American Journal Of Philological Sciences
113
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue05 2025
PAGE NO.
113-116
10.37547/ajps/Volume05Issue05-30
Research and Development of Uzbek Legal Terms
Xamdamova Muyassarxon Nematovna
Independent Researcher at Fergana State University, Uzbekistan
Received:
16 March 2025;
Accepted:
12 April 2025;
Published:
14 May 2025
Abstract:
This article discusses the origins and the role of Uzbek legal terminology in the development of the
language. It explores the contributions and significance of the research carried out by linguists and legal scholars
in the study of legal terms. The paper examines the stages of development of Uzbek legal terminology and reviews
various scholarly perspectives. Furthermore, it analyzes the challenges involved in aligning Uzbek legal terms with
international standards and highlights the advantages of increasing the share of Uzbek legal terminology in the
national legislative system.
Keywords:
Legal terminology, study of Uzbek legal terms, development of legal terminology, alignment with
international standards, national legislation.
Introduction:
It is well known that the word "term"
originates from Latin and means "boundary", and it
refers to a word or a phrase that carries a specific
scientific or specialized meaning. Words or expressions
that fall into this category are studied within the field
of terminology.
Some scholars interpret terminology as the traditional
language of science or technology [4], while other
researchers argue that any word in a language can
become a term [3, 6]. However, the scope of usage of
such words is clearly defined by specialists. In other
words, a term must meet specific requirements that
distinguish it from general language vocabulary,
dialectal words, or colloquial.
According to L. M. Alekseyeva, terms are not the
property of any one language; rather, they form part of
the international terminological corpus [1].
Some English researchers define a term as “a word or
phrase used by convention that carries a specific
scientific meaning”
[6].
In Western legal linguistics, one can also encounter
definitions such as “terminology is the underwater part
of the lexicon, most sensitive to external influences”
[6].
As noted by researcher M. Isaqova, “...the
development of a given language’s terminology is
closely linked to societal life and the transformations
occurring within it. Furthermore, the formation of a
language’s terminological base is a complex and
demanding process that requires not only specialized
knowledge and professional competence from its
creators, but also broad cultural awareness, erudition,
and impeccable literacy”
[5].
In particular, these observations are especially relevant
when discussing the development of legal terminology.
For example, the formation and evolution of Uzbek
legal terminology not only reflect a specific historical
period and trajectory but also demanded from Uzbek
linguists and legal scholars a high level of expertise,
literacy, and scholarly rigor. We aim to elaborate on
these aspects in more detail below.
When discussing the language of law and legal
terminology, it is important to emphasize that the
culture of legislative drafting presupposes the use of a
strictly professional language while simultaneously
requiring clarity, simplicity, and accessibility for all
segments of the population. The incorrect usage of
terms in the text of normative-legal documents can
distort the intended meaning of a law. Proper use of
legal terminology is thus an integral part of legislative
activity. Moreover, such terms are designed to
preserve the consistency of legislative language and
ensure its practical applicability [5].
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
Today, the inappropriate and incorrect use of legal
terms in many areas, the unclear interpretation of
some terms, of course, creates problems. This situation
leads to different understandings of legal documents.
M. Isaqova says: “A legal term is a word or a stable
combination of words that expresses the will of the
legislator, is used uniformly in the texts of legal
documents, is a generalized name for a legal concept
with a clear meaning, and is distinguished by its
functional stability. Nevertheless, the legal terminology
of each language system is characterized only by its
own characteristics” [5].
Thus, a legal term is a term that expresses legal norms
and serves as the main component of any legal
language.
Sh. Kochimov says: “...a legal term is a word or
combination of words that is the external appearance,
naming of a certain legal concept, logically expressing a
legal meaning and is methodologically neutral” [7].
According to S. Mukhtoraliev, “.
..a legal term is
understood as a word or combination of words that
very clearly expresses one or another evidence, event
or phenomenon related to legal reality and has one
meaning (as far as possible, one meaning)” [8].
O. Kolarkova, A. Savina note that legal terminology is a
set of words and phrases used to express special
concepts and identify objects of legal reality in one or
another field of legal knowledge [6]. They indicate the
presence of legal words and phrases that have entered
the English language mainly from Latin and French. The
main reason for the adoption of Latin terms in Europe
is associated with the clarity of political language
terminology. It is noted that even today, Latin legal
terms are used in English almost without changing their
orthographic structure, but some insignificant changes
are occurring in the semantics of words [6].
According to G. Guloma, no reform can be carried out
without changing the laws, which in itself paves the
way for the development of new linguistic units (words,
terms and expressions) and forms. Since new legal
concepts are expressed in the language in the form of
words or terms, they must be expressed and formed on
the basis of the laws of the state language itself.
Because the legal language is an integral part of the
literary language [11].
