Uzbekistan state world languages university d. U. Ashurova m. R. Galieva

6.3. Cross-cultural analysis of the concept
The concept “Water/Сув” is one of the universal concepts represented in all societies and cultures. Water considered to be a source of life on the Earth, gave rise to many religious legends and cosmogonic myths about the world. According to Hinduism and Islam all living creatures on the earth emerged from water. Mesopotamian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Philippine and other mythologies also assert that at the beginning the Universe consisted of water; Greek goddess of love Aphrodite, was also born of the sea.

A vital role of “water” in people’s life accounts for its highly symbolic and sacred status. “Water” is a key element in many religious rituals around the world aimed at purifying, annihilating sins, creating holiness, transforming the world, etc. Water is considered to be a source of purification in physical and symbolic sense: the rituals of ablution in Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism before praying or entering a temple. Water also represents rebirth in many religions: the ritual of Epiphany/Christening in Christianity and Amrit Sanscar (baptizing) in Hinduism; the ritual of washing the dead bodies before burying so that they could go to another world purified and rebirthed. In many religious legends water is believed to have magic powers, capable of healing and repelling evil: holy water in Christianity, amrita in Sikhism and Hinduism, Zamzam water in Islam.

In many mythological legends Water is often personified as God, Goddess or divine entity: Ganges is regarded as a goddess whose purity eliminates the sins of the faithful, Neptune/Poseidon – the Greek-Roman god of the ocean and the king of other sea gods, Anahita – Persian goddess of water and fertility, Tefnut – Egyptian goddess of water, moisture and fertility, etc. Water also often represents the border between the world of the living beings and the world of the dead: for instance, according to ancient Greek mythology the souls of the dead were carried to the underworld across waters of the River Styx.

The first step of linguistic analysis of any concept presupposes the analysis of its notional constituent based on the detailed analysis of the dictionary meanings. The analysis of the dictionary definitions done on the basis of several dictionaries (MWCD, CIDE, OALD, LDCE) has shown that the dictionary meanings of the lexeme “water” in the English and Uzbek languages can be summarized in the followings: