INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR PRESERVING THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE

Abstract

This article presents a set of proposals addressing the factors that currently undermine the status of the Uzbek literary language in society and outlines measures to eliminate these threats through innovation. In the modern technological era, the aggressive “attack” of Internet language on the national language is pushing it toward the brink of decline. Such circumstances weaken the expressive power of the Uzbek language, which is a source of national pride. The literary language has its own established norms that are uniform for all speakers of the language [4, online resource]. Nevertheless, despite these standards, modern innovations have contributed to a linguistic crisis. At the same time, there are real opportunities to halt the negative consequences caused by technological development through innovative solutions. If the ideas and proposals advanced in this article are supported, the development of the language will reach a high level in society, making it possible to preserve its full potential.

Keywords: literary language, globalization, modern speech, Internet language, artificial intelligence, targeted methods.

Introduction

The literary language is the refined, standardized, and highest form of a national language. In contemporary Uzbekistan, state administration and official affairs are conducted in the Uzbek literary language. When the state language of Uzbekistan is mentioned, it primarily refers to the Uzbek literary language; therefore, it is protected at the state level. The literary language represents a processed and standardized form of a national language that serves the cultural needs of its speakers. The concept of “processing” is relative, as literary languages have historically changed across different periods and among different peoples.

Even within a single nation, the literary language has taken different forms over time (for example, the ancient Turkic literary language and the modern Uzbek literary language). In certain historical periods, the language of one people served as the literary language for another. For instance, Classical Arabic functioned as a literary language for Persian and Turkic peoples, Classical Chinese for the Japanese, and Latin for several European nations.

The literary language exists in two forms: oral and written. Any literary language is shaped on the basis of folk speech, generalizing dialectal features and becoming understandable to all speakers. A nation cannot possess a rich culture without a developed literary language. In this sense, the literary language remains one of the most pressing issues of society. Literary language is sometimes confused with its various forms, such as artistic language or spoken language; however, these cannot be considered identical.

Historical Development of the Uzbek Language

An examination of the stages of development of the Uzbek language—from ancient Turkic to modern Uzbek literary language—allows observation of linguistic evolution and identification of differences between these stages. Such differences generally arise from two main factors:

internal laws of linguistic development, including systemic and structural changes within the language itself;

contact between two or more languages (interstratal relations).

In the development of the Uzbek language, ancient Turkic functioned as the substratum language, while Arabic, Persian, and Tajik served as superstratum languages. Interaction between substratum and superstratum languages typically occurs under conditions of bilingualism or multilingualism. These interactions have resulted in processes known as language substratification, such as Turkic–Arabic, Turkic–Persian, Uzbek–Arabic, Uzbek–Tajik, and Uzbek–Russian bilingual contexts. Along with internal development laws, these factors have caused significant structural changes in the language from ancient Turkic to modern Uzbek literary language [1, pp. 9–10].

A review of Uzbek linguistic history demonstrates that the language has undergone complex stages of formation and development. Historically, Uzbek has interacted with several non-related languages belonging to different language families due to socio-political circumstances. The degree and quality of influence varied across these languages. Some had a strong impact on the lexical composition of Uzbek, while others had minimal influence [3, p. 22].

Impact of Technology and Globalization

In the 21st century, the rapid development of information technologies and social media has had a direct influence on language use. Among young people in particular, written communication increasingly involves abbreviations, emojis, English words, and slang expressions. This raises a critical question regarding the purity, clarity, and expressive capacity of the Uzbek literary language.

Today, Uzbek is spoken by nearly 45 million people worldwide, significantly exceeding the minimum threshold of one million speakers required for language survival. The distribution of Uzbek speakers by country is presented below:

No.

