Arvanites (Greek: Αρβανίτες, Arvanitika: Arbëreshë or Αρbε̰ρεσ̈ε̰) are a population group in Greece who traditionally speak Arvanitika, a dialect of the Albanian language. They settled in Greece during the late Middle Ages and were the dominant population element of some regions of the Peloponnese and Attica until the 19th century.^[1] Arvanites today self-identify as Greeks^[2]^[3]^[4] as the result of a process of assimilation, and do not consider themselves to belong to Albania or the Albanian nation.^[5] They call themselves Arvanites (in Greek) and Arbëror (in their language); the communities in northern Greece also use the term Shqiptar (the same used by Albanians of Albania), a term strongly disliked by all the other Arvanites, who also resent being called Albanians.^[3] Arvanitika is in a state of attrition due to language shifttowards Greek and large-scale internal migration to the cities and subsequent intermingling of the population during the 20th century.

History

Population movements, 14th century.

Arvanites in Greece originated from Albanian settlers who moved south at different times between the 13th and 16th century from areas in what is today southern Albania.^[6]^{[page needed]} The reasons for this migration are not entirely clear and may be manifold. In many instances the Arvanites were invited by the Byzantine and Latin rulers of the time. They were employed to re-settle areas that had been largely depopulated through wars, epidemics, and other reasons, and they were employed as soldiers. Some later movements are also believed to have been motivated to evade Islamization after the Ottoman conquest. The main waves of migration into southern Greece started around 1300, reached a peak some time during the 14th century, and ended around 1600.^[7] Arvanites first reached Thessaly, then Attica, and finally the Peloponnese.^[8]

The poem "Thourios" by the 18th Century poet and Greek national hero Rigas Feraios included a call upon Arvanites, as upon other Christian Orthodox peoples living at the time in the general area of Greece, to join in rebelling against Ottoman rule. Indeed, during the Greek War of Independence, many Arvanites played an important role fighting on the Greek side against the Ottomans, often as national Greek heroes. With the formation of modern nations and nation-states in the Balkans, Arvanites have come to be regarded as an integral part of the Greek nation. In 1899, leading representatives of the Arvanites in Greece, among them descendants of the independence heroes, published a manifesto calling their fellow Albanians outside Greece to join in the creation of a common Albanian-Greek state.^[9]

During the 20th century, after the creation of the Albanian nation-state, Arvanites in Greece have come to dissociate themselves much more strongly from the Albanians, stressing instead their national self-identification as Greeks. At the same time, it has been suggested that many Arvanites in earlier decades maintained an assimilatory stance,^[10] leading to a progressive loss of their traditional language and a shifting of the younger generation towards Greek. At some times, particularly under the nationalist 4th of August Regime under Ioannis Metaxas of 1936–1941, Greek state institutions followed a policy of actively discouraging and repressing the use of Arvanitika.^[11] In the decades following World War II and the Greek Civil War, many Arvanites came under pressure to abandon Arvanitika in favour of monolingualism in the national language, and especially the archaizing Katharevousa which remained the official variant of Greek until 1976. This trend was prevalent mostly during the Greek military junta of 1967–1974.^[12]

Demographics......

Names.......

Language use and language perception......

Minority status

Arvanites were regarded as ethnically distinct from the Greeks in the 19th century, while their participation in the Greek War of Independence and theGreek Civil War has led to increasing assimilation.^[1] The common Christian Orthodox religion they shared with the rest of the local population was one of the main reasons that led to their assimilation.^[29] Although sociological studies of Arvanite communities still used to note an identifiable sense of a special "ethnic" identity among Arvanites, the authors did not identify a sense of 'belonging to Albania or to the Albanian nation'.^[5] Many Arvanites find the designation "Albanians" offensive as they identify nationally and ethnically as Greeks and not Albanians.^[25]

Arvanitic culture......etc

Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvanites

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Titulli
Ndë e para Basillopula(Mbretëresha - unë) jonë Leksandra (Lek - Sandra)
(Mbretëresha me origjinë Ruse,bashkëshorte e mbretit Grek,me origjinë Arvanite,Pirea,Maj 1889)

Të këndojmë ndë Arbërishte
Çë ishtë gluhë trimërishte
Çë e flet navarko(kapiten) Miauli
Boçari e gjith Suli
................................................
Duall dielli ndë mal
si të pa sipër ndë kal
u fshe brënda në re
të ndritonjesh ti ndë dhe
....................................................
Kur të vemë ka Tatoi
Hëna del ka Imitoji
duke shtirë sitë e të pa
drito për mua ,ti të tha

më shumë / περισσότερα

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcT9CWyK0zc&index=62&list=UUao74EOrgQJWP9A9zLv3TCw&hc_location=ufi

https://www.facebook.com/620306988069137/photos/a.635222339910935.1073741837.620306988069137/635222386577597/?type=1&theater

Να τραγουδήσουμε στην Arbërishte
Αυτή είναι η γλώσσα trimërishte(παλικαρίσια)
Την μιλάει ο καπετάνιος Μιαούλη
Μποτσαρη και ολο το Σούλι

Ο ήλιος βγήκε στο βουνό
και εφ ιππων σε ειδε
κρυβτικαι μεσα σε συννεφο
να φωτίσεις εσυ(Aρβανιτη εγω)
επι της γης σου ειπε

Οταν θα παμε απ Τατοΐ
Το φεγγάρι βγαίνει απ Υμηττοΐ
ριχνοντας τα ματια και σε ιδε
Λαμπα φως για μένα,
εσενα(Aρβανιτη εγω) σου ειπε

https://www.facebook.com/620306988069137/photos/a.635222339910935.1073741837.620306988069137/635222386577597/?type=1&theater

Σημειωσεις

Ο ήλιος..κρυβτικαι..να φωτίσεις εσυ(Aρβανιτη εγω)..Λαμπα φως για μένα,
εσενα(Aρβανιτη εγω) σου ειπε

Ο Λαμπαδαρης που εγινε τυφλος

Ky tekst eshte gjetur edhe nga kerkimtari i palodhur arberesh .i madhi
At .Antonio Belushi ,te arvanitet në Greqi .
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ΤΟ ΑΡΒΑΝΙΤΙΚΟ ΤΡΑΓΟΥΔΙ

Επιλεγμένα Αρβανίτικα Τραγούδια

http://axhafaj2gmailcom-adriano.blogspot.com/2012/06/blog-post.html
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