Gheg
Sign in to saveAlso known as Gheg Albanian, Geg, Gegnisht
northern dialect of the Albanian language
Key facts
- Region
- Albania , Kosovo , North Macedonia , Montenegro , Serbia
- Native speakers
- 4.1 million (2012–2021)
- Language family
- Indo-European Albanoid Albanian Gheg
- Early form
- Proto-Albanian
- Dialects
- Istrian Albanian † Arbanasi Northeastern Gheg Northwestern Gheg Central Gheg Upper Reka Northern Gheg Southern Gheg
- Iso 639 3
- aln
- Glottolog
- gheg1238
- Linguasphere
- 55-AAA-aa
via Wikipedia infobox
~14 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Gheg (Gheg Albanian: gegnisht, Standard Albanian: gegërisht) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Albania. Gheg is spoken in northern and central Albania, Kosovo, northwestern North Macedonia, southeastern Montenegro and southern Serbia by the Albanian dialectal subgroup known as Ghegs.
Gheg does not have any official status as a written language in any country. Publications in Kosovo and North Macedonia are in Standard Albanian, which is based on Tosk. However, some authors continue to write in Gheg.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Gheg” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.