alfabeti

Alfabeti is the set of letters used to write a language. In Albanian usage, alfabeti refers to the Latin-based writing system adopted in the early 20th century as part of a national standardization effort. Before that, Albanians used scripts such as Arabic, Cyrillic, and Greek to varying degrees in different regions and periods.

The modern Albanian alphabet emerged from the movement to unify orthography and enable broad literacy. A Latin-based standard was proposed and refined during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, culminating in a form that was widely adopted after Albania declared independence in 1912. The alphabet has since remained relatively stable, with only minor refinements that did not alter its core Latin framework.

Orthographically, the Albanian alfabeti is designed to reflect phonemic structure. It uses diacritics to represent distinct sounds, most notably the letters ç and ë. In addition, the system employs several digraphs that correspond to single phonemes, such as dh, gj, ll, nj, rr, sh and th, to capture sounds not represented by single basic letters. The aim is a close correspondence between spoken Albanian and its written form, facilitating accurate pronunciation and learning.

Current usage of the Albanian alphabet is widespread in Albania and in Albanian-speaking communities in neighboring regions and diaspora communities. It continues to serve as the standard orthography for education, media, government, and literature, reflecting both national linguistic identity and practical communication needs.