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WAYS OF REPRODUCING THE SEMANTICS OF VERBAL MEANS OF THE
CONCEPT “NON/BREAD” IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE
Buzurkhanova Kamola Sanjarovna
Andijan State Institute of Foreign Languages
Independent Researcher
e-mail:kamolabu@gmail.com
Abstract:
This article explores the challenges of reproducing the linguistic means of the
“Non/Bread” concept in Uzbek and English translation. The study investigates literal and
figurative meanings, their cultural semantic load, and the degree of equivalence in translation.
Full, partial, and non-equivalences are analyzed across different linguistic levels with
illustrative examples. Particular attention is given to phraseological units and proverbs
containing the bread/non component, emphasizing their status as linguocultural markers. The
research highlights the effectiveness of transliteration, descriptive translation, and mixed
techniques in rendering culturally bound expressions. Findings demonstrate that cultural
differences in conceptualizing bread require translators to rely on context, pragmatic meaning,
and functional-stylistic features. The study concludes that adequate translation of bread-related
units depends largely on the translator’s linguocultural competence and sensitivity to cultural
nuances.
Key words
: concept, bread, non, translation, phraseology, proverb, linguoculture,
In today’s world, where intercultural communication and relations are expanding and deepening,
translation – serving as a “bridge” in socio-economic, political, scientific, cultural, and other
spheres – has become increasingly significant. As a result, interest in studying and researching a
number of theoretical issues related to translation has sharply increased. Whether oral or written,
the main function of translation is to ensure effective communication between communicants.
The prominent Uzbek scholar, Professor Sh. Safarov, emphasizing the invaluable role of
translation in the history and development of humankind, wrote: “Without translation, it is
impossible to imagine economic development, the strengthening of socio-economic and socio-
cultural relations between nations, the advancement of religious tolerance, and most
importantly, the progress of science.”
In English and Uzbek, the linguistic means of expressing the concept bread/non belong to
different language levels. Most are polysemous, but they are also used metaphorically and
metonymically, adapted or not adapted (polyfunctional) to certain communicative situations.
This demonstrates the importance of addressing the issue of reproducing the meanings of the
non concept macrofield units – particularly the culturemes they carry – in the target language.
In this process, we relied on works by English and Uzbek writers and their translated versions,
as well as monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. Special attention was given to the problem of
interlingual correspondences and discrepancies of bread/non semantic units.
As the well-known Uzbek linguist, Professor O.Q. Yusupov, rightly noted: “For comparative
linguistics, the following types of interlingual correspondences are of great importance: same-
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
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level, cross-level, complete, partial, and close equivalences.” We examined them according to
language levels.
The Uzbek noun non and the English noun bread correspond in their primary meanings and are
examples of complete lexical equivalence:
Homid nonni shinniga bulg‘ar ekan soradi: – Yoshingiz nechada, bek?
Hamid absentmindedly mopped up shinny with a piece of bread and asked, “How old are you,
Bek?”
However, non has a secondary meaning of “food/drinks,” which bread does not convey in
English. In such cases, it is preferable to rely on the denotative meaning:
I want to buy some bread and drinks.
In contrast, in English, bread has another meaning – “money” – which is absent in Uzbek. This
semantic nuance is expressed in Uzbek through the phrase non topmoq (“to earn bread,” i.e., to
make a living):
Matqovul aka, men non toparmikanman, deb qorin g‘amida maqtab ochganim yo‘q, – dedi u
bosig‘i bilan.
In British English, the idiom earn a/your crust is also used, meaning “to earn enough money to
live on.” Here, the noun crust refers to the hard outer layer of bread.
The Uzbek expressions non yopmoq and non pishirmoq correspond in English to the verb to
bake:
I baked a loaf of bread for you = Men siz uchun bir buxanka non pishirdim.
In this context, using yopdim instead of pishirdim would be incorrect, because in Uzbek culture
yopmoq refers specifically to sticking bread or pastries by hand inside a hot clay oven (tandir).
For bread baked in an oven or stove, pishirmoq is more appropriate.
In Uzbek, the profession of bread baking is called novvoylik. Unfortunately, we did not find its
equivalent in the dictionaries compiled by A.S. Hornby and Sh. Botayev. In our opinion,
novvoylik can be rendered into English as bread baking or bread making.
The person who bakes or sells bread in Uzbek is called novvoy (also nonvoy, nonpaz). Its
English equivalent is baker (“a person whose job is baking and selling bread and cakes”).
The place where bread is baked is called novvoyxona in Uzbek. Its English equivalents are
bakery, baker’s (common in British English) and bake shop, bake house (common in American
English). The translator must consider whether the text belongs to British or American English
to choose the appropriate equivalent.
