Cognitive-axiological features and linguocultural representation of the family concept in Uzbek and English

Abstract

This article examines the cognitive structure, axiological content, and linguocultural representation of the FAMILY concept in Uzbek and English. The study aims to identify how family relations and values such as care, responsibility, solidarity, belonging, and intergenerational continuity are conceptualized through linguistic expressions. The analysis combines conceptual interpretation, semantic component analysis, cross-linguistic comparison, and contextual reading. Uzbek expressions including oila, xonadon, ro‘zg‘or, ota-ona, and farzand are compared with English family, home, household, parents, and children. Proverbs and conventional expressions are interpreted through prototype structures, frames, conceptual metaphors, and evaluative oppositions. The discussion identifies a shared conceptual core involving emotional closeness, protection, mutual obligations, and social belonging. Selected expressions also display different semantic emphases concerning respect across generations, individual autonomy, and the symbolic meaning of domestic space. These observations are treated as tendencies within the selected examples rather than fixed properties of entire cultures. The findings may inform contrastive semantics, linguocultural studies, translation, and intercultural communication. Particular attention is paid to the distinction between lexical meaning, conceptual interpretation, and social prescription.