unë

See also: Appendix:Variations of "une"

Albanian

Alternative forms

• una, une, uno — southern Gheg
• une — northeastern Gheg
• u, uth — Arbëresh
• un — dialectical, Gheg and Tosk

Etymology 1

Compound of archaic and dialectal u +‎ -në (particle) (compare Tosk Albanian ti (“you”) vs. Gheg tinë). U is from earlier *udh, from Proto-Albanian *udz, from *uǵ, with vowel from *túh₂ (see ti), from Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂.

Accusative mua (var. mue) is from emphatic *h₁mēm, clitic më is from clitic *h₁me, and ablative meje is from locative *h₁moí + j + -e (ablative ending of nouns). Arbëresh has uth (u + diminutive -th).

Pronunciation

• (Tosk) IPA^(key): [un], [unə]
  • IPA^(key): [u], [uth] (Arbëresh)
• (Gheg) IPA^(key): [ũn]
  • IPA^(key): [ũn], [ũna], [ũnɛ], [ũnɔ] (Southern Gheg)
  • IPA^(key): [ũn], [ũnɛ] (Northeastern Gheg)

Pronoun

unë (accusative mua, dative mua, ablative meje)

1. I

   Unë jam njeri i lirë.

   I am a free man.

Declension

Forms of unë (1st person singular)

nominative	unë
ablative	meje
	full form	clitic
accusative	mua	më
dative	mua	më
	possessive adjective	possessive pronoun
	im	imi

Related terms

• në (also spelled ne, na)

See also

Albanian personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		unë	ne
2nd person		ti	ju
3rd person	m	ai	ata
	f	ajo	ato

Etymology 2

From Proto-Albanian *wantā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wn̥tós (“wounded”). Compare English wound, Old Armenian վանդեմ (vandem, “to drive away, destroy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈunə]

Noun

unë f

1. potsherd

Further reading

• “unë”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006