Classification of Italianisms in Old Albanian (16th-17th centuries): Learned vs. Vernacular Loanwords

Abstract

The paper discusses the significant influence of Italian loanwords on the Albanian language, particularly in relation to Old Albanian from the 16th and 17th centuries. It focuses on classifying loanwords based on their mode of transmission, distinguishing between literary or learned loanwords and vernacular loanwords derived from spoken language. Recent studies have identified almost 6,000 Italian loanwords, including both historical and contemporary entries. Until the 1990s, there was a gap in systematic studies on Italianisms, partly due to linguistic purism in Albanian linguistics post-World War II. However, recent research, particularly from scholars like Jorgaqi, Lafe, and Dashi, as well as contributions from Landi, Vicario, and Di Giovine has renewed interest in this area. Studies have focused on 16th- and 17th-century Albanian texts, utilizing historical lexicons and concordances. New technologies have greatly aided diachronic studies of Albanian, facilitating critical editions of ancient texts and electronic concordances. Projects such as the DPEWA (Digitales Philologisch-Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altalbanischen (15.-18. Jh.)) at the University of Munich have advanced this field of research by also examining the geographical distribution of lexemes in Albanian dialects. This provides valuable insight into the origin of Romanisms. The DPEWA project identified around 950 Italianisms in Old Albanian, with 126 documented for the first time. However, the set of loanwords is heterogeneous in terms of status and origin and therefore requires more precise classification. This paper classifies these loanwords based on their mode of transmission, distinguishing between learned and vernacular loanwords. Çabej had already highlighted this distinction in his study of Latinisms in Albanian as an issue that had not received adequate attention until then. First of all, among learned borrowings, it is necessary to distinguish the terms that were borrowed directly from Italian texts which served as models for translation. These are the so-called “foreign words” used momentarily without continuity. The Buzuku Missal, for instance, contains 350 Italianisms, with around 113 being literary in origin. After the Buzuku Missal, many of these borrowings disappeared, but many of them reappear in modern times as reborrowings, often in the form of internationalisms and with new meanings. For many learned loanwords, it is necessary to distinguish between Italianisms and Latinisms depending on the model text. These cases of 'double etymology', as described by Alexandru Graur, still represent an open problem in Albanian linguistics today. As distinct from learned borrowings or cultisms, there are borrowings that have entered the language through spoken use. This paper attempts to outline some useful classification criteria in order to distinguish these borrowings. Vernacular loanwords, influenced by spoken language, are primarily Venetian in origin, dating back to the 13th-14th centuries. Examples include almise ‘tools’ < ven. armizo; avoj < ven. avolio ‘ivory’; baticë < ven. bataizza; fëdigë < ven. fadiga; kurtjelë ‘knife’ < ven. cortela; kusi ‘pot’ < ven. cusina; lexon ‘read’ < ven. lezer; rrufë ‘catarrh’ < ven. rufa; rrugë < ven. ruga; tratë ‘trawl’ < ven. trata. Other criteria for distinguishing vernacular loanwords include “intimate borrowings” from everyday bilingualism, as seen in the Buzuku Missal with terms like fashë, fior, mulë, maganjë 'defect', as well as functional elements such as adverbs, conjunctions and interjections. A fundamental criterion for identifying loanwords are phonological and semantic changes, and the presence of formal variants over time and across space, as well as their incorporation into derivational systems. The text concludes that, although learned and vernacular loanwords are interconnected and cannot be clearly distinguished from one another, it is estimated that of the 950 Italianisms, 232 belong to the vernacular category and 718 to the learned category. Many of these loanwords declined amid the cultural and literary setbacks of the late 17th century, resulting from the political and social circumstances of this difficult period in Albanian history.