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SEMANTIC AND CULTURAL ASPECTS OF ENGLISH RELIGIOUS TERMINOLOGY:
TOWARD A THEONYMIC DICTIONARY IN UZBEK
Elmu odo a Sohiba Saidmu odo na
Ka shi S a e Uni e si y
A p esen , eligion has become an impo an ac o in social li e, main aining i s posi ion in he socio-
poli ical sphe e. Howe e , i s signi icance a ies unde di e en socio-poli ical sys ems. The e a e
also many s a es whe e eligion se es as he leading ideology. In a numbe o coun ies a ound he
wo ld, eligion is s i ing o s eng hen i s poli ical in luence.
The s udy o eligion ( eligious s udies) began o de elop as a new academic ield in ou coun y a e
independence. Be o e ha pe iod, he e we e limi ed oppo uni ies o conduc comp ehensi e
scien i ic esea ch in his ield. Mo eo e , he possibili ies o s udying he wo ks ca ied ou ab oad,
especially in he Wes , we e also es ic ed. Today, he need o de elop mul i ace ed ela ions wi h
coun ies a ound he wo ld has become inc easingly impo an . In o de o accomplish his ask, i is
o g ea signi icance o s udy he languages and eligious belie s o o eign peoples.
In Eu ope, he s udy o eligion eme ged as a dis inc discipline in he second hal o he 19 h cen u y,
sepa a ing om philosophy, sociology, and psychology. The wo ks o Wes e n schola s such as he
Ge man philosophe Max Mülle (1823–1900), he F ench posi i is philosophe and sociologis
Émile Du kheim (1858–1917), he English e hnologis and schola o eligion Edwa d Bu ne Tylo
(1832–1917), he English philosophe He be Spence (1820–1903), as well as M. Webe and Ch. de
Saussu e, laid he ounda ions o his science. Many o hese wo ks we e w i en in English, while
majo wo ks in Ge man and F ench we e la e ansla ed in o English.
Al hough oppo uni ies o conduc ing esea ch on eligious s udies we e limi ed in ou coun y
du ing he mid-20 h cen u y, consis en s udies we e being ca ied ou in he Wes . Religion was
analyzed om social, psychological, and philosophical pe spec i es, wi h a en ion gi en o i s
unc ions wi hin socie y. Fo his pu pose, schola s sough o s udy wo ld eligions objec i ely,
u ilizing he la es achie emen s o his o y and e hnog aphy. The esul s o such esea ch we e
p esen ed in majo wo ks, monog aphs, pamphle s, a icles, and encyclopedic publica ions.
In he mode n e a, known as he “In o ma ion Age,” access o many o hese wo ks has become
possible h ough he In e ne , which has o some ex en sol ed he p oblem o ob aining in o ma ion.
Howe e , in some cases, he language ba ie s ill p e en s Uzbek eade s om ully u ilizing he
in o ma ion hey ha e ound.
Indeed, o da e, nume ous ex books, ph asebooks, and dic iona ies o lea ning English ha e been
published. The exis ing English–Uzbek dic iona ies and ex books a e gene ally o a gene al o
encyclopedic na u e o a e de o ed o a pa icula ield. Howe e , among hem, he e a e no
dic iona ies speci ically designed o he ield o eligious s udies. A s uden , lea ne , o esea che
engaged in s u dying o conduc ing esea ch in his ield usually elies on gene al-pu pose dic iona ies
when wo king wi h English-language ma e ials. Howe e , a wo d ha ca ies a ce ain meaning in
ano he ield may con ey an en i ely di e en concep in eligious e minology.
Fo example, he English wo d celes ial in gene al usage means “hea enly” o “sky-blue,” whe eas
in eligious con ex s i may signi y “di ine,” “sac ed,” o “holy.” Such seman ic di e ences a e no
always indica ed in gene al dic iona ies. Simila ly, he English wo d as , which gene ally deno es
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“quickness” o “speed,” ca ies he meaning o “ o as , o obse e as ing” in eligious e minology.
