SOCIAL STRATIFICATION OF LEXIS IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK LANGUAGES

The study explains how lexical choice reflects social identity, profession, age, education, regional belonging, cultural norms, politeness, and digital communication. The vocabulary of any language is not homogeneous: it includes standard words, colloquial units, slang, jargon, professional terminology, dialectal words, euphemisms, borrowings, and digital lexical forms. English and Uzbek both demonstrate a strong connection between vocabulary and society, but the sources and functions of these layers differ. English social lexis is strongly influenced by globalization, youth culture, professional specialization, and internet discourse. Uzbek social lexis is also changing under global influence, but it remains closely connected with national etiquette, kinship terms, respect forms, regional dialects, occupational vocabulary, and Russian-English borrowings. The article uses a qualitative-comparative method. The results show that socially marked vocabulary functions as a marker of group membership, prestige, informality, solidarity, social distance, and cultural identity.