I have learn about this etymology
second-hand, but I happen to know that the history and derivation of
<anijë> has been studied in detail by Albanian etymologists (e.g. Dodbiba
1972). The word first appeared in writing in nineteenth-century Italo-Albanian
(as <aní, -a>). It was accepted by all Albanians after the Monastir reform
(1908) and given a literary Tosk form (<anije, -a>).
<anë> is the original singular of the
'vessel, pot' word, attested in early Albanian (first in Gjon Buzuku's _Meshari_
[1555]). In Bogdani's _Cuneus Prophetarum_ (1685) <anë> is translated
as 'vaso', and <enë> as 'vasi'. The singularisation of historical plurals
is an extremely common process in Albanian, and <enë> is a handbook
example of it.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2002 4:45 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: Greek "angos" and Albanian ships
If <anë> 'side, edge' once was the singular form of
<enë> 'vessel, dish' in Albanian then it might have been for a long time
ago because today is <enë, ena>, pl. <enë, enët>.
I have it hard
to believe <anije> is formed during the Osman occupiation when the links
between Albania and Italian peninsula were cutten.