Balkan sprachbund

Common card · No. 339540

The Balkan sprachbund or Balkan language area is a proposed theory of an ensemble of areal features—similarities in grammar, syntax, vocabulary and phonology—among the languages of the Balkans. Several features are found across these languages though not all apply to every single language. The languages of the Balkans share their similarities despite belonging to various separate language family (genetic) branches. The Slavic, Hellenic, Romance and Albanian branches all belong to the large Indo-European family, and the Turkish language is non-Indo-European. Some of the languages use these features for their standard language (i.e. those whose homeland lies almost entirely within the region) whilst other populations to whom the land is not a cultural pivot (as they have wider outside communities) may still adopt the features for their local register. While some of these languages may share little vocabulary, their grammars exhibit extensive similarities; for example: They have similar...

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