http://www.cemes.org/current/ethpub/ethnobar/wp3/wp3-a.htm
... The Albanian language is the main marker of the Albanian nation: an Albanian remains Albanian for as long as he/she speaks the Albanian language; if he/she loses his/her Albanian due to the exclusive use of the Macedonian language, he/she becomes "assimilated", as the Albanians say, mentioning as an example the case of the Christian Orthodox Albanian population living in the central part of western Macedonia. Today, most Orthodox Albanians have become Macedonians to gain material advantages, both in Yugoslavia and in Macedonia, and the younger generations speak only Macedonian and call themselves Macedonians, whereas their grandparents’ generation spoke only Albanian.
...Lastly, marriages between Albanians and Macedonians are extremely rare. The Albanians refuse to give their daughters to Macedonian men, for the "fear" or "risk of assimilation." The children born of an inter-ethnic marriage will automatically be Macedonian In this regard, the case of the villages of the Mavrovo region, inhabited by Christian Albanians who married Macedonians and are now assimilated, is often mentioned. On the other hand, when Albanian men are told that they can marry Macedonian women thereby averting the danger of assimilation, they answer that Macedonian women generally refuse to become part of Albanian families and if they do they refuse to learn Albanian and therefore pass their language on to their children, who thus become "assimilated." It is clear here that the contrast between Albanians and Macedonians covers up the religious difference opposition between Muslims and Christians, concealed behind language issues: by way of comparison, in southern Albania, where religious opposition is very strong but the language problem does not exist, marriages between Christians and Muslims are rare, but conceivable.
...Hence, Albanians attribute an Albanian etymology to most toponyms of western Macedonia which, as in Albania, are of Slav origin, thus justifying the seniority and autochtonous nature of the Albanians. For instance, the name of the city of Tetovo (Tetovë in Albanian) is explained by the Albanians as tetë hovë, "eight assaults", referring to the eight battles that the national hero Skënderbe fought against the Turks on that site. The name of the monastery of Saint John Bigorski (between Mavrovo and Dibër) today is considered by the Albanians as the distortion of the Albanian mbi guri, "on rock", since the monastery is built on a cliff. And so on and so forth. Thus, one witnesses a constant appropriation of the territory on historical and etymological grounds in response to the real dispossession which the Albanians feel. Not only do they claim to be "occupied" by the Macedonians, but many of them, especially in the Polog region (the plain of Tetovë and Gostivar) have never recovered their land, which was nationalised under the communist regime.
Krijoni Kontakt