American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 196 | P a g e LEXICAL MEANS OF REPRESENTING THE CONCEPT OF “WORK” Gavkhar Kutlimuratova Senior Teacher, Urgench State University Uzbekistan Abstract This article discusses the concept of ‘РАБОТА (WORK)’ in the Russian language. The synonymic range used around this concept has been studied systematically taking into account the social, philosophical and linguistic background of the concept. The words are comparatively studied with its morphological derivatives. Keywords: concept, term, sign unit, work, labor, synonym. Introduction Concept is one of the main terms of modern cognitive linguistics and linguoculturology. It attracts the attention of those who are interested in problems related to the features and construction of human thinking. Analyzing different views about the nature of the concept, scientists made a clear conclusion: the concept is not a type of abstract name, but the knowledge and skills accumulated by the people over the centuries, the main target of their study. The term «concept» is used in modern linguistics to express the mental image of one or another lexical unit. In everyday scientific communication, the term concept is often used as a synonym for understanding. «Concept» is derived from the Latin word «conceptus» which means concept. A concept is a set of concepts. For example, any set of ideas said or expressed about an object constitute a concept Literature Review In recent years, the number of scientific studies dedicated to the study of the concept in world linguistics is growing. Research into the nature of the concept is important in modern linguistics. Although this issue has been studied to a certain extent by linguists, there are still many problems that await their research. One of such urgent issues is the lexical means representing the concept of «work». We will consider the lexical means of expressing the concept of «work» in this research paper. As already mentioned, the concept, can be expressed lexically, in separate words. Therefore, it is rational to start considering the concept of WORK with the definition of a range of lexemes representing this concept in the language, and then analyze these lexemes using the data of dictionaries. American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 197 | P a g e We have analyzed the synonymous dictionaries of the Russian language in order to outline the range of lexemes representing the concept of WORK in the language: “Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language” Z.E.Alexandrova [1971], N. Abramov's Dictionary of Russian Synonyms [1996], New Explanatory Dictionary of Russian Synonyms, edited by Yu.D. Apresyan [1999], «Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language» edited by A.P. Evgenieva [2001], «A Brief Dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian Language» by K.S. Gorbachevich [2001]. The word “Work” is used as a dominant word only in one synonymic row, presented in the “Dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian Language” by Z.E. Alexandrova. The lexeme «work» is the dominant in the series, which includes the lexemes «работа» - «work», «дело» - «business», «занятие» - «occupation», «деятельность» - «activity», and the colloquial lexeme «worker» - «работенка». It is these words that will be considered as the main lexical means of representing the concept of WORK. The word «work» leads this synonymous series, because. has the most general meaning in this series, is the most common and stylistically the most neutral. Methodology of Research It is important, in our opinion, to study the concept of LABOR philosophical understanding of labor. In the Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary, labor is defined as «a purposeful activity of a person, in the process of which he, with the help of tools of labor, influences nature and uses it in order to create objects necessary to satisfy his needs» [Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary 1989: 667]. Given that it is best to get access to the concept through words, that words are one of the sources for the formation of concepts in the human mind, and that words are needed to communicate concepts, we should start considering the concept of LABOR with an analysis of the lexemes «labor», «work», «business», «occupation», «activity». We claim that the word is a sign unit. Two sides are organically merged in it - form and meaning. The word form, which is most often a complex of morphemes, expresses a certain content, or lexical meaning of the word, which is determined by its correlation as a nominative sign with the phenomena of reality, generalized in human consciousness with the help of concepts. Discussion The emergence of a word and its active usage in the language - changes in its pronunciation (spelling), meaning, forms, its preservation for many centuries or its disappearance or replacement with another word - are connected, on the one hand, with the history of the language, and on the other hand, with the life of the people - a native speaker, with the development of his material and spiritual culture, with the natural conditions of his habitat, with his social development, contacts with other peoples. Accordingly, the etymological American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 198 | P a g e analysis of lexemes representing a particular concept in the language is important for a complete representation of the