Idriz Ajeti (26 June 1917 – 13 February 2019) was an Albanologist from

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

and one of the main researchers and authorities on the

Albanian language Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...

studies of post World War II. He was involved for a long period in the academic life of the

University of Pristina The University of Pristina ( sq, Universiteti i Prishtinës) is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–99) as a result of the ...

, and was a member of the

Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo ( sq, Akademia e Shkencave dhe e Arteve e Kosovës, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Kosoviensis) is the national academy of Kosovo. History & Organization The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo ...

, being its chairman for seven years.Biography of Idriz Ajeti
ashak.org; accessed 22 September 2017.

Life

Ajeti was born on 26 June 1917 in the Tupale ( sq, Tupallë) village of the Upper Jablanica region in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

(modern

Medveđa Medveđa ( sr-cyr, Медвеђа, ; sq, Medvegja, ) is a town and municipality located in the Jablanica District of southern Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 2,848 inhabitants, while the municipality has 7,438 ...

municipality). He finished the

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and K ...

elementary school in the nearby Sijarinska Banja village which he finished by 1930, and high school studies in the Royal

Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

in 1938. Ajeti registered in the Romanistics branch of the Faculty of Philosophy of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

, but finished his studies after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, precisely in 1949, graduating from the Faculty of Philosophy in the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-ba ...

. From 1949-53 he taught Albanian at a high school in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians an ...

; from 1953-60 he worked as

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken a ...

in the Albanology branch of the University of Belgrade. In 1958 he gave his dissertation thesis ''Zhvillimi historik i së folmes gege të shqiptarëve të Zarës së Dalmacisë'' (''Historical development of the

Gheg Gheg (also spelled Geg; Gheg Albanian: ''gegnishtja'', Standard sq, gegërishtja) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds ...

dialect of the Albanians of

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

in Dalmatia''). In 1960 he received the academic title of

Docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de con ...

, and in 1968 the

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

one, at the same time lecturing in Albanian Language and Literature in the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Pristina. He was one of the initiators of the '' Gjurmime Albanologjike'' ("Albanological Reconnaissance") scientific magazine. Another achievement was the establishment of the Albanian culture seminary for the foreign albanologists. During 1969-71, Ajeti served as Director of the Albanological Institute, during 1971-73 as

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of Faculty of Philosophy in

, and during 1973-75 as

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the University of Pristina. He was also Chairman of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo during 1979-81, and 1996-99. He participated in the Orthography Congress of 1972 in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, where the standard orthographic rules of the Albanian language were defined, and was a signatory. He has received several acknowledgments and honors, between others "7 July" award of the

SR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

and the AVNOJ one.

Work

Ajeti's work concentrated on the research on the Albanian language dialects from the

diachronic Synchrony and diachrony are two complementary viewpoints in linguistic analysis. A ''synchronic'' approach (from grc, συν- "together" and "time") considers a language at a moment in time without taking its history into account. Synchronic l ...

point of view, old linguistic documents written in

Ottoman Alphabet The Ottoman Turkish alphabet ( ota, الفبا, ') is a version of the Arabic script used to write Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized regi ...

, and reciprocal Albania-Serbian relations. He also touched topics on nowadays Albanian language, being an initiator and contributor to many linguistic consults and symposiums. He also co-authored Albanian language and literature

textbooks A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...

for high school and college students.

Main publications

Books * ''Pamje historike e ligjërimit shqip të Gjakovës në fillim të shekullit XIX'' ("Historical view of the Albanian speaking in

Gjakova Gjakova, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the seventh largest city of Kosovo and seat of Gjakova Municipality and Gjakova District. The city has 40,827 inhabitants, while the municipality has 94,556 inhabitants. Geographicall ...

at beginning of the 19th century"), Pristina: "Rilindja", 1960. * ''Istorijski razvitak gegijskog govora Arbanasa kod Zadar'' ("Historical development of the

dialect of the Albanians of

"), Sarajevo: Balkanološki institut Naučnog društva BiH, 1961. * ''Hymje në historinë e gjuhës shqipe'' ("Introduction to the history of the Albanian language"), Pristina: Fakulteti Filozofik i Prishtinës, Katedra albanologjike, 1963. * ''Ortografia e gjuhës shqipe'' ("Orthography of the Albanian language"), as co-author with Sulejman Drini, Hasan Vokshi, Mehdi Bardhi, and Latif Mulaku, Belgrade: Entity of textbooks publishing of the SR Serbia, 1964. * ''Hymje në historinë e gjuhës shqipe'' ("Introduction to the history of the Albanian language"), II edition, Pristina: Fakulteti Filozofik i Prishtinës, Katedra Albanologjike, 1965. * ''Historia e gjuhës shqipe (Morfologjia historike)'' ("The history of the Albanian language

