Univers15

Prof. Dr. Valter MEMISHA
KOSTAQ CIPO AND ALBANIAN
LANGUAGE DICTIONARY
60 years ago, in the chronicle of the death ceremony of Kostaq Cipo,
member of the Institute of Sciences, Kol Paparisto, Aleksander
Xhuvani Gjovalin Lika, Kahreman Ylli, Aleks Buda, Mahir Domi,
Shefqet Musaraj, Dhimitër Shuteriqi, Sotir Kuneshka, and Sali
Mborja, wrote that “in a short time of five years, he compiled two
works on Albanian grammar and syntax, which mark important
steps forward in the Albanian grammatology. The major part
belonged to the elaboration of orthography and although weak by
illness, he led the work for Albanian language dictionary, ref
lecting the rich experience and his deep knowledge of the language.
With a careful scientific work he prepared the critical edition of
some works by our classic authors. “1
Although ill, K. Cipo worked out and stayed at the forefront
of work for the dictionary, which, as he said in March 1951, “ it
will be of great help to schools and to offices. It is a dictionary that
has a special organization and tone. Every word has its elaborated
and stylized definition, and its phraseological expression, when
necessary. It is given to the word the concrete meaning, the
abstract meaning and the imagined one, when it had any. It is also
found the terminology of the learning subjects and that of some
Departments. There are also the words of the literary language
and those of popular source, being even of foreign origin, such
as, the Turkish words of folklore. The officials and students
will find there words with expanded meaning and words with
limited meaning, and also expressions of this or that province.
Two - three hundred words of the social-political field are
attached with definitions taken by the new Soviet dictionaries.”2
K. Cipo explained “with how much affection and passion the
Dictionary Commission worked and how during the work they
gained a preparation in the domain of lexicography, which we
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