Al hough his meaning appea s in mos majo dic iona ies, he speci ic con ex s in which i con eys
“ o as ” can only be p ope ly unde s ood h ough specialized dic iona ies ha p o ide au hen ic
examples om eligious sou ces.
Ce ain wo ks ha e been ca ied ou in o eign languages o assis lea ne s in mas e ing English
eligious ocabula y. Fo ins ance, he English–Russian Theological Dic iona y compiled by S. A.
Ma ee in 2006 con ains abou 30,000 en ies in ended o Russian-speaking eade s. The dic iona y
includes e minology ela ed o h ee majo eligions—Judaism, Ch is iani y, and Islam. The main
sec ion o he dic iona y occupies 742 pages (pp. 17–758), o which 714 pages (96%) a e de o ed o
Judaism and Ch is iani y, while only 28 pages (4%) co e Islamic e minology. This can be explained,
on he one hand, by he ac ha Judaism and especially Ch is iani y a e mo e widesp ead among
English-speaking na ions, and on he o he , by he g ea e numbe o schola ly s udies on hese wo
eligions a ailable in English. Mo eo e , mos o he Islamic e ms in he dic iona y a e
ansli e a ions o A abic wo ds ende ed in English sc ip .
F om his, i ollows ha he e minology o a gi en eligion ends o de elop mainly in he language
o he people among whom ha eligion has sp ead. The e o e, in o de o s udy a pa icula eligion
in dep h, i is impo an o lea n he language in which i was i s o med. Fo example, he s udy o
Vedic eligions equi es knowledge o Sansk i , Judaism equi es Heb ew, and Islam equi es A abic.
Ne e heless, linking a eligion exclusi ely o a single na ional language would be inco ec , as
eligious concep s o en anscend linguis ic bounda ies. Fo ins ance, no ions such as ai h, belie ,
i ue, sin, pa adise, and hell a e ound in almos all wo ld eligions. Howe e , hese wo ds canno
always be ende ed by a single equi alen when ansla ed in o ano he language. In such cases,
o eign wo ds a e o en bo owed di ec ly as eligious e ms, since heological e minology equen ly
acqui es he s a us o p ope nouns. Fo example, ansla ing he wo d apos les— he disciples o Jesus
in Ch is iani y—as sahobas (companions o he P ophe ) in Uzbek would be inco ec . The accep ed
e m in eligious s udies is ha a iyla ( om “apos les”).
In some cases, sec ions o he Bible a e ansla ed in o Uzbek by analogy wi h he Qu ’an, using he
e ms su a o ayah. Howe e , his app oach is no scien i ically accu a e, as such e ms ha e hei
own e ymology, his o y, and seman ic con ex . The e o e, he c ea ion o a comp ehensi e heonymic
dic iona y in Uzbek emains one o he p ima y challenges.
The s udy o lexical and hema ic g oups is no new o Uzbek linguis ics. Conside able esea ch has
been ca ied ou on kinship e minology, e bs o mo ion, colo adjec i es, building names, and o he
ca ego ies. Howe e , di ine names and o he lexemes associa ed wi h hem ha e emained la gely
unexplo ed. The s udy o heonymic ocabula y is o in e es no only o linguis ics and philology bu
also o his o y, philosophy, and heology.
One o he ini ial challenges in s udying heonymic lexicon is compiling a comple e and accu a e lis
o wo ds belonging o speci ic lexical and hema ic g oups. Wo ds such as God, Lo d, Almigh y, and
he C ea o ep esen dis inc en i ies e e ing o he di ine being, ye hei equi alence o he
“P imo dial P og amme ” lexeme p oposed by O. N. Lagu a in lexicog aphy complica es he
p oblem, as mul iple a ian s may exis o a single concep ac oss ansla ions—an issue ha i sel
equi es u he s udy.
