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LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STABLE
COMPOUNDS BASED ON ORNITHONYMS
1
Iskenderova Saxibjamal
PhD student, Karakalpak State University,
2
Kalimbetov Bayram
Teaching assistant, Karakalpak State University
Key words: stable compounds, linguistic and cultural characteristics,
ornithonym component.
Abstract: The language of people preserves and transmits invaluable
information about its history, culture and everyday life from generation to generation.
In addition, through language, people convey to subsequent generations their
accumulated experience over centuries. Over time, everything might be destroyed-
cities, buildings and other objects of material culture, but information about them is
constantly preserved in the language. In the implementation of this function of the
language, such units as phraseological units, proverbs and sayings play a significant
role. That is why the comparative study of phraseology and of unrelated languages
remains one of the most relevant areas of modern linguistics.
Ornithonyms, which are present in phraseological units, are usually
considered symbolic. In Merriam Webster's online dictionary, this term is defined as
follows - something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of
relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance; especially: an
invisible sign of something invisible. As can be seen from the definition, the authors
of the dictionary distinguish associations and similarities between objects as the basis
for the existence of a symbol. Also, the Russian linguist V.P. Zhukov considers the
basis for using a linguistic sign in a symbolic sense to be "stable semantic
associations".
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People have always been inspired by the ability of birds to fly in the sky, they
have attracted human attention. As winged creatures, celestial beings, birds primarily
symbolize the blue sky and everything connected with it: ascension, separation from
the earth, flight, sun, wind, clouds, freedom, life, inspiration, prophetic gift, etc. Being
celestial, and therefore beings close to the gods, birds symbolize the human soul. The
Slavic peoples gave birds a generally accepted artistic and poetic image, depicting
wind, clouds, lightning, and light. The names of various birds also represented
celestial thunder and storms.
In the Karakalpak language, birds are used as an example of goodness in
proverbs and sayings. For example: a bird knows the language of a bird - the law of
life is that the "language" of each profession, that is, its state, secrets, inner
experiences, shortcomings, are known better than others by the owners of that
profession. A bird does what it sees in its nest - how children grow and mature, how
their character is formed directly depends on how parents raise them, how parents
behave in front of them, set an example, and whether they have a positive or negative
influence. How many colorful birds fly from one nest - children with different
upbringings can grow up in one family. To bend one's wing - to cause physical or
moral harm, to hinder their movement and activity. To keep under one's wing - to
patronize, to continue to protect.
The materials of our study were phraseological units in proverbs and sayings
in the Karakalpak and English languages with an ornithonym component. The most
commonly used components in such linguistic units are the following ornithonyms:
in English chicken (shóje), cock (qoraz), hen (tawıq), duck (úyrek), goose (ǵaz), crow
(ǵarǵa), turkey (túyetawıq), swallow (qarlıǵash), pigeon (kepter), owl (bayqus), hawk
(lashın) and others, in Karakalpak: tawıq (hen), ǵaz (goose), ǵarǵa (crow), qoraz
(cock), shımshıq (sparrow), búlbúl (nightingale), bayqus (owl). Undoubtedly, most of
the ornithonyms that we often use in our speech are the names of domestic animals
and birds that live near human habitation. Therefore, people have had the opportunity
to observe their behavior, actions, and nature, and have accumulated a wealth of
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knowledge about their actions and behavior, which they have become accustomed to
using to describe the character, morality, and culture of the people around them.
In ancient Egypt, ducks (ǵazlar) were the subject of "fine art" in 1500 BC.
Many subjects in the field of fine art, including in Eastern art, refer to a certain alluring
meaning of the image of a duck. So, in ancient Greek art, the god of love Eros or a
girl was depicted with a duck. But as for phraseological units in English and
Karakalpak, they often focus on the external features and behavior of this bird.
Moreover, these phraseological units have a negative meaning. For example, in some
dialects of the Karakalpak language, there are proverbs that say duck is greedy: the
stable combination with the ornithonym component "to eat like a duck" (ǵazday jew)
is used for greedy people. In Turkic languages, duck is also expressed as a lazy,
empty-mouthed person in relation to people who talk a lot and gossip: a duck that
cannot keep a secret (a person who does not know how to keep a secret); also, "what
is the duck's sorrow if the world is flooded" in the Karakalpak language represents a
carefree, happy-go-lucky person. In English, this ornithonym component is also used
in negative units, because the duck is perceived by the English people as a lazy, slow,
and clumsy bird: "A sitting duck" (easy prey), play duck and drakes with something"
(wasting something in vain) - it is also interpreted as a wasteful bird.