concept in the worldview of the people. The word «труд» -»work» goes back to the common Slavonic *tradb, *traditi. The Indo- European base *tr-eu-d is “to crush”, “to reap”, “to crush”, “to pinch” [Chernykh 1999, II: 266]. Compare with the Latin trudor, trudere - «pressure», «burden», Gothic thrutun, thraut - «burden down» [Sreznevsky 1989, III: 64], we find the same explanation in the etymological dictionary of M. Fasmer [1986, II: 108]. In the Old Russian language, the word «труд» -»work» had the following meanings: 1) labor obtained, made; 2) difficulty; 3) activity; 4) diligence; 5) care; 6) anxiety; 7) feat; 8) suffering; 9) grief; 10) pain; 11) illness, illness; 12) sin [Sreznevsky 1989, III: 63-64]. P.Ya. Chernykh points out in the etymological dictionary that the word «труд» -»work» at first meant approximately the same as the Middle High German dröz - «heavy burden», «vexation», «sorrow» [Chernykh 1999, II: 266]. Undoubtedly, the original common Slavic *trudb could not have only the meaning of “an effort aimed at achieving something”, “work, occupation”. It is noteworthy that in the Old Russian language the word “labor” already had meanings identical to the modern ones: “activity”, “labor obtained, made”. However, other meanings were not preserved in synchrony, they are not recorded in modern explanatory dictionaries, for example: “feat”, “suffering”, “care”, “sorrow”, “pain”, “illness”, “sin”. The meanings of «difficulties, hardships» are given in modern explanatory dictionaries marked «outdated». The lexeme «work» is formed from the common Slavic root *orb, which is the same as «slave», «digger». The word «work» goes back to the Old Russian «robot», which developed from the common Slavic *orbota, formed with the suffix -ota. [Chernykh 1999, II: 92; Shansky 1971: 377]. In the Old Russian language, the word had the following meanings: 1) “slavery, captivity”; 2) “captivity, imprisonment”, 3) “enslavement”; 4) «service»; 5) “work, labor” [Sreznevsky 1989, II: 3] In the Church Slavonic language, according to V.I. Dahl, the meaning of «slavery, captivity» has been preserved [Dal 1994, IV: 6]. Let us add to this that in related languages the meaning of “slavery, captivity” has not been lost either: Slovene ‘rabota’ - “corvée”, Upper class servant, robota - “forced labor” [Fasmer 1986, III: 427]. In the «Dictionary of the Russian language of the XI-XVII centuries.» the meaning “service, work” was fixed, which was not previously encountered [Dictionary of the Russian language of the XI - XVII centuries. Issue. 21. 1999: 106]. Only in the course of time (after the 17th century) did the word “work” acquire, as a result of the development of ‘akanya’ and its consolidation in writing, a permanent form with a after p and a stable meaning “labor activity, work” [Chernykh 1999, II: 92]. M. Vasmer considers the word “work” to be derived from the Indo-European *orbhos, akin to the Gothic arbaijDS “need”, Old High German ar(a)beit “work, hardship, need” [Vasmer 1986, III: 427]. American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 199 | P a g e It must be emphasized that for a long time the word «work» had the meaning of «slavery, captivity». In modern explanatory dictionaries, this meaning of the word is not fixed even with the mark устаревшее(obsolete). The lexeme “deed” is of common Slavic origin, formed with the help of the suffix -1-0 from the verb *déti “делать -to do”, going back to the Indo-European *dhe- [Chernykh 1999, I: 239; Vasmer 1986, I: 496]. In the Old Russian language (since the 11th century), the word “делать(do)” meant “действовать (act)”, “возделывать (cultivate)”; the word «деле» - 1) «деятельность(activity)», 2) «деяние (action)», 3) «поступок (deed)», 4) «способ (method)», 5) «работа (work)», 6) «труд (labor)», 7) «сражение (battle)» [Sreznevsky 1989, 1: 785, 786-787]. In the «Dictionary of the Russian language XI - XVII centuries» the following meanings of the word «business» are fixed: 1) труд (labor), работа (work), занятие (occupation); 2) деяние (act), поступок (deed); 3) род занятий (occupation), ремесло (craft); 4) предприятие (enterprise), производство (production); 5) изготовление (manufacturing); 6) то, что полезно (what is useful), важно (important), существенно (essential); 7) обстоятельства (circumstances), обстановка (situation), положение вещей (state of affairs); 8) деловая надобность (business need), нужда (need), потребность (need); 9) судебное разбирательство (court proceedings); 10) собрание документов (collection of documents); 11) военное предприятие (military enterprise), поход (campaign); 12) свойство (property), природный признак (natural sign) [Dictionary of the Russian language of the XI - XVII centuries. Issue. 4. 1999: 206 - 208]. The meanings of the lexeme «delo» is found in the «Dictionary of the Russian language of the XVIII century” that was used in the Old Russian language and the Russian language of the 11th - 17th centuries. Note that in Indo-European languages, words related to the verb *сjeu «to do» also called actions of varying degrees of abstractness, none of which was associated with the idea of coercion, let's compare: polish - сgestас - «to act, to do», Upper Luga sgestas - «to spin, weave» [Chernykh 1999, I: 239], Lithuanian ёёП - «to lay» [Shanskiy 1971: 123]. The words «занятие(occupation)» and «деятельность(activity)» appeared much later in the language. Both words are recorded in the Dictionary of the Russian Academy [1790]. Judging by the materials of dictionaries these lexemes do not occur in the Old Russian language. In the «Dictionary of the Russian language of the XVIII century» the following meanings of the word «деятельность (activity)» are presented: 1) practice, as opposed to theory; the practical application of forces, the practical embodiment of something; 2) activity, ability to act; 3) works, occupations, active life [Dictionary of the Russian language of the XVIII century. Issue. 