So, terms, especially legal terms, do not appear on their
own. Each term that finds expression in our language
due to a certain need is a part of the language and one
of its special, most rapidly developing lexical layers. In
order to prevent changes in this regard and emerging
problems, it is urgent to standardize legal terms and
introduce a unified approach.
METHODOLOGY
Since one of the main pillars of the legal sphere is legal
terminology, each society, when forming its legal
system, first of all, develops its legal language, legal
terms.
In Uzbekistan, research on legal terms began at the
beginning of the last century. In particular, the
enlightened scientist Ghozi Yunus compiled the
“Russian
-Uz
bek Brief Legal and Political Dictionary” in
1926. He tries to give Russian legal terms in the
dictionary based on Turkic words and for this he relies
more on the book “Temur Regulations” by the great
commander Amir Temur, from which he takes most of
the legal terms. The scientist also published the
Criminal Code “Penal Code of the Uzbek Social Soviet
Republic” and the Criminal Procedure Code “Penal
Code of the Uzbek Social Soviet Republic” in 1926 [7,
51].
In 1959, the legal scholar F. Bakirov published the
“Dictionary of Legal Terms”. It can be seen from the
publication date that since our country was under the
influence of Russian colonization during this period, the
dictionary also contains many words and phrases
related to the Russian language. In some places, some
terms are quoted without translation. This is also
mentioned in the preface to the “Dictionary of Legal
Terms and Phrases”, published in 1993 under the
leadership of legal scholars G. Ahmedov, A. Saidov, and
U. Bozorov. “In addition, many word
s such as agentura,
agraria, aggression, amnesty, anarchy, archive, banda,
pechat remain Russian, and only in some places is a
synonymous Uzbek word accidentally quoted in
brackets” [2, 8].
In 1983, F.Muhitdinov and K.Mirzajonov published a
“Brief Russian
-
Uzbek Dictionary of Legal Terms”.
Although some legal terms have Uzbek equivalents in
these dictionaries, the principle of giving more Russian
terms in their place was followed [7, 53].
Some dictionaries list around 3.5 thousand Uzbek legal
terms, while some sources list around 6 thousand. Only
a certain part of them is understandable to ordinary
people, that is, to the population unfamiliar with the
legal field. Moreover, due to their widespread use in
consumption and the frequent encounter of these
terms
in people’s daily lives, most of the legal terms
have become popular. However, the content of the
main part of the legal terms is well understood only by
specialists who are familiar with the field and have
studied in this field or work in the system.
It should be noted that not all Uzbek legal terms can be
said to be purely Uzbek. Most of them belong to their
own layer (inquiry, acquittal), some entered our
language under the influence of the Russian language,
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
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2771-2273)
some were borrowed from the Persian-Tajik and Arabic
languages, and a certain part consists of international
words and word combinations. For example, judge,
legal, sentence, convict, witness, pardon, appeal,
intance, etc.
In the process of significant changes in the legal sphere
during the years of independence, the creation of legal
terms in the Uzbek language, their formation on the
basis of national language elements, became an urgent
issue, and many new terms emerged. In particular, civil
law, administrative responsibility, human rights, etc.
Sh.
Kuchimov says: “Uzbek legislation operates on the
basis of the Uzbek literary language. Accordingly, the
emergence and development of Uzbek national legal
terms are directly and indirectly related to the history
of the Uzbek people and the science of Uzbek
jurisprudence. In order to determine the development
of Uzbek legal terms, we studied the sources of Sharia,
especially the laws adopted during the former Soviet
regime, that is, from the October coup to the present,
and the dictionary of legal terms created during this
period. These observations showed that legal terms
went through 5 periods in the 1920s-2010s. These
periods can be named as follows:
1) the period of significant dominance of Arabic legal
terms (1920-1937);
2) the forced introduction of Russian (European) legal
terms into the system (1938-mid-1950s);
3) Russian the gradual introduction of (European) legal
terms (from the mid-1950s to 1990s);
4) the beginning of the process of Uzbekization of
Russian (European) legal terms (in 1989-93);
5) the determination of the principles of the correct
direction of the development of Uzbek legal terms [7,
50].
It is clear that many periods passed before our national
legal terms reached their current form and state, the
ruling powers tried to absorb the influence of their
legislation and language, to introduce them into our
consumption. We are far from the idea that Uzbek legal
terms, which have gone through various testing
processes and periods, have reached a perfect state at
the present time. To bring them to perfection, a certain
period and conditions, as well as many studies by
specialists, will be necessary.
In addition, it is necessary to harmonize the Uzbek legal
language with international legal terms. For example, if
terms such as arbitration and expertise exist in
international legal practice, it is also important to
translate them correctly and give them a national
flavor.
Sh. Kochimov noted that “
... words imported from
abroad should be given based on the capabilities of the
Uzbek language. However, this does not mean that all
terms imported from European languages through the
Russian language that correctly express the essence of
legal concepts should be Uzbekized from the beginning.
