Talk:Arvanites/Archive 5

This is an archive of past discussions about Arvanites. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Archive 1

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Archive 3

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Editors who are interested in improving this article are encouraged to read this talk page discussion and the previous discussion at the Archive 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Adjective

I think we should use the term "Arvanite" as an adjective rather than "Arvanitic". If you check the GHM report, the only adjective they use is "Arvanite". --Telex 23:31, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Telex please check the rest of the refs to gain a better prespective of the adjectives (or whatever else) that are in use. talk to +MATIA 07:09, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

I have no opinion on the adjective issue really. Both forms seem to be in use. But in general I agree with Matia we shouldn't over-value the GHM report at this stage. Unfortunately I haven't got my other articles here right now, and I honestly don't remember what Trudgill or Tsitsipis used in their English. By the way, with a short test googling I hit on these two papers: [1], [2]. Comments? The first has some interesting remarks on the relationship between Albanians and Arvanites. The second is unfortunately access-restricted, but maybe someone could dig it out through some other channel. (As for the usage issue, the first uses "Arvanite" as an adjective, the second apparently "Arvanitic".) Lukas ^(T.|@) 08:01, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

I think the first one was criticized in that mailing list with Brian Joseph comments. (somewhere in the talk pages archive lies a link... ) talk to +MATIA 09:44, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Good find: Interesting discussion here [3] - although I haven't seen anything specifically addressing that paper. Fut.Perf. ☼ 09:57, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Btw I couldn't find at Trudgill&Tzavaras neither Arvanitic nor Arvanite (he uses Arvanites, Arvanitis for the people and Arvanitika for the language). talk to +MATIA 09:55, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, let's just not bother about that adjective issue. Fut.Perf. ☼ 09:57, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

So what should be done, because at present, the article is quite inconsistent. --Telex 10:06, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Let it be. I don't think that we should change all occurances of Arvanite to Arvanitic, unless you think it would look better. talk to +MATIA 11:41, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Religion

The article formerly described the religion of the Arvanites as Greek Orthodox; I've changed that to Greek Orthodox. I think it's better to wikilink to Eastern Orthodox Church, as that article actually describes the religion, the doctrine and the history of the religion. Church of Greece, merely describes the Orthodox Church in Greece as an ecclesiastical organization and its structure. --Telex 23:46, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

That is correct name--Hipi Zhdripi 23:20, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Infobox

I've gone on record repeatedly as one that is skeptical about the "related ethnic groups" field in the infobox in general, and my personal preference is to leave it out. Nevertheless, I think we should offer 87.203.*.* a bit more of an explanation for leaving it out, if (s)he wishes to have it. I mean, after all, if ever two groups were in fact related to each other, it surely is the Albanians and Arvanites, let's be realistic about that. As for the reasons why I personally don't like the box, see Talk:Greeks. Lukas ^(T.|@) 09:16, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

A) The Arvanites are not an ethnic group - B) It's original research. For the position of the Arvanites within Greece, see User:Telex/Ethnic identity in Greece. --Telex 11:56, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, the scholarly literature does call them an ethnic group, I thought we had established that? (I think whatever definition of "ethnic" one uses, any group that is defined historically by a distinct language will probably always qualify. And the common English usage, I think, does not treat "ethnic" groupings as necessarily mutually exclusive, so identification as Greeks doesn't entail they can't also be an "ethnic" (sub-)group themselves too.) But I generally like the approach in your draft there, of distinguishing groups on several different levels of "distinctness". Lukas ^(T.|@) 12:23, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps both Lukas and Telex might be as frustrated as myself in the un-sophisticated manner in which the term 'ethnic' is included to demarcate between peoples. Occasionally, some ethnic statistics for Greece, include a slot for Arvanites and Vlachs. I (and probably nearly all Greeks) are baffled, if not totally disagree with this crude assessment. Such statistics imply the existence of a culturally cohesive entity that enacts the separate, i.e. non-Greek, activities of an ethnic minority. But these are constituent peoples of the Greek nation - as surely as the arm and the lungs are constituent elements of a person's body. Whatever they enact, other Greeks tend to identify with it as their own - though not necessarily 'of their own village'. In this respect, the Greek nation (το γένος) is unthinkable without Arvanties and Vlachs, as it is unthinkable without Cretans, Corfiots, Rumeliots, Pontians, or Macedonians for that matter. Politis 13:46, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
As for the term Albanian, it encompasses different tribes, and specifically the Tosks and the Gheks. Unlike the Gheks, many (or most) Tosks feel quite separate from the Kosovars - many (or most) Tosks seem to oppose a 'greater Albania' since they would immediately become a minority, especially since a huge percentage of them are Orthodox by religion. Also, the two groups speak different dialects, though, naturally, it is Albanian. But they definitly exhibit different morphological types. In this respect, it might be more appropriate to seek morphological, linguistic and to a degree religious comparisons between the Arvanites and the Tosk Albanians. I sign off by proposing that ethnic entities can be interpreted as consisting of a series of collapsable demarcation parameters; often these parameters depend on the prevailing socio-political winds. Politis 13:46, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

As far as I know, in the modern world, the distinction between Tosk and Gheg is of little or no significance. Consider it like the North-South divide in the United Kingdom. --Telex 13:55, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

To 87.202..

Anon, please please please use edit summaries and use this talk page if you want to insist on changes that you know have been disputed by others. Sterile edit-warring is disruptive, even if it's done slowly enough not to touch 3RR. Also, you reverted blindly, erasing an unrelated change made in the meantime by Matia (the Category:Arvanites entry). I don't suppose that was on purpose; if yes, please please discuss this with us! If you persist in these tactics, you run the risk of other editors adopting a policy of just reverting anything you do on sight. ~~For the moment, I'll leave in the "related" box (I'm pretty neutral on that one), but reinstating the category.~~ (someone was faster than me.) -- Lukas ^(T.|@) 09:57, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Arvanites

I saw the text you quite rightly pointed to in support of Albanians seeing the Arvanites as an Albanian minority. Their text is not researched, it merely gives an impression of something that had no other echo than during the Berish presidency. The authors are not experts and make mistakes; for instance, the Arvanitiki language has not "been led to oblivion". If they cannot search what happens in Greece, how can we trust them with Albania? Finally, the article is about Arvanites, not how the rest of the world views them. Likewise, over 20 percent of Albanian citizens are Greek Orthodox; do we have to point out that some Greeks view them as ethnic Greeks? Politis 13:35, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

As for your last question: yes, we should, in the context of an article about the "Northern Epirus" issue, but that's unrelated to this article.
As for "been led to oblivion", it's a somewhat imprecise statement of what linguists describe as ongoing language death, but it's not really wrong.
As for the verifiability issue: I appreciate that the article is not an ideal source, as it deals with the question only with a single sentence in passing. The problem seems to be that the fact is just so obviously ubiquitous (just google through Albanian internet fora and the like, or look at the behaviour of Albanian editors right here!) that few academic sources would bother to invest much study in it. I know those first-hand observations aren't WP:V. But as a source, what we have here is hardly worse than what we have for, say, the immediately preceding statement.
As for the relevance: it's not about how "the rest of the world" views them; it's about how they are viewed by the major most closely related group, of which they have been considered a part in the past, and of which readers might reasonably expect them to be considered a part still. That is relevant.

We can always ask some Albanian editor to help out and find some Albanian source that expresses this view. Shall we? I'm sure they exist. Fut.Perf. ☼ 14:07, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, if we include this perception, it needs to be further down the text and contextualised in no more than a couple of lines. Also, I am not aware of any Albanian immigrants in Greece approaching Arvanites as though they are the same people and getting them to see themselves as a native minority. Arvanites are quite tough and, since they are an integral part of Greece, they would tell them in no uncertain terms where to get off. I could give you examples but that would be POV. Therefore, this preception originates from a particular political circle in Albania and can be dated to the mid 1990s.

Just take the British example. There are English people born of one or two Scottish parents. But can we seriously accept a Scottish person from Glasgow speaking of a native Scottish minority in England? Or can we accept figures of a native English minority in Scotland? Would we include such views if they appeared in the mid 1990s? We are all aware that we can find anything on the internet, but to include it would challenge anyone's sense of rationality. Politis 17:58, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

The question of perception by Albanians was just where it should be: In the paragraph that summarised their perception by themselves, by other Greeks, by the international literature, etc. As for Albanian immigrants regarding Arvanites as part of their own group, I checked the study by Botsi, it contains evidence for exactly that. As for your British example, I can't follow you at all: English/Scots individuals do not constitute a notable coherent group in the first place. Arvanites do. There is no "English-person-of-Scots-heritage" collective identity, but there is an Arvanite collective identity. If the description of such an English/Scots identity were ever an issue, then yes, of course we would describe all sides: how they see themselves, how the English see them, how the Scots see them. Fut.Perf. ☼ 08:37, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

I am not aware of Botsi study. However, if I included my own overview, then we would have a picture indicating that there is no issue (that would be considered private research). But since the issue is not one of Greece and neither is it part of Greek-Albanian relations and exchanges, we should move carefully. As for the English / Scots issue, if someone was to publish a few lines pertaining to a "English-person-of-Scots-heritage" collective identity - how would we react? Probably by stating that someone is creating an artificial issues. That seems to be the case with the Arvanites / Albanian subject. But since some people may have their point, the question remains open, rather than shut. Politis 13:31, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

link removed

The link removed lacks serious content, and I'm not going to accept not credible "sources". talk to +MATIA 05:54, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

this article is a powerful symbol of subjectivity in the English version of Wikipedia

As a registered member of Wikipedia I have the right to contribute to the making of the article, the right of editing the article, the right of questioning the neutrality of the article and the right of expressing my views and thoughts, without being harassed.

To begin with I would like to express my great disappointment with the neutrality of the article - for my part, the article is a powerful symbol of subjectivity in the English version of Wikipedia. We should rely on what's widely and generally accepted in world literature, and not apply to literature or material concerning the view of Greeks or Albanians regarding the Arvanites and the Arvanitic language.

Thank you!