Compound words formed with bread in English (e.g., bread-bin, bread-plate, breadbasket,
breadbox) correspond to Uzbek terms like nondon, non idish, non quti, non savati. However,
breadbasket also has figurative meanings: “stomach” (slang), and in American English, “a
region that supplies grain.” Therefore, the translator must select the appropriate meaning
depending on whether the text belongs to colloquial or specialized discourse.
The English compound bread knife corresponds directly to the Uzbek non pichoq (“knife made
for cutting bread”). Similarly, bread slicer may mean either “a bread- cutting machine” (non
keskich) or “a woman who slices bread” (non kesuvchi ayol). The intended meaning is clarified
by context:
– My bread slicer has broken.
– But it was in good repair when I used it two minutes ago.
Or: My aunt works as a bread slicer in our school canteen.
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Other English compounds with bread include breadboard (non taxta), breadcrumbs (nonuvog‘i,
nonushog‘i), bread-corn / bread-grain / breadstuffs (g‘alla doni, un qilinadigan don). These
reflect corresponding denotations in Uzbek.
At the same time, there are compound words in Uzbek or English without exact equivalents,
functioning as lacunae. Examples include Uzbek non jiyda, nonko‘r, non-namak, non-nasiba,
nonxo‘r, nontekin, nontepki and English breadfruit, breadfruit tree, breadline. Lexicographic
analysis shows, for instance, that non jiyda has been translated into English as jiyda bread by
transformation, using transliteration (jiyda) plus equivalent translation (bread).
However, word order also matters. Since in English compounds of this type the “bread”
element usually comes second (e.g., breadfruit), rendering non jiyda as jiyda bread is not
entirely accurate. Instead, a descriptive translation like bread-like jiyda may be more
appropriate. Similarly, Uzbek bread types such as go‘shtli non, yog‘li non, piyozli non can be
translated descriptively as bread with meat (fat, onion).
Uzbek oq non, qora non, zog‘ora non, suvi qochgan non correspond fully to English white
bread, brown bread, corn pone, stale bread.
Further analysis shows that English adjectives scoundrel, villain, rascal, mean, base correspond
to Uzbek nonko‘r, nontepki, while the English nouns meanness, baseness, ungratefulness
correspond to Uzbek nontepkilik, nonko‘rlik.
Another Uzbek noun, nonxo‘r, has no English equivalent. It is therefore translated descriptively
as one who likes eating bread.
Ways of Recreating the Semantics of the Concept “Non/Bread” through Verbal Means in
Translation
In today’s world, as the scope of intercultural communication and relations expands and
deepens, translation, which serves as a “bridge” of communication in social, economic, political,
scientific, cultural, and other fields, has become the subject of growing interest and research in
relation to numerous theoretical issues. Whether oral or written, the primary function of
translation is to ensure effective communication between interlocutors.
The prominent Uzbek scholar, Professor Sh. Safarov, who emphasized the invaluable role of
translation in human history and development, wrote: “Without translation, it is impossible to
imagine economic progress, the strengthening of socio-economic and cultural ties between
nations, the enhancement of religious tolerance, and most importantly, the advancement of
science.”
The linguistic means of expressing the concept bread/non in English and Uzbek belong to
different levels of language. In addition to their polysemous nature, they are also used
metaphorically and metonymically, either specialized or non-specialized for certain speech
situations (polyfunctionality). This indicates the need to address the issue of recreating the
macrofield units of the concept of non (bread), the meanings they express, and the culture-
specific semes (culturemes) they convey in translation. In this process, we relied on the works
of English and Uzbek writers and their translations, as well as on monolingual and bilingual
dictionaries. In particular, we focused on the problem of equivalence and non-equivalence of
lexical units with the semantics of bread/non across languages.
According to the well-known Uzbek linguist Professor O‘.Q. Yusupov, “The following types of
correspondences are important for comparative linguistics: same-level, cross-level, full, partial,
and close correspondences.” Let us consider these in order according to language levels.
The nouns non and bread correspond in their primary meanings and can be cited as examples of
full lexical equivalence. For example:
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Homid nonni shinniga bulg‘ar ekan soradi: — Yoshingiz nechada, bek?
Hamid absentmindedly mopped up shinny with a piece of bread and asked, “How old
are you, Bek?”
However, the second meaning of the word non is “food, nourishment,” which does not exist in
English bread. In such cases, we believe it is appropriate to rely on the denotative meaning:
I want to buy some bread and drinks.
