Alphabet Day/ President Begaj: The Albanian language is being endangered by deformations and foreign influences

2025-11-22 14:03:00, Aktualitet CNA

Alphabet Day/ President Begaj: The Albanian language is being endangered by

President Bajram Begaj chose Shkodra to commemorate Alphabet Day and the 117th anniversary of the Congress of Manastir where the Albanian language was recognized from November 14 to November 22, 1908.

In his speech at the "Luigj Gurakuqi" University, Head of State Begaj said that the Alphabet and the Congress of Manastir inspire us for the future and that without language there is no nation.

President Begaj said that nowadays, a great deal of work and concrete projects are needed to preserve and protect the Albanian language, which is at risk of deformation from the influence of foreign languages ??or technology.

"Our alphabet not only unites us but is what inspires us for a future that we owe to our children. Without language there is no nation, without language there is no Albanian. Today, for the first time, Alphabet Day is celebrated in Albania. It is an honor to be in Shkodra to celebrate a decisive moment in the history of the Albanian nation, the Congress of Manastir that standardized the Albanian Alphabet, enabling us to be a nation with one voice and one language.

The Congress of Manastir was not only an Assembly of scholars but a great act of spiritual and national unity of Albanians. In 1908, thinkers and patriots came together in Manastir not to homogenize diversity but to unite us through our most precious asset, the Albanian language. They agreed on the unparalleled ideal for Albanian, to give Albanians a unique instrument of national development, the Albanian Language Alphabet, the right tool to withstand the assimilation and affirmation of the Albanian nation with the spread of the Albanian language. Since then, our Alphabet has served the development of cohesion and nation among provinces, villages, cities and traditions, but not only that, it is the tool that shapes the culture and knowledge of each of us and the strengthening of our blessed country.

It was attended by prominent figures such as Gjergj Fishta, Mit'hat Frashëri, Sotir Peqi, Ndre Mjeda, Shahin Kolonja, Bajar Topolli, Parashevi Qirjazi and many others. They left behind minor disagreements to focus on the great ideal, the ideal of uniting the nation through language. The commitment to the decision of the Manastir Congress and the commemoration of the day of the recognition of our Alphabet are particularly significant here in Shkodra, where the Albanian language mission took off, where the first books were written and printed through the Bashkimi society's Alphabet. Shkodra has given Albania prominent scholars of the Albanian language.

Language is the sign of nationality. It is the soul of a people. It holds the memory, customs, songs, legends, our way of thinking. Our Albanian language is among the oldest in Europe, having survived invasions, differences and attempts to eradicate it. No foreign power could erase it because it lived in the hearts of people, in the words of mothers, in the songs of the brave, in the stories of the wise. Albanian has kept us alive as a nation when we had no state, when we had no army and no defined borders. Preserving and developing the Albanian language is a patriotic act as important as defending the homeland.

Before reaching the Congress of Manastir, the Albanian language had gone through a long and arduous path. It was written in dozens of alphabets, this diversity shows the thirst of Albanians for knowledge and education, for the effort that the mother tongue had a voice in books, in schools, in culture, but at the same time, diversity did not serve national unity. There could be no common books, unified teaching, or clear communication. The work of patriots for the Albanian language has strengthened the foundations of our nation and has exalted the sacred foundation of national cohesion, the Albanian alphabet that remained the most precious tool to advance in science, to explore our national potential and to create a future for the country, for the region and more.

I believe that in Shkodra we can talk more than anywhere about dialects like the rivers of Albanian that nourish it because we are in the heart of a dialect like Ghegnishta in its most well-known form in the history of Albania, the Ghegnishta of Shkodra. In this sense, the challenges we face today are those of protecting and developing dialects and, in parallel, of learning and using Albanian correctly in school desks, in university auditoriums, in the media and social networks, as well as in institutions.

Every language, but especially those spoken by a smaller number of compatriots, such as Albanian, is nowadays at risk from the influence of international languages, but on the other hand from the deformations that occur through digital communication. The esteemed professors of the University of Shkodra know better than anyone that anyone who does not speak their own language well will always be limited in learning other languages. Anyone who wants to speak a foreign language must know their native language very well. We must cooperate and launch projects that help careful writing, with the standards of our language, the good use of the Alphabet without damaging it in forms that do not belong or impoverishing it.

This is one side of the coin because the other side has to do with the use of technology of all kinds, from communication to artificial intelligence, which are at the service of learning Albanian wherever there are Albanians and at the service of innovative projects for our language and culture.

The Manastir Congress is a triumph of the aspirations for unity and development of Albanians and remains a reference of Albania's achievements regardless of the conditions and circumstances. Today we have everything they dreamed of. We have Albania, we have Kosovo, we have Albanian education, Albanian media, Albanian technology, but we also have a high obligation to preserve, protect and further develop this sacred heritage of our language as the most vivid sign of Albanian identity: one language, one Albanian, one legacy.

"Without language, there is no nation, there can be no Albanian without the Albanian language, without Albanian letters and without Albanian schools. The Manastir Congress teaches us that unity is the force that gives meaning to every national effort. Today, as then, we have a nation that looks ahead, that honors its roots and that believes in the power of language, knowledge and unity," said Begaj./ CNA