IRONY AS A COMMUNICATIVE STRATEGY IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK
Keywords:
irony, sarcasm, communicative strategy, pragmatics, hidden evaluation, indirect criticism, politeness, discourse control, English, Uzbek.Abstract
This article explores irony as a communicative strategy in English and Uzbek. The study argues that irony is not merely an ornamental stylistic device but a deliberate pragmatic mechanism used to express hidden evaluation, indirect criticism, emotional attitude, social distance and discourse control. The article analyzes how ironic utterances function in interaction and how their interpretation depends on context, speaker intention, cultural norms and the inferential activity of the hearer. Particular attention is given to the functions of irony as a strategy of indirect criticism, face management, social positioning, emotional regulation, humour, solidarity and power relations. The comparative analysis shows that English and Uzbek share core pragmatic mechanisms such as semantic inversion, implicature and evaluative contrast, but they differ in culturally preferred forms of realization. Uzbek often employs more indirect, socially regulated and phraseologically rich forms of irony, while English frequently uses concise sarcastic replies, idiomatic formulas, understatement, overstatement and intonational contrast. The study also discusses translation problems arising from the implicit and culture-bound nature of ironic communication.
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