6. 1987: 122]. The main systemic meaning of the word is nominative (direct). The frequency of realization of this meaning, independence from the context, the maximum correlation with extra- linguistic reality - all this testifies to the main position of this meaning and gives grounds for recognizing it as a semantic «standard» [Kuznetsova 1989: 31]. Moreover, the lexical meaning of a word includes empirical and connotative components that reflect various types American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 200 | P a g e of socio-psychological relations of native speakers to what is called a word. These components, existing in the form of secondary meanings of the word, form a special, more superficial sphere of lexical meaning. The secondary meanings of a word are hierarchically connected with its direct meaning, they are interpreted through the direct meaning, these meanings are richer and more complex than the conceptual component of the lexical meaning of the word. The secondary meanings of the word, which include empirical and connotative components, reflect the functional and stylistic specialization of the word. These characteristics are not included in the meaning of the word, they carry additional socially significant information about the features of the use of the word, about the sphere of its existence. The meanings of the words of the synonymous series indicate the following: “труд (labor)”, “работа (work), “дело (business)”, “занятие (occupation)”, “деятельность (activity)”, given in various explanatory dictionaries. (See Appendix 5) Dictionary definitions indicate the unequal scope of concepts embedded in each of the above words. The scope of the concepts «занятие (occupation)» and «деятельность(activity)» is wider than the scope of the concepts «труд (labor)», «работа (work)», «дело (business)», since the content of these concepts is much poorer: for this it is enough to compare the usual parts of their contents presented in the table of words. Of the three words “labor”, “работа (work)”, “дело (business)”, the meaning of the word “труд (labor)” is more generalized: it has the highest level of abstract meaning, the least semantic components in it. Another important feature for characterizing the lexical meanings of the studied words is the mobility of concepts. In the «Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language» V.I.Dahl’s word “деятельность (activity)” is interpreted only as “the property of an active person”, in the “Dictionary of the Modern Russian Literary Language” “деятельность (activity)” is “работа (work), занятие(occupation)”. So it can be seen from the interpretation that the concept of “деятельность (activity)” has expanded, the level of abstractness of the word has increased: activity is no longer a sign of a business person, but an independent phenomenon. The meaning of the word “occupation” in modern explanatory dictionaries has a lesser degree of content: there are no semantic components in them: “fun”, “entertainment”. In the meanings of the words «work», «business» the number of semantic components has increased, the content of their meanings has increased. The meaning of the lexeme “труд (labor)” has changed, the definition of “illness, pain” is absent in modern explanatory dictionaries, in contrast to the dictionary of V.I. Dahl. Further, these lexemes are studied using component analysis: semes are revealed in the meanings of the words «труд (labor)», «работа (work), «дело (business)», «занятие (occupation)», «деятельность (activity)», which form the content of these lexemes. We single out the most generalized verbal expressions of the semantic components of the meanings of these words by stepwise identification [Kuznetsova 1989: 35]. American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 201 | P a g e The procedure for the component analysis of the meanings of the words «труд (labor)», «работа (work)», «дело (business)», «занятие (occupation)», «деятельность(activity) is carried out on the basis of the lexical meanings of these words given in the Dictionary of the Russian Language, edited by A.P. Evgenieva. The analyzed words are considered in the status of words-onomathemes in their independent, context-independent meanings. The word «труд (labor)» has several meanings: «human activity», «work», «result of activity», «effort aimed at achieving something» and the outdated meaning of «difficulties, hardships». Let us carry out the stepwise identification procedure, which consists in the successive reduction of words through identifiers to words with an extremely generalized character. The stepwise identification procedure continues until a situation of mutual identification occurs. First, let's analyze the identifier «деятельность(activity)»: Труд (labor) is a purposeful human activity; “деятельность (activity) - work, occupation; работа -the performance of an activity. Further division into components using a dictionary is impossible, since the lexemes «работа(work)» and «деятельность (activity)” in the primary meanings are connected by mutual identification relations. The identifier, as it were, completely “fits” into the meaning of the word being defined, but does not exhaust it: along with the most general features, the content always contains specific features of a differential nature, which are expressed by dictionary concertizer [Kuznetsova 1989: 36]. Let's analyze the dictionary concretize of the lexeme: - man is a living being that has thinking, speech, the ability to create tools and use them in the process of social labor; - being is a living organism; human. The identification of the word «man» ended with the establishment of the fact of its mutual identification with the lexeme «creature», which is connected by mutual identification relations with the word «organism». The word «live» is interpreted as one who lives, and the verb «live» - how to be alive, so that further decomposition is impossible. Signs of having thinking, speech can be attributed to those essential characteristics that are revealed only in the process of generalizing scientific knowledge of a person as a social being, and not a biological one. It is necessary to analyze the dictionary concretizer «общественный (public)», which is closely related to the semis человек(man) and труд(labor): public - relating to society, Общество(society) - a set of people united by common conditions of life; жизнь(life) is existence; existence is life. We observe the phenomenon of mutual identification of the words «жизнь (life)» and «существование (existence)». We analyze the word «целенаправленный(purposeful)»: целенаправленный (purposeful) – целенаправленность (purposefulness); целенаправленность American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 202 | P a g e (purposefulness) — стремление к цели\ цель (striving for a goal \ goal) - то, к чему стремятся (what they strive for). Thus, the components of the word «труд (labor)» are the notion деятельность (activity), человек (person), целенаправленный (purposeful). The semes труд (labor) and существование (existence) are identical in relation to the seme man: труд (labor) is the mode of existence of man as a social being; it is a necessary condition for life in society. Let's break down another definition of the lexeme «труд (labor)» - «an effort aimed at achieving something»: Усилие (effort) - напряжение(tension); напряжение(tension) is interpreted as something difficult; затрудненный (difficult) - containing difficulties, problems; трудный (difficult) - requiring a lot of work, effort; associated with physical suffering, pain; painful. As a result of the analysis, it is found that: 1. the components of the word «труд (labor)» in the first sense are the semes purposeful, activity, person. 2. on the one hand, the word “labor” is identical to the word “existence” in relation to the lexeme “человек (man)”, on the other hand, “труд (labor)” is something “associated with physical suffering, pain; painful.» The method of component analysis explores the semantics of the word «work». The main meanings of this word are interpreted in the dictionary as follows: “деятельность (activity), занятие (occupation), труд (labor)”, “activities for the creation, manufacture, processing of something”, “service, occupation, labor”. In the interpretation, the word «activity» is presented twice, it is the identifier. This word is connected by relations of mutual identification with the word «работа (work)». In our opinion, it is necessary to analyze another component of the content of the lexeme «работа(work)» - the word «служба(service)», which is present in the fourth meaning of this word and is not found in the definitions of any of the words we are studying. The meaning of the lexeme «служба (service)» is interpreted in the dictionary by the verb «служить(serve)». The word «служить(serve)» is defined in turn by the phrase «do someone else's will.» Let's analyze the word «выполнять (to fulfill)»: Выполнить (to fulfill)- to carry out, to accomplish; Осуществить (to carry out) - to carry out; Исполнить (to execute) or осуществить is interpreted according to the meaning of the verb to execute; It is fact that there is established mutual identification of the words «осуществить(implement)» and «исполнить(execute)». Let us dismember the word «воля(will)», which is included in the interpretation of the verb «служить (serve)» as a dictionary concretize: American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 203 | P a g e Воля(will) - power, the right to dispose at one's own discretion; власть(power) - the right and opportunity to dispose, command, manage someone; ‘управлять’ – to manage; ‘управлять’ - manage, direct activities, work; направлять (to lead) - direct someone's activities; руководить (to lead) - to lead someone. Further division is impossible, since the verbs “направлять(direct)” and ‘руководить(lead) are linked by mutual identification relations. Thus, the components of the lexical meaning of the word «работа(work)» are not only «деятельность(activity)», but also «выполнение чужой воли(the fulfillment of someone else's will)». The analysis carried out allows us to say that the etymological meaning of the word ‘работа(work)’, ‘неволя (bondage), ‘рабство(slavery)’ is partly preserved in the speech of native speakers of the Russian language of today. The next word to be analyzed is ‘дело(work)’. The lexical meaning of this word includes a large number of definitions: “work, occupation, activity”; «practical activity, action»; «business need, need»; «administrative proceedings»; «collection of documents»; “battle, fight”, “incident, event, fact”. The identifier word ‘деятельность(activity)’ is not amenable to further division with the help of other words. It is connected by relations of mutual identification with the word «работа (work)», cf.: 1) дело(business) - work; работа(work) - activity; деятельность(activity)- work. Let's analyze the dictionary concretizer – ‘практическая(practical)’: “практическая(practical)” - relating to practice; Практика(practice) - application of knowledge, skills in practice; «применение(application)» is interpreted through the meaning of the verb apply; Применить(apply) - use; Употребить(utilize) - use; Использовать(use) - use. The verbs «to use» and «to utilize» are connected by relations of mutual identification. Let's continue the analysis by breaking down the components of « знания(knowledge)» and « навыки(skills)»: Знание (knowledge) - knowledge of reality; познание (acquired knowledge) is the acquisition of knowledge. We observe the phenomenon of mutual identification: навык (proficiency) - skill; умение (skill) - the ability to do something; ability - the ability to do. Further decomposition is impossible, since further the word ‘умение(skill)’ is explained through itself. Let's look through the word ‘делать (to make, to do)’: Делать (to make) –to create, manufacture, produce; to do something, work, show activity; to act, act; to convert, to transform, that is, to show some kind of activity. Let's explore the components of other definitions that interpret the word ‘дело(business): 2) дело(business) – to be in need; American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 204 | P a g e надобность (to need)-to need, necessity; потребность (to need) - a need that requires satisfaction; удовлетворение(satisfaction) is interpreted through the meaning of the verb satisfy. Удовлетворить (to satisfy) - to fulfill, to fulfill; Исполнить (to execute) - to carry out; Осуществить (to carry out) - to carry out. 3) дело (a case)—a trial; разобрать (disassemble) - to select; выбрать(select) –to extract; извлечь (to extract) - take out, pull out, get; вынуть (take out) - take out, take out. 4) дело (case) - incident; происшествие(incident) - event; событие(event) - what happened; случиться (to happen) - to happen, to take place; совершиться (to be accomplished) - to be realized; осуществиться (to be fulfilled) - to become true; исполниться (to be fulfilled) - to be accomplished. The procedure for the component analysis of the lexeme «дело(work)», discussions on the example of the main meanings of this word, allows us to draw the following conclusions: firstly, the lexeme «дело», in comparison with other analyzed words of this synonymic series, is semantically the most capacious; secondly, the presence of a large number of seme in the meaning of the word “deed”, denoting different actions, attracts attention. Returning to the etymology of the word, it should be noted that this lexeme is formed from the verb “to do” and even in the Old Russian language (from the 11th century) it had the meaning “to act”, in synchrony this basic meaning of the lexeme “deed” was preserved: делать (to do) - to show some kind of or activity. Let's analyze the word «занятие(occupation)». ‘занятие(occupation)’ is interpreted in the dictionary as “дело, труд, работа (business, labor, work)” and “времяпрепровождение (pastime)”. Let's analyze the components of these definitions: Занятие (occupation) - business; дело (business) - work; работа (work) - activity; деятельность (activity) – работа (work) —> взаимная идентификация (mutual identification). Next, let's analyze the word « времяпрепровождение(pastime)» - the use of time, a way to spend time; Использовать (to use)-to use, to find out the way of application Употребить (to use for something) Further division is impossible, since the verbs «использовать» and “употребить” are linked by a relationship of mutual identification. Let's analyze the dictionary concretizor ‘время(time)’: время (time) - the duration of existence; существование (existence) is life; жизнь (life) is existence. Thus, the lexical meaning of the word « занятие(occupation)» is wider than the lexical meaning of the word « труд(labor)», since «занятие(occupation)» is not necessarily labor activity, it is all kinds of use of time. American Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Development ISSN Online: 2771-8948 Website: www.ajird.journalspark.org Volume 28, May - 2024 205 | P a g e Let's analyze the last word of the synonymic series with the dominant «труд (labor)» - «деятельность (activity)»; занятие (activity) - work, occupation; работа(work) - activity. The analysis of the lexeme «занятие(activity)» showed that the meaning of this word, as well as the meaning of the word «деятельность(occupation)», is wider than the lexical meaning of the words «труд», «работа», «дело». Деятельность(activity) is any active action, cf.: педагогическая деятельность(pedagogical activity), родовая деятельность(generic activity), деятельность ветра (wind blow), сердечная деятельность (cardiac activity). As a conclusion, we can say that the lexical means representing the concept of «work» also play an important role in revealing the essence of the concept of «concept» in linguistics. REFERENCES 1. Кузнецова Э.В. 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