Easy words
Romanian - English
b a n k ë - bank (Typing the e with double dots above is easy. Just press on the letter e and hold it down. Up pop a choice of letters e. Number four is the one with two dots above. Keep your finger on the pressed e and tap 4.)
f a r m a c i - pharmacy (in the UK called a chemist)
hi - hi
hotel - hotel
h o t e l e - hotels
kafe - café
peshk - fish
plaza - plaza
r e s t o r a n t - restaurant
s a n d u i ç - sandwich
s t a c i o n - station
English - Romanian
bank - b a n k ë
café - k a f e
plaza - plaza
r e s t o r a n t - restaurant
s a n d u i ç - sandwich
s t a c i o n - station
English - Romanian
bank - b a n k ë
café - k a f e
fish - peshk (from the Latin, like the English zodiac sign pisces, f and p being often linked in various languages)
hi - hi
hotel - hotel
hotels - h o t e l e
plaza - plaza
pharmacy (in the UK called a chemist) - f a r m a c i
restaurant - r e s t o r a n t
sandwich - s a n d u i ç (hold down the letter c and tap the number one)
station - s t a c i o n
Now you know how to recognize ten easy and useful words in Albanian.
hi - hi
hotel - hotel
hotels - h o t e l e
plaza - plaza
pharmacy (in the UK called a chemist) - f a r m a c i
restaurant - r e s t o r a n t
sandwich - s a n d u i ç (hold down the letter c and tap the number one)
station - s t a c i o n
Now you know how to recognize ten easy and useful words in Albanian.
- Albanian words of Latin origin include
- Latin amīcus → Albanian mik 'friend', inimīcus → armik 'foe, enemy'
- benedīcere → bekoj,
- castellum → kështjellë 'castle',
- centum → qind 'hundred',
- medicus → mjek 'doctor',
- spērāre → dial. shp(ë)rej, shpresoj 'to hope', pres 'to await',
- voluntās (voluntātis) → vullnet 'will; volunteer'.
- Some Albanian church terminology has phonetic features which demonstrate their very early borrowing from Latin. A few examples include Albanian bekoj 'to bless' from benedīcere,
- engjëll 'angel' from angelus,
- kishë 'church' from ecclēsia, i
- krishterë 'Christian' from christiānus,
- kryq 'cross' from crux (crucis)
Using google translate
darkë - dinner (think of a meal after dark)
drekë - lunch
mëngjes - breakfast
çaj -tea
mali - mountain
bukë - bread
Mish - meat
pulë - chicken (like french poule)
peshku - fish
vegjetarian - vegetarian
perimesh - vegetable
bizele/bizele -
makinë - car
karrota - carrot
birrë - beer
verë - wine
e kuqe
të bardhë - white
verë e kuqe - red wine
verë e Bardhë - white wine
verë me gaz - sparkling wine
alkoolit - alcohol
pa alkool/ - no alcohol
pa alkool - without alcohol
tabela - table
karrige - chair
dhoma g ainjumi double bedroom
krevat dopio - double bed
sapun - soap
tualet - toilet
makinë - car
autobus - bus
treni - train
aeroplan - plane
sot - today
nesër - tomorrow
mbyllur - closed
e mirë (e admirueshme) - good (admirable)
keq - bad
e tmerrshme - terrible
sheqer - sugar
rosto - roast
marmelatë - marmalade
rrushi - grape
fruta kivi - kiwi fruit
piper - pepper
muzikë - music
opera - operatortë - cake
biskotë - biscuit
cokollate - chocolate
luleshtrydhe - strawberry
mjedër - raspberry
boronica - blueberry
domate - tomato
me - with
dhe - and
ose - or
të - the
Unë/unë/e imja - I/me/mine
ju - you
ai - he
ajo - she
atë - it
ne - we
ata/ - they
ato - them
valixhe - suitcase (like valise)
kosto - cost
i madh - big
i vogël - small
kapelë - hat
veshjet - dress
fund - skirt
bluzë - blouse
këmishë - shirt
kravatë - tie
kapak - cap
shall - scarf
stoli - jewellery
argjendi - silver
ari - gold
lëkurë - leather
Story
I met an Albanian at Toastmasters. Smiling and good looking. Always smiling. I like Albanians.
He was a builder. Then I met another man. He was a plumber.
He asked me, "What do you do?"
I said, "I am an author, and I teach English, and I'm learning other languages."
I asked the plumber, What's your language?"
He said,"It's Albanian."
Hm. For once I was lost for words.
Problem
I don't speak one word of Albanian. He was ahead of me, speaking both Albanian and English, some French, a bit of Greek. He spoke my language fluently. But I was a teacher and could not speak one word of his language.
Answer
I could learn one word from him. I could get a free lesson.
Keep it simple. I asked, "Is it easy to read Albanian, if you speak English? Are the letters the same?"
Tips
"The Albanian alphabet? Yes, the letters are the same. But Albanian has more of them."
That sounds very Alice in Wonderland. I asked, "Please explain."
"The Albanian language has 36 letters, mostly the same as in English, but double letters are counted."
Ch sounds like Russian, looks like Russian, has a cedilla and pronounced ch as in the English word Chance.
