Speech culture and business documents

Speech culture is the skill of expressing thoughts in line with the norms of the standard language — accurately, logically and appropriately. It has two sides: the correctness of speech (conformity to the norm) and its effectiveness (whether it reaches the listener). The practical part of speech culture is business documents (ish qog‘ozlari): writing applications, explanatory notes, powers of attorney, receipts and similar documents correctly. Everyone writes such documents in life, so this knowledge will be useful long after the exam. Exam tasks ask you to say which quality of speech is violated, find a speech error, put the parts of a document in order and identify the type of document.

§1. Norms of the standard language

A norm is the set of generally accepted rules of the standard language that are binding on everyone. Norms keep the language unified: people who speak different dialects understand each other fully through the standard language.

• Orthoepic (pronunciation): kitob is pronounced [kitop] but written kitob; correct stress.
• Orthographic (spelling): o‘qituvchi, ma’no, g‘alaba.
• Lexical: using a word in its proper meaning and combination: wrong ahamiyat o‘ynaydi → right ahamiyatga ega or muhim rol o‘ynaydi.
• Grammatical: correct suffixes and word links: wrong eng chiroyliroq → right eng chiroyli.
• Stylistic: words and constructions fit the style of the text.
• Punctuation: punctuation marks are used correctly.

§2. Qualities of good speech

• Correctness — conformity to the norms. Violation: Men sizni kitobingizni oldim (right: sizning kitobingizni).
• Accuracy — the word expresses the concept correctly; paronyms and polysemous words are not confused: wrong Asr qilib olindi → right asir.
• Logic — ideas are consistent, do not contradict each other, and cause and effect are linked correctly: wrong Havo issiq bo‘lgani uchun hamma qalin kiyindi (“because it was hot, everyone dressed warmly”).
• Purity — no elements alien to the standard language: dialect words, slang, coarse words, unnecessary foreign words (okey, problema), filler words (haligi, anaqa, needless xullas).
• Richness — synonyms, idioms, varied constructions; no monotonous repetition.
• Appropriateness — speech fits the situation, listener and style: addressing a formal meeting as jo‘ralar (“mates”) is inappropriate.
• Expressiveness — influencing the listener with similes, idioms, proverbs and rhetorical questions.
• Brevity — no superfluous words; the thought is expressed concisely.

Worked example

Haligi, men bugun, xullas, darsga kechikdim, chunki avtobus, haligi, kelmadi. — which quality of speech is violated?

1. haligi and xullas are filler words that add no meaning.
2. They are elements alien to standard speech.
3. So the purity of speech is violated.
4. Corrected sentence: Men bugun darsga kechikdim, chunki avtobus kelmadi.

§3. Common speech errors

• Pleonasm — using words that repeat each other’s meaning: wrong o‘z avtobiografiyam (avto- already means “one’s own”), eng yaxshiroq, bo‘sh vakansiya (“a vacant vacancy”).
• Tautology — repeating words of the same root side by side: wrong Yozuvchi yozgan yozuvlarida... → right Yozuvchi asarlarida....
• Confusing paronyms: wrong Bu usul abzalroq → right afzalroq.
• Case and agreement errors: wrong Men sizni kitobingizni oldim → right sizning kitobingizni.
• Collocation errors (blending two expressions): wrong ahamiyat o‘ynaydi (a blend of ahamiyatga ega and rol o‘ynaydi).
• Colloquial elements in an official text: iltimos, ruxsat bering-da in an application.

Worked example

Find and correct the error in Men o‘z avtobiografiyamni yozdim.

1. avtobiografiya means “the story of one’s own life”; the part avto- means “own”.
2. So the word o‘z (“own”) repeats the meaning a second time — pleonasm.
3. Brevity and accuracy are violated.
4. Answer: Men avtobiografiyamni yozdim or Men tarjimai holimni yozdim.

