DEGREES OF CONCEPTUAL-SEMANTIC EQUIVALENCE IN ENGLISH-UZBEK TERMINOLOGICAL PAIRS

This article examines conceptual-semantic equivalence as a graded relationship between source-language and target-language terms rather than as a binary relation of identity or non-identity. The study focuses on English-Uzbek terminological pairs and develops an operational model for distinguishing exact, near, partial, functional and zero equivalence. The model combines five criteria: coincidence of the core concept, overlap of intensional features, overlap of denotational extension, correspondence of systemic relations within the domain, and functional-pragmatic compatibility in professional communication. Recent international work in terminology shows that equivalent terms may coincide at the level of designation while diverging at the level of concept, institutional function or conceptual scope; this problem is especially visible in multilingual terminography and in domains shaped by national administrative, educational or legal systems. The proposed framework is tested on illustrative English-Uzbek pairs from linguistics, education, public administration and digital technology. The analysis demonstrates that a reliable equivalent cannot be selected solely by lexical similarity or dictionary matching: definitions, concept systems, domain restrictions and usage conditions must be compared. The article concludes that graded equivalence labels and short transfer comments should be incorporated into bilingual terminological resources to prevent false exactness and to improve translation consistency.