The article investigates the axiological mechanisms of wise sayings used to evaluate human character in English and Uzbek literary discourse. A small comparative corpus of sixteen units, eight from each language, was selected from paremiological sources. The units were coded according to evaluative polarity, linguistic means of evaluation, the source of the cultural norm, and their potential function in literary context. The analysis shows that positive character models are organised around reputation, loyalty, courage, and cooperation, whereas negative models centre on pride, boasting, deceit, and irresponsibility. In the English material, evaluation is frequently linked to individual choice and practical consequence; in the Uzbek material, communal moral judgement and social relations are more visible. This difference is treated as a tendency in the selected data rather than an absolute cultural opposition. In literary discourse, wise sayings can express authorial judgement and reveal a tension between a character’s self-image and actual conduct.

axiology, wise saying, literary discourse, human character, evaluation, connotation, paremiology, linguoculture, character speech, moral norm.

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