Shkije, shkje, shqa, or shkla(n) is an Albanian ethnonym (exonym) used to denote non-Albanians. Derived from the Latin ethnonym "Sclaveni", it is among the oldest ethnonyms used in the Albanian language. In modern Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia, shkije, shkje, shkavell and similar terms acquired a pejorative connotation.
From around mid-20th century onwards, to denote Slavs Albanian lexicographers have preferred the Modern Albanian ethnonym sllav, pl. sllavë(t), which is an internationalism that has penetrated and taken hold in use over time.
Name
Attestation
The ethnonym was firstly documented by the
Old Albanian author Pjetër Bogdani in 1685, while the name
Shkienia "Schiavonia" was documented by the Old Albanian author
Frang Bardhi in 1635. However, the ethnonym has been used since the earliest contacts of
Albanians and
South Slavs from around the 6th century CE onwards.
Etymology
It is derived from the
Latin term "
Sclaveni",
which contained the traditional meaning of “the neighbouring foreigner”.
[Pipa, Arshi (1989). The politics of language in socialist Albania. East European Monographs. p. 178. "North Albanian call Slavs shqé (sg. shqá Ethnonyms with the same origin are also found in Romance languages of the Balkans, such as Dalmatian and Eastern Romance languages (c.f. Șchei, used by Romanians to name Slavs, in particular Bulgarians).
]
Usage
It is used in the Gheg Albanian dialect of Albanian to refer to Southern Slavs such as Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins, to a lesser extent Croats and Bosniaks, and also simply non-Albanians such as Greeks and Italians.[Tsitsipis, Lukas (1981). Language change and language death in Albanian speech communities in Greece: A sociolinguistic study. (Thesis). University of Wisconsin. pp. 100-101. "The term /evjeni̇́stika/ meaning “polite”, used by the young speaker to refer to Greek, is offered as synonymous to /shkljiri̇́shtika/ one of the various morphological shapes of the Arvanitika word /shkljeri̇́shtë/ which refers to “the Greek language”. Thus, Greek is equated with the more refined, soft, and polite talk. The concept of politeness is occasionally extended from the language to its speakers who are the representatives of the urban culture. In conversations in Kiriaki, I heard the word /shklji̇́ra/ (fem.) referring to a city women who exhibits polite and fancy behavior according to the local view. As I stated in the introduction to this dissertation, most of the occurrences of the term /shkljeri̇́shtë/ are not socially marked, and simply refer to the Greek language. But a few are so marked and these are the ones that reflect the speakers’ attitudes. The term /shkljeri̇́shtë/ is ambiguous. This ambiguity offers a valuable clue to the gradual shift in attitudes. It points to the more prestigious Greek language and culture, and also has a derogatory sense. In my data only the first meaning of the socially marked senses of the word occurs."; pp. 101-102. "The second meaning is offered by Kazazis in his description of the Arvanitika community of Sofikó, in the Peloponnese (1976:48): . . . two older people from Sofiko told me independently that, to the not-so-remote past, it was those who spoke Greek with their fellow-Arvanites who were ridiculed. Even today, if an older inhabitant of Sofiko were to speak predominantly in Greek with his fellow villagers of the same age, he would be called i shkljerishtúarë, literally “Hellenized” but used here as a derogatory term denoting affectation. One of those two informants, a woman, said that, until about 1950, it was a shame for a girl in Sofiko to speak Greek with her peers, for that was considered as “putting on airs.” In Spata, /shkljeri̇́shtë/ is used only to refer to “the Greek language” although speakers are aware of the other meanings of the word."] while the Arbëreshë in Italy, a substantial part of which originates from the Arvanites, use the words shklan and shklerisht which mean "that does not speak Arbëreshë", or "that speaks an incomprehensible language", referring to the Latin languages.
It was widely used in the Albanian literature as well, i.e. Sami Frasheri in his works["...Po me të qënë që sot flasinë serbisht, quhenë Shqeh e jo Shqipëtarë; se gjuha ësht, e para shënj e të çquarit të kombevet."] and Gjergj Fishta (1871–1940), notably in Lahuta e Malcís (1937).
During the Yugoslav wars, Albanian newspapers often called Serbs "Shkja".
Word forms
|
|
| shkijet/shkinat (the serbs) |
| shkijet/shkinat |
| i/e/të/së shkijeve/shkinave |
| shkijeve/shkinave |
| (prej) shkijeve/shkinave |
See also
Bibliography
