frazeologiczn

Frazeologia is the branch of linguistics that studies phraseological units, i.e., fixed or semi-fixed combinations of words whose meaning cannot be deduced from the individual components. These units include idioms, set phrases, collocations, proverbs, and other conventional expressions used in a language. The defining feature of frazeologizmy is their non-compositional semantics, which means their sense is often metaphorical or conventionalized beyond the literal meaning of the words.

The study covers several related categories. Idioms are phrases with a figurative meaning different from the literal one. Set phrases are stable expressions with limited syntactic flexibility. Collocations are frequent word pairings that bear a conventional but largely compositional meaning. Proverbs or sayings express general truths in a compact form. The field also considers calques and other fixed expressions that cross linguistic boundaries. Frazeologia intersects with lexicography, translation studies, cognitive linguistics, and sociolinguistics, since such units reflect culture, history, and usage patterns.

Methods commonly used in frazeology include corpus analysis, contrastive studies between languages, and the compilation of dictionaries of phraseology. Researchers examine form, meaning, usage contexts, variability, and diachronic changes in these units. Historically, frazeology developed as a distinct field in various linguistic traditions during the 19th and 20th centuries, including Polish linguistics. It informs language teaching, lexicography, and translation practice by highlighting non-literal language and providing stable expressions for learners and translators.