Arbëresh language

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Arbëresh (or Arbërishte or Arbërisht) is the dialect of the Albanian language spoken by the Arbëreshë, the Albanian-speaking minority in Italy. It derives from the Tosk dialect spoken in southern Albania, and is spoken in Southern Italy in the regions of Calabria, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Campania, Abruzzi and Sicily. The same name is also used as a native name for Arvanitic, the Albanian varieties in Greece. Both groups of dialects are closely related with each other.

Arbërisht retains many archaisms of medieval Albanian from the pre-Ottoman invasion of the country period of the 16th century, and also retains some Greek language elements notable in 16th Century southern Albania, some of which can still be found in the Laberia region in southwestern Albania, in towns such as Himarë, Sarande and Vlora.

Arbërisht has been under a slow decline in recent decades, but is currently experiencing a revival in many villages in Italy. Figures such as Zef Skiroi have done much work on school books and other language learning tools in the language.

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