At the same time, the adoption of all terms imported
from abroad also negatively affects the development of
the language” [7, 59]. From this point of view, national
legislation should be enriched and improved based on
the capabilities of the Uzbek language.
The researcher G. Gulomova, studying the legal
terminology of the Uzbek language as a holistic system,
raises the issue of creating a general legal thesaurus
aimed at regulating terms for the first time. In addition,
she studies the factors that reveal the mutual semantic
relationships of legal terms, namely hyponymy,
synonymy, antonymy. At the same time, she cites
examples of the expression of words and lexical units
related to the legal field in ancient monuments, in
particular, in the works of Mahmud Kashgari's "Devoni
lug'otit turk" and Alisher Navoi's "Mahbub ul-qulub". In
addition, G. Gulomova also touches on the
classification of legal terms of the Uzbek language in
detail and proposes dividing them into the following
groups. Namely:
1. A number of lexical units denoting individuals in the
composition of legal terms. In this case, she also divides
this group into a small structural group. For example,
terms denoting persons working in the field of
jurisprudence and terms denoting persons who are
punished and who commit illegal acts.
2. Terms denoting “types of crime”.
3. Terms denoting the concept of “actions in the
consideration of a criminal case”.
4. Terms denoting the concept of “judicial bodies”.
5. Terms de
noting the concept of “places of
punishment”.
6. Terms denoting the concept of “legal documents”.
7. Terms denoting the concept of “court verdict”.
The researcher also touches upon the phenomenon of
antonymy in legal terms and explains his opinion using
examples. In addition, he analyzes the terms
morphologically by dividing them into groups such as
legal made-up terms, terms made with affixoids, and
legal compound terms. In her scientific research, G.
Guloma also studies the etymology of terms, their
origin, and the degree of belonging to their own and
assimilated layers. According to her, she divides legal
terms into groups such as Persian-Tajik terms, Arabic
terms, and Russian-international terms [10].
The influence of today's progressive era is also evident
in the development of legal terminology. One can
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
116
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
observe the pursuit of perfection in legal terminology
and their application. For example, the practice of
replacing the sentence imposed on convicts with a
lighter one or canceling it ahead of schedule on the eve
of certain national holidays was carried out under the
amnesty procedure until 2017. The legal encyclopedia
defines amnesty as follows: amnesty (Greek amnistia -
forgiveness, remission of sins) - a private act of a higher
state authority, a decision to release certain persons
from criminal punishment, to cancel a criminal case or
to mitigate the punishment. Amnesty is a humanitarian
decree on the full or partial release from punishment
of persons who have committed crimes and other
offenses, replacing the imposed punishment with a
lighter one... The President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan submits documents on amnesty to the
Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The adoption of documents on amnesty in respect of
persons convicted by the courts of the Republic of
Uzbekistan falls within the exclusive competence of the
Senate... [9, 24]
Since 2017, the reduction of the sentence of convicts or
the early cancellation of the imposed sentence has
been carried out by presidential decree, without using
the authority of the Senate, and the legal term
“pardon” is widely used in it. The legal encyclopedia
defines this term as follows: pardon - the forgiveness of
a person (convict) who has been sentenced to
punishment by a court verdict upon his petition. In
Uzbekistan, pardon is carried out by the President of
the Republic of Uzbekistan [9, 34].
In addition, in court proceedings conducted by
territorial judicial bodies, the practice of replacing the
sentence imposed on certain individuals with a lighter
one is being introduced. In this process, the terms of
replacing the sentence imposed with a lighter one or
canceling the sentence imposed are also used.
It is also necessary to note that new legal terms are also
entering the political and legal space of New
Uzbekistan, based on the opportunities of the time and
today. For example, through legal documents, words
and word combinations such as poverty reduction
(ministry), “Women's notebook”, “Youth notebook”,
“Iron notebook”, electronic appeal,
portal, public
services center, cash register, subsidy, mobile
reception, mobile court have also entered our
language, which have become popular in the
vernacular with the support of the media and have
become terms that are understandable and clear to
people today.
Thus, law and language are interrelated, inseparable
concepts. Any idea, attitude, or concept of
jurisprudence is expressed in its lexicon, that is, if the
word, term, or concept chosen to reflect an object,
situation, or process does not correspond to the style
of expression, no legal relationship, communication, or
thought will arise [11].
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the role of legal terms in the
development of the language is very large. There are
some shortcomings in increasing the prestige of the
Uzbek language as a state language, in fully utilizing the
potential of our national language, which require
research and study, and radical changes.
Because most of the new words that have recently
entered our language are terms. The development of
legal terminology is important for the perfection of the
legal system. Enriching the Uzbek legal language,
systematically studying terms and developing them in
accordance with the requirements of the time are also
urgent scientific and practical issues. In this regard, the
cooperation of linguists and lawyers is necessary.
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