Elifba

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The Elifbâ by Rexhep Voka (1911)

The Elifba ( Albanian  Elifbaja , from Ottoman الفبا İA Elifbâ ) was a writing system of the Albanian language that was based on the Ottoman - Arabic alphabet, which in turn was based on the Persian alphabet .

history

The Arabic-based alphabet of the Albanian language was mainly used by Muslims , but also by Christians in the time of the Ottoman Empire (from the 14th century), while Orthodox Albanians used the Greek or Cyrillic script and Catholic Albanians used the Latin script . The Bejtes (from Turkish Beyte ) of the Bejtexhinj , a genre of poetry in verse form that was widespread in Albania and Chameria in the 18th and 19th centuries, are rich evidence of Albanian literature in Ottoman-Persian script ; characteristic were a high proportion of Turkish, Persian and Arabic loanwords ( Turzisms ).

In 1861 the leader of the League of Prizren , Davut Şükrü Efendi from Scutari (also called Daut Boriçi ), introduced the first textbook for the Albanian language in Arabic script. It was issued in Istanbul and published under a pseudonym. A second edition was published in 1869. A third language textbook, which differed from the first, followed in 1881. During his lifetime, Davut Şükrü was unable to complete a grammar textbook and a Turkish-Albanian dictionary, although the Ottoman-Turkish language was also written in Arabic at that time and was not written until 1928 under state founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk the Latin alphabet was introduced.

In 1909, however, at the congress of Monastir , a meeting of nationalists in Bitola , contrary to the wishes of many Orthodox, Muslim , Young Turkish -minded Albanians as well as sultans, it was decided to introduce the Latin Istanbul alphabet , which is primarily used by Catholics ; involved were Gjergj Fishta and Midhat Frashëri . Especially the Young Turks, many of whom sympathized with the Albanian national movement, wanted to keep the Arabic alphabet for the Albanian language in 1909 and 1910, since the majority of Albanians are Muslims, and they the Albanians as a whole - regardless of whether they are Muslim or not Christian - regarded as a brother people or sympathized with them. In Elbasan , Muslim clergymen organized a demonstration for the reintroduction of Arabic script and declared that the use of Latin script made one an unbeliever ( qafiri ) . After the well-known Turkish journalist Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın , who was close to the Committee for Unity and Progress , praised Latin script, the Ottoman government agreed to introduce Latin script. In order to remove the ambiguity in the pronunciation of the Arabic script, the Muslim scholar Rexhep Voka (1847–1917), who was close to the Albanian national movement, developed an adapted Arabic alphabet consisting of 44 consonants and vowels. It was published in 1911. Tiranli Fazli used this font to publish a thirty-two page grammar. However, only one Albanian newspaper appeared for a short time in Arabic script. In 1914 Essad Pasha Toptani tried unsuccessfully to reintroduce the Arabic alphabet in the Principality of Albania .

At the latest at the time of state-imposed atheism during the communist dictatorship under Enver Hodscha , Albanian literature in Arabic script was forgotten. Muslim first names were banned, the multitude of dialects ( Gegisch and Tuskisch ) was standardized, and words of Turkish, Persian or Arabic origin were eliminated from the Albanian vocabulary and replaced by Latin or supposedly “ Illyrian ”, whereby the relation of the Albanian language to the ancient language the Illyrian is not proven. A companion of Hodscha's well-known to the international audience, Ismail Kadare , described the legacy of Albanian poetry, written in Arabic letters during the Ottoman period, as “ homosexual and pedophile literature”.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ HT Norris: Islam in the Balkans: Religion and Society Between Europe and the Arab World . University of South Carolina Press, 1993, ISBN 978-0-87249-977-5 , pp. 76 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ↑ Daut efendi Boriçi, dijetari i shquar Islam (Daut Efendi Boriçi, distinguished Islam Scholar). (No longer available online.) Drita Islame, archived from the original on June 17, 2012 ; Retrieved June 15, 2012 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dritaislame.al
  3. ^ Robert Elsie: A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History . Tauris, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-78076-431-3 , pp. 47–48, limited preview in the Google book search.
  4. ^ Robert Elsie: The Currents of Moslem and Bektash Writing in Albania (1850-1950). (PDF) In: Albanian Catholic Bulletin. Volume 15, 1994, pp. 172-177, here p. 176.
  5. ↑ George Gawrych: The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874-1913 . IB Tauris, London 2006, ISBN 978-1-84511-287-5 , pp. 26, 87 . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  6. ↑ Ervin Hatibi: The sun that rises in the west. Islam and Muslims as perceived by the Albanian elite . In: East-West. Europäische Perspektiven , Vol. 8 (2007), Heft 4, pp. 278–284 ( online , accessed on March 18, 2020).