--Albanau 17:25, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Albanau, fix the article then. What exactly is the problem? --Telex 17:26, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

I wish that would be possible without being harassed or discriminated, [4]. That was happened in my last attempt of correction and neutralization in accordance with discussion in April 2006, [5]. --Albanau 11:05, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Harassed? One revert does not harassment make. I can see you made one attempt to introduce a change, and it didn't find favour. So what? Okay, I also see a somewhat aggressive edit summary by Matia there. Then I see you making these wholesale unspecific accusations every few weeks, for several months now, without doing anything constructive. Well, whatever. Make changes or propose changes now and I promise I'll make sure they are given fair consideration. What is it you want changed? Fut.Perf. ☼ 11:35, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I have to agree with Albanau, this article is really nothing but the albanian view on this issue. It's very dissapointing that it exists in the english version and nobody neutral has interfered. It would seem logic to read this article in the albanian wikipedia but finding it in the english version is very sad for wikipedia. Thanks! Sthenel 1:06, 20 December

History Section

Well it seems the controversy will never die. However, I did my best to clean up the article as much as possible. Yet, the content in the section "Arvanites as Albanians" was quite confusing and fails to really shed light on the origins of the Arvanites.

The questions I hope one can answer entails the following (please no insults and no useless commentary):

1) If the Albanians were mercenaries, then what makes one assume that the Arvanite mercenaries/nomads were of Albanian descent? Just because the Albanians were mercenaries that fought in military campaigns in 1043 AD under the command of George Maniates? To be honest, Greeks have had a history of being mercenaries too (at least since ancient times with the Persian Empire).

2) What makes the Despotate of Epirus the supposed "ancient homeland of Greek-Albanian unions" or the "homeland of Albanians proper"? What if the Despotate of Epirus utilized the same social policies as did other Byzantine territories where they separated the main Greek population from foreign mercenary populations? Case in point, the Sclavinai.

3) Has anyone taken into consideration the fact that the Albanians today are experiencing significant levels of cognitive dissonance whereby they are having difficulty establishing a history of their own? Wouldn't this obviously compel Albanians to conjure up a history for themselves out of thin air?

4) Whatever happened to discussing about the locals of Arbanon? What if the descendants of the Greek locals of Arbanon took the name "Arbanites" because they came from that specific area?

5) Has anyone noticed how Albanians tend to consider anything that begins with the prefix Alb- or Arb- to mean Albanian? Case in point, is Grenada Greek because the name linguistically begins with the three-letter prefix of "Gre-" (who knows, but you get the picture)?

6) Is it just me or has anyone noticed the high levels of Albanian cognitive dissonance lately? I mean, I at first assumed that the Albanians were in fact the descendants of the Illyrians. However, this misperception on my part was eventually removed as a result of Albanians claiming things that rightfully belong to Greek history. The boldness of Albanians today is mindboggling. Odysseus was Albanian, Alexander the Great was Albanian, Socrates was Albanian, the fustanella was Albanian, the Souliotes were Albanian, the Epirotians were Albanians, etc. etc. (guess everything except the kitchen sink is Albanian). I think that the whole "Arvanites were Albanians" is an attempt by the Albanians to create an imaginative historical continuity based on anything they could find.

I hope someone answers my questions. Or not. I think something fishy is going on with the whole "Arvanites are Albanians" argument. The Greek sources may be interesting, but they conflict (in a large or small extent depending on interpretation) with other sources already existent in the article. I think that the viewpoints of the Greek authors be placed in the "Authors" section specifically. Over and out. Deucalionite 23:28, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I strongly oppose Deucalionite's proposal to split the history section into an "Arvanites as Greeks" and an "Arvanites as Albanians" section, as if these were two conflicting theories. They are not. The ancestors of todays Arvanites were Albanians; they later acquired Greek self-identification. There is absolutely no disagreement about either point in the literature, for all I can see. I'm cutting down the whole section, there's too much OR and speculation in there for my taste. Fut.Perf. ☼ 07:27, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Was Thopias an Albanian? (check the epigrams he left) Was Comnenus too? (check his genealogy if you wish) Do you want more names? Common people are not exactly mentioned in history, so every "editor" may claim whatever he can, but history is preserved (more or less) for the leaders. Yet, we don't have the equivalent of Borza (see Macedon) for Arvanites - Elsie and whoever else, are more careful (most of the time) about it, and thank God when they are becoming fringy they can be cross-checked with various historians.

When they became "hellenized" and whether they were or were not bilinguals in Greek and Arvanitika all the time, if they were Albanians but not Greek too settlers are theories... talk to +MATIA 08:32, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, I must call for WP:NOR here. Give me a single, modern, reliable, scholarly text that characterizes the early settlers as anything different from Albanians. It may be "just a theory", but in a whole year of repeated edit-warring we've never seen any other. We'd need at least one source, reliably quoted and summarized, specifically claiming that the characterisation as Albanians is inappropriate. Thanks for sending me Biris, but could you please point me to a page if there's anything in that direction? - Even the book your translated passages are based on is titled "The Albanians in Greece".

As for the rest of the "history" section, here's why I cut it down so much:

There were a lot of rather moralizing, speculative statements, such as "did not benefit the people of the region", ... "immigrations appear to be an escape reaction from social oppression that became intolerable", ... "made the people feel disoriented", ... "saw immigration as the only solution to their problems", "ever more violent rulers" ... Do we really want that? Sounds like trivialised left-wing rambling to me.
Many statements were redundant, both internally within that section and in relation to other stuff already elsewhere in the article.
Some questionable stuff:
- Is it really plausible that the Arvanitic folk-songs provide information about the social structure before the upheavals of the 13th century?
- Creation of the Despotate of Epirus a confirmation of an ethnic "bond" between Greeks and Albanians? That hardly sounds like mainstream historiography. Byzantine politics didn't normally place much attention on ethnic relations at all.
Some questionable stuff in the old history section:
- Alternative origin theories (Dorian/Pelasgic), marked as unsourced months ago, have still not be substantiated

Fut.Perf. ☼ 08:54, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Note that the section also still needs some thorough copyediting, but I guess it's better if we first work out the main lines of content. Fut.Perf. ☼ 09:31, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

It is a fact that in Byzantium the citizens were not discriminated (or as you said ethnic relations didn't matter in their politics). How exactly that conflicts with what I said about Greeks and Albanians not being very different? talk to +MATIA 12:36, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, didn't immediately see your comment here. It doesn't conflict with that, it conflicts with the plausibility of the statement in the current text that wants to present the existence of the Despotate as evidence for some particular social set of relations between these groups. Which seems pretty thin. Fut.Perf. ☼ 16:17, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

to Matia

To Matia, just about your arguments re. self-identification of medieval Arvanites as Greeks:

What I see in Biris in the context of Scanderbeg, Thopias and others, all I can see is that they were trying to construct for themselves an ancient (i.e. Ancient Greek) identity qua Albanians, not a Greek identity qua Arvanites, as opposed to Albanians. See the difference? Whatever Scanderbeg or Thopias believed about their ancestry, they seem to have believed that they shared it with all Albanian-speakers, not just with a specific group of Hellenized Arvanites distinct from Albanians proper. So it strengthens rather than weakens my claim that we may properly call them Albanians.
In Biris, p.23, first paragraph you sent me, I read (my transl.:) "Of the Byzantine writers who mention the Albanians [sic, 'Αλβανούς'], George Paxymeres, Mazaris and Nicephorus Gregoras characterise them as Illyrians". Now, look up Mazaris, the passage is specifically discussed in that article: Mazaris is talking of 15th-century Peloponnesian groups, i.e. Arvanites in our sense. If Biris summarises Mazaris' talking about Arvanites as talking about "Albanians", that means even Biris himself considers medieval Arvanites to have been Albanians. Okay?

Fut.Perf. ☼ 11:05, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

I believe in expanding articles to reach NPOV (aka I disagree with "summarising" of sourced content)
Χρη γινώσκειν ότι ο ναός αυτός κατελύθη από σεισμούς παντελώς έως θεμελίου εις την διακράτησιν και εν ημέραις αυθεντεύοντος πάσης χώρας Αλβάνου του πανυψηλοτάτου πρώτου Κάρλα Θεώπια...
- You must know that this temple was destroyed by earthquakes completely, when the ruler of all the land of Albania was his majesty Carlos Thopias...
  - Kollias has a pic with the phrase (in Greek) "These are the signs of Carlos Thopias" (or something similar)
Did Scanderbeg and other tried to connect to Ancient Greece, or among them were Greeks too? I find the last more probable (but perhaps both things happened).
The ancestors of Arvanites were (mostly) called Arvanites by others. When they didn't call themselves Arvanites, they used Greek variations.

talk to +MATIA 12:32, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

You are right of course about your reading of the Thopias quote - but then, what is it supposed to show? That he used Greek for his official business? Well, of course. It's not as if he had much choice, did he. That says pretty little about his ethnic identity either way.

The Scanderbeg thing as related by Biris seems pretty clear to me: he speaks about the supposed ancestry of his whole ethnic group, i.e. Albanians, apparently using "Albania" as the geographical definition (but I don't know in what language the original was written, it's obviously a translation). Biris himself evidently assumes that Arvanite and Albanian are synonyms when dealing with that period.

What it all boils down to is: Of course these guys were also Greeks, in the cultural-political-religious sense of "Romioi". But that doesn't stop them from being also Albanians in the ethnolinguistic sense, and it is this ethnolinguistic identity that people like Scanderbeg seemed to be interested in. If you wanted to show they were not Albanians, you'd have to demonstrate that as early as before the migration, there was already a conceptual division between to-be-hellenized-proto-Arvanites-who-were-going-to-move-south on the one hand, and non-hellenized-Albanians-proper-που-θα-κάθουνταν-στ'αβγά-τους on the other. And I still cannot see the slightest indication that such a thing existed prior to the 19th or even 20th century.

