Balkanism
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A word, phrase or other linguistic or cultural feature originating or being geographically confined to the region of Balkans. countable, uncountable
"In this paper I shall address the expression of evidentiality in the Balkan languages as a case study of a contact phenomenon, specifically a Balkanism, that must take both areal and typological factors into account."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of Balkanism. alt-of, countable, uncountable
- 3 Discourse promoting the pejorative political and cultural stereotype of the Balkans. countable, uncountable
"Balkanism attributes an essential character to the Balkan Peninsula that is the logical correlate of Balkanisation."
Example
More examples"In this paper I shall address the expression of evidentiality in the Balkan languages as a case study of a contact phenomenon, specifically a Balkanism, that must take both areal and typological factors into account."
Etymology
From Balkan + -ism. The political meaning was coined by Maria Todorova in 1997 in her work Imagining the Balkans.
More for "balkanism"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.