Many words are adapted to a certain style and become a mark of it. A word’s belonging to a certain style is called functional colouring: for example the phrase «ravona bo‘lmoq» (“to set off”), unlike neutral «ketmoq» (“to go”), is bookish and typical of elevated written style. Some words also express the speaker’s positive or negative attitude to the thing; this is called emotional-expressive colouring. For example «jilmaymoq» (to smile) is neutral or warm, while «irjaymoq» (to grin unpleasantly) expresses a negative evaluation. Functional and emotional-expressive colouring together are called stylistic colouring. One word can have both kinds, so before choosing a word one must know its colouring as well as its meaning.
Worked examples
Functional colouring: «ovqat» (food) – neutral, «taom» (dish, meal) – bookish-artistic, «ne’mat» (a gift of nature, food) – artistic.
Emotional-expressive colouring: «kulmoq» (to laugh) – neutral; «jilmaymoq» (to smile) – warm; «irjaymoq» (to grin) – negative, with a feeling of distrust or mockery.
Class activity
“Colours of words”: with green (positive), red (negative) and blue (neutral) cards pupils mark words.
Practice
1
What does functional colouring show?
That a word belongs to a certain style (colloquial, bookish, scientific and so on).
2
In the row «kulmoq – jilmaymoq – irjaymoq», which word is negatively coloured?
«Irjaymoq».
3
Is it good to call a friend’s face «bashara»? Why?
No: «bashara» (a rude word for face) has negative colouring and sounds rude; neutral «yuz» or positive «chehra» is more suitable.
4
Why can «taom» be used in an artistic text but rarely in an official document?
Because it has artistic-bookish colouring; a document prefers the neutral word («ovqat»).