LINGUACULTURAL CODES
Keywords:
linguacultural codes, semiosphere, conceptual metaphor, indexicality, intercultural pragmatics, code-switching, cultural schemas, emoji semiotics, neurocognitive embodiment, Uzbek-English-Russian contrastive analysis.Abstract
This thesis conceptualizes linguacultural codes as semiotic systems integrating linguistic forms with cultural schemas to construct and negotiate meaning in intercultural communication. Drawing on Lotman’s semiosphere, Wierzbicka’s metalanguage, Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual metaphor theory, and Brown and Levinson’s politeness framework, it examines indexicality, metaphorical mapping, and pragmatic implicature across English, Russian, and Uzbek. Corpus-based contrastive analysis (Uzbek National Corpus, parallel EN-RU-UZ corpora, Telegram multimodal data) reveals statistically significant divergences in mortality metaphors, temporal spatialization, and emoji interpretation. Neurocognitive evidenceand experimental priming confirm the embodied and adaptive nature of code-switching. Pedagogical interventions in Uzbekistan’s trilingual education yield 34% gains in pragmatic appropriateness. The study advocates code-awareness curricula, positioning linguacultural codes as dynamic bridges between linguistic structure and sociocultural worldview.
References
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press.
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. Basic Books.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences (2nd ed.). Sage.
Kövecses, Z. (2005). Metaphor in culture: Universality and variation. Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.
Lotman, Y. M. (1990). Universe of the mind: A semiotic theory of culture. Indiana University Press.
Pulvermüller, F. (2018). Neural reuse of action perception circuits for language. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 53, 61–68.
Silverstein, M. (2003). Indexical order and the dialectics of sociolinguistic life. Language & Communication, 23(3–4), 193–229.
Uzbek National Corpus (UNC). (2022). Institute of Uzbek Language, Literature and Folklore, Tashkent.
Verschueren, J. (1999). Understanding pragmatics. Arnold.
Wierzbicka, A. (1997). Understanding cultures through their key words. Oxford University Press.
