link|ɲ}} || {{IPA link|ɔ}}<ref>Also realised as {{IPAblink|o}} in some dialects.</ref> || {{IPA link|p}} || {{IPA link|c}}<ref>May also be [[affricate consonant|affricated]] as {{IPAblink|tɕ}}, {{IPAblink|cç}}. Often pronounced as {{IPAblink|tʃ}} in Gheg.</ref> || {{IPA link|ɹ}}<ref>Pronounced as {{IPAblink|ɾ}} after d and t.</ref> || {{IPA link|r}} || {{IPA link|s}} || {{IPA link|ʃ}} || {{IPA link|t}} || {{IPA link|θ}} || {{IPA link|u}} || {{IPA link|v}} || {{IPA link|dz}} || {{IPA link|dʒ}} || {{IPA link|y}} || {{IPA link|z}} || {{IPA link|ʒ}}
|}

The vowels are shown in bold.

The letters are named simply by their sounds, followed by ë for consonants (e.g. shë). {{Audio|Albanian alphabet.ogg|Listen}} to the pronunciation of the 36 letters.

== History ==
The earliest known mention of Albanian writings comes from a French Catholic church document from 1332.<ref name="Skendi111" /><ref name="Elsie2003" /> Written either by archbishop [[Guillaume Adam]] or the monk Brocardus Monacus the report notes that ''Licet Albanenses aliam omnino linguam a latina habeant et diversam, tamen litteram latinam habent in usu et in omnibus suis libris'' ("Though the Albanians have a language entirely their own and different from Latin, they nevertheless use Latin letters in all their books").<ref name=Skendi111>{{cite book|last=Skendi|first=Stavro|title=The Albanian national awakening|year=1967|location=Princeton|publisher=Princeton University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8QPWCgAAQBAJ&q=The+Albanian+National+Awakening&pg=PR15|isbn=978-1-4008-4776-1|pages=111}}</ref><ref name="Elsie2003">{{cite book|last=Elsie|first=Robert|title=Early Albania: a reader of historical texts, 11th-17th centuries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oXxpAAAAMAAJ&q=Licet+Albanenses+aliam+omnino|year=2003|publisher=Harrassowitz|isbn=978-3-447-04783-8|pages=28–30}}</ref> Scholars warn that this could mean Albanians also wrote in the Latin language, not necessarily just Albanian with a Latin script.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Joseph |first1=Brian |last2=Costanzo |first2=Angelo |last3=Slocum |first3=Jonathan |title=Introduction to Albanian |url=https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/albol |access-date=6 June 2017 |publisher=[[University of Texas at Austin]]}} {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171222220031/http://www.albaner.net/Librat/Gjuha%20shqipe.pdf]}}</ref>

The history of the later Albanian alphabet is closely linked with the influence of religion among Albanians. The writers from the North of Albania used Latin letters under the influence of the Catholic Church, those from the South of Albania under the Greek Orthodox church used Greek letters, while others used Arabic letters under the influence of Islam. There were also attempts for an original Albanian alphabet in the period of 1750–1850. The current alphabet in use among Albanians is one of the two variants approved in the [[Congress of Manastir]] held by Albanian intellectuals from 14 to 22 November 1908, in Manastir ([[Bitola]], [[Republic of North Macedonia|North Macedonia]]).

=== Alphabet used in early literature ===
The first certain document in Albanian is the "[[Formula e pagëzimit]]" (1462) (baptismal formula), issued by [[Pal Engjëlli]] (1417–1470); it was written in Latin characters.<ref>{{Harvnb|Newmark|Hubbard|Prifti|1982|p=3}}</ref> It was a simple phrase that was supposed to be used by the relatives of a dying person if they could not make it to churches during the troubled times of the Ottoman invasion.

Also, the five Albanian writers of the 16th and 17th centuries ([[Gjon Buzuku]], [[Lekë Matrënga]], [[Pjetër Budi]], [[Frang Bardhi]] and [[Pjetër Bogdani]]) who form the core of early [[Albanian literature]], all used a Latin alphabet for their Albanian books; this alphabet remained in use by writers in northern Albania until the beginning of the 20th century.

The Greek intellectual Anastasios Michael, in his speech to the Berlin Academy ({{Circa|1707}}) mentions an Albanian alphabet produced "recently" by Kosmas from Cyprus, bishop of [[Durrës|Dyrrachium]]. It is assumed that this is the alphabet used later for the "Gospel of Elbasan". Anastasios calls Kosmas the "[[Cadmus]] of Albania".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AQJj5_pYxtIC&dq=%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B1%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AC%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%BF%CF%82+%CE%BC%CE%B9%CF%87%CE%B1%CE%AE%CE%BB&pg=PA8 Minaoglou Charalampos, "Anastasios Michael and the Speech about Hellenism", Athens, 2013, p. 37 and note 90] In Greek language.</ref>

=== National awakening 19th-century endeavours ===
[[File:Tabela e Alfabetit të Stambollit.png|thumb|upright=2|A table of the 'Istanbul' alphabet, which is not supported by Unicode]]
In 1857 [[Kostandin Kristoforidhi]], an Albanian scholar and translator, drafted in [[Istanbul]], [[Ottoman Empire]], a ''Memorandum for the Albanian language''. He then went to [[Malta]], where he stayed until 1860 in a [[Protestant]] [[seminary]], finishing the translation of ''[[The New Testament]]'' in the [[Tosk]] and [[Gheg]] dialects. He was helped by Nikolla Serreqi from [[Shkodër]] with the [[Gheg]] version of the New Testament. Nikolla Serreqi was also the propulsor for the use of the Latin script for the translation of the New Testament, which had already been used by the early writers of the Albanian literature; Kristoforidhi enthusiastically embraced the idea of a Latin alphabet.<ref>Lloshi pp.14-15</ref>

In November 1869, a Commission for the Alphabet of the Albanian Language was gathered in Istanbul. One of its members was [[Kostandin Kristoforidhi]] and the main purpose of the commission was the creation of a unique alphabet for all the Albanians. In January 1870 the commission ended its work of the standardisation of the alphabet, which was mainly in Latin letters. A plan on the creation of textbooks and spread of Albanian schools was drafted. However this plan was not realized, because the Ottoman government would not finance the expenses for the establishment of such schools.<ref>Lloshi p.18</ref>

Although this commission had gathered and delivered an alphabet in 1870, the writers from the North still used the Latin-based alphabet, whereas in southern Albania writers used mostly the Greek letters. In southern Albania, the main activity of Albanian writers consisted in translating Greek Orthodox religious texts, and not in forming any kind of literature which could form a strong tradition for the use of Greek letters. As the albanologist Robert Elsie has written:<ref>Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Birmingham, 15 (1991), p. 20-34.</ref>