As for expanding or cutting down articles: Please see "Aquilina's Carnot law" here. Fut.Perf. ☼ 13:29, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

In other words, what you are saying is that they self-identified as being part of the same millet as the Greeks - the "Rum" millet. Therefore, things change, as the Arvanites could not have identified as "Greeks", but as "Romioi" in the context of their millet. --Telex 16:46, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

This discussion seems interesting to me, so i decided to add my comment. i'm talking about Scanderbeg and the term 'Romioi'... why his original surname was Kastriotis? doesn't this seem a greek name? why he used the byzantine double-headed eangle, the emblem of the Paleologus family, at a time that the scholars say that the byzantine empire ended its millenium life as a greek nation state? apropos, the term 'Romioi', or 'Rums' (as the Turks say) is still applied to the Greeks, not to the Orthodox in general... I am aware that in the first centuries of the turkish occupation of the Balkans, it meant all the eastern christians, but later other millets were established. i am curious to know if in the 16th-17th centuries (for example) the Arvanites were considered still part of the 'Millet y Rum' or not. --Hectorian 17:06, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

comment on Albanau

Instead of trying to do something good, he results in PAs. I don't know why I expected something better after his talk page edits at Scanderbeg (and the lack of adding article content there too). talk to +MATIA 12:44, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

This is not article Skanderbeg. Do you have dispute with me concerning the article Skanderbeg, we can discuss it at the article's talk page and not here. Kindly read carefully, the excuse me part, and in addition to that if you have sense of humor you would understand. Furthermore, the neutrality and factual accuracy is disputed, it's all over the talk page, so delating the templates is wrong.. Albanau 17:17, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Outside view

Ok, I've been asked by a couple of people to comment on this. I'd like to point out firstly that considering that I voted keep on Albanisation, I may not be considered a neutral party here.

That out of the way, the lead reads perfectly to me. The history section is a bit higgledy-piggledy, I note that it seems to have been translated from the Greek. This is probably a bad idea with such a contentious article. I would advocate starting from scratch using English language sources where possible.

Demographics section seems ok, might want to link to Arvanitika. In the language section, "Greek state institutions are reported to have sometimes followed a policy of actively discouraging and repressing the use of the Arvanitic language". Drop the "are reported to have sometimes" replace with "have". In the Minority status section, 'Many Arvanites are also reported to be strongly opposed against the idea of obtaining any kind of officially recognized "minority" status', either drop this or source it. In the Folk culture section, I would recommend dropping the "Folk".

Some of the stuff in Names could be split out into a "Related groups" section?

There are my initial thoughts. - FrancisTyers · 16:33, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. The situation of the history section is that a big chunk from el: was recently translated but not yet optimally integrated. But the current discussion, apart from how best to clean up the history section, is mainly about whether the lead section should also contain a statement that they "are descendants of Albanian settlers". Albanian editors have in the past requested such an addition, Greek editors dislike it, my own take is that the references do not yield any good argument to reject such a statement. Fut.Perf. ☼ 16:44, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Providing the controversy (and I'm guessing there is one) is covered in the article, I see no reason to include or exclude it. Perhaps the "settlers" is causing a problem, it might be changed to "are descendants of Albanians settled in Greece" ? - FrancisTyers · 16:50, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, there is a controversy among editors here, but not really one in the literature as far as I am aware. It's not so much about the "settlers", it's about the "Albanians". Some of the Greek editors don't like to use the ethnic name "Albanians" to be used avant-la-lettre for the medieval populations. Fut.Perf. ☼ 16:53, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Aha, I see, well, what were they called before they were called Albanians? I know Serbian editors sometimes have a problem with using Bosniak rather than Bosnian Muslim. I mean, presumably this is how they are characterised in the literature, as being descended from Albanians right? We should go with whatever the scholarly consensus is on the matter. - FrancisTyers · 17:03, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Scholarly consensus is "Albanians", as is that their language is "Albanian". This is why Arvanitika is in more danger of extinction than Vlachika. --Telex 17:14, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Regarding the second count you are wrong (their language is Arvanitika). Regarding the first count, if that is the case then I see no problem with FP's suggestion. - FrancisTyers · 17:17, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Arvanites called themselves either Arvanites or Greeks in medieval times. I believe that the correct thing to do is/was to write in the intro who the Arvanites are, but if we should also write who they were then write it down correctly and not as some Albanian editors imagine. talk to +MATIA 07:26, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Thread continued in new section below Lukas ^(T.|@) 07:52, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

And what is scholarly consensus on the linguistic classification of Arvanitika? --Telex 17:25, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

It is a separate language, which is why we have the article at Arvanitic language. Why is it a separate language? Because the people who speak it say so. Its really like Albanian though (insert comparisons here)! - FrancisTyers · 18:43, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

You haven't even read the article Arvanitic language, have you? --Telex 18:45, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

it is not logical

It is not logical to apply "Albanian" identity to a group that had Arvanitic/Greek identity in a time that the Albanian identity (of Albanians themselves) was almost non existant. talk to +MATIA 07:28, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

(Continuing thread from above:) This seems all to have been gone through earlier (see Talk:Arvanites/Archive 3, towards the bottom). Point is: The medieval "Arvanitic/Greek identity" you are talking about was the Albanian identity of the time. As the article states, apparently all Albanians called themselves "Arvanites" then, they just changed the name later but that doesn't mean they changed identity. So we still have no indication of a separate Arvanite identity at that early stage. The ancestors of today's Arvanites were an integral part of the same group that is today called Albanians.

That leaves us with the purely semantic question of whether it's appropriate to use the modern name in retrospect. And here it's not a matter what you or I find logical, it's a matter of what the literature does. I repeat my challenge: Find me one source that explicitly claims calling them Albanians is inappropriate.

Apart from that, I personally could live with a solution where this is kept out of the introduction (as you said: state what they are, not what they were). But then we should strengthen the point in the history section. It might also mean we'd have to live with continued challenges from Albanian editors; I could understand it if they wanted to insist on the point in the intro. Lukas ^(T.|@) 07:52, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Haven't you seen sources describing that Arvanites find highly offensive the Albanians labeling? Btw, what do you think about the Jirecek line? And please keep in your mind (and everyone else interested) that we are editing Arvanites not Albanians. talk to +MATIA 08:13, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

I've certainly seen sources describing the identification of the modern people as Albanians as offensive, but nothing arguing against the identification of the medieval ancestors, sorry, no. Not the same thing. And I'd be opposed to shying away from clearly stating the latter just because of the hypothetical possibility that some readers might confuse it with the former and have their precious national sensitivites touched.

As for the Jirecek line, of course we know that parts of the Albanian area were under Greek cultural influence, but that doesn't mean that no non-Greek ethnicities could have constituted themselves in that area. Lukas ^(T.|@) 08:25, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

It's not my style to "shying away" etc. I agree more or less with the rest.

On your comment on Jirecek line, I'd like to repeat that we cannot force albanian identity on Arvanitic people, before even the Albanians had such an identity (it happpened long after Scanderbeg - even if we suppose that Scanderbeg started it). The US Stade Dep called Arvanites as Albanian settlers or something like that, but thank God they've changed that line.

I believe, since the Arvanites also exist today, and they did use that name for themselves in the past too, we should work the article in that direction. This article shouldn't describe Arvanites as an Albanian this or that, but it should describe what they are, what they were, what they've done, what they are doing etc. Arvanites not Albanians. Perhaps the Albanian editors would be interested in writing at Albanians that they were called sometimes Arvanites. But scholars who have actually studied Arvanites (and not just mention them in two lines), aren't simply labeling them Albanians or Albanian settlers. And for WP shake, we should write down that medieval Arvanites were bilinguals too. talk to +MATIA 09:13, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

To be fair, Matia, I don't think they all were bilinguals, just the Tosks were. According to Biris (p. 27), the Byzantines used to refer to the Tosks as "Albanoi" and to the Ghegs as "Illyrioi" (apparently the terms "Tosk" and "Gheg" came about after the Ottoman conquest). He is unclear on whether "Arvanites" used to refer to both groups collectively or not. --Telex 09:50, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Interesting, but probably an over-simplification. Mazaris, for instance, uses "Illyrians" for Peloponnesian Arvanites, i.e. Tosks. And the reference of "Albanoi" in the earliest sources (Attaleiates) has been disputed, it might be referring to entirely different peoples. Lukas ^(T.|@) 09:58, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

This is more than just interesting - this should be the focus of your quest. Excellent point Telex - I had forgotten about the Tosk-Gheg and that Ghegs aren't related at all with Arvanites. talk to +MATIA 11:43, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Sorry for repeating myself, but please look at the following works in the reference section. Just the titles should make it clear:

Poulos (1950), The settlement of the Albanians in Corinthia
Ducellier (1994), The Albanians in Greece (13th-15th cent.): A community's migration
Jochalas (1971), On the immigration of Albanians to Greece: A summary
Vranousi (1970), The terms 'Albanoi' and 'Arbanitai' and the earliest references to the people of that name in the sources of the 11th century
Also R. Elsie here ([6]): "The Albanians entered post-classical recorded history in the second half of the eleventh century, and only in this age can we speak with any degree of certainty about the Albanian people as we know them today. [...] In the middle of the fourteenth century, they [sic, i.e. Albanians]] migrated even farther south into Greece, [...]"

Given the massive amount of evidence of consensus in the literature, I have to ask for very concrete counter-evidence. Who is it that says we can't call the settlers Albanians? Not Biris, for all I can see. Please give me a one-sentence summary of whatever their counter-position is, concrete enough to integrate it in the text, supported by a literal quotation, author and page. I'm afraid at this stage of the debate nothing less will do. Lukas ^(T.|@) 09:29, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Lukas the titles aren't good enough - sometimes we can loose the point. However I disagree with the intro as I've written below. talk to +MATIA 11:31, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Have you Lukas seen in these or in any other work, evidence that Arvanites didn't identify as Greeks? talk to +MATIA 11:43, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

That's irrelevant. The literature calls them Albanians, period. All the literature. Lukas ^(T.|@) 11:54, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

I disagree (both for the irrelevant and for the All), but let's leave this for now. talk to +MATIA 12:27, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

No, I really want to know now. If there are grounds to reject the "Albanian settlers" formulation, in the liteature, then where are they? You should be able to name names here. Lukas ^(T.|@) 12:44, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Βρε Λούκας θα με τρελάνεις; Στα σύγχρονά τους (μεσαιωνικά) κείμενα (ή στην πλειοψηφία τους) αναφέρονται ή όχι σαν Αρβανίτες; talk to +MATIA 13:19, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Θα τρελαθούμε κι οι δύο μας σήμερα, και θα συντρελάνουμε και εταίρους... All Albanians were called Arvanites. That doesn't stop modern scholarship to use the modern name for them retrospectively. Just as Greeks are called Greeks retrospectively, even for periods when they weren't called so by contemporaries. Common practice. But we are both repeating ourselves. Lukas ^(T.|@) 13:36, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Threads removed

