IS THE WORD 'EPIRUS' OF ALBANIAN ETYMOLOGY?

It is argued by pseudo-historians that the word 'Epirus' has Albanian origin and etymology. Specifically, it is claimed that the initial form of the word Epirus was 'Epir-i', meaning 'Upper (Land)' in Albanian, which was later Hellenized by Greeks by adding the suffix '-os' [1].

However, the region of Epirus was never recorded as "Epiri" in ancient literature but as 'Epirus' and 'Epeiros' ( Ἤπειρος) in ancient Latin and Greek texts accordingly, therefore there is no evidence to support the Albanian hypothesis.

Now, the Albanian theory comes to be demolished by an Albanian of the well-known medieval Albanian house of Muzaka, Gjon Muzaka (or Giovanni Musachi). According to Gjon Muzaka «Epirus is called 'Pylloria' in the Albanian language» («Epiro ch’ in lingua albenese se dice Pylloria») [2]. Even though medieval Albanians are styled as "Epirotes" by outsiders, they themselves did not use the term in their native language!

The word 'Epirus' can only be etymologized through Greek  Ἤπειρος meaning "mainland" [3]. According to the British archaeologist John Wilkes, Greeks used the phrase "Epirotic peoples" in the meaning of "peoples of the mainland" [4].

The word appears as "Apeiros" ("ΑΠΕΙΡΟΣ") in ancient Epirotic coins, resembling the common shift of η to α in the Doric Greek dialects. Indeed, today it is believed that the ancient Epirotes spoke their own dialect of Doric Greek [5].

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Sources/References:

[1] Proposed by Spiro Konda, Shqiptaret dhe Problemi Pellasgjik, Prishtine, 1997, pp. 154-158

[2] Charles Hopf, Chroniques Gréco-Romaines , Berlin, 1873, p.278

[3] Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects: From Central Greece to the Black Sea, 2018, p.215

[4] John Wilkes, The Illyrians, p.69

[5] Cf. Radoslav Katičić, Ancient Languages of the Balkans, p.123-124