{{Quote|The predominance of Greek as the language of Christian education and culture in southern Albania and the often hostile attitude of the Orthodox church to the spread of writing in Albanian made it impossible for an Albanian literature in Greek script to evolve. The Orthodox church, as the main vehicle of culture in the southern Balkans, while intent on spreading Christian education and values, was never convinced of the utility of writing in the vernacular as a means of converting the masses, as the Catholic church in northern Albania had been, to a certain extent, during the Counter-Reformation. Nor, with the exception of the ephemeral printing press in Voskopoja, did the southern Albanians ever have at their disposal publishing facilities like those available to the clerics and scholars of Catholic Albania in Venice and Dalmatia. As such, the Orthodox tradition in Albanian writing, a strong cultural heritage of scholarship and erudition, though one limited primarily to translations of religious texts and to the compilation of dictionaries, was to remain a flower which never really blossomed.}}

The turning point was the aftermath of the [[League of Prizren]] (1878) events when in 1879 [[Sami Frashëri]] and [[Naim Frashëri]] formed the [[Society for the Publication of Albanian Writings]]. Sami Frashëri, [[Koto Hoxhi]], [[Pashko Vasa]] and [[Jani Vreto]] created an alphabet.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} This was based on the principle of "one sound one letter" (although the revision of 1908 replaced the letter ''ρ'' with the ''rr'' digraph to avoid confusion with ''p''). This was called the "Istanbul alphabet" (also "Frashëri alphabet"). In 1905 this alphabet was in widespread use in all Albanian territory, North and South, including Catholic, Muslim and Orthodox areas.

One year earlier, in 1904 had been published the Albanian dictionary ({{langx|sq|Fjalori i Gjuhës Shqipe}}) of [[Kostandin Kristoforidhi]], after the author's death. The dictionary had been drafted 25 years before its publication and was written in the Greek alphabet.<ref>Lloshi p. 9.</ref>

The so-called [[Bashkimi alphabet|''Bashkimi'' alphabet]] was designed by the [[Society for the Unity of the Albanian Language]] for being written on a French typewriter and includes no diacritics other than ''[[é]]'' (compared to ten graphemes of the Istanbul alphabet which were either non-Latin or had diacritics).

=== Congress of Manastir ===
{{Main|Congress of Manastir}}
[[File:Revista Albania.jpg|upright|thumb|1905 issue of the magazine [[Albania (periodical)|Albania]], the most important Albanian periodical of the early 20th century, which used the old Bashkimi alphabet.]]
In 1908, the [[Congress of Manastir]] was held by Albanian intellectuals in [[Bitola]], in what is now the [[Republic of North Macedonia]]. The Congress was hosted by the ''Bashkimi'' ("unity") club, and prominent delegates included [[Gjergj Fishta]], [[Ndre Mjeda]], [[Mit'hat Frashëri]], [[Sotir Peçi]], [[Shahin Kolonja]], and [[Gjergj D. Qiriazi]]. There was much debate and the contending alphabets were ''Istanbul'', ''Bashkimi'' and ''Agimi''. However, the Congress was unable to make a clear decision and opted for a compromise solution of using both the widely used ''Istanbul'', with minor changes, and a modified version of the ''Bashkimi'' alphabet. Usage of the alphabet of Istanbul declined rapidly and it was essentially extinct over the following decades, due largely to its inconvenience in requiring new custom-made glyphs that Bashkimi did not.

During 1909 and 1910 there were movements by members of the [[Young Turks]] to adopt an Arabic alphabet, as they considered the Latin script to be un-Islamic. In [[Korçë]] and [[Gjirokastër]], demonstrations took place favoring the Latin script, and in [[Elbasan]], Muslim clerics led a demonstration for the Arabic script, telling their congregations that using the Latin script would make them infidels. In 1911, the [[Young Turks]] dropped their opposition to the Latin script; finally, the Latin ''Bashkimi'' alphabet was adopted, and is still in use today.

The modifications to the Bashkimi alphabet were made to include characters used in the Istanbul and Agimi alphabets. ''Ç'' was chosen over ''ch'' since ''c with cedilla'' could be found on every typewriter, given its use in French. Other changes were more esthetic and as a way to combine the three scripts.

{|class="wikitable"
|align="right"|Alphabetical order: || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16 || 17 || 18 || 19 || 20 || 21 || 22 || 23 || 24 || 25 || 26 || 27 || 28 || 29 || 30 || 31 || 32 || 33 || 34 || 35 || 36
|-
|align="right"|[[IPA alphabet|IPA]]: || {{IPA|[a&nbsp;ɑ&nbsp;ɒ]}} || {{IPA|[b]}} || {{IPA|[ts]}} || {{IPA|[tʃ]}} || {{IPA|[d]}} || {{IPA|[ð]}} || {{IPA|[e&nbsp;ɛ]}} || {{IPA|[ə]}} || {{IPA|[f]}} || {{IPA|[ɡ]}} || {{IPA|[ɟ]}} || {{IPA|[h&nbsp;ħ]}} || {{IPA|[i]}} || {{IPA|[j]}} || {{IPA|[k&nbsp;q]}} || {{IPA|[l]}} || {{IPA|[ɫ]}} || {{IPA|[m]}} || {{IPA|[n]}} || {{IPA|[ɲ]}} || {{IPA|[o&nbsp;ɔ]}} || {{IPA|[p]}} || {{IPA|[c&nbsp;tɕ]}} || {{IPA|[ɹ]}} || {{IPA|[r]}} || {{IPA|[s]}} || {{IPA|[ʃ]}} || {{IPA|[t]}} || {{IPA|[θ]}} || {{IPA|[u]}} || {{IPA|[v]}} || {{IPA|[dz]}} || {{IPA|[dʒ]}} || {{IPA|[y]}} || {{IPA|[z]}} || {{IPA|[ʒ]}}
|-
|align="right"|Old Bashkimi alphabet: || rowspan="2" | [[A]] a || rowspan="2" | [[B]] b || [[ts (digraph)|Ts ts]] || [[ch (digraph)|Ch ch]] || rowspan="2" | [[D]] d || rowspan="2" | [[Dh (digraph)|Dh dh]] || [[É]] é || [[E]] e|| rowspan="2" | [[F]] f || rowspan="2" | [[G]] g || [[gh (digraph)|Gh gh]] || rowspan="2" | [[H]] h || rowspan="2" | [[I]] i || rowspan="2" | [[J]] j || rowspan="2" | [[K]] k || rowspan="2" | [[L]] l || rowspan="2" | [[Ll]] ll || rowspan="2" | [[M]] m || rowspan="2" | [[N]] n || [[gn (digraph)|Gn gn]] || rowspan="2" | [[O]] o || rowspan="2" | [[P]] p || [[C]] c || rowspan="2" | [[R]] r || rowspan="2" | [[Rr (digraph)|Rr rr]] || rowspan="2" | [[S]] s || rowspan="2" | [[Sh (digraph)|Sh sh]] || rowspan="2" | [[T]] t || rowspan="2" | [[Th (digraph)|Th th]] || rowspan="2" | [[U]] u || rowspan="2" | [[V]] v || [[Z]] z || [[Zh (digraph)|Zh zh]] || rowspan="2" | [[Y]] y || [[X]] x || [[Xh (digraph)|Xh xh]]
|-
|align="right"| Manastir alphabet (modified Bashkimi, current alphabet): || [[C]] c || [[Ç]] ç || [[E]] e || [[Ë]] ë || [[Gj (digraph)|Gj gj]] || [[Nj (digraph)|Nj nj]] || [[Q]] q || [[X]] x || [[Xh (digraph)|Xh xh]] || [[Z]] z || [[Zh (digraph)|Zh zh]]
|}

