Këtu

Këtu is the Albanian adverb meaning "here." It functions as a deictic indicator used to point to a location that is near the speaker or within the speaker’s immediate context. The word is integral to everyday speech in Albanian and appears in both major dialect groups, Gheg and Tosk, without a change in basic meaning.

Phonology and orthography: këtu is written with the letter ë, a distinct vowel sound in Albanian, and is pronounced roughly as [ˈkə.tu], with the stress on the first syllable. The spelling reflects standard Albanian orthography and is used consistently in formal and informal writing.

Usage: këtu can begin a sentence or appear mid-sentence to situate objects, events, or actions in the near present. Examples include: “Këtu është libri që kërkove” (Here is the book you asked for) and “Ndodhem këtu” (I am here). It can pair with verbs of existence, location, or movement to express proximity. The term helps distinguish location relative to the speaker from other deictics such as there or over there.

Semantics and variation: as a fundamental deictic, këtu marks closeness and can be complemented by other Albanian deictics to indicate different distances or perspectives. While widely used across dialects, regional speech may exhibit slight variations in cadence or emphasis, but the core meaning of “here” remains stable.

See also: deictic expressions in Albanian, including there and near-speech references.