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THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE AND LANGUAGE MECHANISMS IN
INTERPRETING THE MEANING OF LEXICAL UNITS IN THE CATEGORY OF
“ANIMAL WORLD”
Jo‘raboyeva Gulshanoy Baxtiyor qizi
Uzbek State World Languages University intern-teacher of the
Department of Theoretical Sciences of English
Tel-+998909743886
Keywords:
Interpretation, zoonymic, metaphorical, expressions, connection, linguistics,
cognitive, semantics, mechanisms, conceptual, characteristics, function
Abstract:
This article examines knowledge and language mechanisms in interpreting the
meaning of lexical units in the category of animal world. Also analyze uzbek and English
zoonymic components and their natural association that unites people with the animal world,
based on a deep connection between the semantics of animals and the assessment of their
biological characteristics.
Zoonymic components in English and Uzbek are distinguished by a special psychic natural
association that unites people with the animal world, based on a deep connection between the
semantics of animals and the assessment of their biological characteristics. The zoonym in a
phraseological unit is its semantic center (i.e. zoomorphism), and it is in it that the main
metaphorical meaning that gives meaning to the entire expression lies. It is natural for animal
names in the language to describe or express human behavior or character, because animals,
like humans, have their own way of life and characteristics
. For example, “cow is stupid” - a
stupid cow, “the hare is wise” - a wise rabbit, “the bear is clumsy” - a clumsy bear. Here, the
phraseological image is formed on the basis of a person’s perception of the animal, and the
name of the animal is sequentially associated with an object that has certain qualities and
properties, with its symbolic meaning. And this is natural, because the whole world around a
person is perceived by him through the prism of mythological thinking. Here are some natural
English and Uzbek expressions (idioms) with animal names. Like many languages, animals are
used in many idiomatic expressions in English and Uzbek. Today we will look at some of the
main, widely used expressions:
-to pig out ('to eat too much') — to eat like a pig, for example: 'I really pigged out at the
barbeque. I have never eaten so much.
-to chicken out ('to be too scared to do something usually after prely accepting to do it') — to be
too scared, for ex.: 'I was going to do a parachute jump, but I chickened out on the day.' – to be
a dark horse
(A person who keeps his interests and ideas secret, especially one with an amazing ability or
skill) — to walk around as if he has a hammer, for example: “I didn't know that Sandra can play
the drums. She is a very dark horse.”
1
Болдырев Н.Н. Когнитивная семантика. Введение в когнитивную лингвистику: курс лекций. – Тамбов:
Издательский дом ТГУ им. Г.Р. Державина, 2014.C.46
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-to be a dark horse ('A person who keeps his interests and ideas secret, especially one with an
amazing ability or skill') — to walk around as if he has a hammer, for example: 'I didn't know
that Sandra can play the drums. She is a very dark horse.
-to be a pussy cat (‘a person who is very gentle’) — to be very gentle, for ex.: 'Don't worry. He
looks scary, but he is actually a cat.
-to be bull-headed (‘a person who is stubborn’) — to be stubborn like a donkey, for ex.: 'To be
bull-headed and come to the movie with us. Everyone else is going, he said.
– to be in the dog house ('to be in trouble') — to be in trouble, for ex: 'I'm in the dog house with
my work after I forgot my anniversary.'
-to be in the dog house ('to be in trouble') — to be in trouble, for ex: 'I'm in the dog house with
my wife after I forgot out anniversary
-to smell fishy ('it is dishonest or suspicious') — dishonest or suspicious, for ex.: 'My son's
story smells fishy. He said that he'd been in the library all day, but I think it's closed today.'
-to be a rat (‘a person who deserts his friends or associates, especially in times of trouble.
Someone who is not loyal’) — bevafo, munofiq, for ex.: 'Michael is such a rat. He left as soon
as the trouble started.'
-to be like a bull in a china shop ('act carelessly in the way they move or behave') — stagger,
for ex.: 'The footballer ran around like a bull in a china shop until he was sent off.'
-to talk the hind legs off a donkey (‘a person who talks too much’) — to talk a lot, for ex.: 'Her
speech seemed to go on forever; she could talk the hind legs off a donkey.'
Phraseologisms expressed with animal names or zoonyms:
-physical qualities, abilities: runs like a horse; tired like a dog; wrestler like a bear, etc.;
– appearance: for example, swan, anteater; stupid like a pig.
– mental qualities (character traits): stubborn like a donkey, dull like a fly, etc.; – intellect:
cunning like a fox; smart like a dog, etc.;
– behavior, ability, skill: repeat like a parrot.
-fight like cat and dog-it mushukdek janjallashmoq: (English) As kids we used to fight like cat
and dog, (Uzbek) Biz xuddi bolalardek bir-birimiz bilan it-mushukdek janjallashishga o’rganib
qolgandik.
-it is raining cats and dogs- chelak-chelak yomg’ir quymoq. (English) It’s raining cats and dogs
I am worried about how my kids will reach home. (Uzbek) Sharros yomg’ir kuymoqda, men
esa bolalarim qanday uyga yetib kelishidan xavotirdaman.
The origin of this expression goes back to Norse mythology, medieval superstitions, and old
sayings on the streets of Great Britain. Jonathan Swift's poem 'City shower' describes the
flooding of the city after a rainstorm, which brings dead animals, and the heavy rain is
described by the metaphor of "raining cats and dogs".
-be the cat's whiskers – barchaga birdek manzur kelmoq: (English) This film is the cat's
whiskers as it includes real events. (Uzbek)
-cat got your tongue? – Tilingni yutib yubordingmi? : (English) What's the matter? Has the cat
got your tongue?, (Uzbek) Nima bo’ldi? Tilingni yutib yubordingmi? –let the cat out of the bag
– og’zidan gullab qo’ymoq. (English) Never, ever tell Martha anything personal - she always
let's the cat out of the bag. (Uzbek) Hech qachon Martaga siringni ayta ko’rma - u doim
boshqalarga gullab qo’yadi.
glows with others.
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- like a cat on hot bricks – sarosimaga tushib qolmoq :(English) She was like a cat on hot bricks
before her driving test. (Uzbek) U haydovchilik imtixonini topshirishdan sarosimaga tushib
qolgandi.
-as sick as a dog –qattiq betob bo’lib yotib qolmoq : (English) My friend was as sick as a dog
when he left the restaurant last night.,(Uzbek) O’tgan kecha tamaddixonadan ketgani beri
do’stim betob bo’lib yotib qolgan edi.
-dog and pony show- ko’zbo’yamachilik qilmoq: (English) The protest was just a dog and pony
show designed to bring in the media., (Uzbek) Norozilik namoyishi efirga uzatish maqsadida
qilingan bir ko'zboyamachilik edi xolos.
Metaphor has been studied for many years, especially in cognitive linguistics, and the
importance of metaphor research in cognitive linguistics is a consequence of its nature. If
cognitive linguistics studies the ways in which language features reflect other aspects of human
cognition, metaphors provide one of the most vivid illustrations of this relationship. It should be
noted that animal metaphors are not really the main purpose, but the use of the name of an
animal as a source. For example, if we take the following children's stories; we can recall some
sentences such as "The fox caught fire / The fox was smoking". Here the fox is the target, and
the fire is the source, but if we say in Persian: "He is a fox", then the fox is the source and this
sentence is an example of an animal metaphor. The name of an animal used as a metaphor can
be used either as a referent (i.e. it can simply be used as a label for the object) or as a predicate:
Example:
1. He is a lion. - He is a poem.
2. He is a poor lion who has lost everything- In the example of the poem "He is a poor lion
who has lost everything", "lion" is used as a referent. In the context, we can see that it expresses
all the characteristics that we have accepted for a lion (in the folk model) and connects them to
the target. But here a poor man is depicted, and the characteristics that are characteristic of the
poem are not embodied in him.
Of course, it should be noted that the name of this animal only makes sense if we know the
culturally accepted characteristics of the lion. In addition, we must remember the characteristics
that are inherent in the animal and are reinforced by repeated use. The main difference here is
"animal" and "human". Thus, the metaphors are selected, emphasizing certain aspects of the
source and target, while obscuring others. It should be noted that the name of the animal is used
for a person who has or does not have the specified characteristics, while "lion" can be used to
admire a person for his courage or to ridicule him for his cowardice. Metaphors can be used in
different meanings in different languages, depending on their culture. For example: “He is a
fox” is Persian and “He is an owl” is Persian, an animal known for its cleverness, and “owl” is a
wise bird. In such metaphors, we can see the influence of culture in different languages. For
example, “owl” is a terrible bird in Persian and is used to refer to a bad person, but in English it
is a symbol of wisdom. Or, “dog” is known in different cultures for its loyalty. Here, comparing
different cultures is very complicated, and we have focused on the role of metaphors in
different cultures. Some animal metaphors are formed based on the appearance or
characteristics of the animal (in Persian, an elephant or a chicken is used), and some of them are
used because of the characteristics determined by folk models (for example, foxes are clever
and dogs are loyal). For example: “you are checken” (in English) – “chicken”, “chicken brain”
(in Uzbek) – this metaphor is used in a negative sense to discriminate against people.
Conceptual metaphor is one of the main cognitive mechanisms for the formation of interpretive
meanings for the lexical category “mammals”, because, as N. N. Boldyrev noted, “as a result of
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conceptual metaphor, a person can establish connections between different concepts
representing different entities in his conceptual system (interconceptual connections)”
.
In our study, metaphorical models were identified, based on which meanings are translated
from one conceptual domain to another, thereby forming interpretive meanings. Such models
include: mammal - human; mammal - artifact; mammal - animal; mammal - place; mammal -
inanimate nature; mammal - abstract phenomenon.
When talking about lexical units that form their figurative meanings based on the metaphorical
model mammal - human, the main figurative meanings here are evaluative. If in the process of
interpretation a person calls another person a species of mammal, he, as a rule, gives a positive
or negative assessment of his intellectual properties, behavior, appearance, as well as personal
characteristics. Thus, we can say that the interpretation of the lexical units of the category
"mammals" on the basis of the mammal-human model occurs mainly through the actualization
of associative format features:
1. “And I suppose she’ll tell all the boys, the old cat”. For example, the old cat metaphor gives a
negative assessment of a character’s personal qualities such as trickery - cunning: cat-sly
woman.
2. But with the strength of a lion and the will of the lamb, we will meet and overcome all
obstacles -Using the metaphor of the strength of the lion, a positive assessment of human
strength is given: lion – 2. a brave, strong, or fierce person
. Also, using the metaphor of the
"will of the lamb", a positive assessment of human qualities such as determination and desire to
live in a conflict with a lion is given
3. No, not the beach. It's an English expression, you fucking baboon. I mean...- Assessment of
low intellectual abilities is given through the use of units such as baboon – horse.
4. And why is my sister's dress cut, you are such a pig? - a negative assessment of human
behavior on the example of a pig
Metaphorical transfer can be carried out by actualizing the explanatory property of the
perceptual format "color" based on the color properties of mammals, for example panda (car)
signs of a police car – Noun. A policecar. Taken from when police cars were black and white.
The metaphorical model of a mammal-animal is based on appearance, and the interpretation
based on this model is formed as a result of actualizing the properties of the perceptual format
that interprets the physical parameters of the animal (div, color, div parts) according to two
2
Болдырев Н.Н. Интерпретационный потенциал концептуальной метафоры //
Когнитивные исследования языка. Вып. XV. Механизмы языковой когниции: сб. науч. тр.
– М.: Ин-т языкознания РАН; Тамбов: Издательский дом ТГУ им. Г.Р. Державина,
2013 . – С. 14
3
ODCE – Oxford Dictionary of Current English. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
67-P
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vectors. The internal interpretation vector involves identifying units that represent mammals by
units belonging to the same category, for example:
rats with furry tails – Noun. Squirrels;
tree is another name for rat-squirrel;
The role of metaphor in linguistics and fiction is incomparable. In the animal metaphor, the
characters of a story that might actually be human are replaced by animals. They are personified
and live and speak like humans.
Writers and artists have always used animals with human characteristics in their works, and
their history is as old as literature itself. Animal characters in comics serve many important
functions. They also form an important part of Western cartoon and comic culture. As early as
550 BC, Aesop wrote about animal characters with human characteristics in his famous fables
and fables. These were probably the first stories with this element in Western literature. Aesop
used this tool and created short moral lessons in his stories. This made his works more
accessible to readers, and they accepted the teachings more easily. The stories in Aesop's fables
include anthropomorphic animals that have human qualities, such as language and intelligence.
Nearly 2,500 years after Aesop, animal characters continue to play a central role in American
culture and have become an integral part of film, television, and literature. The animated
cartoon industry has been dominated for decades by the world-famous anthropomorphic mouse
Mickey and the talking duck Donald. Animal characters in comics tend to behave more
humanly than the animals they portray. Animal heads are often associated with human bodies,
including their actions. Mickey Mouse is perhaps the most famous animal cartoon character,
and he also has all of the aforementioned characteristics. Some literary theorists, such as
Marvin Keith Brooker, hold very different beliefs about the use of animals in comics,
perceiving the racist implications of the use of animals in comics. (Booker, 1994, p. 235) For
example, Michael Rogin argues that the Disney Mickey Mouse, "with white gloves and black
face," was copied from the 1927 American film The Jazz Singer. What is the reason for the use
of animals in literature and why are they used figuratively and given human characteristics?
One of the first to do this research was the English writer John Berger. He believes that the
animal metaphor is a means of drawing attention to the relationships, similarities and
differences between humans and animals. In his essay "Why Look at Animals?" he goes into
more detail and considers what animals say about ourselves. Here, it is said that the first reason
for painting animals was, and perhaps the first painting was the blood of animals. Thus, it
cannot be denied that the first metaphor was an animal metaphor. Berger tries to explain this by
emphasizing that the real relationship between humans and animals is metaphorical. American
science historian Lorraine Duston sees the use of animal characters in literary works as a reason
for the fact that many cognitive abilities and processes in animals are the same as in humans.
This is also why animals have been used for thousands of years as a metaphor for people to
express some of their personal experiences.
One of the rare novels by George Orwell that uses animal names as metaphors is Animal Farm.
In this novel, animal names are used as metaphors to describe the similarities between animals
and humans, which helps to express the political nature of the novel:
Snowball-Leon Trotsky, snowball-Leon Trotsky-Here, “snowball” is used as a metaphor to
describe Leon Trotsky’s personality: “Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon,
quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of
character.” The pig is a depiction of an official of the time.
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Metaphors associated with animal names can also be seen in Art Spiegelman’s novel “Maus”.
The allegorical and metaphorical meanings of animal features allow authors to emphasize the
similarities between humans and animals and even explain the actions of people during war. In
this work there are three main groups: Germans are represented by cats, Jews by mice, and
Poles by pigs. There are also other animals to represent different peoples, for example, the
French are frogs, the Swedes are deer, and the Gypsies are depicted as bees. However, these
three (mice, cats, and pigs) are the main classes that are considered in the analysis of the horrors
of World War II and the place of the Jews in it. The Jews are called “mice” in the novel because
they are very weak and defenseless. Moreover, they do not have any unique characteristics,
which is a reflection of the racist approach of the Nazis, who “reduced” the entire Jewish
people to “an anonymous mass” in which no one has any personal characteristics. Showing the
Jews as mice encourages the reader to think that these animals are cowards, and this makes the
Jews a victim of the Holocaust. proves that there was. In the novel, the fate of the mice, that is,
the Jews, is pitiful because they are deprived of everything, driven out of their homes and
finally killed.
In the novel, the Germans, a later nation, are depicted as cats, because they are the main hunters
of mice. They are strong and it is not a problem for them to catch and kill weak mice. The
confrontation between cats and mice is one of the most popular themes of cartoons and fairy
tales. Cats represent cruel and hostile criminals who mock, torture and kill mice. In
Spiegelman's novel, cats are depicted as very shy, unpleasant, savage and cruel creatures. They
have evil eyes, a smile on their faces, and their greatest pleasure is to see the mice suffer.
Finally, in the novel, the Poles are depicted as pigs: animals that cause inertia, filth and disgust.
This in addition to these characteristics, pigs are very indifferent, and therefore Spiegelman
chose these animals to represent the Poles. He was heavily criticized for this choice, since not
all Poles were indifferent, and many of them helped Jews hide from the Germans.
The use of animal imagery in literary works is common, and authors use metaphors and
allegories to describe human characteristics and behavior. The use of such metaphors allows
readers to forget about the animal image and focus on the symbolic properties of this creature.
References:
1. Болдырев Н.Н. Интерпретационный потенциал концептуальной метафоры //
Когнитивные исследования языка. Вып. XV. Механизмы языковой когниции: сб.
науч. тр. – М.: Ин-т языкознания РАН; Тамбов: Издательский дом ТГУ им. Г.Р.
Державина, 2013.
2. ODCE – Oxford Dictionary of Current English. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
3. Болдырев Н.Н. Когнитивная семантика. Введение в когнитивную лингвистику: курс
лекций. – Тамбов: Издательский дом ТГУ им. Г.Р. Державина, 2014.