A [[Second Congress of Manastir|second congress at Manastir]] (Bitola) was held in April 1910, which confirmed the decision taken in the first congress of Manastir. After [[Albanian Declaration of Independence|Albanian independence]] in 1912, there were two alphabets in use. Following the events of the Balkan wars and World War I, the Bashkimi variant dominated. The Bashkimi alphabet is at the origin of the official alphabet of the Albanian language in use today. The digraphs of the Albanian alphabet are the letters Dh, Gj, Ll, Nj, Rr, Sh, Th, Xh, and Zh.

== Other alphabets used for written Albanian ==
The modern Latin-based Albanian alphabet is the result of long evolution. Before the creation of the unified alphabet, Albanian was written in several different alphabets, with several sub-variants:

=== Derived alphabets ===

'''Latin-derived alphabet'''
[[File:Tabela e Alfabetit të Stambollit.png|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Society for the Publication of Albanian Letters|Istanbul alphabet]] for Albanian]]
Albanian in [[Latin script]] used various conventions:
* The oldest surviving document with Albanian text is from the 15th century and written in the Latin script. Early Albanian writers such as [[Gjon Buzuku]], [[Pjetër Bogdani]], [[Pjetër Budi]], and [[Frang Bardhi]] also used a Latin-based script, adding Greek characters to represent extra sounds.
* A ''Catholic alphabet'' used by [[Arbëreshë people|Arbëreshë]] ([[Italy|Italo]]-[[Albanians]]).
* The [[Society for the Publication of Albanian Letters#Istanbul Alphabet|Istanbul alphabet]], created by [[Sami Frashëri]], combining Latin and Greek. This became widely used as it was also adopted by the [[Istanbul]] [[Society for the Publication of Albanian Letters|Society for the Printing of Albanian Writings]], which in 1879 printed ''Alfabetare'', the first Albanian [[abecedarium]].
* ''Bashkimi'', developed by the Albanian [[Society for the Unity of the Albanian Language|literary society Bashkimi (Unity)]] in [[Shkodër]] with the help of [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] clergy and [[Franciscans]] aiming at more simplicity than its forerunners. It used digraphs for unique sounds of the Albanian language. It resembles the current alphabet with the differences being the use of ''ch'' for ''ç'', ''c'' for ''q'', ''ts'' for ''c'', ''é'' for ''e'', ''e'' for ''ë'', ''gh'' for ''gj'', ''gn'' for ''nj'', and ''z/zh'' have swapped places with ''x/xh''.
* ''Agimi'', developed by the [[Agimi]] ("Dawn") Literary Society in 1901, and spearheaded by [[Ndre Mjeda]]. It made use of diacritics instead of digraphs used by Bashkimi.

{|class="wikitable"
|align="right"| Current alphabet: || [[A]] a || [[B]] b || [[C]] c || [[Ç]] ç || [[D]] d || [[Dh (digraph)|Dh dh]] || [[E]] e || [[Ë]] ë || [[F]] f || [[G]] g || [[Gj (digraph)|Gj gj]] || [[H]] h || [[I]] i || [[J]] j || [[K]] k || [[L]] l || [[Ll]] ll || [[M]] m || [[N]] n || [[Nj (digraph)|Nj nj]] || [[O]] o || [[P]] p || [[Q]] q || [[R]] r || [[Rr (digraph)|Rr rr]] || [[S]] s || [[Sh (digraph)|Sh sh]] || [[T]] t || [[Th (digraph)|Th th]] || [[U]] u || [[V]] v || [[X]] x || [[Xh (digraph)|Xh xh]] || [[Y]] y || [[Z]] z || [[Zh (digraph)|Zh zh]]
|-
|align="right"|Agimi alphabet (reordered): || [[A]] a || [[B]] b || [[C]] c || [[Č]] č || [[D]] d || [[Ð]] ð || [[E]] e || [[Ə]] ə|| [[F]] f || [[G]] g || [[Ǵ]] ǵ || [[H]] h || [[I]] i || [[J]] j || [[K]] k || [[L]] l || [[Ł]] ł || [[M]] m || [[N]] n || [[Ń]] ń || [[O]] o || [[P]] p || [[Ḱ]] ḱ || [[R]] r || [[R̃]] r̃ || [[S]] s || [[Š]] š || [[T]] t || [[Þ]] þ || [[U]] u || [[V]] v || [[dz (digraph)|Dz dz]] || [[dž (digraph)|Dž dž]] || [[Y]] y || [[Z]] z || [[Ž]] ž || [[Q]] q{{efn-lr|in foreign words only|name=fn1}} || [[W]] w{{efn-lr|name=fn1}} || [[X]] x{{efn-lr|name=fn1}}
|}

{{notelist-lr}}	

Sample text in the Agimi alphabet:

Kelit i fali lala ńi mołə tə bukurə. Sá škoj nə špiə i þa Linəsə, sə moterəsə. „Ḱyr sá e bukurə âšt kəjo mołə! Eja e t’ a dájmə baškə.“ „Me kênə mã e mađe, i þa e motəra, kišimə me e daə baškə; por mbassi âšt aḱ e vogelə, haje vetə.“ „Ani ča? þa Keli, t’ a hámə baškə, se mə vjen mã e mirə.“

''Kəndime pər škołə tə para tə Šḱypəniəsə: Pjesa e parə'', at [https://bibliotekadigjitale.bksh.al/?view=ImageView&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fbibliotekadigjitale.bksh.al%2Fiiif%2FManifester%2FIIIF%2Flibra112%21HASH01b8.dir&canvas=https%3A%2F%2Fbibliotekadigjitale.bksh.al%2Fiiif%2FManifester%2FIIIF%2Flibra112%21HASH01b8.dir%21page104%2Fcanvas%2Fp104 Albanian National Library], f. 100.

