12 Albanian Verb Dictionary and Manual.pdf

ALBANIAN VERB DICTIONARY AND MANUAL

Geoff Husić

University of Kansas Libraries

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Formation of Verb Forms according to Verb Stem

Verb Conjugation Types

Index to Verbs by Conjugation Pattern

Albanian-English Verb Glossary

English-Albanian Verb Glossary

Index to Verbs by Conjugation Type

Verb Paradigms Index

arrij , bëj , bërtas , bie , bie , bjerr , blej , brej , çaj , çliroj , dal , di , djeg , dua , eci , flas , fle , fsheh , fshij , fut ,

gatuaj , gjej , godit , ha , hap , heq , hipi , humbas , huj , iki , jam , jap , kam , kthej , lë , lidh , marr , mat , mbaj ,

mbledh , mbruj , mbyt , ndiej , ndyj , ngre , njoh , pi , pjek , pres , pres , pyes , quaj , rri , shkruaj , shoh , shpie ,

sjell , them , thërres , thyej , vdes , vë , vendos , vete , vij , vjedh , vras , zë , ziej

Bibliography

236

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Introduction

The goal of this work is to serve as a tool for students of standard Albanian, based on the Tosk

dialect, providing a ready-reference source to the complete conjugation in all tenses and moods of

many of the most common verbs in their standard forms. This work was prompted by frustration

caused by trying to construct the complete conjugations of Albanian verbs according to the available

Albanian grammars and dictionaries [see Bibliography ] . Many grammars present elaborate

classification schemes for Albanian verbs according to conjugation type, which is very helpful for

understanding the dynamics of the changes in verb stems and endings. However, Mann and Çamaj both

base these patterns primarily on Geg forms, while making references to the Tosk (the current standard).

This, of course, becomes confusing for anyone attempting to use these grammars to learn what is now

considered the standard.

Furthermore, in these two grammars, as well as in Newmark (which does use standard forms)

verb patterns and their associated tenses and moods are spread over many pages, with notes on

exceptional forms not always conspicuous. Çamaj's extensive notes on Old Albanian and Arberësht

forms make it difficult to locate standard forms at a glance. Eintrei is somewhat better in respect to ease

of usage, however it exists only in Russian. With no exaggeration, it occasionally requires thumbing

through all four grammars and several dictionaries to arrive at the complete conjugation of some verbs,

and even at that point there are often lingering doubts spawned by certain conflicting information, due

to heretofore unsettled issues in standardization, even in sources going by the standard. It is my hope

that this manual will be a useful tool in mastering the Albanian verb.

Organization

I have attempted to limit the length of the work by not including too many verbs which follow

completely regular patterns. Instead a cross reference will be given in Index to Verbs by Conjugation

Type for verbs with an identical pattern to a given form, especially when the conjugation involved is

fairly simple, e.g. no changes in internal stem vowel or consonant. However, this work is not intended

to be a dictionary of all verbs in Albanian.

While this is not a sematic study, please note that the Albanian verb will usually fall into one of

4 basic patterns based on semantic criteria:

1. Transitive verbs ( trans. ) having both active and medio-passive forms in all persons. Note that there

may be a substantial difference in the meaning of the active and medio-passive forms, e.g. ha ' to eat' -

hahem 'to argue', while hahet can mean 'it is eaten' or 'he argues.'

2. Transitive verbs ( intrans. ) having a full active conjugation, but in which the medio-passive usually

occurs only in the 3rd personal and would usually only make sense in connection with inanimate

objects, e.g. thuhet 'it is said.'

3. Intransitive verbs having a full active conjugation, but due to their intransitivity cannot have

semantic passive counterparts. These verbs may, however, have a medio-passive form occurring in the

3rd person singular to form certain kinds of impersonal expressions, e.g. S'më flihet 'I can't sleep.'

Only a few examples have been given here. ( cf. fle ) .

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4: Verbs existing only in the medio-passive form, e.g. turrem 'I dash.'

Following the heading for each verb I have included the conjugation type used by Newmark in

his Standard Albanian . This will guide the user to the immensely useful information provided by

Newmark in his section on verbs.

I have preferred in most cases not to give an alternative verbal form unless it appears to be at

least as common as the standard form. In most cases I have made this decision based on the first form

given in Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe. Prishtinë: Rilindja, 1981. Other sources in the Bibliography

can be consulted by those interested in variant forms.

Verb conjugations are presented in the tradition European order: 1st, 2 nd , 3 rd person singular, and

1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd person plural. The imperatives, which exists only in the 2 nd person, are in the order 2 nd

person singular, 2 nd person plural.

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Formation of Verb Forms according to Verb stem

Despite the initial visual complexity of the Albanian verbs all verbal forms are created from

three stems: the present, the aorist, and the participle. The following is a breakdown of tenses according

to the stem used:

Present stem : The present stem is the basis for forming the following tenses: Active indicative

present, Active indicative continuous present, Active indicative future, Active subjunctive present,

Active subjunctive imperfect, Active present conditional; and (usually) the Active imperative, and all

simple forms of the Medio-passive voice (i.e. those not formed with u ). For example the stem shoh- 'to

see' yields the following forms (except for the Imperative cited here in 1st person singular):

Active forms: shoh 'I see,' po shoh 'I am giving,' shihja 'I was seeing,' do të shoh 'I will

see,' të shoh 'that I see,' të shihja 'that I might see,' do të shihja 'I would see,' shih ,

shihni 'See!'

Passive forms: shihem 'I am seen,' po shihem 'I am being seen,' shihesha 'I was seen

(often, occasionally, etc.),' po shihesha 'I was being seen,' do të shihem 'I will be seen,'

të shihem 'that I be seen,' të shihesha 'that I might see,' do të shihesha 'I would be

seen,' shihu , shihuni 'Be seen!'

Aorist stem : The aorist stem is the basis for forming the aorist. The aorist stem pa- 'see' gives:

pashë 'I saw,' u pashë 'I was seen.'

In some verbs the aorist stem is also the basis for forming the optative, e.g. zjevsha 'May I boil'

(aorist zjeva , participle zier (see ziej ) .

Participle stem : The participle stem is the basis for forming the participle, the infinitive, and

the admirative of both the Active and Medio-passive voices. In most verbs the optative stem is usually

identical to the participle minus the participial markers -ur , -r(ë) , and -në .

Note that verbs with participles ending in -në , e.g. dhënë

'g ive' form the optative from the

infinitive stem.

In any verbs which have a change in the stem vowel to -i- in the 2nd person plural, the -i- is

carried over into all Active indicative imperfect forms, both imperative forms, and all simple forms of

the Medio-passive voice.

Note, however, that in some totally irregular verbs, these stems might be based on stems of historically

different verbs, similar to the case of go vs went in English.

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