COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ADJECTIVES IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK LANGUAGES

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “INTEGRATION OF MODERN LINGUISTICS WITH SCIENCE, EDUCATION, AND PRACTICE IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION: NEW APPROACHES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES”, DECEMBER 4, 2025 374 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ADJECTIVES IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK LANGUAGES Xudayqulova Madina, Temirova Sevinch NSU https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17810994 Abstract. This article explores major characteristics, syntactic functions, and degrees of adjectives in English and Uzbek, focusing on their formation, grammatical categories, and comparative degrees. Although English and Uzbek belong to different language families— Germanic and Turkic, respectively—both languages use adjectives as essential modifiers in describing qualities, states, and attributes of nouns. The comparative analysis demonstrates significant similarities in functions, but notable differences in morphological markers, and the formation of comparative and superlative degrees. The findings contribute to contrastive linguistics and can support more effective English language teaching in Uzbek classrooms. Keywords: English adjectives, Uzbek adjectives, comparison of languages, grammatical category, degrees of comparison, morphology, syntax. Introduction Adjectives are an integral lexical category used to describe and qualify nouns. In both English and Uzbek, adjectives provide essential semantic details such as size, color, quantity, and emotional evaluation. This comparative study helps learners understand cross-linguistic influence and diminish common errors when studying English as a foreign language. At the outset, to analyse adjectives based on literature reviews, linguists such as B. A. Ilyish, R. Quirk, and Sh. Rahmatullayev have studied the role of adjectives in English and Uzbek. English grammar traditionally classifies adjectives on the basis of meaning and function, while Uzbek grammar highlights semantic groups and morphological forms. The studies note that although adjectives in both languages serve similar communicative purposes, English relies more on analytical forms: e.g., more attractive; Her new hairstyle looks more attractive than previous; whereas Uzbek fundamentally uses synthetic forms : e.g., chiroyliroq .U yangi libosda yanada chiroyliroq ko'rindi. However, limited research addresses how these differences affect language learning in Uzbek-speaking contexts. Thus, a modern comparative approach remains relevant. Syntactic functions One important way in which adjectives can be subclassified is according to the syntactic function they can perform. The two main syntactic functions of adjectives are their use as attributives and as predicatives in both languages 1 . Thus, adjectives can be subclassified according to whether they can function as: (1) attributive modifiers : In English: e.g.a hungry man.( attributive) In Uzbek: och erkak.( aniqlovchi) (2) Predicative complements: 1 Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “INTEGRATION OF MODERN LINGUISTICS WITH SCIENCE, EDUCATION, AND PRACTICE IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION: NEW APPROACHES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES”, DECEMBER 4, 2025 375 In English: e.g.The man is hungry (predicate). In Uzbek: e.g. Bu erkak och ( ot kesim). Another syntactic function of adjectives in English, adjectives sometimes appear after the noun they modify - postpositive adjectives. This is a third “position” beyond attributive (prenoun) and predicative. 2 e.g., “something interesting” (postpositive) vs " interesting book" (attributive). Also, certain adjectives like present, concerned, and involved can alternate positions depending on meaning. e.g., “the people present” vs “the present people”. But, in the Uzbek language, this is not a productive category. Adjectives never follow the noun in normal attributive use. However, post-position like structures exist but are not adjectives: words after nouns are usually possessive markers, case suffixes, or participles (sifatdosh), not adjectives 3 . In general, Postpositive adjectives are productive in English, but absent in Uzbek. This is an important point in comparative syntax. When it comes to " Substantivized (Nominalized) Adjectives", in English, adjectives can function as noun phrase heads: 4 e.g.the rich, the poor, the elderly, the unknown - these refer to groups or abstract concepts. Uzbek adjectives can also be substantivized, but through explicit nominalization or semantic shift: e.g., yoshlar (the young), kambag'allar (the poor). However, Uzbek substantivization is more semantic and lexical; English substantivization is a formal syntactic pattern requiring a definite article and adjective. Similarity: both languages allow adjectives to function as noun-phrase heads. Difference: English depends on article and adjective syntax; Uzbek relies on context or plural suffix –lar. Degrees of Comparison The category of the degrees of comparison of adjectives is the system of opposites (longlonger-longest), showing qualitative distinctions of qualities. More exactly, it shows whether the adjective denotes the property of some substance absolutely, or relatively as a higher or the highest amount of the property in comparison with that of some other substances. 