2. I never said the Albanians are 100 percent pure Albanians. But there is reason to believe that they are probably the closest living relatives to the Illyrians, much like the Romanian language is the closest surviving relative to Latin (not Italian). This conclusion is based on ancient Roman and Greek texts that use toponyms and people names that can best be explained using Albanian.
When I said that I think the village dwellers of Albania are the closest match to ancient Albanians, I should have clarified that I was still speaking linguistically. To be more specific, the Gheg dialect spoken in the mountains of northern Albania and in Kosovo is the most pure form of the Albanian language. Unfortunately communism in Albania attempted to standardize the dialects and created a lot of unnatural speaking rules now accepted by the educated. Latin has had a similar effect on English grammar, making English somewhat awkward and confusing, especially by eliminating the use of noun declination (cases). I suppose the key to finding the most ancient form of a language is by studying the population that has been touched least by civilization.
3. You are correct that the Slavic incursions into the Balkans originated in the areas that you described, not in the Baltic region. In my first post, I placed the ancestral homeland of the Slavs in the Baltics. This description is synonymous with the Proto-Slavic culture, not the late Slavic culture of the 6th and 7th centuries. The fact that reference was being made to the Proto-Slavs should also be clear by the inclusion of languages from the several Slavic regions (Eastern, Southern, and Western).
In any case, I appreciate a good discussion with point/counterpoint for once on Freerepublic. I enjoyed reading and responding to your response much more than the “Serbs rule, Albanians suck” browbeating that usually shows up on these threads. We are all conservatives on this forum, but often that relationship engenders a level of close-mindedness, the same for which we disdain the left!
“Until we find some sort of Rosetta Stone for all of these languages, much will remain mystery. Even more will remain speculation.”
We probably will never find it. Thus, we’ll never know for sure, either way.
“I enjoyed reading and responding to your response much more than the “Serbs rule, Albanians suck” browbeating that usually shows up on these threads.”
This is just my opinion, but I feel that Serbs and Albanians are both like all other groups of people...namely some are good, some are bad, and some are in between to various degrees. I feel that both Serbs and Albanians are mostly either good or inbetweeners, just like everone else.
“To be more specific, the Gheg dialect spoken in the mountains of northern Albania and in Kosovo is the most pure form of the Albanian language.”
And even then it’s probably not free from outside influence. The Tosk is probably influenced by Greek. In fact, I think that the Tosks are part Greek in background. THough I’m no expert. Then again, the Slavs among others no doubt left their genetic mark on the Gheg as well. And the Romans contributed their fair share, I suspect. Linguistics, too.
“Unfortunately communism in Albania attempted to standardize the dialects and created a lot of unnatural speaking rules now accepted by the educated.”
Ah, the benefits of linguistic unity. :-)
“In my first post, I placed the ancestral homeland of the Slavs in the Baltics. This description is synonymous with the Proto-Slavic culture, not the late Slavic culture of the 6th and 7th centuries.”
I thought that the Indo-Europeans originated somewhere in the Ukraine, and they broke off into several waves.
First to leave where the ancestors of the Centum speaking peoples, then afterwards, the Satem speakers spread out, leaving the Balto-Slavic speakers who separated and evolved separately, or at least that’s my opinion.