Country

Number of Speakers

Notes

1

Uzbekistan

32–34 million

Official language

2

Afghanistan

3–4 million

Northern regions

3

Tajikistan

1–1.5 million

Border regions

4

Kazakhstan

800,000–1 million

Southern diaspora

5

Russia

500,000–1 million

Labor migration

6

Kyrgyzstan

900,000–1 million

Osh and Jalal-Abad regions

7

Turkmenistan

300,000–400,000

Border areas

8

United States

30,000–50,000

Migrants and students

9

Turkey

20,000–30,000

Education and employment

10

Germany, South Korea

10,000–20,000

Labor migration

Modern Uzbek reflects each era through change. Vocabulary richness is a key indicator of linguistic power and expressive capacity. However, in recent years, a decline in vocabulary richness has become a serious issue. This decline is not only related to linguistic evolution but also to weakened cultural awareness and reduced engagement with the mother tongue.

Causes of Vocabulary Decline

Several factors contribute to the reduction of vocabulary richness in modern Uzbek:

Globalization and foreign language influence:

The increasing use of English loanwords has reduced lexical diversity.

The continued influence of Russian has also led to the replacement of native Uzbek words with borrowed terms.

Social media abbreviations:

Platforms such as Telegram, Instagram, and Twitter popularize abbreviations, emojis, and simplified expressions, distancing users from classical literary norms.

Technological simplification:

Software, mobile applications, and online platforms often rely on shortened and simplified language instead of full and accurate expressions.

Educational shortcomings:

Some educators experience difficulties in mastering literary Uzbek, which hinders effective language instruction.

Certain textbooks contain simplified or incorrect language rather than contemporary literary norms.

Abbreviated forms (e.g., shortened spellings), excessive use of foreign terms (like, story, post, comments, ok), and replacement of words with emojis weaken linguistic culture. These tendencies are clearly observable in everyday communication on platforms such as Telegram, Instagram, and TikTok.

Proposed Solutions

Despite these challenges, the problem is solvable. The following solutions are proposed:

Improving teacher qualifications through specialized training and professional development

Creating updated textbooks with accurate, rich, and standardized language

Developing digital resources in Uzbek

Designing AI-based applications to enhance vocabulary acquisition

Creating interactive games and tests to promote correct word usage

Supporting Uzbek language promotion on social media

Encouraging bloggers and influencers to use rich literary language

Developing AI-based spelling and grammar assistants that suggest full forms instead of abbreviations

For example, an application could be created under the slogan “Write fast, but write correctly!”, where users receive scores based on adherence to literary norms. Rewards such as internet data packages or prize competitions could motivate young users and help prevent degradation of literary standards.

Conclusion

Although Internet language offers convenience and speed, preserving the purity of the literary language is essential. Every language evolves, but such development should not undermine its roots. Preserving the literary language means safeguarding national identity and cultural thought. By effectively combining artificial intelligence with conscious language use, it is possible to protect and develop linguistic culture. However, meaningful results can only be achieved when technological innovation is aligned with individual responsibility toward language.

References

Sayfullayeva, R.R., Mengiyev, B.R., Boqiyeva, G.H. Modern Uzbek Literary Language. Tashkent: Fan va Texnologiya, 2009.

Madvaliyev, A. The Relationship Between Language Development and Thought. Language and Thought, 1998.

Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Statistics on the distribution and number of Uzbek speakers.

Rahmatullayev, G. History of the Uzbek Literary Language. 1994.

Jamolov, H. Modern Uzbek Literary Language. Tashkent: Talqin, 2005.

Shoabdurahmonov, Sh. Theory of Literary Language. Tashkent, 2004.

UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.

Saidov, Y. History of the Uzbek Literary Language. Bukhara: Durdona Publishing House, 2019.

Xayrullayeva Zahro was born on April 13, 2006, in Kitob District, Kashkadarya Region. She is currently a student at Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages. At the institute, she is a young student who has earned respect through her talent and active participation. She is the author of numerous scientific articles and a collection of poetry. Her creative works have been published in international journals as well as in prestigious national publishing houses.