The professional image of the world of a military serviceman in the mirror of the symbols of army formations

Lupanova E.V.

Candidate of Philological Sciences
Lecturer, Department of English (Basic) at Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education
Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
e-mail: katerina.lupanova9751@yandex.ru

 

Any living subject is distinguished from an inanimate one by the ability to actively reflect the surrounding reality. Mental reflection, characteristic of animals, is contrasted with conscious reflection, inherent in humans. Moreover, human consciousness as a social being ("«social by its nature, the human in man is generated by his life in conditions society, in the conditions created by mankind cultures»"[6, p. 46]), is a reflection of reality, refracted through the prism of linguistic meanings developed in society. The result of this "refraction" is the formation of an image of the world - an integrative reflection in the human psyche of the objective world, mediated by objective meanings and the cognitive schemes corresponding to them and amenable to conscious reflection [6, p. 50].

It is necessary to distinguish between ethnic consciousness as the "worldview" of representatives of an ethnic community and professional skills and abilities, the development of which occurs during the acquisition of a particular type of activity [12, p. 1]. A professional worldview represents that aspect of the ethnic worldview that is formed through the acquisition of professional competence by a member of society. Moreover, while a set of non-professional knowledge ensures communication among all speakers of an ethnic language, professional skills serve as the basis for successful communication and joint activities in professional social structures [12].

The aim of this study is to reconstruct the image of the world imprinted in the minds of military personnel as members of a professional group representing one of the most important parts of the society of most states.

Despite the constant and timeless primary function performed by the armed forces of any state – the defense of the country from external attack – the military collective is characterized by the presence of its own professional culture, its own «modus vivendi», realized on the delimited territory of military units and command authorities [1, p. 23].

One of the most striking and distinctive manifestations of the specificity of the professional military subculture, in our opinion, is the presence of a special social-group dialect, possessing a number of specific features at the level of vocabulary and phraseology, knowledge of which allows us to reveal the essence of the value attitudes, worldview and nature of the relationships of military personnel, which, taken together, make up the professional image of the world of a military serviceman.

We conduct a study of the manifestations of the mentality of representatives of the armed forces in language using the material of special linguistic signs - phraseological units that most clearly demonstrate the uniqueness of the way of thinking of an ethnic community from the standpoint of understanding and accepting reality in accordance with the moral and value attitudes of each of its individual representatives [5, p. 256].

In the process of studying the reflection of the image of the world in language, phraseological units act as a kind of «conductor» that facilitates the interaction of the semiotic systems of language and culture: their internal form, which has a tropic character, and figurative basis create a correspondence between objective reality and phraseological units [4, pp. 70-71].

The phraseology of professional military personnel includes:

1) military terminology (which includes: a) professionalisms, b) their literary and c) slang analogues);

2) the language of informal communication of the army subculture (which consists of: a) general language phraseological units and b) professional slang) [7, p. 195].

Certain components of literary and slang military phraseology possess particular significance within the cultural space of an ethnic group, suggesting a characteristic figurativeness inherent in military phraseology, allowing these phrases to function as symbols, standards, and stereotypes. Our research focuses on a previously unexplored layer of colloquial phraseology within the US military subculture—specific designations for military units and subdivisions.

We believe the study of this material is extremely relevant for at least two reasons. First, an analysis of the specific patterns of linguistic consciousness of representatives of the military subculture is relevant for the further development of intercultural communication and translation theory. To support this, we will cite an example from an American film. Fighter Squadron (Fighter Squadron, directed by R. Welch, 1948), which takes place during the Second World War: «Mel, it seems to me that you‘'‘ve lost sight of one thing. Hardin was with the Flying Tigers in China before he joined the Eagle squadron with Hamilton, Brickley, and Chappell"»"Mel, I think you're missing one thing. Hardin was with the Flying Tigers in China before he joined Eagle Squadron with Hamilton, Brickley, and Chappell." – Our translation. E. L.).

