It's the evolution of the expression 'gold made'. The predecessor of 'ar' was 'al'.
When al became ar, al-ban became ar-ban.
When ban became ben ar-ban became ar-ben.
When ben became bėn ar-ben became ar-bėn.
When bėn became bėr ar-bėn became ar-bėr.
From bėr derives bėrėsh, hence ar-bėrėsh / arbėresh.
All the above words exist as names in Albanian.
The word 'al' with the meaning gold exists as part of several words:
* thes + ar = thesar. In a previous form it was thesal. Greeks as usual have added an 'os' to have thesalos. The sister of Alexander was called
Thesalonica.
* ar + kemi <= al + kimi = alkimi - to have gold - the art of obtaining gold by transforming other materials.
* Italian word for morning is 'alba' = al ba => ar bėr - gold made, because in the morning the sky looks like made of gold.
* And in Turkish
altin means gold.
Since Greeks read 'b' as 'v', arban becomes arvan from which arvanit derives.
There are other arguments supporting this, but by theapricity standards this should be more than enough.
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