LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF NOSTALGIC SONGS IN UZBEK AND ENGLISH

Аннотация

Ushbu maqolada o‘zbek va ingliz tillaridagi nostalgik qo‘shiqlar lingvistik jihatdan tahlil qilinadi. Tadqiqotda “Qarg‘alar” (xalq qo‘shig‘i) hamda Ed Sheeranning “Castle on the Hill” qo‘shig‘i asosida nostalgiya mazmunining ifodalanishiga xizmat qiluvchi leksik-semantik va stilistik vositalar o‘rganiladi. Xususan, biografik, sensor, toponimik, zoosemantik, emotiv va deiktik birliklarning qo‘llanishi tahlil qilinadi. Maqolada nostalgiya holatining til orqali estetik, psixologik va madaniy darajada qanday ifoda topishi ko‘rsatiladi. Qiyosiy yondashuv asosida o‘zbek va ingliz madaniyatlaridagi umumiylik va o‘ziga xosliklar aniqlanadi. Kalit so‘zlar: nostalgiya, qo‘shiq matni, lingvistik tahlil, qiyosiy tadqiq, sensor birlik, toponimik birlik, emotiv leksika, semantik konnotatsiya. Nostalgia is a deep feeling of longing that arises in a person for happy moments, places, or situations experienced in the past [1; p. xiii–xiv]. This term is derived from Ancient Greek, composed of the components “νόστος” (nóstos) meaning “return home” and “ἄλγος” (álgos) meaning “pain” or “sorrow.” Initially, in the 17th century, it was described as a psychological condition observed among Swiss mercenaries, expressing their longing for home [2; p. 405]. In the modern era, nostalgia is interpreted, unlike in the past, as a complex emotional state associated with personal and collective memory, cultural identity, and emotional experiences [3; p.258]. In particular, music serves as a powerful trigger for nostalgic feelings. Indeed, songs not only evoke personal memories but also become a linguistic expression of longing for lost values, forgotten environments, and an idealized past. In nostalgic songs, language is used to idealize the past and to create images such as childhood, homeland, first love, and lost happiness. These texts widely employ emotionally charged lexical units, expressive means, poetic parallelisms, and semantic contrasts. Notably, through such linguistic elements, nostalgia becomes not only an aesthetic phenomenon but also a central aspect of personal and social perception. Since language reflects the human psyche, the study of expressions related to nostalgia is considered a particularly relevant field in linguistics. This is because the phenomenon not only reveals the interplay between language and culture, but also contributes to the exploration of identity, memory, and forms of emotional expression. Therefore, the linguistic analysis of nostalgic songs is not only a topical issue in linguistics but also represents a research direction with significant methodological and conceptual foundations. Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR) 135 ISSN: 2181-2020 LPTIENP International Scientific-Practice Conference on “Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies: International Experience and National Practice” Denau, November 20, 2025 in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar The object of this study is the lyrics of Uzbek and English songs that express a nostalgic mood, aiming to explore the artistic and linguistic features of nostalgia. Ed Sheeran’s “Castle on the Hill” and the traditional Uzbek folk song “Qarg‘alar” have been selected as the primary material for analysis. The subject of this research is the linguistic devices used in the selected Uzbek and English nostalgic songs. These include emotional lexical units, stylistic expressions, poetic imagery, semantic connotations, and their communicative-functional potential in conveying the meaning of nostalgia. Nostalgia is not merely a recollection of personal memories, but a profound spiritual phenomenon that reveals a nation’s historical sufferings, losses, and emotional state. Therefore, through this concept, it becomes possible to uncover not only specific moments of the past but also the painful chapters of a people’s destiny using aesthetic and linguistic means. Let us now turn to the analysis of nostalgic elements in the lyrics of the Uzbek song “Qarg‘alar” (The Crows): 1. In the line “Qarg‘alar uchsa qaraylik” (Let’s watch when the crows fly), the word crows (qarg‘alar) functions as a zoonym, belonging to the lexical layer of animal names. In language, it often carries connotative semantic weight related to misfortune, evil, and distance. This unit can be classified as a zoosemantic lexical element. Within the context of “Siberia” (Sibir), it serves as a geosemantic signal, conveying a historical image of exile and displacement associated with a specific place. The entire line is based on linguistic units that perform a nostalgic-emotive function. 2. In the line “Marg‘ilonning yo‘liga” (To the road of Margilan), Margilan is a toponym and functions as an onomastic unit denoting a specific geographical location. It evokes notions of homeland and native land, and is thus classified as a toponymic unit with emotional-connotative value. While the word road (yo‘l) denotes direction in a literal sense, in this context, its usage allows for metaphorical interpretation—as a lexical u