Meanings
balkanism1
plural balkanisms
- countableuncountableAlternative letter-case form of Balkanism.
Balkanism2
plural Balkanisms · alternative balkanism
- countableuncountableA word, phrase or other linguistic or cultural feature originating or being geographically confined to the region of Balkans.
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.
2004, Victor Friedman, “The typology of Balkan evidentiality and areal linguistics”, in Balkan Syntax and Semantics, page 102 - countableuncountablegovernmentDiscourse promoting the pejorative political and cultural stereotype of the Balkans.
Balkanism attributes an essential character to the Balkan Peninsula that is the logical correlate of Balkanisation.
2008, Martin Coward, Urbicide: The Politics of Urban Destruction, page 30
Origin
From Balkan + -ism. The political meaning was coined by Maria Todorova in 1997 in her work Imagining the Balkans.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian балкани́зъм
- балкани́зъм (balkanízăm)word, phrase or other linguistic or cultural feature
Romanian balcanism, balcanism
- balcanismword, phrase or other linguistic or cultural feature
- balcanismdiscourse promoting the pejorative political and cultural stereotype of the Balkans
Russian балкани́зм
- балкани́зм (balkanízm)word, phrase or other linguistic or cultural feature
Cite this entry
balkanism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balkanism
“balkanism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balkanism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “balkanism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balkanism.
Source: balkanism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.