National-cultural specificity of phraseological units in English and Uzbek/ Russian Content

2.3 The comparison of phraseological units of Uzbek and English languages in terms of cultural specificity


According to E.V. Uryson, language systems offer an inherently different representation of the surrounding reality: “We know that every language divides the world in its own manner, that is, it has its own particular way of conceptualizing it. At the heart of each particular language there is a special model, or the picture of the world, and the speaker organizes the content of what (s)he says in accordance with this model Language is part of the culture of the nation speaking it – it preserves the culture and transmits it to other generations. S.G.Ter-Minasova calls a language the mirror of the surrounding world “… it [the language] reflects the reality and creates its own picture of the world, specific and unique to each language and, consequently, for the people, ethnic group, speech community, using the given language as a means of communication” Phraseological means of the language are one of the categories national mentality is manifested in. Idioms, with the imagery they contain, symbols and stereotypes of the people's consciousness cover the bigger part of the human experience and carry the linguocultural code of the nation.
They reflect centuries-old history, religious beliefs, wisdom of the people, its moral values which comprise the main components of the national culture. V.N.Teliya believes that phraseological units “… are associated with cultural and national standards, stereotypes, myths and so on and when being used in speech they reflect the mindset characteristic for a certain linguocultural community” S.G.Ter-Minasova attributes huge role to phraseological units in the process of language and culture formation: “The idiomatic layer of the language, i.e. in the layer which, by definition, is specific for each particular nation, stores the values, public morals, attitude to the world, to people and other nations. Idioms, proverbs and sayings illustrate the way of life as well as geographical location of a nation, the history and traditions of the community united by one culture” V.A.Maslova claims that idioms play an important role in the identification of national and cultural features. They are the soul of every national language; they express the spirit of the language and the distinctness of the people. Phraseological units do not simply describe the world around us – they are called to interpret it, to evaluate, to express our subjective attitude to it Idioms are involved in the formation of the world outlook for an individual and for a community.
The semantic structure of phraseological units primarily depends on extra-linguistic factors and phraseological units most fully and clearly reflect different areas of life and the living conditions of a certain people, their collective consciousness, centuries-old experience of the people, preserved in the form of verbal utterances.
The same phenomenon of the reality surrounding people can get both absolutely identical and completely different interpretation of the phraseological system in a particular language “… idioms seem to impose a particular vision of the world and the situation on the speaker”
For example, in Uzbek, English and quick and decisive action when it is necessary to begin with the most important thing without hesitation is described with the same idioms, they are complete semantic, structural and grammatical equivalents: temirni qizig’ida bos – to take the bull by the horns. It is known that the bull is a stubborn and dangerous animal, if you want it to obey, you have to be brave and decisive. The image of the bull in these phraseological units is associated with an urgent matter, the task that has to be carried out without delay. These are such idioms as: tuyaning dumi yerga tekkanda  (literally: when the tail of camel is on the ground) – when pigs fly  (literally: all thirty-six days of the month) are combined by the meaning “is not known when, in the indefinite future, never,” but the choice of images is different. These examples show that national and cultural identity of the phraseological fund manifests itself in the comparison of two or more languages.
Let us consider the manifestation of cultural identity with the help of the example of phraseological units with the component havo/air/ in Uzbek, English.
The area of this study is limited to the notion of air as “the breathing environment of a human being” and “the mixture of gases which comprise the Earth's atmosphere,” as these definitions of air are present in all three languages under analysis and form the inner image of the analysed phraseological units. The meanings of “appearance,” “the outside,” “aria,” “motive” are reflected only in English and French, and therefore will not be the subject of the analysis As is known, such natural elements as water, earth, fire and air occupy an important place in people's lives. Air is the main source of life, it is essential for all living organisms on our planet.
Air has always been considered symbolic for people. This natural element is associated with freedom, both physical and spiritual, for which there are no barriers, as air has no boundaries. It is also associated with the ease of thought, subtlety and unpredictability In mythology air is one of the fundamental elements of the universe and is described as breath, blow of the wind, it is connected with the principle of life (bibl.: Holy Spirit). Air gives life, but this natural element can also take it away. Air is home for such divine messengers as angels as well as for demons representing the evil. All of these notions are related to the concept of air and are reflected in the language. After the comparative analysis of phraseological units with the component havo/air/ in three languages we found out that the basis of a number of figurative idioms is one of the most important functions of the air – namely ensuring the life of all living things on Earth.
Human life depends on breath, on fresh, pure air saturated with oxygen. It is universal knowledge concerning air and it is reflected in the following phraseologisms: Uzbek toza havoda (in the fresh air), ochiq havoda (outside), havodek yengil  (as if it was air) (about something essential, vital); English: come up for air, take the air In this sense, the following English idiom is interesting from the point of view of the national specificity come up for air – have a break, rest, recover, it is a borrowing from the Australian English. This phraseologism represents imaginative rethinking of the free combination come up for air, which has been semantically updated having changed its specific meaning. Presumably, this expression is borrowed from the speech of pearl seekers. It is known that earlier pearl divers had not had special equipment for underwater breathing, hence, in order to get a breath of air they needed to rise to the surface.
The concept of life is associated not only with providing humans with air as an oxygen source. The presence of food and money resources are vitally important conditions for human existence, their lack negatively impacts the quality and standard of living.
Examples show that in the phraseologisms of Uzbek and English languages air is the main symbol of life as it represents oxygen; From the point of view of physics, air is a mixture of gases that make up the earth's atmosphere (from Dutch “gas,” goes back to ancient Greek “χάος”). In ancient times, this subtle form was something between matter and spirit. The naturalist Jan Baptista van Helmont who gave name to this group of compounds believed that gas was something indefinite, disordered, chaotic, and associated with spirits and something invisible, but it could still be felt. These properties of the air as a gaseous substance are also reflected in the phraseological units of the studied languages.
In the minds of the representatives of all three cultures, air is a symbol of an uncertain situation, incompleteness of something: English: be in the air – be in unstable position, keep smb. in the air – keep someone in a state of suspense, uncertainty, expectation, leave in the air smb./smth. – leave perplexed, puzzled, leave smth. unresolved, unfinished.
It is noteworthy that the image of randomness of the phraseologisms in the Uzbek language is expressed via an action verb: havoda uchib yuribdi  (fly in the air – about ideas, plans, events), in English it is reflected via a non-action verb: be in the air. This choice of verbs is most likely associated with the mindset of the people, the perception of reality. the surrounding.