Abstract
This article explores the use of somatisms—linguistic units related to body parts—in English and Uzbek proverbs as a means of revealing cultural and cognitive patterns embedded within language. Proverbs, as condensed expressions of collective wisdom, often utilize somatic elements to convey complex meanings in metaphorical forms. While individual analyses of somatisms exist in various languages, comparative studies focusing specifically on proverbs in English and Uzbek remain scarce. This research addresses that gap by examining the frequency, semantic roles, and cultural symbolism of somatisms in both languages. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology supported by a comparative approach. A corpus of 150 English and 150 Uzbek proverbs containing somatic lexemes was compiled from published collections and digital sources. Each proverb was categorized based on the body part referenced and analyzed to identify metaphorical patterns and cultural connotations. Findings show that certain body parts—such as head, heart, hand, and eye—are dominant in both languages, though the metaphorical extensions and cultural nuances differ. For instance, in Uzbek, somatisms often reflect social hierarchy and communal values, while in English, individual agency and moral judgment are more prominent. These differences reveal how bodily concepts are cognitively universal yet culturally specific in their expression. The results underscore the significance of somatisms in cross-cultural linguistic studies and highlight their role in encoding worldview. This has implications for translation theory, intercultural communication, and language teaching, especially in understanding how metaphorical thinking bridges bodily experience and cultural interpretation.