Ano he challenge a ansla o may ace lies in dealing wi h linguis ic uniqueness in each language.
Religious language is closely in e wined wi h he cul u e o i s speake s. Some heological e ms
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such as God, Di ini y, Lo d, C ea o , and Sa io ha e nea -exac equi alen s in many languages:
G eek (Θεóς, Θεότης, Κύριος, Ποιησάς, Σωτήρ), La in (Deus, Di ini as, Dominus, C ea o , Sal a o ),
Polish (Bóg, Bós wo, Pan, S wó ca, Zbawca), and Russian (Бог, Господь, Всевышний, Творец,
Спаситель).
Religious ocabula y de elops in ela ion o o he eligious lexicons, especially when speake s o wo
languages sha e he same ai h. One o he key ea u es o his p ocess is he adop ion o loanwo ds
om o he languages. Fo ins ance, he Chu ch Sla onic Almigh y de i es om he G eek
Παντοκράτωρ (pan a – “all,” k a ein – “ o ha e powe , o ule”), e aining he o iginal meaning o
he sou ce wo d e en a e bo owing h ough La in. S udying such ocabula y equi es he esea che
o be amilia wi h mul iple languages. I should also be no ed ha he dono and ecipien languages
do no always exhibi exac equi alence. Fo example, he h ee G eek wo ds Ποιησάς, Ποιητής, and
Κτίσας co espond o a single English lexical i em, Sa io , while in ano he case, he La in wo d Pa e
co esponds o wo English equi alen s: Fa he and Bege e .
Ano he impo an aspec o s udying eligious ocabula y is he g amma ical cha ac e iza ion o
di ine names in a gi en language. Fo ins ance, he English wo d God ep esen s a single pa adigm
wi h a uni ied s em o so consonan s, while T ini y can e lec bo h masculine and eminine
g amma ical gende s, as seen in p aye ex s: “F om sleep isen, I hank Thee, O Holy T ini y, Thou
Thy much o he sake o goodness and pa ience Thou be ang y a me and sinne …”
He e, he adjec i e Holy modi ies T ini y ( eminine), whe eas he e bal ph ase Thou be ang y
(masculine) demons a es gende a ia ion.
In some cases, eligious e ms appea ing in sac ed ex s a e de i ed om o he belie sys ems. Fo
example, he name Jesus Ch is is also associa ed wi h he La in e m O iens (“Sun ise”), which
appea s in Ca holic mo ning and noon p aye s.
I should be emembe ed ha eligious ocabula y in any language is inhe en ly dynamic. Changes
in people’s eligious li e and he de elopmen o heological hough ha e con ibu ed o he
eme gence o new concep s and exp essions. Mo eo e , he con inuous use o such wo ds in ou
language o e cen u ies has al e ed hei posi ion wi hin he lexical sys em and ac oss a ious ex ual
gen es.
Despi e he p og ess achie ed in lexicology and lexicog aphy, he s udy and ansla ion o eligious
ocabula y ha e no ye been ully es ablished as a sys ema ic a ea o esea ch. This opic s ill emains
an open ield, awai ing comp ehensi e schola ly explo a ion.
Re e ences:
1. Лагута О.Н. Метафора как исследовательский объект медиевальной и современной
науки // Τέχνη γραμματική. Выпуск 1-й, посвящённый 90-летию доктора филологических наук
профессора Новосибирского государственного университета Кирилла Алексеевича
Тимофеева. - Новосибирск, 2004.
2. O hodox P aye Book and he Book o Psalms. - Ba naul, 1990.
3. S asiuk A. Religious La in ocabula y (based on he New Vulga e and Li u gy o he Hou s).
– Τέχνη γραμματική. - Vol. Th ee. - No osibi sk, 2008.
4. Тимофеев К.А. Религиозная лексика русского языка, как выражение христианского
мировоззрения. - Новосибирск, 2001.
5. Mulle V.K. Mode n English-Russian dic iona y.- M., 2007.
