STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC ASPECTS OF LEGAL TERMINOLOGY IN THE CONTEXT OF LINGUISTIC COMPARATIVISM: ENGLISH-UZBEK PRESS ANALYSIS

Аннотация

In this study, we examine the structural and semantic features of legal terminology as used in English and Uzbek press discourse, under the theoretical umbrella of linguistic comparativism. We compare samples drawn from The Law Society Gazette (UK) and Inson va Qonun (Uzbek) to ascertain how legal terms are constructed (root, derivation, compounding, abbreviation) and how they bear semantic properties (polysemy, synonymy, culture-specific meaning). Our findings indicate that English press legal discourse favors compound and phrasal terminological units, whereas Uzbek press frequently uses agglutinative derivations and native affixal forms. Semantically, English legal terms often display greater transparency and internationalism, while Uzbek terms show more culturally grounded connotations and occasional metaphorical extension. We discuss how these differences reflect typological, legal-cultural, and mediational constraints, and argue that a comparativist perspective enriches our understanding of how legal language evolves in media. The study offers implications for translation, comparative legal lexicography, and media linguistics.