In Albanian, every sound has its own letter and every letter has
its own sound. There is a one-to-one relationship between sounds
and letters, and reading and writing Albanian is relatively easy.
This is the Albanian alphabet:
a, b, c, ç, d, dh, e, ë, f, g, gj, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, nj, o, p,
q, r, rr, s, sh, t, th, u, v, x, xh, y, z, zh.
A quick inspection reveals that
(1) Albanian has 36 letters/sounds.
(2) The alphabet contains entries like 'dh' and 'th'; these are 'compound letters'; Linguists call them digraphs.
(3) There are two 'strange' letters: 'ç' and 'ë'.
(4) Albanian does not have the letter 'w'.
A discussion based on the above observations follows.
The letters that are pronounced similarly
The following consonants are pronounced similarly in English and in
Albanian.
b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, z
'g' is always pronounced like 'g' in 'great' (never like 'g' in
'digit'!).
Compound letters
Since the Latin alphabet has fewer than 36 letters, it is impossible to represent all
Albanian sounds with a single Latin character. Because of this, Albanian has
the so-called 'compound letters'. The following are the compound
letters: dh, gj, ll, nj, rr, sh, th, xh, zh. Each of them represents a
single sound. Each has a separate section in Albanian dictionaries, i.e.,
words that start with 'th' are not to be found in the 't' section of a
dictionary. Let's look at them one by one:
'dh' sounds like 'th' in the English word 'that'.
'gj' does not have a counterpart in English. It is produced
by the merger of Albanian sounds 'd' and 'j' (see below). 'gj' sounds like
the beginning of the word 'during', but you have to go a step further and
merge the first two sounds completely. It is a palatal sound, i.e., it is
pronounced with the tongue touching the palate.
Alternatively, you can pronounce this sound like the rest of
foreigners who learn Albanian, i.e., like 'j' in 'joy'. Albanians from
Kosova often pronounce it this way as well.
'll' is like the English 'll' in 'allow'.
'nj' sounds like 'n' in 'new', or like the Spanish 'ñ'.
'rr' is a rough sound. During its pronunciation the tongue
should not be rolled back. There is no similar sound in English, except
perhaps in Scotland.
'sh' is just like English 'sh' (or like German 'sch').
'th' is like the English 'th' in 'think'.
'xh' is like the English 'j' in 'joy'
'zh' is pronounced like French 'j' or like the English 's'
in 'measure'.
Letters that are not used in English.
There are two letters that are not seen in English, 'ç' and 'ë'.
'ç' is also seen in French, however Albanians pronounce it very differently.
Albanian 'ç' sounds like 'ch' in 'child' (or like German 'tsch').
'ë' sounds like 'u' in 'nurse' or in 'purse'. When in the end of a word, Albanians
usually ignore it (they do not pronounce it).
In everyday writing, Albanians often tend to replace 'ë' with 'e' and
'ç' with 'c'. However, they pronounce them correctly. This may present some
difficulties during communication (e.g. by email). The problem is exacerbated
by the scarcity of Albanian keyboards. Please keep this in mind.
Letters with 'unguessable' pronunciation
'c' sounds the same as 'ts'. For those who know German, Albanian
'c' sounds like German 'z'.
'j' is pronounced like 'y' in 'yellow' (just like
German 'j').
'q' is similar to 'gj' in that it is a palatal sound (it is
pronounced with the tongue touching the palate). It sounds like a merger
of Albanian sounds 't' and 'j' (see above). Alternatively, you can pronounce
it like 'ç' (see above). You will be understood.
'x' sounds the same as 'dz' (merged in one). This sound
is not
found in English. Italian speakers will recognize that this sound is
similar to
their 'z' in 'azzurri'.
'y' is a vowel in Albanian. It is like French 'u' or German 'ü'.
To pronounce it say 'ee' (as in sheep) and then round and pull forward your
lips, sort of like whistling.
The vowels.
Albanian has seven vowels. Two of them are described above ('ë' and 'y'). The other
five are described below.
'a' is a vowel and is pronounced like 'a' in 'farm'.
'e' is a vowel and is pronounced like 'e' in 'tell'.
'i' ia a vowel and is pronounced like 'ee' in 'sheep', or like 'i' in 'hit'.
'o' is a vowel and is pronounced like 'o' in 'top'.
'u' is a vowel and is pronounced like 'oo' in 'foot', or like 'u' in 'put'.
Learn well all the rules above, and you should be able to read Albanian.
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