'''Greek-derived alphabet'''
* The [[Greek alphabet]]; used to write [[Tosk Albanian|Tosk]] starting in about 1500 (Elsie, 1991). The printing press at [[Moscopole|Voskopojë]] published several Albanian texts in Greek script during the 18th century (Macrakis, 1996).

'''[[Elifba alphabet|Ottoman-derived alphabet]]'''
* The [[Ottoman Turkish alphabet]], favored by [[Muslims]]. Last version called ''[[Elifba alphabet|Elifbaja shqip]]'' was published by scholar and writer [[Rexhep Voka]], a prominent figure of the [[Albanian National Awakening]].

'''Arabic-derived alphabet'''
* The [[Arabic alphabet]]; a primer was published in 1861 in [[Constantinople]] by [[Daut Boriçi|Mullah Daut Boriçi]].<ref name="Norris">{{citation| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RGmzir-ITtUC&q=Daut+Bori%C3%A7i&pg=PA76| title=Islam in the Balkans: Religion and Society Between Europe and the Arab World|author=H. T. Norris| page=76|year=1993| publisher=University of South Carolina Press| isbn=978-0-87249-977-5}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
! colspan="37" |Albanian Arabic Alphabet (as per 1911/1912 primers published in Istanbul, and as used by "Zemër" newspaper)<ref name="Müfid-Yüksel1">Müfid-Yüksel, "1328/1912'de İstanbul'da basılan Arnavutça Alfabe/Elifba&Okuma Kitapları - Albanian Alphabet/Reading Books Published In Istanbul In 1912" [https://x.com/mufidyuksel/status/1287734820928446469 https://x.com/mufidyuksel/status/1287734820928446469] (Originally exctracted from [[Directorate of State Archives|The Turkish Directorate of State Archives]]</ref><ref name="Müfid-Yüksel2">Müfid-Yüksel, "1911-12'de İstanbul'da Arnavutça yayınlanan Zemér (Yürek) gazetesi. - The Albanian "Zemér" Newspaper published at Istanbul in 1911-12"[https://x.com/mufidyuksel/status/891071868458987520 https://x.com/mufidyuksel/status/891071868458987520]</ref>
|-
| ا ـا || ب || پ ||ت ||ث || ج ||چ || څ || د ||ذ ||ر || ݛ || ز || ڗ || ژ || س || ش ||غ || ف || ق || ك || ڬ || ݿ || گ || ل || ݪ|| م || ن || و || او || اۏ || اۋ || ھ || ئە ـە ە || یـ ی || اېـ ېـ ې || ئىٕـ ىٕـ ىٕ
|-
! colspan="37" |Modern Albanian
|-
|a||b||p||t||th||xh||ç||c||d||dh||r||rr||z||x||zh||s||sh||g||f||k||q||nj||ng||gj||l||ll||m||n||v||u||y||o||h||e||j||i||ë
|}

=== Original alphabets ===

The Franco-Danish geographer [[Conrad Malte-Brun]] sparked interest in developing an Albanian alphabet in the 18th century.<ref>Yll Rugova (2022). [https://www.academia.edu/82490245/Malte_Bruni_dhe_shkrimi_i_pare_per_alfabetin Malte Bruni dhe fillimi i studimeve mbi alfabetet origjinale të gjuhës shqipe]. In Studimet për Shqiptarët në Francë, ASHAK Prishtina, pp. 568-71, 576</ref> In his Universal Geography published in 1826 Malte-Brun mentions an Albanian "ecclesiastical alphabet, which consists of thirty letters."<ref>Dhimitër Shuteriqi (1978). Shkrimet Shqipe në vitet 1332–1850, Rilindja Prishtinë, pp. 151-3</ref> After him Johann Georg von Hahn, Leopold Geitler, Gjergj Pekmezi and others continued studies on the same topic. Seven original Albanian alphabets have been discovered since.<ref>Robert Elsie (2017). Albanian Alphabets: Borrowed and Invented, Kindle Edition</ref>

