Features of Nouns and Adjectives in Uzbek Dialects
Kattakurgan State Pedagogical Institute
Shohista Narzulla qizi O‘ktamova
Student of the Uzbek Language and Literature program
Email: narzullayevnashohista@gmail.com
It is well known that the Uzbek language stands out among other languages due to its richness in dialects. This diversity is reflected in the variety of lexical units and affixes representing different parts of speech. Uzbek dialects are generally divided into three main groups.
The words within these dialects differ to a certain extent. These differences can be observed in phonetic, lexical, morphological, and syntactic features. Before analyzing morphological differences, it is appropriate to consider the general morphological characteristics of Uzbek dialects. Morphological features refer to the formation and usage of words belonging to different parts of speech in various dialects.
In Uzbek dialects, nouns and adjectives demonstrate specific characteristics. These parts of speech differ not only morphologically but also in phonetic, lexical, and syntactic aspects. Therefore, a comprehensive study of them is essential.
Nouns in Uzbek dialects are characterized by their ability to take plural, possessive, and case suffixes. In Oghuz dialects, plurality is expressed by the suffixes -lar/-lər, reflecting the phenomenon of vowel harmony. In some dialects, alternative forms such as -nar/-nər are also observed.
Nouns may appear in the following forms:
- with possessive suffixes only;
- with case suffixes only;
- with plural and possessive suffixes (bolalarim, bolalarimiz);
- with possessive and case suffixes;
- with case suffixes only.
According to researchers of Bukhara dialects, nouns constitute the majority of the vocabulary. Structurally, they are simple, compound, and paired. Simple nouns include both root and derived forms (bog‘, bog‘bon). Compound nouns are formed from two bases, while paired nouns consist of semantically related or contrasting elements.
Adjectives also exhibit specific features in dialects. In some dialects, final consonants are pronounced in voiced forms (sariq → sariğ), while in others, voiceless variants are preserved (qattiq, sassiq).
Degrees of adjectives vary across dialects. The comparative degree is typically formed with the suffix -roq (yaxshiroq), though variants such as -raq/-räk are also used. In Kipchak dialects, the degree of lesser quality is expressed with the suffix -lau (oq → oqlau). In Khorezm dialects, intensification is expressed using the word “zil” (qop-qora → zil qara).
In conclusion, nouns and adjectives in Uzbek dialects differ in pronunciation and usage. Although these differences are not always significant, they reflect the richness and internal development of the language. Studying these features helps to better understand dialects, especially when compared with the standard literary language.
References
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