CONCEPTUALIZATION AND COGNITIVE INTERPRETATION OF IDIOMATIC AND PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK

This article examines the conceptualization and cognitive interpretation of idiomatic and phraseological units in English and Uzbek. The study explores how fixed figurative expressions are motivated not only by lexical convention but also by conceptual structure, image schemas, encyclopedic knowledge, and culturally embedded associations. The purpose of the article is to identify the principal cognitive mechanisms underlying idioms and phraseological units and to compare the ways these mechanisms are realized in English and Uzbek. The research is based on a qualitative, comparative, and interpretive analysis of representative phraseological material discussed in contemporary scholarship on cognitive semantics and English–Uzbek phraseology. The findings suggest that idiomatic meaning is often semantically motivated rather than fully arbitrary, and that the interpretation of phraseological units depends on metaphor, associative knowledge, conceptual categorization, and sociocultural background. The comparison of English and Uzbek shows both shared cognitive tendencies and language-specific patterns shaped by different cultural experiences. The article argues that a cognitive approach offers a more productive model for explaining phraseological meaning than a purely formal or dictionary-based approach, because it reveals how idioms function as conceptual products of collective experience. The results may be useful for comparative linguistics, phraseology, translation studies, and foreign language teaching.本文探讨英语与乌兹别克语中习语与熟语单位（idiomatic and phraseological units）的概念化及认知阐释。本研究旨在探究固定修辞表达的理据来源：其不仅受制于词汇规约，更与概念结构、意象图式（image schemas）、百科知识以及根植于文化的联想密切相关。本文的研究目的在于识别习语与熟语单位背后的核心认知机制，并对比这些机制在英语与乌兹别克语中的实现路径。本研究采用质性、比较与阐释性分析方法，对当代认知语义学（cognitive semantics）及英乌熟语学研究中讨论的代表性熟语语料展开分析。研究结果表明，习语语义通常具备语义理据，而非完全任意；熟语单位的阐释依赖隐喻、联想知识、概念分类以及社会文化背景。英乌两种语言的对比研究显示，二者既存在共通的认知倾向，也存在由不同文化经验塑造的语言特异性模式。本文主张，相较于纯粹形式化或基于词典的研究路径，认知研究路径为阐释熟语语义提供了更具成效的模型，因为该路径揭示了习语如何作为集体经验的概念产物发挥作用。本研究成果可应用于比较语言学、熟语学、翻译研究以及外语教学领域。