WEALTH AND POVERTY IN THE MIRROR OF PROVERBS: A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF ENGLISH AND UZBEK MATERIAL VALUES

This paper explores the cultural perceptions of wealth, poverty, and hard work through a comparative analysis of English and Uzbek proverbs. Proverbs serve as condensed carriers of collective wisdom, offering insights into moral judgments and social attitudes toward material values. Using a corpus of 200 proverbs (100 English, 100 Uzbek), the study identifies semantic fields and axiological orientations. Results show that English proverbs often frame wealth as the reward of prudence and diligence, while poverty is associated with laziness or imprudence. In contrast, Uzbek proverbs tend to conceptualize wealth as a divine blessing and poverty as fate or a moral test, emphasizing endurance and communal values. Both traditions value hard work, but with different emphases: English proverbs highlight individual effort and self-reliance, whereas Uzbek ones stress dignity and survival within a collectivist framework. These findings suggest that while wealth and poverty are universal human concerns, their moral evaluation reflects the deeper cultural logic of each society.