Two threads from 7 June removed to Archive for being troll-bait. [7] Please let's all get back to focus on the real issues and on what the literature says. Fut.Perf. ☼ 07:05, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Self-identification

Does this old rule apply here too? I mean if Arvanites themselves resent the term "Albanians" for any reason or are otherwise offended (which appears to be evident), then why couldn't we use a footnote or just elaborate on the issue in the text that follows? I presume the dispute is as to what they USED to be referred, so it is not a current term, so it does not deserve being in the intro. NikoSilver ^{(T) @ (C)} 11:27, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

More or less it is treated in the main article, and yes my strong oppose is for the intro - I've added some instances of the word Albanian myself later on - however the intro is already unballanced towards "Albania" instead of being an intro for Arvanites. talk to +MATIA 11:30, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Not as much anymore :-) NikoSilver ^{(T) @ (C)} 11:32, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

This thing is going on for almost a year. Perhaps it's about time it stops. talk to +MATIA 11:39, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, I'll nevertheless test out an intransigent position here. Let's see:

No, the principle of self-identification does not apply. Arvanites have every right in the world to define who they want to be today. But they do not have the right to expect us to censor their history according to their likings.
Especially not if the POV allegedly preferred by the Arvanites has never even been proposed in the literature, and we don't actually know what it is supposed to be. I'm still waiting for those quotes, and I won't give in until they are provided.
If we are going to take national sensitivities into account, then those of Albanian readers count just as much. Albanians have every right in the world to regard the medieval settlements as part of their history too. Members of their nation were expanding across the Balkans. What's wrong about them wanting to see that represented here?
The thing about the Albanian settlers is a very simple, entirely undisputed fact of fundamental importance for the definition of the topic of this article. Apart from the Greek sensitivities (which I personally find entirely misguided), there's no good reason not to have it in the intro. Lukas ^(T.|@) 11:52, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Neither I (check my edits) nor the Arvanites would try or have tried to censor their history. I'm starting to believe that you don't understand something about it (that would include Biris), yet I'm confident that you'll complete the puzzle eventually. talk to +MATIA 12:30, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
I agree to entirely misguided regarding Greek sensitivities. I couldn't care less if they were Berbers. I, my self, like Albanians and have nothing against them. "Albanian" is NOT a current term, even if self-id doesn't apply. I am not an expert on the issue, but this is evident. Lukas, you may suggest whatever alteration you wish in that regard within the main article body and not in the intro. My humble opinion, ofcourse. NikoSilver ^{(T) @ (C)} 12:47, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Origin of term Arvanites

According to Babiniotis 2002 (Dictionary of Greek language) and Stefanaq Pollo and Arben Puto, The History of Albania, 1981, the term Arvanites originates from a specific place. Babiniotis writes [translation by Politis]: "Arvanitis ...person who speaks Arvanitika. SYN: Arnaoutis, Kolias (from Nicolaos). 2. Colloquially, denotes a person who is headstrong and obstinate. ETYM: Medieval origin from a toponym Arvana from the Albanian Arbena. Arvana was the original name of the mountain range stretching between the rivers Mat and Ischmi, west of lake Ohrid. The people of that region were called by the Greeks Arvanitai…” He states that the Arvanite are Greeks of remote Albanian origin, they are found in various parts of Greece (districts of Corinth, Argolida, Attika, Boiotia, Thespotia and some islands). Since the 14 and 15 centuries their fate has been interlinked with that of the struggles of Hellemism.

Stefanaq Pollo and Arben Puto concur with the origin of the name, “...The Byzantine writer of the eleventh century, Michael Attaliate [writes] that among other tribes the Arbanites (Αρβανιται), inhabitants of the country of Arbanon (Αρβανoν) took part in 1078 in the revolt of the Duke of Dyrrachium, Nicephore Basilakes, which is confirmed point by point by another writer of the timie, John Skylitzes. ...The name of Abanon was at first that of a small region with Kruja at its centre and which kept the historical name of Arbeni until quite late. It was a regional name.... In the ninth century, when the Byzantine power was re-established,, the Arbanon region consisted of a distinct diocese..." They state that it expanded, merged and developed into the Arbanese bishopric and went on to gain distinct autonomous status. This meant they needed their own name, Albanoi... They say that the word Arbanitai is of geogrpahic inspiration, liked to the region where they lived. They write that, “The name Arbanite or Albanian in the 11th century was, therefore, not so much of ethnic foundation, but of political and religious foundation. It could not be applied to all the inhabitants in the Albanian linguistic area, but only to the populations of the indeginous and [the by now] Catholic province of the Arbanon. The Albanians from other regions continued to be called by scholars and contemporary chancellors in both the east and the west according to the pollitical and religious community to which they belonged, Romaioi or Graeci or Skavinoi, or Sclavinus or Bulgaroi or Bulgarus.”

Therefore, indeed the term refers to Greeks of ancient Albanian stock; we cannot identify it primarily as ethnically Albanian but as a term given by Greeks to the inhabitants of a region.

The cultural links between Greeks and Albanians are more complex (I would say more interesting) than nationalist gun slingers make out. For instance, the ethnically Greek Albanian, Constantine Christophoridis (1830-1895) published a translation of the Bible from the original Greek into Albanian, as well as other books. He wrote: “If the Albanian language is not written, there will shortly be no Albania on the surface of the earth nor will the name Albania appear on teh map of the world”. [re: Histori e Shqiperese, 1984. p.37] He advocated a single Albanian alphabet. Politis 15:40, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

We don't want to purposely include controversial information to the article, especially not your expectation about the origin of the ancestors of the Arvanites. You know why the neutrality and factual accuracy of this article is disputed? Because of the users with Greek background refusal of accepting the fundamental and essential fact that the ancestors of the Arvanites were Albanians and not Albanian-speaking, albanized or albanophone Greeks.

An article from the encyclopedia Britannica regarding the Albanians in Greece writes following:

The origins of the Albanians (Albanoi/Arvanitai in Greek) remain uncertain. They appear to be the descendants of the Illyrian populations who withdrew into the highlands of the central Dinaric chain. Their name may originate from the valley of the Arbanon (along the Shkumbi River) in the theme of Dyrrachion (Durrës/Durazzo), in which they were first noted by outside commentators. Their language probably evolved from ancient Illyrian (formerly classed with the Hellenic group of Indo-European languages but now generally recognized as an independent member of the latter family), but it is heavily influenced by Greek, Slavic, and Turkish, as well as medieval Italian. For reasons not yet fully understood, the Albanians began in the 14th century to advance into the western coastal plain, where they served both Byzantine and Serbian overlords as well as ruling independently under various warlords and chiefly families; they were also present in considerable numbers in Thessaly, Boeotia, Attica, and the Peloponnese, serving as soldiers and as farmers, colonizing deserted lands. Albanians arrived in large numbers in the Peloponnese during the reign of the despotes Manuel Kantakouzenos, who brought them there to serve as soldiers and to resettle depopulated regions. The impact of their presence on the region's existing ethnic and linguistic structure remains debated.

You can find on the book Albanian identities: Myth and History, in chapter The Perception of the Albanians in Greece in the 1830s and '40s: the role of the press, by Elias Skouliads from the University of Ioannina, page 179: writes following: the term 'Alvanoi' was also used to describe the Arvanites.

--Albanau 16:26, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

From Britannica's article:

The origins of the Albanians (Albanoi/Arvanitai in Greek) remain uncertain: so, nothing clear about the origins
Their language probably evolved from ancient Illyrian: so, nothing clear about the origins of the language
For reasons not yet fully understood: confusing...
The impact of their presence on the region's existing ethnic and linguistic structure remains debated: again not clear at all...

Not to mention that it says formerly classed with the Hellenic group of Indo-European languages but now not... hmmm... why academians in the past classed them along with the Greeks (if they were totally distinct)? I bet u know that Hellenes is how we call ourselves... --Hectorian 16:37, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Interesting stuff, especially that Pollo & Puto quote. Of course, nothing of that contradicts what I've been saying: By the time the settlements in the south took place, there was an ethnic group which everybody in the literature today identifies with the modern term "Albanians", no matter how they were calling themselves at the time. And those guys who went to settle down in Greece to become the ancestors of today's Arvanites differed in no way from the other members of that same ethnic group who were left behind in what is today Albania. Guys, what else are we squabbling about still? Lukas ^(T.|@) 17:04, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Political correctness ;-) --Telex 17:05, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Luka, you're probably right. What I don't get, is how this info is not evident in the article and why we have to put it in the intro as well, while it is NOT the current term. Examples from within the article:

2nd par Foreign sources sometimes still refer to Arvanites as Albanians...

2nd par Many Albanians, on the other hand, regard Arvanites as an Albanian minority group.

History section: While most historians regard the ancestors of today's Arvanites as part of the same medieval population groups that are also the ancestors to present-day Albanians...

I also don't get why we must tolerate pov-tags as a pov-push for something that is npov, but this is another story... NikoSilver ^{(T) @ (C)} 17:31, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

You're quite right. All these different mentionings of "Albanian" could be slimmed down quite a bit, if we could just bring ourselves to mention the Albanian connection once and for all, simply as a matter of course, as every sensible other author would. But since every possible way in which Arvanites could conceivably be related to Albanians has been objected to and disputed ad nauseam here, it has until now been necessary to very very carefully introduce and discuss and weigh and hedge and justify and source and attribute every single one of them. Relation in terms of historical descent, in terms of language, in terms of self-perception, in terms of perception by others, in terms of shared ethnonyms. The more Greek editors object to each of them, the more often the word "Albanian" will in the end appear in the article.