* The [[Elbasan script]] (18th century); used to write the Elbasan Gospel Manuscript. Widely thought to be the work of [[Gregory of Durrës]]. According to Robert Elsie, "The alphabet of the Elbasan Gospel Manuscript is quite well suited to the Albanian language. Indeed, on the whole, one might regard it as better suited than the present-day Albanian alphabet, based on a Latin model. The Elbasan alphabet utilises one character per phoneme, with the exception of ''n'', for which there are two characters, and ''g'', for which there are three characters (two of which being restricted to specific Greek loanwords). The distinction between Albanian ''r'' and ''rr'' and between ''l'' and ''ll'' is created by a dot over the character. A dot over a ''d'' creates an ''nd''. A spiritus lenis plus acute above the line, as in Greek, seems to be utilized on a sporadic basis to indicate word or phrase stress. On the whole, the writing system utilized in the Elbasan Gospel Manuscript is clear, relatively precise, and appears to be well thought out by its inventor."<ref name="Elise">{{cite web|url=http://www.elsie.de/pdf/articles/A1995ElbasanMs_Fig.pdf|title=The Elbasan Gospel Manuscript (Anonimi i Elbasanit), 1761, and the struggle for an original Albanian alphabet|access-date=2016-07-13|first1=Robert|last1=Elise|publisher=Robert Elise}}</ref>
* Undeciphered Script from the Elbasan Gospel Manuscript. On the front page of the Elbasan Gospel Manuscript itself is a drawing and about a dozen words, perhaps personal names, written in a script which differs completely from that of the rest of the manuscript. This writing system has as yet to be deciphered, although Elbasan scholar Dhimitër Shuteriqi (b. 1915) has made an attempt to read it.<ref name="Elise" />
* The [[Todhri script]] (18th century), attributed to [[Theodhor Haxhifilipi]]. The Todhri alphabet was discovered by Johann Georg von Hahn (1811–1869), Austrian consul in Janina and the father of Albanian Studies. Hahn published what he regarded as 'the original' Albanian alphabet in his monumental Albanesische Studien (Jena 1854) and saw in it a derivative of ancient [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician script]]. The study of this alphabet was subsequently taken up by Leopold Geitler (1847–1885) who regarded Todhri script as derived primarily from Roman cursive, and by the Slovenian scholar [[Rajko Nahtigal]] (1877–1958). The Todhri alphabet is a complex writing system of fifty-two characters which was used sporadically for written communication in and around Elbasan from the late eighteenth century on. It does not conform adequately to the Albanian language, certainly not as well as the alphabet of the Elbasan Gospel Manuscript, to which it shows no relation<ref name="Elise" />
* Another original script, sometimes called the [[Berati script]], is found in Codex of Berat (not to be confused with [[Codex Beratinus]] I and [[Minuscule 1143|II]]). This 154-page manuscript, now preserved in the National Library of Tiranë, is in fact a simple paper manuscript and must not be envisaged as an illuminated parchment 'codex' in the Western tradition. It seems to have been the work of at least two hands and to have been written between the years 1764 and 1798. The manuscript is commonly attributed to one [[Constantine of Berat]] (c. 1745 – c. 1825), known in Albanian as Kostandin Berati or Kostë Berati, who is thought to have been an Orthodox monk and writer from Berat. Constantine of Berat is reported to have possessed the manuscript from 1764 to 1822, although there is no indication that he was its author. The Codex of Berat contains various and sundry texts in Greek and Albanian: biblical and Orthodox liturgical texts in Albanian written in the Greek alphabet, all of them no doubt translated from Greek or strongly influenced by Greek models; a forty-four-line Albanian poem with the corresponding Greek text known as Zonja Shën Mëri përpara kryqësë (The Virgin Mary before the cross); two Greek-Albanian glossaries comprising a total of 1,710 entries; various religious notes; and a chronicle of events between 1764 and 1789 written in Greek. On page 104 of the codex, we find two lines of Albanian written in an original alphabet of 37 letters, influenced, as it would seem, by [[Glagolitic script]]. On page 106, the author also gives an overview of the writing system he created. It, too, is not well devised and does not seem to occur anywhere else.<ref name="Elise" /> Recently it has been observed that the same script had a wider usage, including in Elbasan and possibly in Voskopojë.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rugova |first=Yll |date=2023-01-01 |title=Alfabeti i Kodikut të Beratit, ndërlidhja e mundshme me gravurën e Ardenicës dhe anonimin e Elbasanit |journal=The XLI International Seminar on Albanian Language, Literature and Culture, Revistë / Journal  |url=https://www.academia.edu/124024737 |issn=2521-3687}}</ref>
* The [[Gjirokastër alphabet|Veso Bey alphabet]], another original alphabet by Veso bey, who is one of the most prominent chiefs of Gjirokastër, from the family of Alizot Pasha. Veso Bey learned it in his youth from an Albanian hodja as a secret script which his family inherited, and used it himself for correspondence with his relatives.<ref name="Elise" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2009/09328-old-albanian.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2018-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615013842/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2009/09328-old-albanian.pdf |archive-date=2019-06-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chikyukotobamura.org/muse/wr_europa_1.html |title=世界の文字 |access-date=2013-12-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215092857/http://www.chikyukotobamura.org/muse/wr_europa_1.html |archive-date=2013-12-15 }}</ref>
* [[Vellara alphabet|Vellara script]] was used in southern Albania, named after the Greek doctor, lyricist and writer [[Ioannis Vilaras]] (Alb: Jan Vellara). The son of a doctor, Vilaras studied medicine in Padua in 1789 and later lived in Venice. In 1801, he became a physician to Veli, son of the infamous [[Ali Pasha of Ioannina|Ali Pasha Tepelena]] (1741–1822). Vilaras is remembered primarily as a modern Greek poet and does not seem to have been a native Albanian speaker at all. He is the author of eighty-six pages of bilingual grammatical notes, dated 1801, which were designed no doubt to teach other Greek-speakers Albanian. The Albanian in question is a Tosk dialect written in an original alphabet of thirty letters based on Latin and to a lesser extent on Greek. The manuscript of the work was donated to the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (supplément grec 251, f. 138–187) in 1819 by François Pouqueville (1770–1839), French consul in Janina during the reign of Ali Pasha Tepelena . Pouqueville was aware of the value of the work, noting: "Je possède un manuscrit, une grammaire grecque vulgaire et schype qui pourrait être utile aux philologues", but chose not to publish it in his travel narratives. Appendixed to the grammatical notes is also a letter dated 30 October 1801, written in Albanian in Vellara's handwriting from the village of [[Ferid Vokopola|Vokopolë]], south of Berat, where the physician had been obliged to follow Veli during the latter's military campaign against Ibrahim of Berat. Part of the manuscript is also a list of proverbs, both in modern Greek and Albanian.<ref name="Shuteriqi1976">{{citation| first=Dhimiter| last=Shuteriqi| page=151|location = Tirana| year=1976| oclc=252881121 | publisher= Academy of Sciences of PR of Albania| title=Shkrimet Shqipe ne Vitet 1332–1850}}</ref>

[[File:VithkuqiScript.png|thumb|upright=1.5|The letters of the Vithkuqi alphabet matched to their modern Albanian equivalents.]]
* The [[Vithkuqi script|Vithkuqi alphabet]] (1844). From 1824 to 1844, [[Naum Veqilharxhi]] developed and promoted a 33-letter alphabet which he had printed in an eight-page Albanian spelling book in 1844. This little spelling book was distributed throughout southern Albania, from Korçë to Berat, and was received, as it seems, with a good deal of enthusiasm. In the following year, 1845, the booklet was augmented to forty-eight pages in a now equally rare second edition entitled Faré i ri abétor shqip per djélm nismetore (A very new Albanian spelling book for elementary schoolboys). However, the resonance of this original alphabet, which reminds one at first glance of a type of cursive Armenian, was in fact limited, due in part to the author's premature death one year later and in part no doubt to financial and technical considerations. In the mid-nineteenth century, when publishing was making great strides even in the Balkans, a script requiring a new font for printing would have resulted in prohibitive costs for any prospective publisher. As such, although reasonably phonetic and confessionally neutral, the Veqilharxhi alphabet never took hold.<ref>{{cite book|last=Straehle|first=Carolin|title=International journal of the sociology of language|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fvhhAAAAMAAJ&q=Naum+Veqilharxhi|year=1974|publisher=Mouton|page=5}}</ref>

=== Older versions of the alphabet in Latin characters ===

Before the standardisation of the Albanian alphabet, there were several ways of writing the sounds peculiar to Albanian, namely ⟨c⟩, ⟨ç⟩, ⟨dh⟩, ⟨ë⟩, ⟨gj⟩, ⟨ll⟩, ⟨nj⟩, ⟨q⟩, ⟨rr⟩, ⟨sh⟩, ⟨th⟩, ⟨x⟩, ⟨xh⟩, ⟨y⟩, ⟨z⟩ and ⟨zh⟩. Also, ⟨j⟩ was written in more than one way.

