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Years ago I saw for the first time the word "balkanization" being used by people not from the Balkans (I'm not a native English speaker). It was quite surprisin

• input_sh 6y ago
  ...and despite a fairly common misunderstanding, it doesn't originate from the Yugoslav wars. It predates those wars by a hundred years, originating from small independent states that emerged as Ottomans were losing control over the territory.
• rurban 6y ago
  But they are still united by their common language. Even if they heavily deny it, and write in different letters. And call their little dialect a full blown independent language. Semiotic slavistic researchers really need to be more politicians than researchers, it's a minefield still.