For a viewer unfamiliar with the realities of American military society, in which each military unit is assigned a unique name for identification, the translation of this fragment may be confusing. To more accurately convey the meaning of the message and explain the events, the translator will need to draw on extralinguistic information: "Flying Tigers" (Flying Tigers) During the war, representatives of the volunteer air force unit were called American Volunteer Group, who fought on the side of the Republic of China in 1941-1942, and the "Eagle Squadron"« (Eagle Squadron)  was a fighter unit of the Royal Air Force formed from American volunteer pilots in the early days of World War II, prior to the United States' entry into the war in December 1941.

Secondly, the study of the names of American military units and subdivisions has, from our point of view, a special value due to the possibility of reconstructing the system of images of the linguistic consciousness of representatives of army society through ideas, attitudes and values reflected in the semantics of phraseological units of professional sociolect.

The phraseology of a subculture, which is dependent on the general culture, creates the most fertile ground for expressing the mentality of an ethnic group [2, p. 87].

According to the definition given in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary, "a phraseological unit is a general name for semantically related combinations of words and sentences that, unlike syntactic structures similar in form, are not produced in accordance with general patterns of choice and combination of words in the organization of an utterance, but are reproduced in speech in a fixed relationship of semantic structure and a certain lexical and grammatical composition" [13]. Based on the given definition, we believe it is justified to classify two- and three-word conventional designations of formations of the American army society as units of phraseological composition, due to the main feature of a phraseological unit inherent in these linguistic units - the inderivability of the meaning of a phrase from the meaning of individual words. The status of such phraseological units in the country and in the language plays a special role in the process of identifying the features of reflection of the moral and ethical imperatives of the army language community in the names of army units and subdivisions. According to the World Heritage Encyclopedia symbol units or subdivisions in the U.S. Armed Forces is a nickname assigned to a military formation, approved by the Center for Military History and confirmed by a certificate signed by the Chief of Military History of the U.S. Department of Defense [18].

To avoid terminological confusion, we emphasize that symbol in the US military subculture it is a concept close in content to the American army motto [9; 10]. Special designation, however, is not identical motto formation, which is an attribute of heraldry, overseen by the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry. For example, the 3rd United States Infantry Regiment, the oldest regiment in the U.S. Army, is known by the code name "THE OLD GUARD" – a nickname given to the military unit by the outstanding American military leader, diplomat, and politician, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army from 1841 to 1861, General Winfield Scott. The regiment's motto is the Latin phrase "NOLI ME TANGERE" (English: "Touch Me Not").

According to the provisions of the U.S. Army Charter, the purpose of the program of assigning conventional designations to military units was not to duplicate an existing motto, but to provide units and subunits with another opportunity to express a direct connection "with any person, place, thing, event, or function, which have special significance for the army formation" [16, p. 16]. The phraseology of the conventional designations of American army formations is distinguished by symbolism: the semantics of the names of units and subdivisions of various branches and types of troops contain special culturally and subculturally significant meanings. Thus, for example, the 201st Army Aviation Company (201st Aviation Company) has the conventional designation RED BARONS. By choosing this conventional designation, the company's pilots ascribe to themselves high professional qualities that distinguish true aviation aces: the internal form of the phraseological unit contains the idea of Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen - a German fighter pilot, an ace during the First World War, who shot down 80 enemy aircraft. Von Richthofen earned the nickname "Red Baron" after painting the fuselage of his plane the bright red color of his membership in the German nobility, the Freiherr.

Notions of high professionalism are implicitly woven into the semantics of the code name for Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 21st Signal Brigade (HHC), RAZOR SHARP. The phraseological figurative basis is the image of a razor-sharp blade. In English, this idiom is used to describe a person with a keen, sharp mind, which explains the choice of the code name as a nickname for the brigade, which provides operational and strategic communications at the level of the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff—the primary planning and command body for the US armed forces.

The strength of the 3d Brigade Combat Team, 3d Infantry Division (HQ, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 3d Infantry Division) is reflected in the code name SLEDGEHAMMER BRIGADE.