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

]"), Pristina, 1969. * ''Probleme të historisë së gjuhës shqipe'' ("Issues on the history of the Albanian language"), as editor, Pristina: "Rilindja", 1971. * ''Studije iz istorije albanskog jezika I'' ("Linguistic studies on the Albanian language I"), Pristina: ASHAK, 1982. * ''Historia e gjuhës shqipe (morfologjia historike)'' ("The history of the Albanian language istorical morphology), II edition, Pristina: Enti i Teksteve dhe i Mjeteve Mësimore, 1983. * ''Studime gjuhësore në fushë të shqipes II'' ("Linguistic studies on the Albanian language II"), Pristina: "Rilindja", 1985. * ''Studime gjuhësore në fushë të shqipes III'' ("Linguistic studies on the Albanian language III"), Pristina: "Rilindja", 1985. * ''Studime gjuhësore në fushë të shqipes IV'' ("Linguistic studies on the Albanian language IV"), Pristina: "Rilindja", 1989. * ''Shqiptarët dhe gjuha e tyre'' ("Albanians and their language"), Pristina:A SHAK – special editions, 1994. * ''Për të vërtetën shkencore'' ("For the scientific truth"), Pristina: ASHAK, 2006. * ''Pararendësi'' ("The precursor"), Pristina: "Botimet Koha", 2011. His work was recently collected in 5 volumes and published by the Academy of Sciences of Kosovo (ASHAK) in Pristina: * ''Vepra 1'' (Work 1), 1997, of 175 pages. * ''Vepra 2'' (Work 2), 1998, of 303 pages. * ''Vepra 3'' (Work 3), 1998, of 301 pages. * ''Vepra 4'' (Work 4), 2001, of 294 pages. * ''Vepra 5'' (Work 5), 2002, of 288 pages. Textbooks and translations * ''Letërsia jugosllave'' ("Yugoslav literature"), dispense, Pristina 1947. * ''Libër leximi për klasën IV të shkollave fillore'' ("Reading textbook for the 4th grade of the elementary school"), as co-author with Stathi Kostari and Jani Gjinon, Pristina, 1948. * ''Nga letërsia shqipe'' ("From the Albanian literature"), as co-author with Hasan Vokshi and Mustafa Bakija, Pristina 1951. * ''Arkadije Gajdar, Timuri dhe çeta e tij'' (" Arkady Gaidar, Timur, and his ''cheta''"), translation from

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

together with Mustafa Bakija, Pristina 1951. * ''Nga proza jugosllave'' ("From the Yugoslav

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...

"), co-author with Tajar Hatipi, Nebil Dino, Vehap Shita, and Mustafa Bakija, Pristina 1952. * ''Libër leximi për klasën V të shkollës tetëvjeçare'' ("Reading textbook for the 5th grade of the elementary school"), as co-author with Anton Çeta and Mustafa Bakija, Pristina 1954. * ''Libër për klasën V të shkollës tetëvjeçare'' ("Book for 5th grade of elementary school"), II edition, as co-author with Anton Çeta and Mustafa Bakija, Pristina 1955. * ''Ndodhinat e Nikoletin Bursaçit'' ("Adventures of Nikoletina Bursać") of

Branko Ćopić Branko Ćopić ( sr-cyrl, Бранко Ћопић, ; 1 January 1915 – 26 March 1984) was a Serbian, Bosnian and Yugoslavian writer. He wrote poetry, short stories and novels, and became famous for his stories for children and young adults, oft ...

, translation from Serbo-Croatian, Pristina: "Milladin Popoviq", 1957. * ''Šiptarski u 30 lekcija za srpskohrvatskog čitaoca'' ("Albanian language in 30 lessons for the Serbo-Croatian readers"), as co-author with Dragutin Mićović, Pristina: "Jedinstvo", 1959. Ajeti has also written a vast number of scientific articles and monographs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajeti, Idriz 1917 births 2019 deaths People from Medveđa University of Pristina faculty Albanologists Linguists from Kosovo Linguists from Yugoslavia Serbian–Albanian translators Yugoslav schoolteachers Yugoslav translators University of Belgrade alumni University of Zagreb alumni Serbian centenarians Men centenarians Yugoslav Albanians Kosovo Albanians 20th-century translators Albanians in Serbia Kosovan translators

Life

Work

Main publications

See also

References