5 According to Uzbek grammarians, adjectives in Uzbek exhibit four degrees: 6 1. oddiy daraja (positive degree) 2. qiyosiy daraja (comparative degree) 3. orttirma daraja (superlative degree) 4. ozaytirma daraja (diminutive degree), 2 Michael Ennis, the English language coordinator at the Language Centre of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in Italy." Teaching Postpositive Adjectives" article in Cambridge Press.Published 14 July 2020. 3 A. G‘ulomov, Sh. Rahmatullayev — “Hozirgi zamon o‘zbek adabiy tili. Morfologiya”, Adjective chapter 4 Ilyish, B. A. The Structure of Modern English. 5 Khaimovich and Rogovskaya.A course in English grammar. 6 Umaraliyeva Robiya Ulug'bek qizi -" Sifat so'z turkumi va uning daraja ko'rsatkichlari" article in Pedagogy Journal. Published August 11, 2023 | INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “INTEGRATION OF MODERN LINGUISTICS WITH SCIENCE, EDUCATION, AND PRACTICE IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION: NEW APPROACHES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES”, DECEMBER 4, 2025 376 whereas English grammarians recognize three degrees: 1. positive degree 2. comparative degree 3. superlative degree. However, English also possesses semantic down toners, which allow us to compare all four levels across both languages. Both languages express positive, comparative, and superlative degrees, but they use different strategies. Positive degree (oddiy daraja) of adjectives in both languages is the basic form of the adjective without any affixes: In English: e.g.beautiful, big, high. In Uzbek: e.g.chiroyli, katta, baland. Comparative degree ( qiyosiy daraja) of adjectives is almost similar in both languages. English forms the comparative degree in two principal ways: 1. Suffix –er; bigger, smaller, older 2. more + adjective; more beautiful, more interesting In addition, English uses than to mark the second element of comparison: bigger than…, more useful than… In Uzbek, the comparative degree is usually formed when two objects, events, phenomena, or states are involved. In this case, the quality of the items being compared is expressed through the patterns … compared to(ga qaraganda, nisbatan), –roq suffix or than (dan ko'ra). e.g.Bugungi shamol kechagiga qaraganda kuchliroq. Asal shakardan ko‘ra shirinroq. Superlative degree ( orttirma daraja) of adjectives is also similar in both languages. English expresses the superlative degree through: 1. Suffix –est biggest, smallest 2. most + adjective the most beautiful, the most difficult. In Uzbek, intensification is expressed through: 1. Strengthening adverbs: juda, nihoyatda, benihoya, haddan tashqari, g‘oyatda (juda chiroyli, nihoyatda muhim, benihoya katta) 2. The particle eng (functioning closest to English superlative): eng yaxshi, eng qiyin Important note: In Uzbek grammar, orttirma daraja refers to intensified adjectives, which is not identical to the English grammatical superlative, though they share semantic similarities. Diminutive / Decreasing Degree (Ozaytirma daraja) of adjectives. This is the key structural difference between the two languages. Uzbek has a grammatical diminutive degree, expressed through: 1. –roq used with a weakening meaning kichkinaroq, yengilroq. 2. Downtoning adverbs: biroz, sal, anchagina, unchalik… emas INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “INTEGRATION OF MODERN LINGUISTICS WITH SCIENCE, EDUCATION, AND PRACTICE IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION: NEW APPROACHES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES”, DECEMBER 4, 2025 377 (biroz chiroyli, sal qiziqarli, unchalik yaxshi emas) English does not have a grammatical diminutive degree, but expresses the same semantic meaning through downtoning adverbs: a bit (biroz), slightly (sal), fairly (anchagina), not very (unchalik emas), rather (sal) e.g., a bit cold, slightly different, fairly small, not very good Conclusion The comparison of English and Uzbek adjectives reveals both universal and languagespecific features. While adjectives in both languages share similar semantic functions, English relies on a combination of synthetic and analytic forms, whereas Uzbek primarily uses morphological suffixation for comparison and derivation. Differences in word order, comparative formation, and predicate structure may cause challenges for Uzbek learners of English. Understanding these contrasts enhances linguistic awareness and supports more effective teaching practices in bilingual environments. REFERENCES 1. Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. 2. A. G‘ulomov, Sh. Rahmatullayev — “Hozirgi zamon o‘zbek adabiy tili. Morfologiya”, Adjective chapter 3. Ilyish, B. A. The Structure of Modern English. 4. Khaimovich and Rogovskaya.A course in English grammar. 5. Umaraliyeva Robiya Ulug'bek qizi -" Sifat so'z turkumi va uning daraja ko'rsatkichlari" article in Pedagogy Journal. Published August 11, 2023 6. Michael Ennis, the English language coordinator at the Language Centre of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in Italy." Teaching Postpositive Adjectives" article in Cambridge Press.Published 14 July 2020.