The perspective of the standard albanian language in the next half century

Abstract

Once the Standard Albanian language was achieved - throughout the Orthography Congress - the urge of all Albanians - as a nation - was to crown the connective cord of the nation; divided into several states, and scattered all-round the globe as well. Today, when Albania and Kosovo have the Standard Albanian language as their official language, while the Albanians in North Macedonia are making good efforts to achieve it in this country as well, thus successfully completing half a century of preserving the connective cord “one nation - one language”; however, raises the question what will be the challenges of the standard Albanian language under the conditions of European integration and globalization. In the absence of a state language policy that invests in the preservation and cultivation of the standard Albanian language; while under conditions of "soft pressure" (soft power) from English - which is today becoming the lingua franca of the world – also being under the pressure of economic well-being; being a nation with such a massive migration; and last but not least the decline of birth rate; the challenges that await us in the 100th anniversary of the Orthography Congress will be much greater for the “safeguarding” of the Standard Albanian language. Beyond the unpleasant predictions, we still need a new vision for the Albanian language in the next half century.