REFLECTION OF NATIONAL MENTALITY IN PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS OF GERMAN AND UZBEK

Abstract

This article presents a comparative linguocultural analysis of the reflection of national mentality in phraseological units of the German and Uzbek languages. The study reveals the role of phraseological units in expressing the people’s worldview, value system, national thinking, and cultural stereotypes. Descriptive, comparative, semantic, linguocultural, and contextual methods of analysis were employed. The results demonstrate that phraseological units constitute one of the most important layers of language that preserve national mentality and transmit it from generation to generation. The research shows that the historical experience, social structure, customs, and traditions of each nation are embodied in phraseological units in a specific symbolic and figurative form. As stable and ready-made linguistic units, phraseologisms perform not only a communicative function but also reflect the social experience of a people formed over centuries. In this regard, they serve as a linguistic expression of national consciousness and collective memory.In German phraseological units, such mental characteristics as orderliness, precision, diligence, individualism, and rationality are more prominently expressed, whereas in Uzbek, collectivism, hospitality, patience, respect for elders, and devotion to family values are prioritized. These differences are directly related to the cultural model and historical development of each nation. At the same time, certain phraseological units reflect universal human values — kindness, honesty, attitudes toward work, friendship, and justice — which indicate intercultural similarities.