Arbanasi dialect
| Arbanasi | |
|---|---|
| Arbënishtja | |
| Region | Croatia |
Native speakers | 500 (2002) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | arba1240 |
| Linguasphere | 55-AAA-ab |
| IETF | aln-HR |
A map showing Gheg speakers in green | |
Arbanasi is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
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The Arbanasi dialect (natively: Arbëneshë) is a dialect of Gheg Albanian that is spoken in long-standing diaspora communities of Albanians in Croatia. Its speakers originated from the region of Kraja (now in modern Montenegro), and moved to Croatia in the early 18th century.
It is notable for a number of divergent developments as well as preservations of certain archaic features of Medieval Gheg Albanian. Slavic Croatian influences are present, as are Romance influences from Italian and Venetian.
The dialect may also be called the "Dalmatian dialect" of Albanian in some older publications.