In English, bread also has the meaning “money,” whereas in Uzbek this meaning is expressed
by the phrase non topmoq (to earn a living):
Matqovul aka, men non toparmikanman, deb qorin g‘amida maqtab ochganim yo‘q, —
dedi u bosig‘i bilan.
In British English, the idiom earn a / your crust means “to earn enough money to live on.” Here
the noun crust refers to the hard outer part of bread (the hard outer surface of bread).
The Uzbek collocations non yopmoq, non pishirmoq correspond fully to the English verb to
bake. Compare:
I baked a loaf of bread for you.
Men siz uchun bir buxanka non pishirdim.
In this context, it would be wrong to use yopdim instead of pishirdim, because yopmoq
specifically refers to sticking bread or pastries (like somsa) to the heated walls of a clay oven
(tandir). For oven-baked bread, pishirmoq is the correct verb.
In Uzbek culture, the profession of baking bread is called novvoylik. Unfortunately, its
equivalent could not be found in dictionaries compiled by A.S. Hornby and Sh. Botayev. We
suggest that novvoylik may be rendered in English as bread baking or bread making.
In Uzbek, the bread maker or seller is called novvoy, also known in variants nonvoy, nonpaz.
Their English equivalent is baker (“a person whose job is baking and selling bread and cakes”).
The place where bread is baked is called novvoyxona in Uzbek, which corresponds to bakery,
baker’s (UK) or bake shop, bake house (US) in English. The choice of translation depends on
whether the translator is working with British or American English.
English compound words like bread-bin, bread-plate, bread-basket, breadbox (US) correspond
to Uzbek nondon, nonidish, non savati, non quti. It should be noted that breadbasket has
additional meanings: slang for “stomach” and metaphorically for “a country or region that
supplies grain.” Translators must consider the style and context (colloquial vs. specialized
discourse).
The English compound bread knife corresponds exactly to Uzbek non pichoq. Another word,
bread slicer, may mean either non keskich (a cutting tool) or a woman who slices bread. Which
meaning applies is determined by context:
My bread slicer has broken.
But it was in good repair when I used it two minutes ago.
My aunt works as a bread slicer in our school canteen.
Other compounds include bread board (non taxta), breadcrumbs (nonuvog‘i, nonushog‘i),
bread-corn, bread grain, breadstuffs (g‘alla, un qilinadigan don). These have direct equivalents
across both languages.
However, some compounds lack equivalents in one language. For example, Uzbek non jiyda,
nonko‘r, nonko‘rlik, non-namak, non-nasiba, nonxo‘r, nontekin, nontepkilik, nontopar,
nonxo‘rak, non-qatiq and English breadfruit, breadfruit tree, breadline. Lexicographic analysis
shows, for instance, that non jiyda has been translated as jiyda bread (a hybrid translation using
transliteration + equivalence). Yet, we argue that jiyda bread is inaccurate because in naming
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conventions, if a fruit resembles bread in taste or texture, bread should appear first (breadfruit).
Thus, non jiyda would be more accurately translated as bread jiyda.
Similarly, types of Uzbek bread (go‘shtli non, yog‘li non, piyozli non) may be translated
descriptively as bread with meat (fat, onion).
We also note that oq non, qora non, zog‘ora non, suvi qochgan non correspond directly to white
bread, brown bread, corn pone, stale bread.
Our analysis shows that English adjectives like scoundrel, villain, rascal, mean, base correspond
to Uzbek nonko‘r, nontepki, while the nouns meanness, baseness, ungratefulness correspond to
nontepkilik, nonko‘rlik.
Finally, the Uzbek noun nonxo‘r has no equivalent in English, so it is translated descriptively as
one who likes eating bread.
Ways of Recreating the Semantics of the “Non/Bread” Concept’s Verbal Means in the
Target Language
In today’s world, as the scale of intercultural communication and relations continues to expand
and deepen, translation, which serves as a “bridge” in the spheres of socio-economics, politics,
science, culture, and other areas, has attracted growing interest in studying and researching its
theoretical aspects. Whether oral or written, the main function of translation is to ensure
effective communication between interlocutors.
The distinguished Uzbek scholar, Professor Sh. Safarov, who emphasized the invaluable role of
translation in human history and development, writes: “Without translation, it is impossible to
imagine economic progress, the strengthening of socio-cultural relations between nations, the
growth of religious tolerance, and most importantly, the development of science.”
