THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF "FAMILY" AND "KIN": A COMPARATIVE SEMANTIC AND AXIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH AND UZBEK PROVERBS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55640/Keywords:
proverbs; family; kinship; semantic analysis; axiological linguistics; conceptual metaphor; English; UzbekAbstract
This study investigates how the concepts “family” and “kin” are conceptualized in English and Uzbek proverbs through a combined semantic and axiological lens. Using a comparative paremiological approach, a bilingual corpus of proverbs (approx. 200 items: ~100 English, ~100 Uzbek) was compiled from standard dictionaries and reputable collections. Proverbs were analyzed semantically (meaning, lexical fields, conceptual metaphors) and axiologically (value orientation: e.g., collectivism, filial piety, honor). Theoretical framing draws on conceptual metaphor theory (to identify recurring metaphorical mappings) and axiolinguistic approaches (to map value-signals in paremic units). Findings indicate that Uzbek proverbs systematically foreground kinship obligations, intergenerational respect, and collective family honor, whereas English proverbs more frequently reflect nuclear-family orientations and individual responsibility — though important overlaps (e.g., respect for parents, the centrality of home) occur. Axiological analysis reveals distinct value-weightings: Uzbek proverbs emphasize social duty and relational obligation, while English proverbs often prioritize personal agency and prudence. The paper contributes a structured comparative framework for semantic–axiological paremiology and offers implications for translation studies, intercultural pedagogy, and further paremiological databases.
References
4.Dundes, A. (1981). On the structure of the proverb. Proverbium, 2, 23–33.
5.Honeck, R. P. (1997). A proverb in mind: The cognitive science of proverbial wit and wisdom. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
6.Karimov, M. (2010). Family and kinship values in Uzbek paremiology. Journal of Central Asian Studies, 14(2), 45–56.
7.Kövecses, Z. (2005). Metaphor in culture: Universality and variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511614408
8.Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
9.Mieder, W. (2004). Proverbs: A handbook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
10.Norrick, N. R. (1985). How proverbs mean: Semantic studies in English proverbs. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110854319
11.Rahmatullaeva, N. (2018). Kinship and collectivism in Uzbek proverbs: An axiological perspective. International Journal of Central Asian Linguistics, 5(1), 67–82. https://doi.org/10.22034/ijcal.2018.5.1.67
12.Saidov, S. (2016). The sacred role of parents in Uzbek proverbs. Central Asian Folklore Review, 9(3), 88–101.
13.Sharifian, F. (2017). Cultural linguistics: Cultural conceptualisations and language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.8
14.Taylor, A. (1996). The proverb and an index to “The proverb”. New York: Peter Lang.
15.Teliya, V. N. (1996). Russian phraseology: A cognitive view. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.138
16.Wolf, E. (2012). Proverbs and the transmission of cultural values. Journal of Folklore Research, 49(2), 123–145. https://doi.org/10.2979/jfolkrese.49.2.123
17.Yang, L. (2015). Kinship metaphors in cross-cultural perspective. Language and Culture, 36(4), 201–219. https://doi.org/10.1177/0921374015609872
18.Zhukov, V. P. (2009). Proverbs as carriers of axiological meaning. Paremiological Studies, 21, 59–74.
19.Axmedov, I. (2025). PROVERBS AS SOCIAL GLUE: HOW SHARED WISDOM CREATES CONNECTION AND UNDERSTANDING. Journal of Multidisciplinary Sciences and Innovations, 1(3), 1058–1065. Retrieved from https://inlibrary.uz/index.php/jmsi/article/view/113188
20.Axmedov Ikboljon. (2025). A SPEECH ACT ANALYSIS OF PROVERBS: EXPLORING THE ILLOCUTIONARY FORCE OF TRADITIONAL WISDOM. PEDAGOGIK TADQIQOTLAR JURNALI, 5(1), 96–105. https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.6.2.03arc
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts, and all Open Access articles are disseminated under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC-BY), which licenses unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is appropriately cited. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, and so forth in this publication, even if not specifically identified, does not imply that these names are not protected by the relevant laws and regulations.
