Albanus

See also: albanus and albāņus

Latin

Etymology

Unknown. Suggested as derived from a Western European root *alb- found in various place names, perhaps also the source of Alpes, and/or from a Proto-Indo-European root *alb- (“mountain”) (see *h₂el- (“to rise, be tall”)), or from Proto-Celtic *albo-, *albiyū (“upper realm, world; mountain, Alps”) (whence also Albion). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?).

It is believed that they are related to the modern nation of the Albanians. While it has been identified with the Zgërdhesh hill-fort near Krujë in northern Albania, scholars believe the Illyrian settlement was abandoned in the 2nd century BC, when the inhabitants moved to Durrës and Lezhë.

Possibly related to arbën from Proto-Albanian *arwā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂rh₃ (“arable land, soil”); compare *h₂erh₃- (“to plough”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /alˈbaː.nus/, [äɫ̪ˈbäːnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /alˈba.nus/, [älˈbäːnus]

Noun

Albānus m (genitive Albānī, feminine Albāna); second declension

1. Albanian (Balkan Albania, Caucasian Albania and Scotland)
   • 1815, Joannis Severinus Vaterus, Linguarum totius orbis Index alphabeticus, quarum Grammaticae, Lexica, collectiones vocabulorum recensentur, patria significatur, historia adumbratur, Berolini, p. 10:

     Albani in orientali parte Illyriae veteris et Epiri passimque in Dalmatia, Bulgaria, Romania vivunt.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective, with locative.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine		Masculine	Feminine
Nominative	Albānus	Albāna		Albānī	Albānae
Genitive	Albānī	Albānae		Albānōrum	Albānārum
Dative	Albānō			Albānīs	Albānīs
Accusative	Albānum	Albānam		Albānōs	Albānās
Ablative	Albānō	Albānā		Albānīs	Albānīs
Vocative	Albāne	Albāna		Albānī	Albānae
Locative	Albānī	Albānae		Albānīs	Albānīs

Proper noun

Albānus m sg (genitive Albānī); second declension

View of the river

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alban
2. A river in Albania, now probably the Samur River

Declension

Second-declension noun, with locative, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Albānus
Genitive	Albānī
Dative	Albānō
Accusative	Albānum
Ablative	Albānō
Vocative	Albāne
Locative	Albānī

Descendants

• Galician: Albán
• Portuguese: Alvão, Albão
• → Ancient Greek: Ἀλβᾰνός (Albanós)
  • Greek: Αλβανός (Alvanós, now means Albanian)

References

• “Albanus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Albanus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “Albanus”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly