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LINGUOCULTURAL ANALYSIS OF UZBEK AND ENGLISH HEORTONYMS
Alieva Sarvinoz Abbosjon kizi
Fergana State University, Fergana, Uzbekistan
The department of Practical English
Senior teacher
Annotation:
This article examines the linguocultural aspects of phraseological units associated
with Uzbek and English holiday names. It explains the factors that are dominant in the
phraseology of these holiday names through the use of proverbs and idioms.
Key words:
uzbek and english heortonyms, phraseology, linguocultural aspects, etalon,
stereotype, symbol, cognitive linguistics.
Introduction
This article explores cognitive linguistics, a modern field that studies how language and the
human mind are connected and how language helps us understand the world. Scholars like
George Lakoff, Ronald Langacker, and Charles Fillmore have been key figures in this field, and
in Uzbekistan, Sh. Safarov has also made important contributions.
Cognitive linguistics is essential for understanding how we perceive and describe the world
around us. Our linguistic and conceptual frameworks, shaped by both language and thought,
influence how we express our observations of objects, events, and phenomena. The secular and
religious aspects of human life, along with our cultural and religious knowledge, are deeply
reflected in how we we live and also play a crucial role in forming our linguistic view of the
world. Because our linguistic worldview is so closely tied to linguoculture, the names of
holidays—and the traditions, customs, and religious values they contain—are based on a
profound cultural, linguistic, and conceptual foundation.
Methodology and Analysis
This passage explains the key elements of the research's methodology. The analysis focuses on
how geonymic phraseological units (idioms and phrases related to places) are formed, often with
roots in myths, legends, and historical figures. These myths and legends, which originated from
ancient folktales, reflect how early people understood the world. The core components of these
myths are mythologemes—recurrent mythological images or themes. Additionally, the concept
of an archetype is crucial. An archetype is a stable, culturally widespread image that exists in the
collective consciousness of a community, helping to reveal the unique national and cultural
aspects embedded within these place-based idioms. The expressions also sometimes contain
remnants of ancient worldviews, such as superstitions or legends.
The text emphasizes that phraseological units are vital for understanding a people's
linguocultural landscape. They are a superior form of linguistic expression because they vividly
capture a nation's history, culture, lifestyle, and beliefs. While these fixed phrases are stable, they
are also dynamic. They can undergo various transformations during the process of speech, which
is a key point of interest for researchers. This is because these transformations often mirror the
figurative expression of cultural changes and the evolution of popular thought.
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The importance of phraseological units as a reflection of national culture has been widely
researched by scholars like V. Telia, V. Maslova, E. Vereshchagin, V. Kostomarov, and D.
Dobrovolskiy.
When analyzing geonymic phraseological units (phrases related to places), it's important to note
their core characteristics: they are ready-made expressions, their meaning is a unified whole (not
the sum of their individual words), and they are stable and not easily changed.
Results, Analysis and Discussion
The analysis of geonymic phraseological units reveals a clear manifestation of archetypes, or
universal symbols. For instance, the English phrase, "On Saint Thomas the Divine kill all turkeys,
geese and swine" shows the archetype of God. The phrase suggests that on St. Thomas's Day
(December 21st), God provides the meat for the Christmas feast by slaying the animals himself.
This implies an ancient belief that these traditional holiday foods were a divine gift to humanity.
Similarly, the phrase, "The devil makes his Christmas Pies of lawyers' tongues and clerks'
fingers," contains the archetype of the devil. This archetype symbolizes evil and injustice. The
phrase's deeper meaning is a metaphorical extension of an old belief that the devil created the
cunning language of lawyers and the precise fingers of clerks, thereby associating these
professions with dishonesty and malevolence.
To analyze the national and cultural aspects of idioms related to places (geonyms), it's important
to look at the symbols, stereotypes, and rituals they contain. Some of these phrases have a hidden
symbolic meaning.
According to Sh. Sultonova, a linguistic symbol works differently from a regular symbol. Its job
is to replace the usual meaning of a word with a symbolic one. When national and cultural
symbols appear in language, they give a phrase an additional, associative meaning. This is
especially clear in Uzbek holiday-related idioms. For example, the proverb, "Hayit is for the rich,
and a wedding is for the wealthy," uses the symbol of a "to'n"—a traditional men's robe worn on
special occasions. Here, the "to'n" isn't just a piece of clothing; it's a linguocultureme that
symbolizes prosperity and wealth.
The proverb "After Hayit, put henna behind you" uses henna as a powerful symbol. In Muslim
cultures, women traditionally apply henna to their hands just before the Eid (Hayit) holiday. The
proverb suggests that celebrating Eid without henna feels incomplete. This phrase, as explained
in the text, implies that applying henna after the holiday is as out of place as wearing a fur coat in
the summer. It's meant to be a humorous warning to do things at the proper time.
