Frazë

Frazë is a term used in Albanian linguistic usage to refer to a phrase or set expression. In broad use, frazë denotes any sequence of words that functions as a unit within a sentence, in contrast to single words that carry independent syntax.

In standard Albanian orthography, the common word for this concept is fraza; frazë appears as a dialectal variant or historical spelling in some regional sources and older texts, reflecting phonological variation in pronunciation.

In practice, frazë covers idioms, fixed expressions, and collocations that behave as a unit in discourse. It is used in teaching, lexicography, and grammar to describe how words combine to convey determinate meaning beyond the sum of their parts. The term thus serves to distinguish multiword expressions from solitary content words in syntactic analysis.

Etymology and classification: The term frazë is related to fraza; the origin traces to the broader European concept of phrase, with cognates in many languages and likely borrowing from Latin phrasis via Italian or French forms, depending on the source. In contemporary terminology, fraza (and its variants) is the preferred label in most linguistic references, while frazë persists as a regional or historical spelling.

See also: fraza, phrase, idiom, set expression.