The linguistic means of expressing the Bread/Non concept in English and Uzbek belong to
different levels of the language system. Besides their polysemous nature, these units are also
used metaphorically and metonymically, with certain expressions being context-specific or
multifunctional. This shows the relevance of analyzing the semantic field of the bread/non
macro-concept and the culture-specific meanings (cultural markers) it carries, and how they are
recreated in the target language. For this purpose, we relied on original works by English and
Uzbek writers alongside their translations, as well as monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. In
particular, we focused on the issue of equivalence and non-equivalence of bread/non units
across languages.
As the well-known Uzbek linguist Professor O.Q. Yusupov rightly points out: “For comparative
linguistics, the following types of interlingual equivalence are important: one-level, multi-level,
complete, partial, and approximate correspondences.” Let us consider these in terms of different
levels of the language.
The Uzbek noun non and the English noun bread correspond in their primary meaning and
serve as an example of full lexical equivalence. For instance:
Homid nonni shinniga bulg‘ar ekan soradi: — Yoshingiz nechada, bek?
Hamid absentmindedly mopped up shinny with a piece of bread and asked, “How old
are you, Bek?”
However, the secondary meaning of non as “food and drink in general” has no equivalent in
English bread. In such cases, relying on the denotative meaning is appropriate:
I want to buy some bread and drinks.
In English, bread also carries the slang meaning “money,” whereas in Uzbek, this idea is
expressed through the idiom non topmoq (“to earn bread” = to earn a living). For example:
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Matqovul aka, men non toparmikanman, deb qorin g‘amida maqtab ochganim yo‘q, —
dedi u bosig‘i bilan.
In British English, the idiom earn a/your crust is also used in the sense “to earn enough money
to live on.” Here, the noun crust refers to “the hard outer surface of bread.”
The Uzbek expressions non yopmoq, non pishirmoq correspond fully to the English verb to
bake. Compare:
I baked a loaf of bread for you.
Men siz uchun bir buxanka non pishirdim.
In this context, using yopdim instead of pishirdim would be inaccurate, since in Uzbek, yopmoq
refers specifically to sticking bread or pastries by hand to the walls of a tandoor, while
pishirmoq is used for baking in an oven.
In Uzbek, the profession of baking bread is called novvoylik. Unfortunately, dictionaries by
A.S. Hornby and Sh. Botayev do not provide an equivalent in English. In our opinion, bread
baking or bread making can be used.
The word novvoy (with variants nonvoy, nonpaz) refers to a person who bakes and sells bread,
which corresponds to the English baker (“a person whose job is baking and selling bread and
cakes”).
The Uzbek novvoyxona (“bakery”) is equivalent to English bakery, baker’s (BrE), and bake
shop, bake house (AmE). The existence of both British and American equivalents requires the
translator to take into account the variety of English being used.
English compound words such as bread-bin, bread-plate, bread-basket, breadbox correspond to
Uzbek nondon, non idish, non quti, non savati. It should be noted, however, that breadbasket
also has figurative meanings such as “stomach” (slang) or “a region that supplies grain” in
American English. The translator must choose the appropriate meaning depending on the
register or discourse.
The compound bread knife fully corresponds to Uzbek non pichoq (“a knife made for cutting
bread”). Another English word, bread slicer, may mean either non keskich (a tool) or a woman
who cuts bread. The intended meaning becomes clear from the syntagmatic context:
My bread slicer has broken.
But it was in good repair when I used it two minutes ago.
My aunt works as a bread slicer in our school canteen.
Other compounds include bread board (non taxta), breadcrumbs (non uvog‘i, non ushog‘i),
bread-corn, bread grain, breadstuffs (“grain, cereal crops, flour”). These have direct denotative
correspondences in Uzbek.
At the same time, there are lexical gaps where one language lacks an equivalent compound.
Examples include Uzbek words like non jiyda, nonko‘r, nonko‘rlik, non-namak, non-nasiba,
nonxo‘r, nontekin, nontepkilik, nontopar, nonxo‘rak, non-qatiq, versus English breadfruit,
breadfruit tree, breadline. For instance, non jiyda is translated as jujube bread, a hybrid
translation using transliteration (jujube) and equivalence (bread). However, we believe this is
inaccurate, since the element bread should appear first if the fruit resembles bread in taste and
texture, making bread jujube more suitable.
Similarly, types of bread such as oq non, qora non, zog‘ora non, suvi qochgan non correspond
directly to white bread, brown bread, stale bread, corn pone.
Our analysis also shows that English nouns like scoundrel, villain, rascal, mean, base are
equivalent to Uzbek nonko‘r, nontepki, while abstract nouns like meanness, baseness,
ungratefulness correspond to nontepkilik, nonko‘rlik.
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Finally, the Uzbek word nonxo‘r has no equivalent in English. It is therefore translated
descriptively as one who likes eating bread.
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