As for the tags, well, I do think until we agree on something here they should stay. The old history section was de-emphasizing the Albanian connection in its wordeing too much. Say about Albanau what you want, but where he has a point he has a point. Lukas ^(T.|@) 20:49, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Ok, Lukas. Will you do me the favour and count how many times we mention Albanians in the intro? What happened and suddenly you don't see the connection in an intro that you wrote to solve the (*&*(&%^*&%$%^#&^$ dispute? You wrote the new intro, you've changed your mind lately and now you say I (and whoever else) dispute etc ad nauseam? Is this some sort of joke I don't get, or you weren't talking about me? talk to +MATIA 06:07, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

After reading it again, I think that your idea "The more Greek editors object to each of them, the more often the word "Albanian" will in the end appear in the article." is unacceptable. Please explain yourself, and if you really meant that you'll edit that way, do reconsider it. talk to +MATIA 07:49, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

No, don't get me wrong, I don't really want to use the "A" word much more often there. :-) But it's true, the fact that I had to use it so often in the February version was exactly because there had been so much debate before. If a point is strenuously disputed, it will end up being bolstered up with an extra amount of sourcing and arguments, and in the end get more weight in the text than if people just accepted it as a matter of course. - I'm currently considering if it would be a good idea to move some of the "calling them A. or not" stuff out of the intro to releave it from the over-use of the "A" word, but then maybe put the "settlers" bit back in? As for the point below, I think Albanau's English is at fault, "immigrants" is not the appropriate term. "Settlers". Lukas ^(T.|@) 09:30, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Immigrants? What's next Albanau? talk to +MATIA 09:14, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Ha ha! How about: Colonists? :-) NikoSilver ^{(T) @ (C)} 09:38, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

history section must be improved

I propose the erasement of following unnecessary nonsense:

While most historians regard the ancestors of today's Arvanites as part of the same medieval population groups that are also the ancestors to present-day Albanians,[5] some Arvanite authors have argued that the settlers were not ethnic Albanians in a true sense. They hypothesize that Arvanites were either descendants of originally Greek populations who had only intermediately become Albanized; or that they were descendants of some other Thraco-Illyrian tribes and as such related but not identical to Albanians proper;[citation needed] or that Arvanites are descendants of the original pre-Greek "Pelasgian" population and as such actually autochthonous to southern Greece. These views have no echo in mainstream scholarship to date.[6] Some Arvanites characterise the Arvanite settlement in Greece as the modern Dorian invasion[4][7].

Besides, that the theory is incorrect prestented. The Arvanites Pelasgian theory is that Albanians and Greeks are the descendants of the Pelasgians that develop two different identities, Greek and Illyrian (Albanian), and that Albanians (Arvanites including) are brothers with Greeks.According to the books of the Arvanite author Aristh Kolla. I think this theories are very unnecessary and lack encyclopedic value.

--Albanau 09:25, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I agree. I wrote that passage, but it was based on an inexact understanding of what the alternative views were. I'll try to make a new synthesis shortly. The "Doric" and "Pelasgian" ideas should be minimized until someone cares to actually summarize them correctly. Lukas ^(T.|@) 09:35, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

To use your terminology if you want "unnecessary nonsense" to be erased, then revert yourself. talk to +MATIA 09:35, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

If this goes - as suggested by Albanau, then we certainly have to remove all 'un-encyclopedic' theories, including that, Albanians consider the Arvanites an ethnic minority - a fact that is so thinly researched as to read like POV. But I agree that Albanau has a point about the wording and it could do with some re-phrasing. For instance:

"Most historians consider that the Arvanites and today's Albanians share similar roots amongst the medieval Albanian populations [5]. Other Arvanite authors forward a Pelasgian theory that Albanians and Greeks are both the descendants of the Pelasgians but developed at an early stage two different identities, Greek and Illyrian (Albanian), and that Albanians (Arvanites including) are brothers with the Greeks. A few Arvanites propose that the Arvanites were the descendants of Thraco-Illyrian tribes - hence not identical to Albanians proper;[citation needed]. These views have no echo in mainstream scholarship to date[6]. Some Arvanites characterize the Arvanite settlement in Greece as the modern Dorian invasion[4][7]." Politis 09:56, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps it's about time we add what the Albanians did to their Arvanites brothers in Suli, what General Katsimitros did in response to Mussolini's invasion, etc. talk to +MATIA 10:21, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

further erasement or rewritting, section "minority status rejected"

I propose the erasement or rewritting of the section "minority status", as it take a political stand on matters involving rejection and recognition of minorities and minority status by the Greek government. --Albanau 09:33, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Hah, if you can't prove the opposite then delete... talk to +MATIA 09:37, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm not particularly happy with that passage either. It's somewhat repetitive, and the emphasis on Berisha is really extraneous to the topic of the article. My idea is to merge that section with the "calling them Albanians or not" stuff from the intro and shorten it down. Lukas ^(T.|@) 09:45, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

According to CIA The World Factbook the Greek Government states there are no ethnic divisions in Greece. --Albanau 09:48, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Helloooooo. Read the refs in that section. As long as you try to delete these, I'll expand them using sources. Unless Lukas agree with you that this article is a fringe view on Arvanites - then perhaps we 'll make it a simple redirect to "Albanian brothers" (sic). Just when this article look that it reached a good level, Lukas changed his mind about the intro and now we see an ever enlarging concordance between you two... talk to +MATIA 09:56, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

They used to. They used to recognize the present say "Muslim" minority as Turkish (at the expense of the Pomaks and every other non-Turkish group), and only recently (when it is in fact too late, as every non Turkish group has been Turkified) decided to revert to the Lausanne terminology [8]. --Telex 09:52, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Come on Telex, the greek gov is irrelevant. talk to +MATIA 09:56, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Article is not about minorities in Greece but Arvanites

There are articles dealing with minorities. This one is about Arvanites. Please focus. The minority issue of the Arvanites was introduced by the then President Berisha and forwarded to a degree by Gens Polo (son of the Albanian historian Polo). But I have no idea what Albanau is proposing, opposing, rejecting or forwarding! Politis 10:41, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Politis the arvanites are, (or better to say was since they by force have been assimilated), a minority in Greece, because they did speak Albanian, and had in many ways a different culture from the Greek. If Arvanites were not a minority than they would not been called something else than Greeks, what do you think? It is very logically.

In England, we have people who were born of Scotish or Welsh grand-parents or ancestors. Some of their ancestors / parents used to speak a gaellic language. But there is no recognition of a Scotish or Welsh minority in England. Why? Because they do not want to be considered a minority. The same applies to the Arvanites, they do not want to be considered a minority in their Greek homeland. They are not Pontian (Greeks), or Alexandrian (Greeks), or Cypriot (Greeks), but Arvanites (Greeks). There is no democratic precedent where outsiders impose the qualification of 'minority' on people who do not want it - to do so is to discriminate against them and show contempt for their identity. Politis 17:11, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Tightening prose

Please Matia, I'm not deleting any concrete information here. I'm just tightening the prose. All the stuff you've been restoring was preserved, I'm just trying to summarize. This article is simply too wordy. Lukas ^(T.|@) 10:29, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

For instance the Levy quote: "...in no way consider themselves an ethnic minority" - we're already saying that, why let Levy repeat it? That's just a feel-good quote if used like that. The only new thing that the quote contained is the dating to the early 19th century, and I summarized that a sentence or two below. Besides, you placed it at a point where it totally distorted the meaning of the next sentence. Lukas ^(T.|@) 10:36, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I strongly oppose the repeated removal of that quote. I'll revert it (if you don't) and expand it. talk to +MATIA 10:45, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Literal quotes should only be used if they actually add something new to the text. Their purpose in an encyclopedic article is not just to reaffirm something that's already stated just to make readers feel good. Lukas ^(T.|@) 10:48, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Matia, I am probably as concerned as you to prevent anyone stupid enough to suggest that the Arvanites are Albanian minority. But I agree with Lukas'efforts, he wants to apply sound academic skills to summarize a section that is far too long and he has not removed vital information, just duplication. Politis 10:49, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Politis, you can continue to say, "Arvanites do not have anything with Albania to do" until 2100, BUT it is WRONG. Why do they speak, or spoke Albanian than? The explanation of the word Arvanit, tells us a lot

Why don't you go and ask them? Sshadow

regarding 81 thousands

Biris gives this number (as I've probably mentioned before in a talk page) comparing two similar studies by foreign authors of the 19th century (don't remember their names now) with statistics of the Greek area and/or Chrysoboula/Venetian records. And, again, PLEASE DON'T REMOVE THE SOURCES I'VE CITED. talk to +MATIA 06:28, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

And now for something completely different...

The picture gallery is boring. Were all Arvanites austere-looking middle-aged men in 19th-century gala uniforms? I'd like to have something more colourful here. A woman. A klepht wearing a fustanella. A twentieth-century shepherd. A sailor. A 16th-century stradiote. Whatever. But not more than one uniformed politician. - We have a picture of Bouboulina somewhere, but we need a bit more. Fut.Perf. ☼ 11:46, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

I like it (plus they are all PD images and we know they are of Arvanites). Here's a PD image of Bubulina. --Tēlex 11:49, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Futureperfect - apologies for the use of several similar usernmames and my ineptitude with the technical side of wiki - this is only because I kept failing to make a note of my password but wanted to be identifiable - I am not trolling, and having looked at the sources it does seem your wording for attica is OK ; I just wanted to make sure there was no exaggeration or POV.

lsrt

Okay, thanks for the clarification! And apologies for sounding harsh. Hope you've got your password sorted out now? :-) By the way, another hint: please sign your contributions on talk pages with ~~~~ (four tilde characters), that will automatically insert your user name and time stamp. Fut.Perf. ☼ 10:28, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Most of Attica

This may have been the case 100 years ago, but no longer today. Today you will find communities in Aspropirgo and some in Marcopoulo and a few Athens neighbourhoods. Please present any studies to back up 'most' statement and by reliable sources.Politis 12:57, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Okay, we should clarify the wording with respect to "historical settlement areas" versus "present-day presence" of Arvanites. Point taken. But I'd still want to see a wording that makes it clear that basically all of Attica and adjacent areas was solidly, predominantly Arvanite-speaking up until the 19th century. They were neither a minority among a larger Greek-speaking population, nor restricted to isolated enclaves within Attica, but really covered the whole area. The sources seem to agree on this (Fourikis, Sasse and others as reported by Trudgill, Botsi, Tsitsipis etc.) Fut.Perf. ☼ 12:28, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

