Androkli Kostallari (1922–1992) was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and scholar. He was one of the central figures of the Albanian language studies and founding member and director of the Albanian Institute of History and Linguistics, and later Institute of Linguistics and Literature (Alb: ''Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe Letërsisë''). Kostallari is remembered for being one of the key expert contributor to the present

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 ...

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...

established by the Congress of Orthography of 1972.

Life and work

Kostallari was born in

Leusë Leusë ( sq-definite, Leusa) is a village in Përmet municipality, Albania. Name Leusë takes its name from the Greek word "Eleusa", which means "merciful". "Virgin Eleusa" is also one of the names of the Virgin Mary in Eastern Orthodox traditi ...

near

Përmet Përmet (; sq-definite, Permeti) is a city and municipality in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. The municipality of Përmet consists of the administrative units of Çarçovë, Frashër, Petran, Qendër Piskovë and Përmet. The total popul ...

. He pursued his high school studies in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...

and later in

Tiranë 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 ...

. An active participant of the National Liberation Movement during

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 opposin ...

, he worked in the post-war press-organs where he succeeded in management positions though at a young age. He studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

in the

Lomonosov Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

, where he studied

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

profiling in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

, and graduating in 1954. Upon his return in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

he started working in the Institute of Sciences (Alb: ''Instituti i Shkencave''), a precursor of the

Academy of Sciences of Albania The Academy of Sciences of Albania ( sq, Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë), founded in 1972, is the most important scientific institution in Albania. In the 1980s, several research institutes began at the University of Tirana were transferred ...

, and later in the Faculty of History and Philology of the newly founded

University of Tirana The University of Tirana ( sq, Universiteti i Tiranës, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the ''State University of Tirana'' in 1957 through merging of ...

where he would later reach the position of the

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 * ...

. In 1958, he was elected as Director of the Institute of History and Linguistics (Alb: ''Instituti i Historisë dhe i Gjuhësisë'') of Tirana, and after it was restructured, the Institute of Linguistics and Literature (Alb: ''Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë'') until 1990. He served as

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the '' Studime filologjike'' magazine during 1964–1991, and '' Studia albanica'' during 1964–1980. Kostallari was also one of the founding members of the

in 1972 and its

presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presidi ...

. The main focus of his scientific and

pedagogic 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 as ...

work was on the linguistics fields

lexicology Lexicology is the branch of linguistics that analyzes the lexicon of a specific language. A word is the smallest meaningful unit of a language that can stand on its own, and is made up of small components called morphemes and even smaller element ...

and

lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...

word formation In linguistics, word formation is an ambiguous term that can refer to either: * the processes through which words can change (i.e. morphology), or * the creation of new lexemes in a particular language Morphological A common method of word form ...

onomastics Onomastics (or, in older texts, onomatology) is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. An ''orthonym'' is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study. Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, w ...

, general linguistics, and the history of the literary Albanian language. He served as chief of the Lexicology and Lexicography section of the University of Tirana during 1955–1990. He was also the scientific director of the two Albanian dictionaries: ''Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe'' (Dictionary of today's Albanian language) of 1980, and ''Fjalor i shqipes së sotme'' (Dictionary of present Albanian language) of 1984. Another field where Kostallari contributed was the history of the formation and development of the

literary standard The literary norm or linguistic norm or linguistic standard or language norm is a historically determined set of commonly used language assets, as well as rules for their selection and use, which have been recognized by society as the most appropri ...

of the Albanian language, and its structural and functional characteristics. He was part of the commission which drafted the "Orthography of the Albanian language" in 1956, head of the commission for the project ''Rules of the Albanian Orthography'' of 1967, Chairman of the Congress of Orthography of 1972, director the later commissions of the orthography of 1973 and ''Orthographic dictionary'' of 1976. He was also co-aithor of various terminology dictionaries. In 1960 he became member of the

International Council of Onomastic Sciences The International Council of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS) is an international academic organization of scholars with a special interest in onomastics, the scientific study of names (e.g. place-names, personal names, and proper names of all other kind ...

, in 1963 member of the AIESEE (Association Internationale d'Etudes du Sud-Est Europeen) where he would also become member of its bureau in 1974 and vice-president. Kostallari was also the author of the new Albanian personal names dictionary (or list), still very popular today as a source of first names.

Awards and titles

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 st ...

. *"Çmimi i Republikës të Shkallës së Parë" (English: First Grade Republic Prize), twice. *"Mësues i Popullit" (English: People's Teacher).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kostallari, Androkli 1922 births 1992 deaths People from Gjirokastër County Albanian lexicographers Linguists from Albania Albanologists Members of the Academy of Sciences of Albania Albanian philologists Moscow State University alumni Albanian journalists Albanian resistance members Albanian scholars 20th-century linguists 20th-century journalists 20th-century philologists 20th-century lexicographers

Life and work

Awards and titles

See also

References