Pragmalinguistic Features of Passive Constructions in English and Uzbek: A Comparative Study

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Published
2026-01-21
Issue
Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026): European Journal of Innovation in Nonformal Education
License
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors

  • Inomjonova Nargiza Ahrorovna

  • Islom Minikulov Urol o`g`li

    Uzbek State World Languages University, Linguistics (English language)
Keywords:
pragmalinguistics, passive constructions, pragmatics, voice
Abstract
This study investigates the pragmalinguistic features of passive constructions in English and Uzbek, focusing on their communicative functions beyond structural characteristics. The research aims to identify how passive constructions are used to achieve pragmatic effects such as politeness, formality, agent defocusing, and information structuring in both languages. A comparative qualitative analysis was conducted using examples from academic, formal, and neutral discourse contexts. The findings demonstrate that while English predominantly employs analytic passive constructions that are stylistically neutral and highly productive, Uzbek utilizes both synthetic and analytic passives, which often encode additional social and pragmatic meanings. In particular, Uzbek passive forms frequently convey politeness, respect, and social hierarchy, whereas English passives are widely used to maintain objectivity and thematic continuity. The study highlights both similarities and differences in the pragmalinguistic functions of passives, emphasizing the importance of cultural and discourse-related factors. The results contribute to pragmalinguistics, contrastive linguistics, translation studies, and second language teaching.
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