;⟨c⟩, ⟨ç⟩, ⟨k⟩, and ⟨q⟩
The earliest Albanian sources were written by people educated in Italy, as a consequence, the value of the letters were similar to those of the Italian alphabet. The present-day '''c''' was written with a ⟨z⟩, and the present-day '''ç''' was written as ⟨c⟩ as late as 1895. Conversely, the present-day '''k''' was written as ⟨c⟩ until 1868. '''c''' was also written as ⟨ts⟩ (Reinhold 1855 and Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨tz⟩ (Rada 1866) and ⟨zz⟩. It was first written as ⟨c⟩ in 1879 by Frashëri but also in 1908 by Pekmezi. '''ç''' was also written as ⟨tz⟩ (Leake 1814), ⟨ts̄⟩ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨ci⟩ (Rada 1866), ⟨tš⟩ (Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨tç⟩ (Dozon 1878), ⟨č⟩ (by Agimi) and ⟨ch⟩ (by Bashkimi). '''ç''' itself was first used by Frasheri (1879).

The present-day '''q''' was variously written as ⟨ch⟩, ⟨chi⟩, ⟨k⟩, ⟨ky⟩, ⟨kj⟩, k with dot (Leake 1814) k with overline (Reinhold 1855), k with apostrophe (Miklosich 1870), and ⟨ḱ⟩ (first used by Lepsius 1863). ⟨q⟩ was first used in Frashëri's Stamboll mix-alphabet in 1879 and also in the ''Grammaire albanaise'' of 1887.

;⟨dh⟩ and ⟨th⟩
The present-day '''dh''' was originally written with a character similar to the Greek xi (ξ). This was doubled (ξξ) to write 'th'. These characters were used as late as 1895. Leake first used ⟨dh⟩ and ⟨th⟩ in 1814. '''dh''' was also written using the Greek letter delta (δ), while Alimi used ⟨đ⟩ and Frasheri used a ⟨d⟩ with a hook on the top stem of the letter.

;⟨ë⟩
This letter was not usually differentiated from ⟨e⟩, but when it was, it was usually done by means of diacritics: ⟨ė⟩ (Bogdani 1685, da Lecce 1716 and Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨e̊⟩ (Lepsius 1863), ⟨ẹ̄⟩ (Miklosich 1870) or by new letters ⟨ö⟩ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨υ⟩ (Rada 1866), ⟨œ⟩ (Dozon 1878), ⟨ε⟩ (Meyer 1888 and 1891, note Frasheri used ⟨ε⟩ for ⟨e⟩, and ⟨e⟩ to write ⟨ë⟩; the revision of 1908 swapped these letters) and ⟨ə⟩ (Alimi). Rada first used ⟨ë⟩ in 1870.

;⟨gj⟩ and ⟨g⟩
These two sounds were not usually differentiated in writing. They were variously written as ⟨g⟩, ⟨gh⟩ and ⟨ghi⟩. When they were differentiated, '''g''' was written as ⟨g⟩ or (by Liguori 1867) as ⟨gh⟩, while '''gj''' was written as ⟨gi⟩ (Leake 1814), ⟨ḡ⟩ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨ǵ⟩ (first used by Lepsius 1863), ⟨gy⟩ (Dozon 1878) and a modified ⟨g⟩ (Frasheri). The ''Grammaire albanaise'' (1887) first used '''gj''', but it was also used by Librandi (1897). Rada (1866) used ⟨g⟩, ⟨gh⟩, ⟨gc⟩, and ⟨gk⟩ for '''g''', and ⟨gki⟩ for ⟨gj⟩.

;⟨h⟩
The older versions of the Albanian alphabet differentiated between two "h" sounds, one for {{IPA|[h]}} one for the [[Voiceless velar fricative]] {{IPA|[x]}}. The second sound was written as ⟨h⟩, ⟨kh⟩, ⟨ch⟩, and Greek khi ⟨χ⟩.

;⟨j⟩
This sound was most commonly written as ⟨j⟩, but some authors (Leake 1814, Lepsius 1863, Kristoforidis 1872, Dozon 1878) wrote this as ⟨y⟩.

;⟨ll⟩ and ⟨l⟩
Three "l" sounds were distinguished in older Albanian alphabets, represented by [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] as {{IPA|/[[alveolar lateral approximant|l]] [[velarized alveolar lateral approximant|ɫ]] [[palatal lateral approximant|ʎ]]/}}. '''l''' {{IPA|/l/}} was written as ⟨l⟩. '''ll''' {{IPA|/ɫ/}} was written as ⟨λ⟩, italic ⟨''l''⟩, ⟨lh⟩ and ⟨ł⟩. Blanchi (1635) first used '''ll'''. {{IPA|/ʎ/}} was written as ⟨l⟩, ⟨li⟩, ⟨l’⟩ (Miklosich 1870 and Meyer 1888 and 1891), ⟨ĺ⟩ (Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨lh⟩, ⟨gl⟩, ⟨ly⟩ and ⟨lj⟩.

;⟨nj⟩
This sound was most commonly written as ⟨gn⟩ in Italian fashion. It was also written as italic ⟨''n''⟩ (Leake 1814), ⟨n̄⟩ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨ń⟩ (first used by Lepsius 1863), ⟨ṅ⟩ (Miklosich 1870), ⟨ñ⟩ (Dozon 1878). The ''Grammaire albanaise'' (1887) first used '''nj'''.

;⟨rr⟩
Blanchi first used ⟨rr⟩ to represent this sound. However, also used were Greek rho (ρ) (Miklosich 1870), ⟨ṙ⟩ (Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨rh⟩ (Dozon 1878 and ''Grammaire albanaise'' 1887), ⟨r̄⟩ (Meyer 1888 and 1891), ⟨r̀⟩ (Alimi) and ⟨p⟩ (Frasheri, who used a modified ⟨p⟩ for [p]).

;⟨sh⟩ and ⟨s⟩
These two sounds were not consistently differentiated in the earliest versions of the Albanian alphabet. When they were differentiated, '''s''' was represented by ⟨s⟩ or ⟨ss⟩, while '''sh''' was represented by ⟨sc⟩, ⟨ſc⟩, ⟨s̄⟩ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨ç⟩ (Dozon 1878) and ⟨š⟩. '''sh''' was first used by Rada in 1866.