All...? The population of the city of Athens was mostly Greek and Muslim. Also, most of Attica - including its moutains and most of its coast, was unihabited, and, of course, Attica prefecture did not exist until after independence. Perhaps you mean, until the 19thC., most of the inhabitants of Attica were Arvanites. Remember that with the 19thC, the influx of inhabitants after Athens became the capital, were not Arvanites. Politis 12:57, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, sure, the growth of the capital (from the Mid-19th cent. onwards) was what changed everything. Have you got any data for the inhabitants of Athens (was it a "city"??) before it became the capital? - By the way, there seems to be something interesting somewhere in Biris, where he demonstrates how the Arvanite element was so strong even within Athens until well into the mid/late 19th century that even the German immigrants who had come with the Bavarian kings got linguistically Albanianised before they got Hellenised. Haven't seen the original pages myself though. Fut.Perf. ☼ 13:40, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Data on population not immediately available. I think around 13,000 inhabitants and it went up to 35,000 by 1840. Foreign travellers to Athens spoke of Greeks and Turks and only occasionally of 'Albanians'. As for the term 'Albanisation', it cannot comfortably apply to most of the 19C because there was no central Albanian state generating an Albanian cultural matrix and there was no generic 'Albanisism', in the sense that there existed a generic 'Hellenism'. The Arvanites were local Greek Orthodox populations, speaking their own Arvanito-(Hellenic) dialects. Of course, travellers in their writings might have labelled all Greek Orthodox populations as 'Greek' and all Muslims as 'Turks'. Whatever the case, the notion of 'Albanisation' is a perception generated with hindsight, not on factual evidence (excluding the linguistic element). To conclude, I am convinced that one might more usefully trace a linguistic shift / continuum of 'Albanian' speaking populations along certain Balkan axis, as one might do with a Slav speaking shift / continuum from the southern Balkans to the Arctic. This does not mean the inhabitants along that 'shift' would identify today with Tirana, Skopje or Kiev. To this day, the creation of nation-states acts as a linguistic magnetic field that distorts certain terminology and imposes on it a 'nationalist', if not irridentist agenda. The disagreements (in our field) on wikipedia, stem from the real or perceived misappropriation of certain terms. (make sense? if not blame it on the heat) Politis 14:10, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. As for "Albanianisation", I wasn't of course using it in a national sense, just linguistically in the sense of adopting Arvanitika. Here's the source that I had in mind: [9]. Fut.Perf. ☼ 14:16, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

You might also be interested in, 'The Dilessi Murders', Romilly Jenkins, 1961, 1998. Politis 14:36, 22 June 2006 (UTC).

What is disputed?

Albanau, just what exactly do you think is disputed? Your contribution in pointing out the elements of dispute would greatly help us all. Thank you for your perspicacity. Politis 10:13, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Revisions to History Section

Irrespective of what anyone says, the history section was in dire need of revisions. There were spelling errors, as well as a lack of basic paragraph organization. Moreover, certain aspects of the section's content were just plain incomprehensible. Before anyone jumps to any conclusions as to what I did, just remember that the history section was left in a sorry state of disorganization for a long time. Now that the section is better organized, it will be much easier to add more content or refine existing content about the history of the Arvanites. Deucalionite 14:59, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Deucalionite, while I very much appreciate your attempt at tidying up the history section, which indeed is badly in need of revision, I do think your edits again contain a good amount of OR speculation. Please stick more closely to the sources. And as for the old bone of contention, the characterisation of the medieval settlers as "Albanians", that has been discussed ad nauseam and the result was that there is not the tiniest shred of evidence allowing us to call them anything else. "Albanian settlers" is going to stay, live with it. I'm leaving in your other edits for the moment, as I haven't got time to review it all. Fut.Perf. ☼ 15:50, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Next round. Just some of the elements in Deucalionite's most recent edits ([10]) that I find totally unacceptable:

"Albanian-speaking Greek settlers" instead of "Albanian settlers". As explained many times.
"The Arvanites were mentioned in Byzantine texts dating back to the 11th century". Wrong. "The Arvanites" in the modern sense didn't exist back then. The name "Arvanites" existed, but it referred to a group that wasn't coextensive to what we call Arvanites today.
"They [i.e. Arvanites], along with Greeks and Albanians, ..." It's completely unacceptable to imply that Arvanites and Albanians existed as two separate groups back in the middle ages.

Sorry, I'm reverting again. Fut.Perf. ☼ 16:25, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Round 3. (or is it 4? or 999?). Deuc.'s slow edit-war about the "Albanian-speaking Greek settlers" is getting boring. Folks, give me two or three days and I'll present my own full rewrite of the article, it needs a lot of tightening. Fut.Perf. ☼ 20:04, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Deucalonite

Deucalonite: please don't resort to historical revisionism to cover up the factual Albanian (yes, Albanian - all non-partian sources use this word) origin on the Arvanites. Please understand that the Arvanites themselves (not just their ancestors) were known as Albanians before the establishment of the Albanian state, this is a fact. The territory of present day Albania which lies south of the Shkumbin River is known to Greeks as Northern Epirus and to Albanians as Toskëria - the land of the Tosks. Before the establishment of the Albanian state, Albanian used to refer to the Arvanites in Greece, and the Christian Orthodox Tosk Albanians, who were both considered the same people (they both even used the Greek alphabet to write their language). See these maps and how Arvanitika is designated [11] [12] [13]. See this document dating from 1879 which speaks of the Albanian dialect of Hydra spoken by the Albanians in Greece and particularly those of Hydra. Albanian and Arvanite were used in the same way as Anglos and Englezos are used today to refer to English people today. The Muslim Albanians were referred to as Turkalvani, and they were the distinct nation (millet). Even today, the Encyclopedia Britannica says that Albanian is spoken in Attica and Boeotia. Today, Christian and Muslim Albanians are considered the same nation, and the Arvanites in Greece are considered part of the Greek nation. This is a fact, but it was not always exactly like this, and only a nationalist would have a problem with pointing this out. Please try reading Biris's book, he both tactfully and accuratly explains all this. --Telex 17:28, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

BTW Fut. Perf. Who was that who used to refer to the Arvanites of the Peloponnese as Illyrians? --Telex 17:28, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Telex, I of course agree with what you say. We should still try to get the whole section rewritten some time soon, Deucalionite is at least right in saying the current version is way unsatisfactory. - As for the Illyrian bit, I don't remember where it came up, can you give me a hint where it was discussed? Fut.Perf. ☼ 17:51, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Rewrite

As promised, I'm proposing a substantial rewrite now. I've tightened and shortened the history section and some of the others too. I've also eliminated the old "trivia" section and some of the things that had been moved from there into other parts, because they were, well, trivial. (Names of ouzo brands and the like). I also left out the bookcover pictures, because we had no fair-use rationale for them, so they would have counted as copyvios. There are, however, now better pictures available of some famous Arvanites, especially Markos Botsaris, Laskarina Bouboulina, Melina Mercouri (if she is one, as Matia said). The Greek WP also has a picture of Engonopoulos. We could either use those for a new image gallery in the info box, or put them somewhere in the text.

Another thing I left out is the "Studies of the Arvanites" section. Two reasons:

First, it was giving "undue weight" to some of the less scholarly and more fringy authors (Kollias, Dede) - if we wanted the real good ones, we should have had Trudgill, Breu, Fourikis, ...
Second, we really don't have any such section anywhere else on Wikipedia. No article on "X" usually has a section "Studies of X". The role of various relevant authors and works should simply emerge from how they are quoted in the text.

The text is currently not quite as densely footnoted as it used to be. If anything is in doubt, just place a few fact tags; there's lots and lots of literature to back this all up but I've annotated it rather loosely for the moment. Fut.Perf. ☼ 20:58, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Deucalionite's proposals

Re. these changes [14]: Deucalionite, you are (again) playing fast and loose with the two historically different concepts of Greekness: the modern, predominantly ethnolinguistic concept (speakers of the Greek language), and the historical concept of "Romaioi" (i.e. citizens of Byzantium / Greek Orthodox Christians). Where historical sources call Arvanites "Greeks", it is obviously in this latter sense; however, we are writing this article for present-day English-speaking readers and therefore need to use the term "Greek" in its present meaning. Moreover, the sources that use "Greek" never (as far as I can see) use it to imply "non-Albanianness", i.e. a distinction between the "Greek" Arvanites and some other, non-Greek Albanians proper.

Specifically:

"Albanian-speaking Greek settlers": still baseless. The modern literature calls them Albanians, pure and simple.
Geographical designation "Greek territories of Albanitia" (and footnote 1). It's entirely irrelevant what a late-18th century Greek geographer called that area, and the question of how "Greek" it would have been back four hundred years earlier can only be left to modern historians. The footnote is irrelevant. For our purposes, the area is "what is today Albania", full stop.
Footnote Tselalis: Who's that guy? What's the bibliographic details? Why a full literal quote in Greek? The text is obviously not a scholarly treatment - we can perhaps use it somewhere as an example of how Greek authors at various times have attempted to Hellenify the Arvanites, but we can't use it as a reference to prop up the claim that they actually were Greeks.
Footnote Commines about the Stradioti: a Westerner using the term "Greek" (when? In the 16th century?) would obviously understand it in the sense of "eastern orthodox" - those guys couldn't have cared less about the finer details of Balkan nationalities. And why quote it in that terrible Katharevousa translation? Of course, all these primary sources with respect to the Stradioti are quite useless here, since we have perfectly usable secondary sources. Why not just quote the Pappas article from the Stratioti page and be done with it? It has quite an insightful discussion of the partial Hellenization of these Arvanite groups.
All the other footnotes in that section: same issue; why use primary source quotes (with no proper bibliographic reference) when you yourself have obviously been taking them from some secondary work? Quote that, so that we all know what you are working with.
..."While fighting, they would profess their identity as Greeks"... do I take it you mean that whenever those Arvanites went to battle, they would continually mutter to themselves "I'm a Greek, I'm a Greek, I'm a Greek"? Sorry, but that sentence just sounds stupid. The whole thing you've added here is just a big and weighty POV-pushing elaboration of a simple fact that was already stated adequately and in appropriately neutral encyclopedic style in the previous version: "Many of them became bilingual and culturally assimilated to the Greeks" If you want a reference, quote Pappas or whomever else and be done with it. The rest is just national feel-good rhetorics.
..."obligated themselves to helping"... That's not English.

Fut.Perf. ☼ 20:30, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

P.S. Re. "Despotate of Epirus": Look at the relevant article Despotate of Epirus, apparently during the crucial time of the 14th/15th century, there actually hardly was such a state any longer, and if it was it didn't control the areas in question here. Using that term here strikes me as unhelpful. Fut.Perf. ☼ 20:40, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Future Perfect's critiques?

