frazeologia

Frazeologia, or phraseology, is a branch of linguistics that studies fixed, semi-fixed, and idiomatic word combinations that function as single units in discourse. In many languages, including Polish, Russian, and Romanian, frazeologia covers idioms, proverbs, collocations, and other conventional expressions whose meaning cannot be inferred from the individual words.

Its core components include idioms (non-literal meanings such as kick the bucket), set phrases (greetings and formulaic expressions), collocations (habitual word pairings like make a decision or strong tea), and semi-fixed expressions that permit some variation. The field also addresses proverb-like sayings and stylistic clichés used in literature and speech.

Frazeologia examines how these expressions convey meaning, tone, culture, and discourse style; and how they change over time and across languages. It distinguishes literal phrases from figurative ones and studies cross-language equivalents, translation challenges, and the role of context in interpretation.

Research methods encompass corpus analysis, historical comparison, and lexicography. Phraseological dictionaries describe fixed expressions and usage notes, while computational linguistics applies phraseology to natural language processing, translation, and language teaching.

Applications include teaching, translation, lexicography, and language technology. Because many expressions are culture-specific and non-literal, translators often seek functional equivalents rather than literal rendering.

Examples illustrate the range: idioms like kick the bucket (die) or spill the beans; collocations such as make a decision or heavy rain; and cross-linguistic equivalents, such as Spanish llover a cántaros for heavy rain.