A Contrastive Analysis of the Definition of Parts of Speech in English and Albanian

Abstract

In this study, we will highlight the contrastive aspect of defining the parts of speech between Albanian and English. In this contrastive analysis of the definition of parts of speech between Albanian and English, differences in grammatical terms have been noted, such as the division of parts of speech in Albanian language into variable and invariable parts of speech, in contrast to English, which divides them into closed and open classes. Moreover, throughout this grammatical and semantic research of defining the parts of speech, it is noted that the English language distinguishes eight parts of speech but does not include the numerals and particles, whereas the Albanian language includes them. It is interesting that in the English language, the definitions of the parts of speech, besides the part that are more comprehensive, they also have a more meaningful and logical use of terminology, compared to terminology used to define parts of speech in the Albanian language, which is much more traditional and has some shortcomings, which will be emphasized throughout this study. A concrete example of verb definition in English: Verbs are words that describe specific actions. Whereas, the definition of the verb in Albanian: The verb names an action. It has the category of mood, tense, voice and person. As it is seen, with a comparison of the verb definition between English and Albanian, we can discern that there is space to find shortcomings in terms of adequate grammatical and semantic terminology, in order for the definitions of parts of speech to be more comprehensive and logical in the future.