I think you should skip the comments as to whether I am "fast and loose" with the so-called "different" concepts of Greekness. And you wonder why we cannot get along.

Just so you know (since you never ask the right questions), the concept of "Greekness" possesses a paradigm that entails ethnicity, religion, culture, and language. Each component has its place in Greek identity. However, language was never the single-most defining aspect of being Greek (unless deliberately made so for ulterior political purposes; example, Athenians and the "barbarian" concept). Though Greeks have been able to speak their own tongue (in its various forms), they did not allow language to serve as a barrier in separating Greek peoples (again, unless there were ulterior political motives involved). Throughout history, Greeks have spoken non-Greek languages and incorporated foreign words into their various dialects. This, however, did not change their ethnic make-up or their ability to identify themselves as Greeks.

The reason why you see a "difference" between the modern Greek worldview and the medieval Greek worldview is because you are influenced by the highly politicized conflicts between classicists and medievalists. Both groups each wanted to have their respective form of Greek heritage to be the defining (and perhaps only) hallmark to the development of the modern Greek nation-state. However, social reality dictates that ethnic Greeks always had a place for both their ancient past and their medieval past.

As for your English-speaking readers, it would be wise to explain honestly that the autocephalous concept was a puissant influence in the minds of many different Orthodox Christian populations. Irrespective of which ecclesiastical institution had the most influence in a region or millet, the autocephalous concept remained whether Western European academia accepts this fact of social reality or not. It is through this concept that Orthodox Christian populations should be seen through the prism of ethno-religion and not just religion.

As for your shopping list of critiques, I have made some minor improvements to the article. However, many of the critiques you have provided are just plain nitpicking (you are an automaton editor so pat yourself on the back). To spare you the agony of reading long responses, I will only expect you to understand the following concepts:

There is nothing wrong with calling the Arvanites "Albanian-speaking Greek settlers". This coincides with the statement in the introductory paragraph that states how Arvanites speak a form of Albanian and self-identify as Greeks. The Arvanites' language never served as a barrier for them to help other Greeks consistently. This proves simply that language does not define ethnicity. For you to blindly concur with what Western Europe states as "pure and simple Truth" (capital "T" truth and not little "t" truth) is just plain wrong (actually it contradicts with whatever code-of-conduct you may have as a supporter of NPOV).

The geographical name "Albanitia" comes from a source, doesn't it? The source in question could very well possess information that is cited from older texts. To assume that only modern scholars have a right to give a name to the land from which the Arvanites came from is quite narrow-minded. To also assume that modern scholars (or Western European scholars) are superior to a late 18th century Greek geographer is slightly arrogant (maybe even discriminatory).

Overall, I will make whatever changes are necessary in order to somehow convince you (which would take a miracle) that information (and life in general) is not subject to what the Albanians and what Big Brother W.E. have to say. Though you have to admit, both parties do have some close political relations, which in turn does influence W.E. academia. I will continue to make any necessary additions to the article irrespective if you (or Aldux or Telex) revert the article continuously. Deucalionite 23:45, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I think the above is enough to demonstrate the fundamentally tendentious, "original (pseudo-)research" nature of Deucalionite's edits to this article. From now on, I will not bother wasting my time and bloating this talk page with giving detailed reasons for any more reverts I'll have to make. Fut.Perf. ☼ 08:06, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Side-note: Do I take it that your Tselalis source is a book about Dimitris Plapoutas, and that the book describes him as an Arvanite? You might want to add the Category:Arvanites to that bio article in that case. Fut.Perf. ☼ 08:31, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

False Judgments

Unfortunately Future Perfect, your thinking is erroneous. To assume that I am a (pseudo-)researcher (kind of offensive; WP:CIVIL) shows that you criticize everything and never ask the right questions.

I recommend that you ask yourself the following questions before making any future judgments:

If I had not continuously altered the Arvanites article, would have had a significant incentive to alter the history section that you agreed was filled with errors?

How can I be, as you claim, a "(pseudo-)researcher" if the edits I provided are sourced?

How can I be an unworthy contributor when in fact I respect your hard work in refining the history section?

You do not pay attention to these nuances and you go off making false assumptions about me. You need to think beyond the typical dynamics of "good user" - "bad user". There is at least three shades of grey that you have yet to take into account. As for the contents of the above section, you simply dismissed what I stated about language not defining ethnicity and the autocephalous concept. Fine. However, you unfortunately assume that I came up with these concepts as if by magic.

No one doubts that you are a superb editor Future Perfect. However, you need to expand your mind and not just assume everything is picture perfect in the world of academia (the notion of "pure and simple" in academia can only be achieved through the finding of both compelling and conclusive evidence that coincides with reality; difficult to achieve).

In the end, what will you prove? That you are superior? If it makes you feel any better, I give you permission to ignore me and revert my edits that contain sources and references. So, happy reverting and good luck proving whatever point(s) you have to make. Over and out. Deucalionite 18:06, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Uncooperative editing

Deucalionite, you are editing against consensus here and constantly POV-pushing. Future Perfect, Aldux, and Telex have been inordinately patient with you. At this point, it should be clear to you (as it has been to everyone else for a while) that you are engaging in disruptive editing. You have been on WP long enough to know this. --Macrakis 20:05, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Reported for 3RR: [15]. Fut.Perf. ☼ 22:07, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Evidence

The article is missing certain facts. Here is a question the article doesn't answer: When did the Arvanite migrations end? The answer: ca. 1600 AD.

Troupis, Theodore K. Σκαλίζοντας τις ρίζες μας. Σέρβου. p. 1036. Τέλος η εσωτερική μετακίνηση εντός της επαρχίας Ηπειρωτών μεταναστών, που στο μεταξύ πλήθαιναν με γάμους και τις επιμειξίες σταμάτησε γύρω στο 1600 μ.Χ.

All things (more or less) have an end. Socio-historically, it doesn't make much sense to only explain the beginning and peak of a migration and not its nadir or end. Deucalionite 18:58, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

No problem. According to summaries of the literature elsewhere, the main waves of migrations were in the 14th and 15th century, but I've also seen 13th-16th mentioned (I've only checked the GHM report and Botsi right now, though). Is the book you are quoting a reliable historical study? Fut.Perf. ☼ 19:53, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, the book is reliable. However, the only drawback you will probably find is that it is focused on the region of Serbou. If the other literature does not mention any other major/minor migrations past 1600 A.D., then wouldn't we have to safely assume that the migrations ended at 1600 A.D.? Deucalionite 20:09, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Let's then put in "16th century" instead of "15th", for now. The book you're quoting doesn't seem to intend anything much more specific than that either, does it? Fut.Perf. ☼ 20:14, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Alright. Put in "16th century" instead of "15th". Yet, wouldn't it be better to specify an exact year for the end of the migrations just like the source does? Or, instead of 1600 A.D., we could put in "early 17th century" just in case any last minute Arvanite migrations occurred in 1601, 1602, etc. Deucalionite 20:22, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, "γύρω στο..." isn't really an exact date either, is it? Does it matter? Does your book quote anything more specific, besides that one sentence (like, what actual historical studies it's based on?) If not, I'd propose to go simply by the other sources we have. Fut.Perf. ☼ 20:32, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, even if an exact date is not provided, a circa date is better than nothing. I was thinking of putting in this sentence to complement the sentence you already wrote (your sentence: "The main waves of migration into southern Greece started around 1300 and reached a peak some time during the 14th century"). After your sentence, why not put in something simple like, "By around 1600 AD, most major Arvanite migrations ended." Even if Troupis only provides a ball-park estimate of when the migrations ended, it is still something that would verify the sentence source-wise and would generally answer the question. Tell me what you think. Deucalionite 20:50, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

I can still see little difference between "until the 16th century" and "by 1600", but if you must, go ahead... Fut.Perf. ☼ 06:58, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Thank you. Deucalionite 23:22, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Evidence II

Here is another question the article doesn't answer: What were the names of the Arvanite clans? The answer: Langadinoi, Kalavritinoi, Vergos, Liapis, Brakatsis, Goutis, Schizas, Daras, Katsepas, Boras, Bolokas, Katsiapis, Katsoulas, Bouloutsos (the list could very well go on and on).

Troupis, Theodore K. Σκαλίζοντας τις ρίζες μας. Σέρβου (Τεύχος Ε’). p. 686. Οι Λαγκαδινοί μαστόροι δεν είναι Μοραίτες. Μήτε οι Καλαβρυτινοί είναι Μοραίτες. Και οι Λαγκαδινοί και οι Καλαβρυτινοί είναι από την Ήπειρο. Και πολλοί τσοπάνηδες είναι από την Ήπειρο (Βέργος, Λιάπης, Μπρακάτσης, Γκούτης, Σχίζας, Ντάρας, Κατσέπας, Μπόρας, Μπολόκας, Κατσιάπης, Κατσούλας, Μπουλούτσος).

It seems that a lot of clans from Epirus settled in the Peloponnese. Their names are known (thanks to Troupis) and should be listed. Wouldn't make much sense to talk about the functionalities of Arvanitic phares without actually knowing the names of the phares themselves. Deucalionite 23:40, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

I'd find such a list interesting, but I see a problem: How many such phares are there? As you say, the list might well go on and on. If the number of notable clans is reasonably small, let's have the list. But if it's more than two or three dozen, and we have no chance of ever covering it completely, let's not have it. Better to have no list than a list that pretends to be comprehensive when in reality it's just a random selection. That would be "listcruft" Fut.Perf. ☼ 05:51, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Troupis provides a list of the most prominent Arvanite clans in the Peloponnese (or at least the most well-known Arvanite clans). Also, the list (if placed in the article) would only provide 14 prominent Arvanite clans in the Peloponnese. This, in turn, would not pose a problem being that the list's general purpose is to verify that Arvanite clans do exist historically.

If, by any chance, someone has information pertaining to a certain number of non-prominent Arvanite clans, then one solution would be to create a separate Arvanite clans list. Of course, such a solution would be up for debate.