Similarly, in English, the phrase "not the brightest bulb on the Christmas Tree" uses the
Christmas tree—a central symbol of the holiday—as a basis for a common idiom. Many phrases
like this start as specific cultural references and then become everyday expressions, or allusions.
According to researchers like Y. Dronova, studying these allusions helps us understand
intercultural communication, stylistics, and translation. I. Galperin adds that allusions are a
literary tool that requires the listener to have shared cultural, historical, or linguistic knowledge
to fully grasp the meaning.
The passage highlights that English geonymic phraseological units (idioms related to places and
names) show a stronger tendency to transform into everyday allusions than their Uzbek
counterparts. This is particularly clear in phrases connected to Christmas. For example:
"To have all the Christmases at once" means to be very happy.
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"To cancel somediv's Christmas" means to ruin someone's happiness.
"Christmas jumper" is a slang term for a casual sexual partner.
"To fall from a Christmas tree" means to lose confidence.
Another notable example is the phrase "to carry out St. Bartholomew's Day massacre," which
has a negative connotation. It alludes to the historical event on August 24, 1572, when a large
number of Protestants were killed in Paris. This phrase is used to mean insulting or humiliating
someone.
Holiday-related allusions also appear in English academic settings. These phrases, used by
students and teachers, show a connection to specific holiday periods:
"Michaelmas term" refers to the autumn semester at universities.
"Trinity term" refers to the spring semester.
"Christmas graduate" is a phrase for a first-year student who has failed a course.
The English language has many stable idioms related to the holiday Christmas. The phrase
"Christmas comes but once a year" is a well-known example. It's used to encourage people to
enjoy happy moments to the fullest, as they are rare and may not happen again soon.
In contrast, the term "Christmas family" has a negative meaning. It describes a family where
members rarely communicate and only send holiday cards to one another. The phrase suggests
that family members don't value their relationships and have weak bonds.
According to the analysis, there are a total of 18 stable idioms in English that include the word
"Christmas."
Another example of a time-based idiom is "at later Lammas." Lammas was a harvest festival
once celebrated on St. Peter's Day. Due to issues like famine and drought, the festival wasn't
always held. Because of this historical context, the phrase "at later Lammas" has come to mean
"never."
The concept of an "etalon" is crucial to understanding these types of phrases. An etalon is a
stable, figurative image used to compare a person's or object's qualities to a well-known reality.
It serves as the core of a comparison. The other parts of the comparison—the subject, its basis,
and the indicator—all revolve around this central etalon.
According to V. Maslova, "comparison etalons"—which are traditional, shared images—are
essential for understanding the link between a language, its culture, and the people's mentality.
These etalons show how a nation uniquely perceives the world. This is because the same concept
can be compared to different things in different cultures, reflecting unique national differences.
During the analysis, only one English phrase was found to have a complete etalon: "reluctant like
turkeys voting for Christmas." The phrase uses the turkey, a main dish at Christmas dinner, to
describe a person's unwillingness to do something. The "compared reality" here is the turkey
itself, a key part of English national cuisine.
In contrast, the phrase "happy like it's Christmas morning" is an example of a partial etalon. It
doesn't use a specific object for comparison, but rather a state of being—the happiness associated
with Christmas morning. The phrase directly compares a person's happiness to that feeling.
The passage highlights that figurative comparisons passed down through generations are
essential for understanding how a particular culture views the world. These comparisons, known
as etalons, arise from the unique way a group of people perceives and judges the qualities of
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things and people. Such stable comparisons are considered valuable cultural codes, deeply
embedded in a linguistic community and passed down through generations.
The text also introduces the concept of stereotypes, which differ from etalons because they are
used to evaluate actions and behavior. These stereotypes, according to D. Khudoyberganova, are
formed because people need a way to process and organize information about the world. In the
field of linguoculturology, a stereotype is seen as a stable, national-cultural idea about objects
and situations, and it is reflected in language as a "small mental picture" that represents an
established viewpoint.
Finally, the passage emphasizes that the various rituals and traditions found in geonymic
phraseological units (idioms related to places and names) play a key role in transmitting cultural
norms and values. For instance, the Uzbek proverb "An orphan's Hayit is when he wears a new
dress" directly reflects the cultural custom of wearing new clothes for the Eid (Hayit) holiday.
Similarly, the phrase "Put henna behind you after Hayit" contains the stereotype of applying
henna for the holiday, showing how deeply ingrained these rituals are in the language.
Conclusion
Our analysis shows that while symbolism is a dominant feature in Uzbek geonymic phraseology,
English phrases are notably richer in archetypes, etalons, and allusions.
Overall, geonymic phraseological units—those related to places and names—serve to combine
the literal meaning of words with a wealth of cultural information. They reflect a people's
religious and cultural beliefs, worldview, and traditions through the use of symbols, realities,
etalons, and stereotypes. It is no surprise that these stable phrases are considered the wisdom of
the people. They play a vital role in passing down a culture's history, traditions, and values from
one generation to the next.
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