shqipe

• shqype, shkype (Gheg)

From Proto-Albanian *əśkʲípe, from Pre-Proto-Albanian *əśkʲípii̯ā, from Proto-Indo-European *eǵʰs-kép-ii̯eh₂-, with a semantic change from "that which chops (with a beak)" to "eagle". Connected to qep (“beak”), kep (“to hew; peck”), and potentially to pjek (“to hit, touch”), all from the root Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep- (“to chop”) (compare Lithuanian kàpti, Ancient Greek κόπτω (kóptō)).^[1]

Meyer's assumption of a borrowing from Latin accipiter is phonetically untenable (see qift). Orel's assumption from shkabë and a verb *shqipoj "to seize" must also be rejected, as shqipoj has only ever been attested meaning "to speak clearly".

A borrowing from Proto-Celtic *sklubos (See Welsh ysglyf), which is metathesized from the better attested form *skublos,^[2] is also problematic because Proto-Albanian *-kl- is always retained in Old Albanian and often in dialects like Arbëresh and Arvanitika, but shqipe has never been attested containing -kl-.^[3]

shqipe f (plural shqipe, definite shqipja, definite plural shqipet)

1. eagle
2. (figurative) courageous woman

   Synonym: trime

• shqipe fushe (“hen harrier”) (Circus cyaneus)
• shqipe e zezë (“osprey”) (Pandion haliaetus)

• shqiponjë

From the Old Albanian verb shqipoj (“to speak clearly”), unrelated to the noun above meaning "eagle". A relation to eagles is a folk etymology.

shqipe f (definite shqipja)

1. Albanian language