Overall, the small list of prominent Arvanite clans would be verified by Troupis source-wise and would also answer the question posed in the beginning of this discussion. Tell me what you think. Deucalionite 16:02, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

I haven't seen the book you're quoting, but the sentence you cite doesn't sound like it was making any claims to either comprehensiveness, representativity, coverage of more than a small geographic area, or scholarly reliability. It may well be a nice book, but it's certainly not a scholarly treatment of Arvanite demographics, is it? If these are the names of just some clans found in the few locations mentioned there, then the total number of such clans across Greece must be quite large. Unmaintainable, I'd say. Fut.Perf. ☼ 17:50, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, of course there are numerous Arvanite clans. I do not expect anyone to actually list every single Arvanite clan in the article. The purpose of the cited sentence is to verify the names of some of the Arvanite clans existent in the Peloponnesus. If you feel hesitant in having a list shown in the article, then why not use the names of the Arvanite clans cited by Troupis as part of a new sentence?

The sentence I was thinking of putting into the article incorporates the following: "The Arvanite clans that settled in the Peloponnesus were the Langadinoi, the Kalavritinoi, Vergos, Liapis, Brakatsis, Goutis, Schizas, Daras, Katsepas, Boras, Bolokas, Katsiapis, Katsoulas, and Bouloutsos clans."

The above sentence can either be placed in the history section or in the phares section. If placed in either one, the sentence would actually enrich the overall information provided on the article. Actually, the sentence would significantly complement the sentence you already wrote (your sentence: "Arvanites first reached Thessaly, then Attica and finally the Peloponnese."). This is one way to have Arvanite clans listed in the article without actually providing a list. Tell me what you think. Deucalionite 21:16, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Not convinced, I'm afraid. Whether you format it as a list or include it online in the text doesn't make much of a difference. And the unreliability is demonstrated by the very summary you provide: "Kalavritinoi" is obviously not such a clan, or at least not one as it was named when they actually migrated - it obviously just means "inhabitants of Kalavrita". Fut.Perf. ☼ 22:39, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Actually, your arguments aren't very convincing either. First, the format does make a difference when it comes to incorporating information in an article. Newspapers, magazines, books, etc. are all published with a good portion of time focused on format and typesetting. Of course, you already know this. If you still assume that formatting has no relevance, then I do recommend you read "Stop Stealing Sheep and Find Out How Type Works" (you've probably read it already). Even if you were to forego the format, the point of the entire matter is to provide in a general fashion the names of actual Arvanite clans.

If you are hesitant in having the Kalavritinoi placed in the sentence, then a simple solution would be to have them removed. As for the other Arvanite clans (whose names do not mean "inhabitants of [insert town/city here]"), they should be mentioned nonetheless in the sentence.

It wouldn't make much sense to allow, for instance, the Thracians article to have a list of actual Thracian tribes while at the same time denying this article a list of actual Arvanite clans. Since you don't want a list in the Arvanites article, then a sentence is pretty much the only solution available in terms of presenting Arvanite clans without listing them in a list format. Deucalionite 18:06, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Still waiting for a response Future Perfect. Deucalionite 12:55, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, my main arguments are those above (not those in my last posting), and they still stand. I have severe doubts that Troupis' list is or even purports to be what you claim it is: a list of the "most prominent" or "most well-known" clans. It sounds rather like a random list of whatever names happened to come first to his mind. This list is most likely not representative, just like Kalavryta and Langadia are not representative of the set of placenames where Arvanites settled. And even if Troupis' list was intended to be representative, I'd doubt its reliability, given its decidedly non-scholarly style. But we've already spent a ridiculous amount of argument on this very minor issue, don't you think? Fut.Perf. ☼ 13:15, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Again, you're missing the point. Troupis provides actual Arvanite clans. The least we could do is answer the general question I posed in the beginning of this discussion. Whether the Arvanite clans in question were prominent or not is up to interpretation. Also, to correlate unreliability to "non-scholarly" styles of writing is sort of like saying that because a reliable historian has poor penmanship, he/she should not be considered an historian. Every scholar and every historian has his/her own unique style of writing, formatting, typesetting, etc.

Though this discussion is a bit lengthy, the question I posed still lingers. You need to understand that this question is something that any average reader would ask. Why is that? Well, it is no different than if you go to get ice-cream and you ask, "What flavors do you have?" or "Do you have such-and-such flavor?" Once you ask either question, you will definitely receive a list or a specific name.

The question I posed in the beginning of this discussion is concise, realistic, and something that I am sure many readers would be interested in having answered. There is an answer to the question that is verified by a source. If the question needs to be further elaborated (ex: which Arvanite clans were prominent?), then editors will have an easier time to make changes to the article based off of the answer first presented to the general question. Really, what harm would befall the article if a basic list (or sentence) with Arvanite clans were to appear? Tell me. Deucalionite 19:27, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

This is going in circles now, isn't it? I rest my case and will let others decide. Fut.Perf. ☼ 20:52, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Others? You mean Macrakis, Aldux, and Telex? Peachy. Give me a call when the "final decision" is made. Deucalionite 21:09, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Waiting on that "final decision" Future Perfect. Deucalionite 14:46, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

I have nothing else to say about this. Fut.Perf. ☼ 15:16, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Arvanites are Albanians

The second group of ethnic Albanians in Greece are called the Arvanites. They migrated to what is today central and southern Greece as early as the 11th-12th centuries. These early migrations were part of Byzantine invitations to settle depopulated areas in the south of what is today Greece. Other accounts mention that they were fleeing forced Islamization by the Turks. They are said to number from 300,000 and up to 2,000,000 by some Arvanit accounts. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.40.114.51 (talk • contribs).

No comment. That topic has been debated a lot here and should not be re-opened. Sorry, but please read the article, and the previous debates if you have the stomach. Fut.Perf. ☼ 07:37, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

How many Arvanites is there in America

I'm curious of how many Arvanites are living today in America who think of themselves as Greek? Can you please give me some numbers. Thank you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.40.114.51 (talk • contribs).

No idea. Don't think there'd be any statistics. Fut.Perf. ☼ 07:37, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

What's this question about? Think of themselves as Greeks? They are Greeks. Whatever the origin of some of their ancestors was, they are Greeks. This is an encyclopedia (even the talk page) and not a forum where anyone can post anything he wants. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sthenel (talk • contribs) 02:01, 20 December 2006 (UTC).

Arvanites as an Ethnic Group

I changed "Arvanites identify as Greek to "Many Arvanites identify as Greeks".

Not all of them do, certainly not the case with Aristides Kollias, An Arvanite who identified himself as an Albanian and probably most likely was killed for that reason. There is a little bit of Greek bias regarding this Arvanite topic and unneccessary fuss.

May i remind you that these Arvanites are from the same stock as Arbereshe yet the latter one has no problem acknowledging their origins.

Do not try to escape from history, history is unchangeable, the fact that many Arvanites do not identify themselves as Albanian does not necessary mean they are not of that origin. Not our fault that they are ashamed to look at themselves in the mirror. Because certain socio-economic pressures today upon Arvanites have clouded their judgement.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Fieraku (talk • contribs) .

Sure, you can speculate all you want, with no sources at all, no problem... Let's see what the literature has to say:

"...In a survey conducted in the 1970s, 97% of Arvanite informants, despite regularly speaking in Arvanitika, considered themselves to be Greek. A similar concern with being identified as Greek is exhibited by the bilingual Arvanites of Eastern Argolid." (Ethnic identity in Greek antiquity, Jonathan M. Hall)
"...The Arvanites fully identify with Greek co-nationals, and generally only the older generations now speak Arvanitika, or Albanian intermixed with Greek, Turkish and Slavic." (Richard Clogg, Minorities in Greece).

While I'm not disputing that some Arvanites may not identify as Greek and as Albanians - some may even consider themselves an ethnic group separate to both Greeks and Albanians - we're talking about a very small number and we have no proof at all that there is at least one Arvanite who does self-identify as Albanian.--Euthymios 23:21, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Again i gave you one arvanite who identified himself as an Albanian. His name was Aristidhe Kollias. I have no interest in those who feel Greek but i have interest in those who identify as Albanians such as the name i gave you. Thus to be correct please avoid generalization and use the word "Many Arvanites identify as Greeks" to leave the option open for those who do not identify a such. Fieraku

We have very little reliable material on Kollias - his article is just terrible (one version claims he committed suicide, one version claims he was killed, both claims unsourced!) So I would be cautious about using him as an example, unless someone brings actual quotes from his work. Fut.Perf. ☼ 09:14, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Please read the interview with Aristidh Kola.[16] Dodona

There are many theories cooked up by the Arvanites on the origin, each as dubious as the next. One of my favourites is that the Gheg Albanians are the "true" Albanians (descendents of the Illyrians etc) and the Tosk Albanians are Greeks of Epirus who adopted the Gheg language (Albanized/Ghegized Greeks), thus the much heavier Greek influence on Tosk. Therefore, not only the modern Arvanites whose origin are Tosk Albanians who immigrated to central Greece in the middle ages of Greek origin, but all Tosk Albanians are of Greek origin. Incidentally the homeland of the Tosk Albanians is south of the Shkumbin River which just happens to be the northern frontier of Northern Epirus. Therefore, the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of Northern Epirus are of Greek origin and the region should be ceded to Greece. "Albania" should be limited to the traditional homeland of the "true" Albanians - the Gheg Albanians. Thulium 10:15, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Actually the Tosk Albanians who did have Greek origins would have been a mix of the Gheg Albanians and original Greek inhbitants, therefore making them still primarily Albanian, having the culture, language and origins.The Tosks are by no means merely Albanized Greeks and the disinction of them as Albanian from Greeks is long as nay historical record can account. No matter what Greek origins they may have, they would still also be of Albanian origins.65.92.92.176 08:32, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

The following discussion is an archived debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Renewed discussion about ethnicity

A renewed debate about the ethnic characteristics of the Arvanites was closed and archived here: [17]. Please do not continue this discussion. The question of how "Albanian" and how "Greek" the Arvanites are and were was discussed for one and a half years. The answer to the question is now in the article. Read it. And read the literature. Fut.Perf. ☼ 14:33, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

May I add: PLEASE CREATE A FORUM on Yahoo or wherever, TO CARRY ON THE DISCUSSION AND INVITE US. Politis 17:30, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

LOL. Thulium 17:31, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

And another big chunk of ranting removed and archived here: [18] Fut.Perf. ☼ 21:58, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
And another: [19] Fut.Perf. ☼ 12:08, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.