idiomista

An idiomista is a term used in some linguistic contexts to refer to a scholar or specialist who studies idioms and idiomatic expressions. The word combines "idiom" with the suffix "-ista," indicating a practitioner or expert, and is used primarily in Spanish- and Italian-language scholarly writing. In English-language linguistics, the more common term is idiomist or idiomologist, but idiomista appears in cross-language discussions of phraseology.

Idiomatists analyze the structure, meaning, and origin of idioms, fixed expressions whose overall meaning cannot be deduced from component parts. They examine semantic opacity, metaphorical extension, semantic shift, and syntactic behavior, as well as collocations and register. Their work includes compiling idiom corpora, tracing historical development from literal to figurative meanings, and comparing idioms across languages to study universals and culture-specific usage. They face challenges in translation, idiom equivalence, and localization, where an idiom in one language has no direct counterpart in another. Idiomists contribute to lexicography, translation studies, and language education by clarifying usage, explaining origin, and guiding learners in recognizing idiomatic language.