COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INDIRECT SPEECH IN UZBEK AND ENGLISH

Abstract. This article presents a comparative analysis of indirect speech in Uzbek and English, two languages from distinct language families: Uzbek (a Turkic language) and English (a Germanic language). Indirect speech, or reported speech, allows the speaker to convey someone else’s words without quoting them directly. The article explores key aspects of indirect speech in both languages, focusing on pronoun changes, tense shifts, time expressions, and reporting verbs. Although both languages exhibit similarities in their use of indirect speech, significant differences arise in their syntactic structures and grammatical rules. While English follows a rigid sequence of tenses and fixed pronoun shifts, Uzbek shows more flexibility, especially with tense shifts and the use of pronouns. Furthermore, the positioning of reporting verbs and word order differs between the two languages, reflecting distinct syntactic systems. The findings underscore the importance of understanding these differences for language learners, linguists, and translators, highlighting how each language structures reported speech.