;⟨x⟩
Frasheri first used ⟨x⟩ to represent this sound. Formerly, it was written variously as ⟨ds⟩ (Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨dz⟩, ⟨z⟩, and ⟨zh⟩.

;⟨xh⟩
The ''Grammaire albanaise'' (1887) first used ⟨xh⟩. Formerly, it was written variously as ⟨gi⟩, ⟨g⟩, ⟨dš⟩ (Kristoforidis 1872), ⟨dž⟩, ⟨x⟩ and ⟨zh⟩.

;⟨y⟩
This sound was written as ⟨y⟩ in 1828. Formerly it was written as ȣ (Cyrillic [[Uk (Cyrillic)|uk]]), italic ⟨''u''⟩ (Leake 1814), ⟨ü⟩, ⟨ṳ⟩, and ⟨ε⟩.

;⟨z⟩
Leake first used ⟨z⟩ to represent this sound in 1814. Formerly, it was written variously as a backward 3, Greek zeta (ζ) (Reinhold 1855), ⟨x⟩ (Bashkimi) and a symbol similar to ⟨p⟩ (Altsmar).

;⟨zh⟩
This sound was variously written as an overlined ζ (Reinhold 1855), ⟨sg⟩ (Rada 1866), ⟨ž⟩, ⟨j⟩ (Dozon 1878), underdotted z, ⟨xh⟩ (Bashkimi), ⟨zc⟩. It was also written with a backward 3 in combination: 3gh and 3c.

{{Anchor|Greek}}

=== Old Greek alphabets ===

[[Arvanites]] in Greece used the altered [[Greek alphabet]] to write in Albanian. There are several variants.<ref>[https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb11378008?q=a&page=10,11 Albanikē melissa. 1878]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171007170814/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/alphabet/alban-greek-alpha.jpg Albanian-Greek]</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
! colspan="37" |Arvanitic alphabet 1
|-
|Α||Β||B||Γ||Γi||Ϳ||Δ||D
|Dσ
|Dς||Ε||Ζ
|Ζς
|Η||Θ||Ι||Κ||Κi||Λ||Λi||Μ||Ν||Νi||Ο/Ω
|Ȣ/Ου||Π||Ρ
|Ῥ||Σ||Σς||Τ
|Τσ
|Τς||Υ||Φ||Χ||Χi
|-
|α||β||b||γ||γi||ϳ||δ||d
|dσ
|dς||ε||ζ
|ζς
|η||θ||ι||κ||κi||λ||λi||μ||ν||νi||ο/ω
|ȣ/ου||π||ρ
|ῥ||σ||σς||τ
|τσ
|τς||υ||φ||χ||χi
|-
! colspan="37" |Modern Albanian
|-
|a||v||b||g||gj||j||dh||d||x||xh
|e||z||zh
|ë||th||i||k||q||l||lj||m||n||nj||o
|u||p||r||rr
|s||sh||t||c
|ç
|y
|f||h
|hj
|}

{|class="wikitable"
! colspan="36" |Arvanitic alphabet 2
|-
|Α||Β||B||Γ||Γ̇||Δ||D||Ε||Ε̰||Ζ
|Ζ̇||Θ||Ι
|J||Κ||Κ̇||Λ||Λ̇||Μ||Ν||Ν̇||Ο||Π||Ρ
|Ρ̇||Σ||Σ̈||Τ
|Ȣ||Υ||Φ||Χ̇
|Τσ
|Τσ̈
|Dσ||Dσ̈
|-
|α||β||b||γ||γ̇||δ||d||ε||ε̰||ζ
|ζ̇||θ||ι
|j||κ||κ̇||λ||λ̇||μ||ν||ν̇||ο||π||ρ
|ρ̇||σ||σ̈||τ
|ȣ||υ||φ||χ̇
|τσ
|τσ̈
|dσ||dσ̈
|-
! colspan="36" |Modern Albanian
|-
|a||v||b||g||gj||dh||d||e||ë||z
|zh||th||i
|j||k||q||l||lj||m||n||nj||o||p||r
|rr||s||sh||t
|u||y||f||h
|c
|ç
|x||xh
|}

Various remedies are used to graphically distinguish Greek Β from Latin B, including {{angle bracket|ʼΒ}} for the Greek and Cyrillic {{angle bracket|Б}} for the Latin,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.arvasynel.gr/grammar.html | title=Arvasynel.gr }}</ref> though sometimes it's just a matter of the different typefaces used for Latin and Greek being sufficient.

=== Old Cyrillic alphabets ===

{|class="wikitable"
|-align="center"
! Latin
| [[a]] || [[b]] || [[c]] || [[ç]] || [[d]] || [[Dh (digraph)|dh]] || [[e]] || [[ë]] || [[f]] || [[g]] || [[Gj (digraph)|gj]] || [[h]] || [[i]] || [[j]] || [[k]] || [[l]] || [[ǈ (digraph)|lj]] || [[m]] || [[n]] || [[Nj (letter)|nj]] || [[Ng (digraph)|ng]] || [[o]] || [[p]] || [[q]] || [[r]] || [[Rr (digraph)|rr]] || [[s]] || [[Sh (digraph)|sh]] || [[t]] || [[Th (digraph)|th]] || [[u]] || [[v]] || [[x]] || [[Xh (digraph)|xh]] || [[y]] || [[z]] || [[Zh (digraph)|zh]] || je || ju || ja || sht
|-align="center"
!The [[Cyrillic]] alphabet in ''Rečnik od tri jezika''
| [[а]] || [[б]] || [[ц]] || [[ч]] || [[д]] || [[δ]] || [[е]] || [[ъ]] || [[ф]] || [[г]] || [[ђ]], гј || [[х]] || [[и]] || [[ј]] || [[к]] || [[л]] || [[љ]] || [[м]] || [[н]] || [[њ]], њj || нг || [[о]] || [[п]] || [[ћ]], кј || [[р]] || рр || [[с]] || [[ш]] || [[т]] || [[ѳ]] || [[у]] || [[в]] || дс || [[џ]] || ју || [[з]] || [[ж]] || је || ју || ја || [[щ]], шт
|-align="center"
! Another Cyrillic alphabet{{cn|date=January 2025}}
| [[а]] || [[б]] || [[ц]] || [[ч]] || [[д]] || [[ҙ]] || [[е]] || [[ӗ]] || [[ф]] || [[г]] || [[ѓ]] || [[х]] || [[и]] || [[й]] || [[к]] || [[л]] || [[љ]] || [[м]] || [[н]] || [[њ]] || [[ң]] || [[о]] || [[п]] || [[ќ]] || [[р]] || [[ҏ]] || [[с]] || [[ш]] || [[т]] || [[ҫ]] || [[у]] || [[в]] || [[ѕ]] || [[џ]] || [[ы]] || [[з]] || [[ж]] || [[є]] || [[ю]] || [[я]] || [[щ]]
|-align="center"
!Additional variants{{cn|date=January 2025}}
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|гї 
|
|ї
|[[ѣ]]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|кї
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|[[ӱ]]
|
|
|ѣе
|ѣу
|ѣа
|
|}

