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COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DIACHRONIC AND SYNCHRONIC
LANGUAGE CHANGES: ENGLISH AND UZBEK PERSPECTIVES.
Solijonova Sehriyoxon Davronjon qizi
Master’s degree student
Faculty: Foreign Language and Literature English
Nordic international university Email: sehriyo04@mail.ru
Phone number: +998 94-557-30-20
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15259035
Abstract.
This research is dedicated to the study of diachronic and
synchronic changes in the English and Uzbek languages. Language change occurs
through historical events, social factors, technological advancements, and
external influences. English belongs to the Indo-European language family and,
throughout its development, has adopted a large number of words from Latin,
French, and Germanic languages. The Uzbek language, belonging to the Turkic
language family, has primarily borrowed words from Persian, Arabic, Russian,
and modern English. This article provides a comparative analysis of phonetic,
morphological, syntactic, and lexical changes, illustrating how these two
languages have evolved over time.
Keywords:
diachronic linguistics, synchronic linguistics, English language,
Uzbek language, language change, comparative linguistics, language
development, language corpus, grammatical simplification, lexical changes.
Introduction.
Language is one of the most important means of human thought, culture,
and the development of society. Any language changes over time, and these
changes are studied in linguistics through two main approaches: diachronic and
synchronic analysis. The diachronic approach is aimed at studying historical
changes in language, the stages of its development, while the synchronic
approach is based on the study of the state of language in a certain period. Both
approaches are necessary for deep and comprehensive language learning.
English and Uzbek languages differ fundamentally from each other in terms
of historical development paths, language families, sociolinguistic status, and
external influences. English belonged to the Indo-European language family and
developed rapidly under the influence of such factors as the Roman Empi the
Uzbek language belongs to the Turkic language family and has been enriched
over the centuries through contact with Arabic, Persian, Russian, and modern
English. These languages have gone through different stages in their historical
development, and today each has its own grammatical system, lexical richness,
and phonetic features. In this study, a comparative analysis of the diachronic and
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synchronic changes of the English and Uzbek languages is carried out. The
relevance of the research lies in the fact that it serves to identify the general
patterns of language changes, to understand how this process occurs in
languages belonging to different language families. Moreover, this analysis has
practical significance for language teachers, translators, linguists, and
culturologists.
Research method
This scientific work is aimed at a comparative analysis of diachronic and
synchronic changes in the English and Uzbek languages, and the research is
based on the method of qualitative analysis. Through the comparative-linguistic
approach, changes in the historical stages of both languages, as well as
grammatical and lexical states in the modern era, were studied. The article used
available written sources, literary texts, language corpora, and scientific
literature. The analyses were conducted at the phonetic, morphological,
syntactic, and lexical levels.
The focus in the study was on identifying the directions of historical
development of the English and Uzbek languages, changes in the phonetic
system that occurred in both languages, the simplification of the grammatical
structure, the emergence of new words, and the differences between modern
pronunciation and structures.
The main sources used in the research process are: Phonetic changes -
historical changes in the sound system, differences in stress and pronunciation.
Morphological development - word formation, affixal system, evolution of
grammatical units. Syntactic system - changes in word order, the structure of
sentence parts. Lexical layer - borrowed words, new words (neologisms),
terminological changes. The study covers four main stages (ancient, middle,
early modern, modern) that the English language has gone through, and the
periodic stages of the Uzbek language from the Chagatai period to the present
day. Through this time interval, it became possible to systematically determine
what changes the language underwent.
Results
Diachronic changes: During the historical development of the English and
Uzbek languages, several unique and common changes have occurred. Under the
influence of external cultural, political, and economic factors, significant
phonetic, morphological, syntactic, and lexical changes have entered the
language.
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The most significant change in the phonetic system of the English language
was the Great Vowel Shift, which occurred between the 15th and 17th centuries.
In this process, the pronunciation of many vowels changed. For example, if the
pronunciation of the word bite was [biːtə] today it is pronounced as [baɪt ].
Morphologically, the system of complex suffixes, various forms of nouns and
verbs, which existed in Old English, disappeared, and a syntactic structure based
on a simpler and more strict word order was formed. In syntax, the transition
from the period of free word order to a strict SVO (Subject-Verb-Object)
structure has taken place. In terms of lexicon, thousands of words have entered
the English language from Latin, French, Norwegian, and other languages. In the
Uzbek language, the historically existing vocal harmony in the phonetic system
began to weaken, especially through words borrowed from the Russian
language, new sounds - ts, shch, yo - were added to the dictionary. In the
morphological system, although the agglutinative structure (expression of
meaning by means of suffixes) has been preserved, the use of suffixes borrowed
from the Russian language (for example, - ist, -izm) has increased. Although the
syntactic structure remained SOV (Subject- Object-Verb), under the influence of
the Russian language, some constructions (for example, passive forms,
conjunctions) underwent changes. The lexical layer is enriched with Arabic,
Persian, Russian, and currently English words (computer, internet, blog,
smartphone).
Synchronous state: Modern English has an analytical structure, and
grammatical meaning is mainly expressed through auxiliary verbs, prepositions,
and strict word order. For example, "I have gone" - here the auxiliary verb has
denoted grammatical tense. Globalization is having a strong impact on language
- hundreds of new words and phrases are added to the dictionary every year
through the internet, technology, and mass culture. Modern Uzbek, however, has
retained its agglutinative properties, and grammatical functions are expressed
through suffixes: for example, the ones in my book. Saving the SOV word order.
English terms are widely used in technological fields. Also, after independence,
political and cultural efforts to reduce the influence of the Russian language in
the Uzbek language intensified.
Discussion
The obtained results show that, despite the different paths of development
of the English and Uzbek languages, there are common patterns of language
change in both languages. In historical stages, the English language
morphologically simplified and syntactically solidified. The Uzbek language,
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while preserving its morphological system, has undergone certain changes at the
lexical and syntactic levels. In its historical development, the English language
was greatly influenced by invasions, cultural exchanges, printed press, colonial
policy, and the Industrial Revolution. The Uzbek language was enriched lexically
under the influence of Arabic, Persian, Mongolian, Russian, and English. In
particular, the language policy of the Soviet period had a significant impact on
the writing, terminology, and grammatical system of the Uzbek language. In the
modern era, the English language has acquired the status of a world language,
while the Uzbek language is in the stage of national revival. The prestige of the
state language is growing in official documents, the education system, and the
media. This is "cleansing" the tongue, serve to strengthen national identity.
Conclusion
During this study, a comparative analysis of diachronic (those that occurred
during historical time) and synchronic (state at a certain time) changes in the
English and Uzbek languages was carried out. The research results showed that
language change is a constant, complex, and multifactorial process, directly
influenced by political, social, cultural, and technological factors. In its history,
the English language has reached its modern state through a radical change in
the phonetic system (the shift of great vowels), morphological simplification, a
strict syntactic structure, and lexical enrichment. Many words came from foreign
languages - in particular, from Latin, French, and Norwegian, which stimulated
the globalization of the language. The Uzbek language has largely preserved its
agglutinative structure and has been influenced by Arabic, Persian, Russian, and
now English at historical stages. The literary language, formed on the basis of
the Chagatai language, underwent grammatical and lexical changes during the
Soviet period through the Russian language.
During the period of independence, attempts are being made to strengthen
language norms based on national characteristics through language policy.
Synchronously, English has an analytical structure, based on auxiliary verbs and
a strict word order. The Uzbek language, on the other hand, is an agglutinative
language that expresses grammatical meanings through affixes, preserving the
word order of SOV. Both languages are enriched with new lexical units through
modern technologies, the Internet, and mass culture. In general, although the
changes in the
English and Uzbek languages are different, there are aspects that generalize
them: external influence, internal grammatical trends, cultural and social needs.
This research has theoretical and practical significance for linguists, translators,
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teachers, and language policy specialists, and can serve as a basis for conducting
similar research in other languages.
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