https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi
volume 4, issue 7, 2025
35
LEXICAL UNITS OF DESCRIBING HUMAN CHARACTER IN THE ENGLISH AND
UZBEK LANGUAGES
Iskandarova Mokhizoda Durbek kizi
Master’s student Uzbekistan State World Languages University
email:
Annotation:
This article aims to compare and contrast lexical units for describing human
personality in English and Uzbek languages. Research seeks to identify and analyze similarities
and differences among descriptive words of two different languages related to the description of
human qualities. By examining nouns, adjectives, and zoonyms that build up descriptive words
this article intends to focus on the variations in the usage of lexical means in two different
languages and cultures.
Key terms:
description, character, adjective, appearance, action.
Introduction.
This article is written to highlight the differences and similarities of the English
and Uzbek lexical units which are used for describing human character. According to the
anthropocentric paradigm, human is the center of all consideration, so this article will compare
how people choose words to describe human personality traits in two different languages.
Materials and methods.
The purpose of this article is to provide an in-depth examination of
descriptive lexical units related to human character in both English and Uzbek languages, as
found in dictionaries and literary works. The primary materials used in this analysis are fictional
texts and dictionaries.
The used methods in the article include descriptive method that is based on collecting data about
lexical means of both languages, analyzing their similarity and differences and comparative
method for comparing the lexical. Componential method is also one of the effectively used
methods. This article is based on a qualitative method.
Results and discussion
. According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, personality refers to
the unique combination of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional patterns that shape how an
individual adapts to life. Human character includes various qualities like honesty, integrity,
empathy, and resilience. These traits serve as the basis for our actions and choices. Individuals
with strong character consistently demonstrate ethical and moral principles, which help build
trust and respect both among their peers and within the wider community.
There are several ways of describing human character.
a) Appearance.
By describing external look and physique of people, their taste, personality and
social status can be determined.
Quality in English
How
this
quality
is
understood as a character
Quality in Uzbek
muscular
strong/kuchli
zabardast, baquvvat
skinny
weak/kuchsiz
qiltiriq, ozg’in
wearing black
powerful, serious/ jiddiy
qora rangda kiyinish
wearing yellow
joyful, optimist/ quvnoq
yorqin rangli kiyinish
https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi
volume 4, issue 7, 2025
36
As it is seen in this table, there are similar understandings in both languages after looking at the
appearance of people. Muscular people are accepted as strong characterized people, while skinny
ones seem to be weak. People’s taste of choosing outfit color can also be the sign of their
character.
b) Actions.
Doing this or that action may reveal people’s behavior.
Action in English
How this action is interpreted
as a character
Action in Uzbek
not keeping eye contact
lier/ yolg’onchi
ko’zga qaramay gapirish
laughing much
happiness / yengiltaklik
ko’p kulish
avoiding much conversations introvert/ odamovi
ko’p muloqotga kirishmaslik
It is visible from this table that actions can interpret the behavior of people and in English and
Uzbek they mostly have the similar interpretation. However, this is not stable. For instance,
actions like laughter can be accepted among various nations differently as overly laughing is not
a sign of good character in Uzbek, but accepted as optimism in English.
Personality traits are the relatively enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that
reflect the tendency to respond in certain ways under certain circumstances.
Karimov's research has explored how personality traits are communicated through language in
different cultural settings. Their findings indicate that while certain character assessments appear
to be universal, there are significant differences in how these traits are articulated across various
languages.
English shows a person as individuality, personality, accentuating the positive qualities such as
competitiveness, independence, conviction of fraud and bad faith, for example, a tiger -
dangerous opponent, a strong player; a lone wolf - person, who acts alone; barracuda - selfish,
dishonest predator; shark - sharpie, cheater, extortionist; custom official; pickpocket; weasel -
wriggler, slick opportunist; stalking horse – dummy, screen. The particular view of the world is
manifested in the English language in the form of marking historical figures by using the
zoomorphism: the Hog – Richard III, the Lion Heart – Richard the Lionheart, the Swan of Avon
– Shakespeare.
In Uzbek, the same words as arslon, sheryurak point to the people, who has a courageous
character, yolg’iz bo’ri represents people, who like acting alone, ilon describes people with bad,
toxic character, eshak is used for a stubborn charactered person. In both languages,
zoomorphisms are productively used while describing people’s personality colorfully.
Conclusion.
In both languages, lexical units such as nouns, adjectives, zoonyms are effectively
used for describing human character. In some places, they have the similar notions to describe
certain character, but there are differences as well. National and cultural worldview of English
and Uzbek nations can cause differences in word choice while describing human behavior.
References
1. Karimov, A. (2021). Traditional Values in Uzbek Folklore. Central Asian Journal of Literature,
15(3), 45-60.
2. Roberts, B. W. (2009) Back to the Future: Personality and Assessment and Personality
Development. J Res Personal, 43, 137–145.
3. delmar.edu
4.