Sample of Albanian language text, written in Cyrillic characters (central column). From the book [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Тријазичник,_Ѓорѓиіа_Пулевски.pdf "Речник од три језика (Rečnik od tri jezika)"]

[[File:Тријазичник, Ѓорѓиіа Пулевски.pdf|page=9|frameless|upright]]

== See also ==
* [[Gregory of Durrës]]
* [[Theodhor Haxhifilipi]]
* [[Naum Veqilharxhi]]
* [[Sami Frashëri]]
* [[Albanian Braille]]
* [[Yll Rugova]]
* [[Albanian language]]
* [[Abetare]]

== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}

== Gallery ==
<gallery class="center">
File:Alfabeti i gjuhes shqipe.jpg|Modern Albanian alphabet
File:Tabela e Alfabetit të Stambollit.png|Albanian "Istanbul alphabet"
File:Elifbaja shqip.jpg|Albanian Arabic alphabet
File:Albanian greek alphabet as shown in Faulmann 1880.jpg|Albanian Greek alphabet
</gallery>

== References ==
* Van Christo, "The Long Struggle for the Albanian Alphabet", formerly available at [http://www.frosina.org/speeches/albalphabet.shtml]; archived at [https://web.archive.org/web/20000824162736/http://www.frosina.org/speeches/albalphabet.shtml The Long Struggle for the Albanian Alphabet]. Christo in turn says "Much of the above material was excerpted or otherwise derived from [[Stavro Skendi]]'s excellent book ''The Albanian National Awakening: 1878–1912'', Princeton University Press, 1967".
* Robert Elsie, "Albanian Literature in Greek Script: the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth-Century Orthodox Tradition in Albanian Writing", ''Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies'' '''15''':20 (1991) [http://www.elsie.de/pub/pdf_articles/A1991AlbLitGreek.pdf]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.
* Christophoridēs, Kōnstantinos, ''Psalteri, këthyem mbas ebraishtesë vietërë shqip ndë gegënishte prei Konstantinit Kristoforidit'', Constantinople, 1872.
*Trix, Frances. 1997. Alphabet conflict in the Balkans: Albanian and the congress of Monastir. ''International Journal of the Sociology of Language'' 128:1-23.
* Macrakis, Stavros M., "Character codes for Greek: Problems and modern solutions" in Macrakis, 1996. Includes discussion of the Greek alphabet used for languages other than Greek. [https://web.archive.org/web/20051216225737/http://www.writingsystems.net/systems/greek/languages.htm writingsystems.net]
* {{cite book
|last1=Newmark
|first1=Leonard
|last2=Hubbard
|first2=Philip
|last3=Prifti
|first3=Peter R.
|year=1982
|title=Standard Albanian: A Reference Grammar for Students
|publisher=Stanford University Press
|isbn=978-0-8047-1129-6
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hqlYbhnII3QC&q=Standard+Albanian:+A+Reference+Grammar+for+Students&pg=PA1
}}
* {{cite book
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|title=Rreth Alfabetit te Shqipes
|publisher=Logos-A
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|page=191
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_gXTda0HS8C&q=gjuha+letrare+dhe+gjuha+standarde&pg=PA191
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* {{Citation |first= Vanja |last= Stanišić |title= Из историје примене словенске писмености за албански језик (From the History of Using the Slavic Literacy for Albanian Language)|url=http://www.rastko.rs/rastko-al/jezik/vstanisic-pismenost.pdf |volume=1 |year=1990 |publisher=Baština |location=Priština |language=sr }}
* [[Francisco Blanchi]], ''Dictionarium latino-epiroticum una cum nonnullis usitatioribus loquendi formulis'', Sac. congr. de propag. fide, Roma, 1635. [http://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/alban/blanchus/blanc.htm full text]
* Cuneus prophetarum de Christo Salvatore mundi et eius evangelica veritate, italice et epirotice contexta et in duas partes divisa a Petro Bogdano Macedone, sacr. congr. de prop. fide alumno, philosophiae et sacrae theologiae doctore, olim episcopo Scodrensi et administratore. Patavii, 1685 [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_wpvP8PWkv_QC full text]
* [[Francesco Maria da Lecce]], ''Osservazioni grammaticali nella lingua albanese'', Stamperia della Sag. cong. di prop. fede, Roma, 1716 [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3Tau7AzX76gC full text]
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* ''Pun t’ nevoiscem me u dytun per me scelbue scpjrtin'', Roma, 1828.
* [[Joseph Ritter von Xylander]], ''Die Sprache der Albanesen oder Schkiptaren'', Andreäischen Buchhandlung, Frankfurt am Main, 1835.
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* Cuvendi i arbenit o concilli provintiaalli mbelieδune viettit mije sctat cint e tre ndne schiptarin Clementin XI. pape pretemaδin. E duta sctamp. Conciliun albanum provinciale sive nationale habitum anno MDCCCIII. Clemente XI. pont. max. albano. Editio secunda, posteriorum constitutionum apostolicarum ad Epiri ecclesias spectantium appendice ditata. Romae. Typis s. congregationis de propaganda fide. 1868.
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* Skendi, Stavro. 1960. The history of the Albanian alphabet: a case of complex cultural and political development. ''Südost-Forschungen: Internationale Zeitschrift für Geschichte, Kultur und Landeskunde Südosteuropas'' 19:263-284,

=== Bibliography ===
* {{Cite book|last=Elsie |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=diTjAQAACAAJ |title=Albanian Alphabets: Borrowed and Invented |date=2017 |publisher=Centre for Albanian Studies |isbn=978-1-5442-9409-4 |language=en}}

== External links ==

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqyuznk5E1s Albanian alphabet on YouTube]
* [http://www.learnalbanianonline.com/ Albanian Language Portal]
{{Albania topics}}
{{Language orthographies}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Latin alphabets]]
[[Category:Albanian scripts]]
[[Category:Albanian language]]