Albanian Alphabet - Older Versions of The Alphabet in Latin Characters - C, ç, K, and Q

C, ç, K, and Q

The earliest Albanian sources were written by people educated in Italy, as a consequence, the value of the letters were similar to those of the Italian alphabet. The present-day c was written with a z, and the present-day ç was written as c as late as 1895. Conversely, the present-day k was written as c until 1868. c was also written as ts (Reinhold 1855), tz (Rada 1866) and zz. It was first written as c in 1879 by Frashëri but also in 1908 by Pekmezi. ç was also written as tz (Leake 1814), ts (with an overlined s, Reinhold 1855), tš, ci (Kristoforidis 1872), tç (Dozon 1878), č (by Agimi) and ch (by Bashkimi). ç itself was first used by Frasheri (1879).

The present-day q was variously written as ch, chi, k, ky, kj, and as a k with various diacritics (dot, overline, apostrophe). Q was first used in Frashëri's Stamboll mix-alphabet in 1879 and also in the Grammaire albanais of 1887.