The Elifba alphabet (Elifba Albanian: ئەلیفبایا ئارابۋ-شكېپ, , from ) was one of the main writing system for the

Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...

during the time of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

from 19th century to 1911. This Albanian variant of the

Abjad An abjad ( or abgad) is a writing system in which only consonants are represented, leaving the vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. This contrasts with alphabets, which provide graphemes for both consonants and vowels. The term was introd ...

Ottoman was used to write the Albanian language. The last version of the ''Elifbaja shqip'' was invented by the

rilindas The Albanian National Awakening ( or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political, and social movement in the Albanian history where the Albanian ...

Rexhep Voka Rexhep is an Albanian masculine given name. People bearing the name include: * Rexhep Pasha Mati (1842–1908), Ottoman marshal, governor, war minister, revolutionary * Rexhep Demi (1864–1929), member of the Albanian independence movement, poli ...

(1847-1917). Although the first standardized Albanian script based on the Arabic alphabet was published in the 1800s, Sufi Albanian poets began composing poetry in Albanian using the Arabic script as early as the late 17th century.

History

The

Ottoman Turkish alphabet The Ottoman Turkish alphabet () is a version of the Perso-Arabic script used to write Ottoman Turkish for over 600 years until 1928, when it was replaced by the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet. Though Ottoman Turkish was primarily writt ...

was mainly favored by

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, but also used by some

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

. After being especially used during the Bejte poetry, a

primer Primer may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Primer'' (film), a 2004 feature film written and directed by Shane Carruth * ''Primer'' (video), a documentary about the funk band Living Colour Literature * Primer (textbook), a te ...

for the Albanian language in

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...

was published in 1861 in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

by Mullah Daut Boriçi, a prominent member of the

League of Prizren The League of Prizren (), officially the League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation (), was an Albanian political organization that was officially founded on June 10, 1878 in the old town of Prizren in the Kosovo Vilayet of th ...

. During 1909 and 1910 there were movements by Albanian

Young Turks The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...

supporters to adopt the

Arabic alphabet The Arabic alphabet, or the Arabic abjad, is the Arabic script as specifically codified for writing the Arabic language. It is a unicase, unicameral script written from right-to-left in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters, of which most ...

, as they considered the Latin script to be un-Islamic. In

Elbasan Elbasan ( , ; sq-definite, Elbasani, ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in centr ...

, Muslim clerics led a demonstration for the Arabic script, telling their congregations that using the Latin script would make them infidels. In 1911, the Young Turks dropped their opposition to the

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...

, and the current Latin alphabet for Albanian was adopted. In order to eliminate ambiguity in the pronunciation of the Arabic script,

developed a customized Arabic alphabet consisting of 44 consonants and vowels, which he published in 1911. However, it was hardly used anymore due to the

Congress of Manastir The Congress of Manastir () was an academic conference held in the city of Manastir (now Bitola) from November 14 to 22, 1908, with the goal of standardizing the Albanian alphabet. November 22 is now a commemorative day in Albania, Kosovo and ...

. Tiranli Fazli then used this script to publish a thirty-two page grammar. Only one Albanian newspaper at the time ever appeared in Arabic script, and it lasted a brief period. Regardless of what script appeared, such material raised Albanian national consciousness:Robert Elsie: ''The Currents of Moslem and Bektash Writing in Albania (1850–1950).'' In: Albanian Catholic Bulletin. Band 15, 1994, S. 172–177, hier S. 176. There were Albanian Arabic alphabet and reading books published in

in 1912,Müfid-Yüksel, "1328/1912'de İstanbul'da basılan Arnavutça Alfabe/Elifba&Okuma Kitapları - Albanian Alphabet/Reading Books Published In Istanbul In 1912
https://x.com/mufidyuksel/status/1287734820928446469
(Originally exctracted from The Turkish Directorate of State Archives and also the Albanian ''Zemér'' newspaper published in Constantinople in 1911-12.Müfid-Yüksel, "1911-12'de İstanbul'da Arnavutça yayınlanan Zemér (Yürek) gazetesi. - The Albanian "Zemér" Newspaper published at Istanbul in 1911-1
https://x.com/mufidyuksel/status/891071868458987520
/ref>

Alphabet

Sample text

Article 1 of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

in Albanian:

References

{{Arabic alphabets Ottoman Albania Writing systems Albanian scripts Arabic alphabets