Documenting the Slavic Dialects of Albania: A photographer's gaze, a linguist's reflection

Our joint field expedition to ethnolinguistic minorities in Albania in 2020 sought to document their actual sociolinguistic situation by recording speech samples and capturing the everyday lives of their speakers. While the linguistic study sheds light on contact-induced changes in these language varieties, the accompanying photographs offer a visual narrative of these communities—portraying their traditions, architecture, and people.

Through this blend of scholarship and photography, the project not only preserves a fading linguistic heritage but also tells a compelling story of cultural resilience in the Balkans. The field trip was organized by Dr. Maxim Makartsev (Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg) as part of his linguistic research project. Our preliminary findings have been published here.

These are some of the photographs I took during this trip. They combine a visual narrative with linguistic and ethnographic commentary.

- Aino Väänänen

Baking bread (leb) on an aluminum tray (te'psija) in an oven (so'ba).

A café-bar (Albanian: lokal) in the village of Trebisht.

Trebisht. Elderly couple. The woman is dressed in traditional everyday attire: a headscarf (ša'mlija), a long shirt (ko'šulʼa), a skirt (pe'štemal)

Trebisht. Field area Gra'dišta. In the evening, it is used for football games and socialization of teenagers and young people.

A typical family dinner in the village of Trebisht. On the table – steamed rice, pljeskavica with yogurt and spices, bryndza, and drinking yogurt. All ingredients are purchased from the store.

M.H., one of our main assistants from the village of Trebisht. The photograph was taken in the area of Ja'strebec, on the way out of the village towards the Trebisht-Džepište border crossing. In the background, the Stogovo and Karaorman mountains (North Macedonia) can be seen. The hill behind M.H. is already on Albanian territory, and its name is Kute'jca. The slope facing the observer is divided into the following field areas: Gra'dišta (near M.H.'s right hand), Vo'lčki Ku'tel, Na'tina Le'dina, Kosti' Ramnik, Ve'išta (near M.H.'s left hand), Ra'psi Kraj (behind M.H.).