FLORISTIC METAPHORS AS COGNITIVE MODELS IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK PHRASEOLOGY

This study explores floristic metaphors as cognitive models in English and Uzbek phraseology, focusing on their role in conceptualizing human experience through plant-based imagery. Grounded in cognitive linguistics, particularly conceptual metaphor theory, the research examines how floristic elements function as source domains in metaphorical mappings. The analysis is based on a comparative corpus of phraseological units in both languages, identifying common patterns and culturally specific features. The findings demonstrate that floristic metaphors systematically encode abstract notions such as emotions, character traits, social relations, and life processes. While certain metaphorical models show universality due to shared embodied experience, others reflect distinct cultural values and symbolic associations inherent in each linguoculture. The study highlights the interaction between cognition and culture in shaping phraseological meaning and contributes to a deeper understanding of metaphor as a cognitive and linguocultural phenomenon in cross-linguistic perspective.