LINGUOCULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN CLASSIFYING ENGLISH AND UZBEK RIDDLES BY ANSWER TYPE

The present study explores the linguocultural parameters underlying the categorization of English and Uzbek riddles according to answer type. Drawing on a corpus-based approach, riddles were classified based on the ontological status of their referents (anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, phytomorphic, artifact-related, and natural phenomena). The analysis integrates structural-semantic methodology with comparative linguocultural interpretation. The results indicate that both linguistic traditions share common cognitive mechanisms, primarily metaphorical conceptualization and analogical mapping, which structure riddle formation. At the same time, typological distinctions emerge in stylistic realization. English riddles display a higher frequency of lexical-semantic play, particularly homonymy and polysemy, whereas Uzbek riddles foreground ethnoculturally marked realia, reflecting agrarian traditions, environmental perception, and everyday material culture. Thus, the categorization of riddles by answer type reveals both universal cognitive models and culture-specific semiotic encoding, reinforcing the interdependence of language, culture, and conceptualization.