69
Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR)
ISSN: 2181-2020
LPTIENP
International Scientific-Practice Conference on
“Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies:
International Experience and National Practice”
Denau, November 20, 2025
in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ENGLISH AND UZBEK HYDRONYMS
Sanginova Umeda Umbarovna
Zafarova Parvina Rustam qizi
Student of Denau Entrepreneurship and Pedagogy institute
Muradova Sevara Zoir qizi
Teacher at Denau Institute of Enterpreneurship and Pedagogy
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17626931
Annotation:
This thesis explores the original meanings of hydronyms and compares the lexical
features of these words in English and Uzbek. It is well known that English is one of the richest
languages in the world. A hydronym refers to the name of a div of water. In Uzbek, people use
many words for hydronyms, such as Amu, Syr, and others. In English, descriptive adjectives such as
deep, clear, or middle are often used together with main hydronymic terms like river, sea, or lake.
Interestingly, this pattern is also observed in Uzbek. It is a fact that hydronyms can be classified into
three main types for example helonyms, limnonyms, oceanonyms, pelagonyms, potamonyms.
Key words
: English and Uzbek, historical and semantic layers, water, river, sea, lake.
Annotatsiya:
Ushbu tezis gidronimlarning asl ma’nolarini o‘rganadi hamda ularning leksik
xususiyatlarini ingliz va o‘zbek tillarida qiyoslaydi. Ma’lumki, ingliz tili dunyodagi eng boy tillardan
biridir.
Gidronim
— bu suv havzalarining nomlarini bildiruvchi atamadir. O‘zbek tilida Amu,
Sirdaryo kabi ko‘plab gidronimlar ishlatiladi. Ingliz tilida esa river (daryo), sea (dengiz), yoki lake
(ko‘l) kabi asosiy gidronimik atamalar bilan birga deep (chuqur), clear (toza), yoki middle (o‘rta)
kabi sifatlar ko‘p qo‘llanadi. Qiziqarli tomoni shundaki, bu holat o‘zbek tilida ham uchraydi.
Gidronimlar bir necha asosiy turlarga bo‘linadi. Ular quyidagilardir: gelonimlar (botqoqlik va loyqa
joylar nomlari), limnonimlar (ko‘l va hovuz nomlari), okeanonimlar (okean nomlari), pelagonimlar
(dengiz nomlari) va potamonimlar (daryo nomlari).
Kalit so’zlar:
Ingliz va O‘zbek, tarixiy va semantik qatlamlar, suv, daryo, dengiz, ko‘l.
Аннотаци
я: В данной выпускной работе исследуются исходные значения гидронимов и
проводится сопоставительный анализ их лексических особенностей в английском и узбекском
языках. Известно, что английский язык является одним из самых богатых языков мира.
Гидроним
— это название водного объекта. В узбекском языке существует множество
гидронимов, например, Аму, Сыр и другие. В английском языке описательные
прилагательные, такие как deep (глубокий), clear (чистый) или middle (средний), часто
употребляются вместе с основными гидронимическими терминами — river (река), sea (море)
или lake (озеро). Интересно отметить, что аналогичное явление наблюдается и в узбекском
языке. Гидронимы можно классифицировать на несколько основных типов, включая:
гелонимы (названия болот и топких мест), лимнонимы (названия озёр и прудов), океанонимы
(названия океанов), пелагонимы (названия морей) и потамонимы (названия рек).
Ключевые слова:
английский и узбекский, исторические и семантические слои, вода,
река, море, озеро.
Introduction
It is no secret that
hydronyms
— the names of water bodies — play a significant role in linguistic
and historical studies. The term
hydronym
originates from the Greek words
hydor
meaning “water”
and
onoma
meaning “name.” Hydronyms serve not only as geographical identifiers but also as
valuable sources of information about the language, culture, and history of the peoples who once
70
Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR)
ISSN: 2181-2020
LPTIENP
International Scientific-Practice Conference on
“Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies:
International Experience and National Practice”
Denau, November 20, 2025
in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar
inhabited a particular region. In many cases, the names of rivers, lakes, and other water bodies reflect
specific physical or geographical features such as size, cleanliness, direction of flow, or relative
position (for instance, whether a river comes from the left or right side). These linguistic patterns
reveal how humans have historically perceived and interacted with their natural environment.
In the
Uzbek language, hydronyms differ from those in English in several ways. Uzbek hydronyms often
preserve historical and semantic layers, making them important for cultural and etymological
research. This characteristic allows for a broader classification of hydronyms based on meaning,
origin, and regional usage. Moreover, both English and Uzbek languages share similarities in how
hydronyms are associated with cities and settlements, showing a universal connection between place-
naming and water sources.
Result and Discussion
In the English language, hydronyms can vary in form depending on size, type, or specific
characteristics of the water div. For example, names such as
the Mississippi River
,
the Black Sea
,
or
the Great Lakes
reflect distinctions in size (“river,” “sea,” “lake”) as well as descriptive or
historical attributes (“black,” “great”). In some cases, hydronyms may also derive from personal
names or historical references, which give them cultural and historical significance.
Structurally, English hydronyms are most often formed in the
noun + noun
pattern — for
instance,
Mississippi River
,
Hudson Bay
, or
Lake Victoria
. The first noun typically specifies the
unique name, while the second noun identifies the type of water div.
In contrast, Uzbek hydronyms often follow the
adjective + noun
pattern. For example, names
like
Amudaryo
and
Sirdaryo
consist of an adjective element (
Amu
,
Sir
) combined with the noun
daryo
(“river”). These two rivers are among the most prominent in Uzbekistan, as they flow through the
country and hold great geographical and historical importance.
Thus, while English hydronyms tend to emphasize classification and distinction through
compound nouns, Uzbek hydronyms more frequently express descriptive or regional meanings
through adjective-noun combinations.
According to M. Abdullaeva (2020), in her article
“Language and Culture,”
language in
Eastern culture is considered a symbol of peace and harmony. She contrasts this with Western culture,
where language and communication are often associated with various forms of struggle and
complexity. Abdullaeva also notes that expressions such as
“the river represents the hardships of
life”
reflect the Eastern philosophical view that natural elements often symbolize human experiences.
Similarly, R. Bozorova (2021) supports this perspective in her own article, explaining that such
metaphors emphasize the connection between nature and human destiny in both linguistic and cultural
contexts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, many scholars and linguists have contributed valuable research to the study of
hydronyms. When comparing English and Uzbek hydronyms, it becomes clear that both languages
preserve important historical and cultural information through place names. One of the most
significant similarities is that both English and Uzbek make use of ancient and descriptive naming
traditions, often reflecting the geographical, historical, or physical characteristics of water bodies.
However, the main structural difference lies in the way these names are formed. In Uzbek,
hydronyms are often created through an adjective + noun pattern, while in English, the more common
structure is noun + noun. For instance,
Amudaryo
and
Sirdaryo
in Uzbek correspond to names such
as
Mississippi River
or
Hudson Bay
in English. Despite these grammatical differences, both languages
71
Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR)
ISSN: 2181-2020
LPTIENP
International Scientific-Practice Conference on
“Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies:
International Experience and National Practice”
Denau, November 20, 2025
in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar
show a similar cultural approach to naming — reflecting how people perceive and interact with
nature.
It is also worth mentioning that both English and Uzbek languages contain numerous ancient
hydronyms whose origins are deeply rooted in history. While it may be challenging for speakers of
one language to fully understand the historical meanings of the other, such linguistic comparisons
reveal the richness of cultural diversity and the shared human tendency to name and classify the
natural world.
References:
1.
Begimov, O. T.
A Historical Study of Assimilated Findings in Southern Uzbekistan.
Monograph. Tashkent: Voris, 2020.
2.
Whewell, William.
The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded upon Their History.
London: Frank Cass & Co., 1967.
3.
Abdullaeva, M. (2015).
Language and culture in the context of hydronyms.
Samarkand: SamDU
Publishing.
4.
Bozorova, R. (2024).
Metaphorization in expressions containing hydronyms.
Bukhara State
University, Department of German Philology.
5.
Joraeva, N., and O. Urolova.
“Comparative Study of Hydronym Terms in English and Uzbek
Languages.”
American Journal of Language
, 2024.
6.
Muradova Sevara Zoir qizi. (2025). LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH RIVER-
NAMES OF TWO COUNTIES. Zenodo.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15179409
7.
“Lakes of Uzbekistan.” CAWater-Info.pdf. Accessed. cawater-info.net
