GRADUONOMY IN THE GRAMMATICAL AND SEMANTIC CATEGORIES OF THE VERB IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK LANGUAGES

Аннотация

This article explores the phenomenon of graduonomy within the grammatical and semantic categories of verbs in the English and Uzbek languages. Graduonomy, as a subtype of semantic gradation, reflects the hierarchy and intensity of meanings expressed through verbal forms. The research aims to identify how different levels of meaning, modality, and intensity are encoded in verb categories such as tense, aspect, voice, and mood. The comparative analysis draws attention to cross-linguistic similarities and discrepancies that emerge in representing verbal gradation. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of typological distinctions and help refine language teaching and translation strategies. Keywords: graduonomy, verb categories, semantics, grammar, English, Uzbek, aspect, modality, comparison In linguistic studies, the concept of graduonomy refers to the semantic gradation or scaling between linguistic units within a specific category. While often applied to adjectives and adverbs, its application to verbs—particularly in relation to grammatical and semantic categories—has received limited scholarly attention. In the context of English and Uzbek, two typologically distinct languages, this concept offers unique insights into how languages express gradation in action, state, and modality. A comparative-descriptive method was employed to analyze verb-related graduonomic structures in English and Uzbek. Examples were drawn from corpora, literary texts, dictionaries, and grammar manuals. Verbs are a part of speech characterized by a complex system of grammatical categories. The various verb forms, which differ in specific meanings but are united by a common semantic core, collectively form the system of grammatical categories that express actions. The system of grammatical forms unique to verbs determines their grammatical categories. Regardless of whether a verb functions as a main predicate or otherwise within a sentence, it must belong to at least one of the grammatical categories specific to verbs. These categories 68 ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE International scientific-online conference include voice, mood, tense, person-number, and polarity (affirmative/negative forms) [1]. The data reveal that both English and Uzbek demonstrate graduonomic structures in their verb systems, though the means of expression differ significantly. English primarily uses analytic structures and modal auxiliaries, while Uzbek employs morphological gradation, reduplication, and lexical compounding. For example, English relies on tense and aspect combinations (e.g., has been doing implies more persistence than did), whereas in Uzbek, the use of intensifying morphemes or verbs achieves a similar effect (e.g., ko‘rib chiqmoq, ko‘rib chiqib chiqmoq). Moreover, modality in both languages reflects complex gradations of certainty and obligation, but Uzbek structures allow for more layered and culturally nuanced expressions—such as those indicating social politeness or indirection. In addition to being subject to semantic gradation, verbs can also differ in the degree of certain features within their grammatical categories. Among Uzbek linguists who have studied graduonymy, only O. Bozorov has briefly addressed the issue of gradation at the morphological level in his research, where he explains that gradation exists even within the categories of verbs. Below, we will analyze how gradation manifests within these categories. First, we will examine how graduonymy appears in the category of voice, based on the views of various researchers. The voice category of verbs serves to fill and define the verb’s subject valency, adapting the action to the communicative context. Based on how the action relates to the subject and object, several types of voice are distinguished. In modern Uzbek, the main types of verbal voice include the active (default) voice, reflexive, causative, reciprocal, and passive, each formed with specific derivational suffixes. O. Bozorov, in his research, presents gradation within the voice category based on various principles, particularly considering the degree of involvement of the subject in the execution of the action. According to his analysis, the following types of graduonomic sequences can be observed among voice forms: a) By the degree of the subject’s involvement in the action: active/reflexive → reciprocal → causative → passive b) By the increasing number of external participants involved in the action: reflexive → causative → reciprocal 69 ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE International scientific-online conference c) By the degree of external influence on the action: neutral (active, reflexive, passive) → cooperation or equality (reciprocal) → subordination (causative) d) By the decline in the clarity or definiteness of the action: active → reflexive → reciprocal → causative → passive This analysis illustrates how graduonomy can be traced across the voice category in the Uzbek verb system, hig