A linguocultural and comparative study of wise sayings related to human character in English and Uzbek literary works

Abstract

This article examines the linguocultural and comparative characteristics of wise sayings related to human character in English and Uzbek literary traditions. The study focuses on aphorisms, proverbs, maxims and other short text forms that represent moral judgement, social behaviour and culturally approved personality traits. Using a qualitative comparative method, the article analyses how concepts such as honesty, wisdom, pride, justice, humility, speech, knowledge and responsibility are verbalized in English and Uzbek literary and paremiological material. The results show that both traditions share universal ethical concerns, yet they encode them through different cultural images and stylistic mechanisms. English wise sayings often foreground individual responsibility, rational self-control and pragmatic action, whereas Uzbek sayings tend to emphasize social harmony, collective duty, respect for speech, justice and moral upbringing. The article argues that short didactic forms are not merely decorative elements of literature but linguocultural signs that preserve national values and transmit models of human character across generations.