Anonymous people in Albanians news-group

Florian KONGOLI

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Mar 22, 1995, 8:29:18 AM3/22/95

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The anonymous historians are the hermafrodits of history. Belive them as
you can believe a man who says "I am a women", except of traverstites.

Florian

camille zanni

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Mar 22, 1995, 6:06:09 PM3/22/95

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Does anyone know whether the name ZANNI is known as an Albanian surname?
Variant spellings may include ZANI, ZANIJ, ZANA, ZANNA, or ZANNAE.
It could be that this name is of an Albanian-Italian character, being
traced (to a point) to the Naples/Benevento area of southern Italy.
Any information will be most gratefully appreciated, Many thanks.

Stradiotti

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Mar 23, 1995, 9:28:15 PM3/23/95

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Many of the Albanian names in Italy were "Latinized" or "Italianized"
after the immigration in the 15th and 16th centuries. Some changed right
away because there was not a good way to represent some of the Albanian
phonetics in written Italian or Latin.
Your best bet is to continue your research into the records of Italy and
you may find a better clue.
You also have to remember that the Albanian names in the Balkans came
under 500 years of Turkish influence and many families there took Turkish
names.
Hope this is of some help.
Best Regards,
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ John D. Cusimano //////////
Edmonds, Washington
U.S.A.
Strad...@AOL.com
J.CUS...@genie.geis.com
//////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Lazer Berisha

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Mar 23, 1995, 9:51:36 PM3/23/95

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In <3ktao0$f...@newsbf02.news.aol.com> strad...@aol.com (Stradiotti)
writes:

Most Albanian last names come from the tribe they belong to.Cheers,Lazer

Gregory Dandulakis

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Mar 24, 1995, 12:35:31 PM3/24/95

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There are Zanni-s family names in the small Aegean island of Cyclades
_Ios_. I would say that the name is a derivative of the Christian
name (derived from Hebrew) of Ioannis (in formal Greek; in vernacular
is Yanni-s), John, Jean, Giovani, Johannes, Ivan, etc.

Gregory

shkurti fatjon pineo

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Mar 24, 1995, 2:49:52 PM3/24/95

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Hi,

As I sent you a previous mesage, there are plenty variations of the name
in Albania. A famous politician (of which I am not particularly fond of) is
called F. Zani.
Zana is a common first and last name in Albania. The noun ZANA in Albanian
folklore means fairy and is very common. If you read "Ancient Albanian Legends"
Which I do not believe is out in English, they appear in every legend, healing
the wounds of famous warriors, watching over them etc. They are very
fascinating legends, and the description of the fairies is simply beautiful.
Then there are the names Cani and Cana. It is common for Italians to convert
this names into Zani and Zana other wise they would have been pronounced
Kani and Kana. It would be something like the Italian pronounciation of
CIA, it is pronounced something like "zia". (please correct me if I am wrong)
As for the "j" in the end, I believe was introduced in Albania after the
islamisation of part of Albania after the Arberesh-s had migrated to Southern
Italy. (This is only hypothetical) Personally I have had classmates with names
Zanaj, and First names like ZANA (at least three in my lifetime) and many
more acquaintances.

Cheers,
Toni
Urbana, Illinois