This paper explores the cross-cultural pragmatics of third-person pronouns in three linguistically and culturally distinct languages: English, Arabic, and Uzbek. Drawing upon a corpus of literary, political, and religious texts, the study investigates how gender, number, and pragmatic reference influence the interpretation and translation of these pronouns. Findings demonstrate substantial variation in how each language encodes gender and number, underscoring the importance of contextual sensitivity and appropriate translation strategies in cross-cultural and multilingual discourse.

Third-person pronouns, cross-cultural pragmatics, gender in language

Austen, J. (2008). Pride and Prejudice. Oxford University Press.

(As part of English literary corpus; original work published 1813)

Huang, Y. (2023). Pragmatics: Language Use in Context (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

(Cited for intercultural pragmatics and pronoun interpretation)

Levinson, S. C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge University Press.

(Theoretical basis for deixis and referential analysis)

Nord, C. (2022). Translating as a Purposeful Activity: Functionalist Approaches Explained (2nd ed.). Routledge.

(For translation strategy and functional equivalence theory)

Qur’an. (n.d.). The Holy Qur’an. Various translations (e.g., Sahih International).

(For Arabic religious discourse and pronoun use)

Obama, B. (2009). Inaugural Address. White House Archives.

(For political use of third-person pronouns in English)

Navoi, A. (2020). Mahbub ul-qulub (T. Qurbonov, Ed.). Fan nashriyoti.

(For classical Uzbek third-person usage)

Suleiman, Y. (2021). Arabic in the Fray: Language Ideology and Cultural Politics. Edinburgh University Press.

(For gender and ideology in Arabic discourse)

Tajik, M., & Kadirova, D. (2022). Cross-linguistic analysis of gender neutrality in Uzbek and English. Modern Linguistic Trends, 15(2), 44–59.

(Recent comparative study involving Uzbek gendered forms)

Wright, W. (2021). A Grammar of the Arabic Language (3rd ed.). Gorgias Press.

(For classical Arabic grammatical reference on pronouns)