SH as in should counts as one letter.
xh - pronounced J as in Jack.
For example:
uncle in English is written in Albanian as - xhaxhi - pronounced judge ee
th - a new letter. "A little th as in thing think, fifth."
dh - "a strong th as in the or this, themselves, leather".
What about sentence structure?
"I am reading a book:
un - i
yam
duke
ledur," says my Albanian friend.
I could not grasp that the first time, let alone remember it. Let's make life easy. I asked, "Which words are the same in both languages?"
"Many Words Are The same:
hotel
taxi
train."
Now, let's try some everyday words such as hello and goodbye, and yes and no, and please and thank you.
thank you - f a l i m i n d e r e t (sounds longer in Albanian). Sound like Ali but it start f a l i (memory aid for thank you, thank you, Ali, I can't fail FALI; mind / minder / et / tete.
hello
goodbye - l a m t u m i r ë
What does the double dot on the ë mean?
If you click on the sound symbol underneath the word at the bottom of the text box in Google translate you can hear that the ë sound like er, a short version of err.
To type the e with the double dot above, press down the e key on your laptop keyboard; up pops a list of possible accents - see that the one you want is number 4; continue to hold down the e key and with your other hand, your right hand, tap the number four key at the top of the keyboard. Release both fingers and you should see the e with the two dots. If you get an ordinary e, or double ee, you have mistimed it by holding or release one finger. Just try again.
How are you? Ok.
c u ok
mir - ok
t mir - you ok
"You ask about the whole family, your father ok, your mother ok and so on. So you hear, '... mir ... mir ... mir?' "
They also use OK because they learn English as a second language in school, so no problem speaking to Albanians. They have similar words such as:
stress - stress
What about yes and no?
Yes - po (I think of very possible - yes)
no - yo , (I think of ay-yi-yi, absolutely not, you have to be kidding me)
How confusing. Both end with o, and the no starts with a ye like the English yes.
I met an Albanian at Toastmasters. Smiling and good looking. Always smiling. I like Albanians.
He was a builder. Then I met another man. He was a plumber.
He asked me, "What do you do?"
I said, "I am an author, and I teach English, and I'm learning other languages."
I asked the plumber, What's your language?"
He said,"It's Albanian."
Hm. For once I was lost for words.
Problem
I don't speak one word of Albanian. He was ahead of me, speaking both Albanian and English, some French, a bit of Greek. He spoke my language fluently. But I was a teacher and could not speak one word of his language.
Answer
I could learn one word from him. I could get a free lesson.
Keep it simple. I asked, "Is it easy to read Albanian, if you speak English? Are the letters the same?"
Tips
"The Albanian alphabet? Yes, the letters are the same. But Albanian has more of them."
That sounds very Alice in Wonderland. I asked, "Please explain."
"The Albanian language has 36 letters, mostly the same as in English, but double letters are counted."
Ch sounds like Russian, looks like Russian, has a cedilla and pronounced ch as in the English word Chance.
SH as in should counts as one letter.
xh - pronounced J as in Jack.
For example:
uncle in English is written in Albanian as - xhaxhi - pronounced judge ee
th - a new letter. "A little th as in thing think, fifth."
dh - "a strong th as in the or this, themselves, leather".
What about sentence structure?
"I am reading a book:
un - i
yam
duke
ledur," says my Albanian friend.
I could not grasp that the first time, let alone remember it. Let's make life easy. I asked, "Which words are the same in both languages?"
"Many Words Are The same:
hotel
taxi
train."
Now, let's try some everyday words such as hello and goodbye, and yes and no, and please and thank you.
thank you - f a l i m i n d e r e t (sounds longer in Albanian). Sound like Ali but it start f a l i (memory aid for thank you, thank you, Ali, I can't fail FALI; mind / minder / et / tete.
hello
goodbye - l a m t u m i r ë
What does the double dot on the ë mean?
If you click on the sound symbol underneath the word at the bottom of the text box in Google translate you can hear that the ë sound like er, a short version of err.
To type the e with the double dot above, press down the e key on your laptop keyboard; up pops a list of possible accents - see that the one you want is number 4; continue to hold down the e key and with your other hand, your right hand, tap the number four key at the top of the keyboard. Release both fingers and you should see the e with the two dots. If you get an ordinary e, or double ee, you have mistimed it by holding or release one finger. Just try again.
How are you? Ok.
c u ok
mir - ok
t mir - you ok
"You ask about the whole family, your father ok, your mother ok and so on. So you hear, '... mir ... mir ... mir?' "
They also use OK because they learn English as a second language in school, so no problem speaking to Albanians. They have similar words such as:
stress - stress
What about yes and no?
Yes - po (I think of very possible - yes)
no - yo , (I think of ay-yi-yi, absolutely not, you have to be kidding me)
How confusing. Both end with o, and the no starts with a ye like the English yes.
Remember, yes, it is possible. Yes is po.
No, no, yo, yo. Can I operate a yo-yo, no, no!
rr (rolled r)
r r u g is road or street
table - same as English and French
rr (rolled r)
r r u g is road or street
table - same as English and French
Useful Websites
Please share links to your favourite blog posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment