Albanian Meksi Tosk Translation (ALNDER)

Overview

The Albanian Meksi Tosk Translation is the first translation of the New Testament into Albanian, completed by Dr. Vangjel Meksi (1770-1823) under the sponsorship of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS). [1] The translation was commissioned in 1819 when BFBS agent Dr. John Pinkerton met Meksi in Istanbul, and their agreement was signed on 19 October 1819. [1] Meksi completed the translation in early 1821, ten months ahead of his contractual deadline. [1] The Gospel of Matthew was published separately in 1824, and the complete New Testament (Dhjata e Re) was published in Corfu in 1827 in a print run of 2,000 copies, supervised by Bishop Gregory IV of Athens (Grigor Gjirokastriti). [1][2] Meksi himself did not live to see the full publication; he died on 12 November 1823 after joining the Greek War of Independence. [1]

Translation History

Vangjel Meksi was born in 1770 in Labovë, near Gjirokastër, and trained as a physician at the University of Naples. [1] He served as court physician to Ali Pasha of Ioannina before developing an interest in Albanian linguistics during a stay in Venice around 1810, where he created a rationalized Albanian alphabet using a mix of Greek and Latin characters. [1] The BFBS sought a native Albanian to produce a New Testament translation, and Pinkerton recruited Meksi for the task. The revised manuscript was sent to Malta for printing in 1822, and the first printed copies reached Corfu in 1823. [1] The 1827 publication in Corfu was a landmark cultural event, representing the first publication of a Bible translation from Greek into a modern Balkanic language. [2]

Language and People

Gheg Albanian (ISO 639-3: aln) is spoken by approximately 3,901,900 people in Greece and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. [Glottolog: gheg1238]

References