THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE AND LANGUAGE MECHANISMS IN INTERPRETING THE MEANING OF LEXICAL UNITS IN THE CATEGORY OF “ANIMAL WORLD”

Аннотация

This article examines knowledge and language mechanisms in interpreting the meaning of lexical units in the category of animal world. Also analyze uzbek and English zoonymic components and their natural association that unites people with the animal world, based on a deep connection between the semantics of animals and the assessment of their biological characteristics. Zoonymic components in English and Uzbek are distinguished by a special psychic natural association that unites people with the animal world, based on a deep connection between the semantics of animals and the assessment of their biological characteristics. The zoonym in a phraseological unit is its semantic center (i.e. zoomorphism), and it is in it that the main metaphorical meaning that gives meaning to the entire expression lies. It is natural for animal names in the language to describe or express human behavior or character, because animals, like humans, have their own way of life and characteristics1. For example, “cow is stupid” - a stupid cow, “the hare is wise” - a wise rabbit, “the bear is clumsy” - a clumsy bear. Here, the phraseological image is formed on the basis of a person’s perception of the animal, and the name of the animal is sequentially associated with an object that has certain qualities and properties, with its symbolic meaning. And this is natural, because the whole world around a person is perceived by him through the prism of mythological thinking. Here are some natural English and Uzbek expressions (idioms) with animal names. Like many languages, animals are used in many idiomatic expressions in English and Uzbek. Today we will look at some of the main,widely used expressions: -to pig out ('to eat too much') — to eat like a pig, for example: 'I really pigged out at the barbeque. Ihave never eaten so much. -to chicken out ('to be too scared to do something usually after prely accepting todoit') — to be too scared, for ex.: 'I was going to do a parachute jump, but I chickened out on the day.' – to be adark horse (A person who keeps his interests and ideas secret, especially one with an amazing ability or skill)—towalk around as ifhe has ahammer, for example: “I didn't knowthat Sandracan play thedrums. Sheisa very dark horse.” 1БолдыревН.Н.Когнитивнаясемантика.Введениевкогнитивнуюлингвистику:курслекций.–Тамбов: ИздательскийдомТГУим.Г.Р.Державина,2014.C.46 page1404 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ISSN:2692-5206,ImpactFactor:12,23 AmericanAcademicpublishers,volume05,issue06,2025 Journal: https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai -to be a dark horse ('A person who keeps his interests and ideas secret, especially one with an amazing ability or skill') — to walk around as if he has a hammer, for example: 'I didn't know thatSandra can play thedrums. Sheis avery dark horse. -to be a pussy cat (‘a person who is very gentle’) — to be very gentle, for ex.: 'Don't worry. He looksscary, but heis actually acat. -to be bull-headed (‘a person who is stubborn’) — to be stubborn like a donkey, for ex.: 'To be bull-headed and come tothemoviewith us.Everyone else isgoing, hesaid. – to be inthe dog house ('to be in trouble') — to be introuble, for ex: 'I'm in the dog house with mywork after Iforgot my anniversary.' -to be in the dog house ('to be in trouble') — to be in trouble, for ex: 'I'm in the dog house with mywife after Iforgot outanniversary -to smell fishy ('it is dishonest or suspicious') — dishonest or suspicious, for ex.: 'My son's story smellsfishy. He said that he'd been in thelibrary allday, but Ithinkit's closed today.' -to be a rat (‘a person who deserts his friends or associates, especially in times of trouble. Someone who is not loyal’) — bevafo, munofiq, for ex.: 'Michael is such a rat. He left as soon as thetroublestarted.' -to be like a bull in a china shop ('act carelessly in the way they move or behave') — stagger, forex.:'The footballer ran around likeabull ina chinashop until hewas sent off.' -to talk the hind legs off a donkey (‘a person who talks too much’) — to talk a lot, for ex.: 'Her speech seemed togo onforever; shecould talk thehind legs off adonkey.' Phraseologismsexpressed with animal names orzoonyms: -physical qualities, abilities:runs likea horse; tired likea dog; wrestler likeabear, etc.; –appearance: forexample, swan, anteater; stupidlikea pig. – mental qualities (character traits): stubborn like a donkey, dull like a fly, etc.; – intellect: cunning likeafox;smart likeadog, etc.; –behavior, ability, skill:repeat likeaparrot. -fight like cat and dog-it mushukdek janjallashmoq: (English) As kids we used to fight like cat and dog, (Uzbek) Biz xuddi bolalardek bir-birimiz bilan it-mushukdek janjallashishga o’rganib qolgandik. -it is raining cats and dogs- chelak-chelak yomg’ir quymoq. (English) It’s raining cats and dogs I am worried about how my kids will reach home. (Uzbek) Sharros yomg’ir kuymoqda, men esabolalarim qandayuyga yetib kelishidan xavotirdaman. The orig