A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CONCEPT OF TIME IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK LANGUAGES

Abstract

Time is a universal cognitive category, yet languages conceptualize and express it through different grammatical, lexical, and metaphorical systems. This research presents a comparative analysis of the concept of time in English and Uzbek, focusing on grammatical representation, semantic categories, metaphorical conceptualization, and cultural interpretation. The study examines tense–aspect–mood systems, temporal adverbials, culturally rooted idioms, and conceptual metaphors, revealing significant structural and cognitive differences between the two languages. Findings show that while English relies heavily on grammaticalized tense forms and linear metaphors of time, Uzbek expresses temporality through aspectual markers, postpositional constructions, and culturally grounded metaphors reflecting cyclicity and collectivist worldviews. The analysis demonstrates that linguistic representation of time is inseparable from cultural cognition, worldview, and communicative needs of linguistic communities.