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A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF IDIOMS AND PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK LANGUAGES
1 2 3
Rahimova I.M. , Komuljonova I.Kh. , Akhmedova Z.Sh.
1Rahimova Ilmira Marksovna -foreign language Teacher;
2Komuljonova Ikboloy Khasanboy qizi - Lawyer on contractual issues, Student;
3Akhmedova Zaynab Shermatovna - Lawyer on notaries, Student, JURIDICAL COLLEGE, KHORESM, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
Abstract: this article deals with the importance of idioms and phraseological units in oral speech and presents some analyzed examples of phrasal units that are common in English and Uzbek language. As a matter of fact to master language, learning idioms is an important way. They are a typical component of English, and a spoken English in particular, and are used more and more widely in everyday conversations. The image of human body parts is contained in large portion of idioms.
Keywords: idioms, phraseological units, cultural backgrounds, comparative idioms, body-part idioms, equivalency, spoken English, negative evaluation.
English and Uzbek are two different languages with their own cultural backgrounds. Besides, language and culture are closely related. An understanding of common idioms will increase comprehension and make conversations more natural in both languages. However, while learning process, idioms present a problem to language learners. They find it hard to understand the meaning of idioms due to their unawareness of and confusion about the similarities and differences between English and Uzbek idioms. As a result, they instinctively avoid trying to produce idioms themselves.
In the following research we will focus on what are body part idioms themselves? And people are familiar with their own bodies. A lot of idioms are from human body parts. Some common organs that are used in idioms are: head, eye, ear, mouth, arm, leg, etc. For instance, "keep a cool head" means "to keep calm in difficult and stressful situation", "not see eye to eye with someone" means "not agree on something", "keep your chin up" means "something that you say to someone in a difficult situation in order to encourage them to be brave and try not to be sad" and so on. Body-related idioms reflect the functions of major organs and are frequently used in daily life.
For interpreting reality, language is a tool. Body part images appear frequently in Uzbek and English idioms carrying simile and metaphor meanings and ontological metaphors are used widely. Ontological metaphor is one in which an abstraction, such as an activity, emotion, or idea, is represented as something concrete, such as an object, substance, container, or person. With the help of following examples we are going to elicit our ideas [1]:
1. Get into someone's head (to understand what someone thinks and feels so that you can communicate well with him or her): I want to get into my wife's head indeed, and keep on getting along well with her.
2. Give someone their head (to allow someone to do what they want without trying to stop them) E.g. John has given his son his head to make up his mind on choosing the profession.
3. Fly in the face of something (to oppose or be the opposite of something is usual or expected) E.g. Such a proposal is flying in the face of common sense.
4. To have a face like a thunder (to have a very angry expression) E.g. He had a face like a thunder when he heard of his failing from the CEFR test.
5. To be all ears (to be very eager to hear what someone has to say) E.g. When Henry was speaking about his journey to Dubai I was all ears.
6. Not believe your eyes/ears (to be very surprised at something you hear/see) E.g. I couldn't believe my ears when he proposed me.
7. To open someone's eyes (to make someone realize the truth, make someone aware of something) E.g. Your wife is lying to you, please, open your eyes.
An image underlying a phrase may express either approval or disapproval depending on how a body part functions: a functional use of a body-part suggests approval. On the contrary, if there is an inappropriate function of a body part, it creates disapproval. We have many hand-idioms denoting positive meaning, such as "To give someone a hand" (to help someone); "Be good with your hands" (to be skilful at making or doing things with your hands); "Hold someone's hand" (to give someone support in a difficult situation); "An old hand" (someone who has done a particular job or activity for a long time and who can do it very well) [2, p. 94].
As for learners, the best time to address the complexity of idioms is at upper-intermediate and advanced levels, when they already have a certain grammatical and lexical foundation. According to the teaching experience of a linguist, there are three steps to bear in mind when learning a new idiom. First of all, it is advisable for learners to find equivalent Uzbek idioms of English ones. In this way, they can install the relation between the two languages; thus, can put them into their long-term memory. Second, learn how to use the idiom in a particular situation. Frequent application of idioms is of great help. Hopefully this article can provide teachers with some suggestions and ideas so that they could take them into account to effectively teach idioms, raise the learners' awareness of idioms so that they should develop a habit of noticing them in everyday situations, including reading and listening.
References
1. Nurmatova M.R. Body Part Idioms in English and Uzbek: A Contrastive Analysis and
Teaching Implications. Молодой ученый, 2016. С. 915-917.
2. Richard A. NTC's American idioms dictionary. USA, 2000. Р. 332.
