Abstract
<jats:p>This study presents comparative analysis of theatre terminology in Uzbek and English, aiming to explore structural, semantic, and cultural divergences in term formation. Using a mixed-methods approach combining corpus linguistics, descriptive analysis, sociocognitive terminology theory, the research investigates authentic texts, lexicons, and performative discourse to identify patterns in theatrical vocabulary across both languages. The findings reveal that English theatre terminology tends to employ compounding (37%) and metaphorical extensions, reflecting institutional standardization and academic codification. In contrast, Uzbek terminology is marked by derivational morphology (44%), oral tradition, and loanwords from Russian, highlighting legacy of historical language contact and post-Soviet linguistic practices. The study also identifies substantial cross-linguistic gaps in culturally bound terms (28%), which pose challenges for direct translation and require adaptive strategies like functional equivalence and explicitation. This study contributes to broader understanding of terminology as a culturally embedded system rather than a set of one-to-one lexical correspondences. It underscores need for updated bilingual terminological resources and corpus-driven tools to support theatre translation, education, and documentation. It also emphasizes importance of integrating linguistic, cultural, and historical perspectives in terminology research, especially in under-resourced languages. Ultimately, the study supports ongoing efforts toward linguistic equity and cultural preservation in multilingual contexts. Keywords: Theatre terminology; comparative linguistics; Uzbek and English; culturally bound terms; term equivalence; corpus-based analysis; language and culture.</jats:p>