Most scholars consider that Albanians are direct descendants of an Illyrian tribe that was named "Albanoi,"[1] which was located in modern-day Albania.However to propagate the connection, the Albanian government in the communist era adopted a policy of artificially naming people with "Illyrian"[2] names. Other scholars dispute this and claim that Albanian derives from a dialect of the now-extinct Thracian language. Some others believes the majority of the Illyrians were conquered and/ or assimilated by the invading Slavic peoples after the fall of the Roman Empire.[3][4] The perception of Illyrian as centum language was based on analysis of Venetic language in northern Italy which scholars believed was related to Illyrian language.
Those who support the Illyrian-Albanian continuity theory maintain that all Illyrian tribes, except the Albanians, were assimilated or driven southwards into Albania and Greece during the Early Middle Ages after the waves of migrating barbarians. A formidable mountain homeland and resilient tribal society enabled the Albanians to survive into modern times with their identity and their Indo-European language intact. According to these scholars, the name 'Albania' is derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Arbër, or Arbëreshë, and later Albanoi, that lived near Durrës.
