Shqiptar

Shqip(ë)tar (plural: Shqip(ë)tarët, feminine: Shqip(ë)tare) is an Albanian language ethnonym (autonym), by which Albanians, mainly those from Albania and Kosovo, call themselves.

Origin theories

The origin of the ethnic name Shqiptar is unclear. It appears to have spread in concordance with the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, and became widely used in the 18th and 19th century, particularly during the birth of the Albanian nation, whereas Arbër and Arbën remained the traditional Albanian ethnonyms in Southern Albania, Greece (Arvanites) and Italy (Arbëreshë).

• A theory by Ludwig Thallóczy, Milan Šufflay and Konstantin Jireček, which is today considered obsolete, derived the name from a Drivastine family name recorded in varying forms during the 14th century: Schepuder (1368), Scapuder (1370), Schipudar, Schibudar (1372), Schipudar (1383, 1392), Schapudar (1402), etc.

• Maximilian Lambertz derived the word from the Albanian noun shqype or shqiponjë (eagle), which, according to Albanian folk etymology, denoted a bird totem dating from the times of Skanderbeg, as displayed on the Albanian flag.

• Petar Skok suggested that the name originated from Scupi (Albanian: Shkupi), the capital of the Roman province of Dardania.

• Gustav Meyer derived Shqiptar from the Albanian verbs shqipoj (to speak clearly) and shqiptoj (to speak out, pronounce), which are in turn derived from the Latin verb excipere, denoting brethren who speak the Albanian language, similar to the ethno-linguistic dichotomies Sloven-Nemac and Deutsch-Wälsch.