The Adaptation of Albanians in the Ukraine: Historical and Linguistic Aspects

Abstract

There are four villages with Albanian population in the south of the Republic of Ukraine. The ancestors of the present-day Albanians of Ukraine had migrated from South-Eastern Albania to Eastern Bulgaria supposedly in the 16th century, and further moved to the Russian empire three centuries later. Up to date these Albanians have preserved their own vernacular and ethnic identity, the stable symbols of identity being the language, religious adherence, shared historical past, and common cultural heritage. The fieldwork conducted during the recent years allowed researchers to pinpoint the origins of this ethnic group, which substantially corrected earlier views of its history and language.