The Phraseological Unit as an Expression of Experience: The Case of the Words “Baltë” (Mud) and “Bukë” (Bread)

Abstract

Phraseological units are syntagmatic unions of elements and also a union of concepts. Investigation in the subsystem of phraseological units is a process that allows the investigation of spiritual structures of a human community. The entirety of phraseological units created with a word creates a cognitive conceptual scheme related to experience and the knowledge system of a society regarding that object/occurrence. It can be said that, in Albanian, phraseological units formed with the word “baltë” build a semantic structure for this object: the phraseological range of the word “baltë”. This manner of observation of the phraseological units is a method that delineates an overview of the collective cognition regarding a certain object or occurrence. Another method is to observe the phraseological units in a system by putting them in relation to one another. This has been done with three phraseological units that denote ethnographic occurrences and are formed with the word “bukë”.Keywords: phraseology, cognition, semantic structure, seme, mud, bread