ZOONYMS IN MODERN LINGUISTICS: TERMINOLOGICAL, CULTURAL, AND SEMANTIC ASPECTS

In modern linguistics, various terms are used to designate animal names, such as animal names, zoological lexicon, zoonyms, and animalisms. However, the most common and widely accepted term remains zoonym, which is used in both narrow and broad senses. In the narrow sense, zoonym refers to proper names of animals (nicknames), while in the broad sense, it denotes common nouns referring to animals. This article explores the semantic and cultural diversity of zoonyms across Russian, Uzbek, and English languages, emphasizing their metaphorical, evaluative, and symbolic functions within phraseological and cultural systems.