lumë

Lumë is an Albanian noun meaning "river." It is written with the letter ë and functions as a basic geographic term in Albanian-speaking areas. In everyday use, lumë appears in many river names and is commonly employed in toponyms to denote a watercourse as part of a location’s name.

In toponymy, lumë is frequently combined with other elements that describe place or feature, such as nearby settlements, valleys, or landscape characteristics. This reflects a broad naming practice in Albanian geography, where rivers are often identified by a descriptive phrase plus lumë to anchor the feature in the landscape. Because rivers are important in local economies and cultures, the word lumë appears widely on maps, signs, and gazetteers across Albania and in neighboring regions with Albanian communities.

Linguistically, lumë is part of the Albanian lexicon for describing natural features. The language uses diacritics like ë to indicate specific vowel sounds, a characteristic of Albanian orthography that helps distinguish lumë from other similarly spelled terms. In contexts that require a definite reference, Albanian forms such as lumi may be used to indicate “the river.”

See also: Albanian language, Toponymy, Rivers of Albania, Geographic naming conventions.