The ornithonym of goose (ǵaz) in the Karakalpak language is also interpreted
as the following. It refers to how women and local residents behave in their units: A
good goose does not make dirty its nest (jaqsı ǵaz óziniń uyasın pataslamaydı). This
bird is also a symbol of the talkativeness that dates back to the legend of St. Martin,
revealed by the anxious geese. In Karakalpak proverbs, the goose can also represent
the abundance of children: "A mother of a child is not satisfied with bread, as for the
mother goose is grain''. For example: a chirping goose (boastfulness); one goose does
not trample the fields - one person cannot change anything. Thus, in English proverbs
and sayings, the word "goose" has a negative meaning, although in the Karakalpak
language it can have both positive and negative meanings. In various literary tales,
there are many stories about the role of this bird in the household of the English
people, in which we can often see that goose meat has always been an important and
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valuable ingredient in many dishes of English cuisine, and this remains the case today,
goose feathers were used for various household purposes. In Karakalpak households,
geese are not often kept, so their use in proverbs and sayings is rare. In Karakalpak,
the expression "walk like a goose" is sometimes used to describe arrogant people,
while sometimes the expression "hold your figure like a goose" also expresses
courage and not giving up in front of the enemy.
Chicken (tawıq) means reproduction, maternal care. Proverbs and sayings
with this component describe human behavior in various ways, and in most cases, it
is often used in a negative sense. Along with other domestic animals, the chicken has
always been used to symbolize the lifestyle and culture of the people. For example,
in some proverbs: there is no four-legged chicken (no unusual things); a hen party! (a
gathering of women). In the minds of Europeans, the idea of the "stupid chicken"
prevails; clucks a lot like a chicken (making unnecessary noise); the chicken brain (a
stupid person). In Western folklore untruth is associated with the image of a black
and white chicken. The black chicken is a symbol of the devil, dark forces, and the
white is a symbol of happiness. It was believed that the white chicken brings good:
''the son of the white chicken" (a happy person). In Karakalpak proverbs, chicken is
also used in different meanings. For example: Even a black chicken lays white eggs -
some people in society should not draw conclusions based on people's appearance and
clothing, but rather should be guided by people's intelligence, morality, and the good
deeds they have done and are doing. A hungry chicken sees millet in its dream- is
used to express greed. If you have something to take from a crow, you will take in
either summer or winter. An egg is better than a dead chicken.
In most traditions, the basis of the mythological image of this bird since
ancient times is its connection with the sun, the rooster "counts" the time, announcing
the beginning of the day. Phraseological units of the English and Karakalpak
languages reflect different meanings of the ornithonym of the rooster. In Karakalpak
proverbs, the image of the rooster is depicted as a boastful, boastful bird. This nation
has a negative attitude towards boastful, arrogant people, therefore phraseological
units with this component are negatively evaluated. In English proverbs, the rooster
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is a brave bird, and this ornithonym has a positive symbolic meaning. Perhaps this is
due to the egocentricity of the English-speaking person, who considers it necessary
to be able to demonstrate his advantages. For example: "cock of the walk" (leader,
boss); live like a fighting cock (live well). They take the head of a cock that crows out
of time (not to talk too much in an unnecessary place). However, speakers of the
Karakalpak language adhere to the expression "humility adorns a person." The
ordinary cock was worshiped in Indo-European as the rising sun god, and like the
proboscis monkey, it was a symbol of life and resurrection. People called themselves
cockerels, and its image became the emblems of empires. The image of the cockerel
was placed on carpets and embroidered towels, it was installed on the roofs of
temples, houses and tombs, and later it was replaced by a new symbol of fire, the
cross, which got its name from the old and auspicious cockerel - the sun.
Thus, stable combinations with an ornithonym component play an important
role in revealing the linguistic and cultural characteristics of different peoples in
proverbs and sayings, filling them with figurative meanings and giving them an
emotional and evaluative tone, due to which proverbs and sayings are distinguished
by their melodiousness, allegoricality and expressiveness. Indeed, the world of
proverbs and sayings with an ornithonym component is not a romantic break, but a
generalization of a difficult-to-understand individuality. The structural and functional
use of ornithonyms in proverbs and sayings makes a certain contribution to building
a complex of linguistic and cultural meanings and text tectonics. Ornithonyms in
proverbs and sayings differ in figurative meaning, but it makes it possible to
distinguish their main functions: transpositional-transcendental, emotional-evaluative
and rhyme. Due to the formed connotation, ornithonyms in proverbs and sayings
perform the emotional-evaluative function of peoples.
The above examples clearly demonstrate the connotative difference that
manifests itself in the process of using ornithonyms in proverbs and sayings, both as
part of stable combinations with an ornithonym component, and independently, which
creates broad opportunities for studying the transformation of figurative meanings of
phraseological units with ornithonyms in one language (Karakalpak and English) and
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through comparative analysis. From different languages, which can be done by
determining how close they are to each other in meaning on the territory of Uzbekistan
and Great Britain, it is possible to determine the degree and nature of interlingual
differences in the ornithonymic vocabulary of these countries.
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