Balkan country
- noun
- Hearing Solutions also had a very culturally and linguistically diverse workforce, with many workers born overseas where English was not the first language spoken, including in Vietnam, China, and some Balkan countries.
- Balkan country like Romania
- a poor Balkan country
Examples
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In addition to the similarities within the Balkan countries and between the three Baltic republics, there are several other neighboring countries with strikingly similar home advantage figures.
Academic text (2006) -
This has sometimes been problematic, particularly in some of the Balkan countries where the state had deliberately weakened the power of the central university authorities and emphasized the power of separate faculties.
Academic text (2006) -
The average Freedom House score of 10 Balkan countries is 2.8.
Academic text (2014) -
In Serbia, it is part of national identity, and it is similar in other Balkan countries.
Blog text (10) -
In 1954, Jack Raymond, writing in the New York Times, described the upcoming artistic season in the Balkan country.
Academic text (2015) -
But EU assistance is known in most Balkan countries for its frequent tardiness and for the small proportion of what has been pledged in Brussels that actually materializes.
Academic text (2002) -
To give moral and (as soon as possible) material support to the National Liberation Army and Partisans of Yugoslavia... and to the People's Guerrillas in other Balkan countries who for more than two years have fought the Axis and sacrificed so much.
Academic text (1996) -
Romania is a Balkan country known for its rich history and cultural diversity.
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During the summer, many tourists visit the beautiful beaches of Balkan countries like Greece and Bulgaria.
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Albania, a Balkan country, has made significant progress in its efforts to join the European Union.
Synonyms
A country in southeastern Europe, for example Greece or Serbia
A country in southeast Europe on the Balkan Peninsula, for example Albania or Greece
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derived from combining 'Balkan' (relating to the Balkans) with 'country' (a nation), so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a nation located in the Balkan region. This is a literal, compositional adjective + noun phrase with no idiomatic shift and parallels in other languages, making it immediately transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
Balkan country comes from the name of the Balkan mountains that run across south‑east Europe; imagine a long line of mountains giving a clear region. Because people spoke of the lands by those mountains, any nation there became known as a Balkan country, meaning a 'country in south‑east Europe'.