A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COMMUNICATIVE MITIGATION STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK

Abstract

This article examines communicative mitigation strategies in English and Uzbek from a comparative pragmatic perspective. Mitigation is understood as a communicative mechanism that reduces the force of an utterance, minimizes potential threats to interpersonal relations, and promotes effective interaction. The study analyzes the linguistic means used to express mitigation in both languages, including modal verbs, modal words, hedges, interrogative constructions, particles, and indirect speech acts. The findings reveal both universal and language-specific features in the realization of mitigation strategies. While English relies heavily on modal verbs and hedging expressions, Uzbek frequently employs politeness markers, modal particles, and culturally conditioned forms of indirectness. The research demonstrates that mitigation represents an important communicative-pragmatic phenomenon closely connected with politeness, interpersonal relations, and discourse context.