§4. Speech technique and etiquette

• Breathing — dividing a sentence into chunks you can say in one breath.
• Diction — pronouncing sounds clearly and distinctly.
• Logical stress — highlighting the most important word with the voice: MEN kecha keldim (I, not someone else) — Men KECHA keldim (yesterday, not today).
• Pause — marks the boundaries of a thought and gives the listener time to think.
• Intonation and tempo — suited to the situation: a ceremonial speech is slower, news is faster.
• Etiquette: greeting, addressing elders and strangers as siz, not interrupting, thanking (rahmat, tashakkur), apologising (kechirasiz).

§5. Types of business documents

Business documents are written in official style in a fixed format; they contain no emotion, figurative meaning or colloquial elements.

• Application (ariza) — a document making a request to a manager or an organisation.
• Explanatory note (tushuntirish xati) — explains the reason for some incident (being late, an unfinished task).
• Reference / character report (tavsifnoma) — an organisation’s assessment of a person’s work or study and qualities.
• Certificate (ma’lumotnoma) — a document confirming a fact (for example, that a person studies at this school).
• Power of attorney (ishonchnoma) — one person gives another the authority to act on their behalf.
• Receipt (tilxat) — confirms receiving something (money, a document, an item).
• Notice (bildirishnoma) — informs people of an event or a change.
• Official record / act (dalolatnoma) — records a fact or situation in the presence of several people.
• Minutes (bayonnoma) — a record of the discussion and decisions of a meeting.
• Autobiography (tarjimai hol) — an account of a person’s life written by that person (first person, in prose).
• CV / résumé (rezyume) — brief information for a job application: education, experience, skills.

§6. Structure of an application, explanatory note, receipt and power of attorney

• Top right: Toshkent shahridagi 110-maktab direktori A. Karimovga 9-«B» sinf o‘quvchisi Sardor Aliyevdan.
• Centre: Ariza.
• Text: Oilaviy sharoitim tufayli 2026-yil 12-oktabr kuni darsga qatnashmasligimga ruxsat berishingizni so‘rayman.
• Bottom left the date, bottom right the signature.

An explanatory note has the same layout, but the text sets out an event and its cause rather than a request.
A receipt states who received what from whom, any sum of money in figures and in words, the repayment date, the date and the signature.
A power of attorney states who is entrusting whom (full names, document details), what authority is granted, how long it is valid, the date and the signature; the signature is certified in the established way.

Worked example

Men, Karimova Nodira, ... dan 300 000 (uch yuz ming) so‘m pul oldim. Uni 2026-yil 1-dekabrgacha qaytarishni o‘z zimmamga olaman. — what type of document is this?

1. The text confirms that money was received, and the sum is given in figures and words.
2. No authority is granted — so it is not a power of attorney.
3. There is no request — not an application; no reason is explained — not an explanatory note.
4. Answer: a receipt (tilxat).

Check yourself

1. Problemani hal qildik, okey? — which quality of speech is violated?

2. What is the document called that lets another person collect your pension on your behalf?

3. Which document records the course of a meeting and its decisions?

4. Put the parts of an application in order: signature, from whom, text, to whom, date.

5. Biz eng yaxshiroq natijaga erishdik. — which norm is broken?

6. A pupil explains in writing to the head teacher why he was late. What document is this?

7. What is the error in o‘z avtobiografiyam called?

8. Which quality of speech is violated if a formal meeting is addressed as jo‘ralar?

Common mistakes

• Using colloquial style in an application: iltimos, ruxsat bering-da.
• Confusing a receipt with a power of attorney: a receipt confirms receiving, a power of attorney grants authority.
• Confusing a character reference with an autobiography: the organisation writes the reference, the person writes the autobiography.
• Breaking the order of an application (putting the date and signature at the top).
• Failing to notice filler words: haligi, anaqa, xullas.
• Failing to notice pleonasm: eng yaxshiroq, bo‘sh vakansiya.