Skills on AI

Locale Sq 001

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Use when working with the Albanian locale (`sq-001`) — its endonym Shqip, Latin script, left-to-right (LTR) direction, or spoken-population data. Reference data and translation guidance (register, grammar, idiom, typography) for this specific locale; see [[locale]] for general i18n/l10n concepts (BCP 47, plural rules, RTL) that apply across all locales.

Reference data for the Albanian locale — endonym Shqip, written in the Latin script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

  • BCP 47 tag: sq-001
  • ISO 639-1: sq
  • ISO 639-3: sqi
  • Script: Latn (Latin)
  • Region: 001 (World)
  • Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

  • L1 (native): 7,500,000
  • L2 (additional): 1,000,000
  • L1+L2 (total): 8,500,000

Regional variants

This is the base/macro locale for Albanian. Region-specific variants in this dataset:

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

  • one — n = 1 (e.g. 1)
  • other — everything else (e.g. 0, 2~16, 100, 1000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Albanian is an independent branch of the Indo-European family, written in the Latin alphabet with the letters ç and ë. The standard (Standard Albanian) is based on the Tosk dialect, set in 1972 and maintained by the Albanian Academy of Sciences. See Locale Sq Al.

Translate ideas, not words.

  • Albanian is inflected with five cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative) and a definite article suffix. Restructure English sentences rather than translating word by word.
  • Albanian drops subject pronouns when the verb ending shows them.
  • Avoid raw English and Italian loanwords where an Albanian term exists.
  • Re-express idioms by meaning.

Grammar that trips translators.

  • Three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter). The definite article is a suffix that varies by gender, number, and case: libri, libra, libri i ri.
  • A linking article (i, e, të, së) precedes adjectives and genitive nouns and agrees with the head noun: libri i ri, shtëpia e madhe.
  • Verbs have many tenses and moods, including the admirative mood for surprise or reported information.

Register.

  • Ju (polite or plural) is the "you" for UI and public text; ti is informal. Do not mix.
  • UI commands use the polite imperative (Ruani) or the infinitive-like form (Ruaj).

Orthography and typography.

  • Use ç and ë; never replace them with c and e.
  • Quotation marks „…“ or «…»; decimal comma; dates 17 tetor 2026; months lowercase.

Common pitfalls

  • Dropping ç and ë.
  • Missing the definite suffix or the linking article.
  • Mixing ju and ti.

Learn more

  • Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
  • Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
  • Academy of Sciences of Albania, Fjalori i gjuhës shqipe
  • Microsoft Localization Style Guide, Albanian (https://aka.ms/albanian-styleguide)

View locale-sq-001/SKILL.md on GitHub