ENG 
ITA 
ALB “We are ARBËRESHË” is a historical journey in the cultural, economic and social changes that have affected the Arbëreshë communities of Basilicata, who have preserved the connection with the identity and tradition of the Albanians of Italy, an ethnolinguistic minority historically located in the south of Italy and in the Italian islands, also present in other territories of the Euro-Mediterranean basin.
BASILICATA'S ARBËRESHË COMMUNITIES
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
THE ARBËRESHË CULTURE
The Arbëreshë, i.e. the Albanians of Italy, represent one of the largest ethnic groups in our country. For centuries, this community, present above all in the south, has been able to preserve its specificity: from language to religious rites, to arts and gastronomy.
President Mattarella himself, remembering the Albanian national hero Skënderbeu, praised the people of Arbëreshë as "an example of integration and welcome".
L’ARBËRISHT
The language spoken by the Arbëreshë people is Arbërshtja, an ancient variety of Toskërshtë (Toskë), a southern dialect of Albanian. In some centers it is mixed with inflections taken from Ghego (gegë), the dialect spoken in the north of Albania, with old Greek and also with contaminations from southern Italian dialects that developed during the stay in these areas. The Arbëreshë language is a real linguistic island of ancient tradition, which has allowed the linguistic, cultural and religious heritage to be passed down through the centuries. Arbëreshë dialects, while maintaining common features in their phonetic, morphosyntactic and lexical structure, show significant changes from country to country. One of the special characteristics of this language is the absence of words for naming abstract concepts, replaced over the centuries by periphrasis or borrowings from Italian or Greek.
The knowledge, tastes and values of food are closely related to the cultural and traditional element of the arbëreshë villages of Basilicata.
Food, with its rituals and symbolic codes, constitutes an element of social-cultural identification in which the delicate relationship between man and the environment in which he lives is perceived. Typical dishes are an extension of local food resources that show how the population used them to satisfy their needs and the evolution of eating styles over time.
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