The 325th Support Battalion's code name incorporates a culturally significant fact. The American cultural notion of the speed of an atmospheric electrical spark, manifested by a bright flash of light accompanied by thunder, underlies the medical support battalion's code name, "LIGHTNING MEDICS." The essential attributes of lightning—speed and power—were elevated to the status of a standard and formed the basis of the phraseological unit's meaning.

The image underlying the 42d Field Artillery Regiment's unit designation, STRAIGHT ARROWS, appeals to the English-speaking mind to the ancient projectile used for archery or crossbow shooting. In the designation of their army unit, the artillerymen not only point to the rich history of one of the three oldest branches of the armed forces, the main striking force of the ground forces (artillery comes from the Latin words arcus ‘'onion' and tellum ‘'arrow' or ars ‘'art' and tollendi ‘'throwing'), but also use a play on words: in English, a set expression straight arrow denotes a decent, reliable person.

The main purpose of the police as a system of state services and bodies for security public order is contained in the semantics of the code name of the 64th Military Police Company GUARDIANS OF THE WORLD 'GUARDIANS OF THE PEACE'.

Conducting reconnaissance operations to gather information about the enemy implies the primary importance of ensuring the secrecy of the actions undertaken by the military personnel of these units. Thus, black, in the cultures of different peoples, is the color of evil forces, denoting sad events, death, grief and evil [14], in the US military subculture it has the symbolic meaning of secrecy, secret (Black hole ‘'Tactical Operations Center (during the Gulf War)', Big Black ‘'The National Reconnaissance Office of the United States (National Reconnaissance Office)'). The intelligence officers themselves in the US military community call their work "black": blackwork ‘'surveillance, intelligence analysis, recruitment'. In this regard, it is logical that the 5th Reconnaissance Regiment of the US Army (5^th The Cavalry Regiment is known as the Black Knights. The etymology of this phraseological unit is linked to the Middle Ages, when a knight wishing to conceal his own identity or that of his lord while engaging in risky political intrigues or actions unbecoming of his high social standing would conceal his heraldic insignia.

The above examples of the conventional designations of the US Armed Forces allow us to identify a number of axiological dominants inherent in representatives of various branches and services of the ground forces:

- aviation – professionalism,

- connection - intelligence, quick wit,

- infantry - physical strength, courage,

- medical care – speed, quickness of reaction,

- artillery – decency, conscience,

- police - willingness to come to the rescue and protect,

- reconnaissance - secrecy.

The basis of the semantics of the above-considered examples of conventional designations of units and subdivisions of the ground forces is formed by figurative representations of the functions that representatives of the corresponding branches and services of the troops perform in the conditions of modern combat.

Among the conventional designations of American army formations, there are phraseological units whose semantics embody ideas about places and events of significant importance to the military unit or subdivision. Thus, to explain the reason for the 31st Infantry Regiment's choice of the phrase "POLAR BEARS" as its conventional designation, we need to turn to the history of the army unit. Formed in 1916 in the Philippines, the infantry regiment saw its first combat deployment as part of the American Expeditionary Force Siberia, which took part in the Allied intervention in Siberia and the Far East during the Russian Civil War. In the cultures of various peoples, the bear is a symbol of fury and heroic strength [11, p. 141]. It is also a well-known fact that in the minds of the American people, the bear is strongly associated with Russia – the same ‘big, brutal and clumsy’ [15]. Without focusing on the slight ignorance of the authors of the symbol of the 31st US Infantry Regiment about the range of this species of predatory mammals of the bear family, which inhabit the polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere and have no connection with Siberia, we believe that the choice of the polar bear as a symbol of the army formation was dictated by the desire to emphasize the location of the first combat use of the 31st Infantry Regiment in the conditions of the «harsh Russian winter», as well as the strength and power inherent in the soldiers of the army unit.

Another example of appealing to animal imagery in the semantics of conventional designations is the nickname "LIONS OF CANTIGNY" for the 28th Infantry Regiment of the US Army. The internal form of the phraseological unit contains ideas about both an event that played a key role in the history of the army unit—the Battle of Cantigny, the first large-scale offensive operation of the US ground forces in World War I—and animal characteristics interpreted by the human consciousness in anthropomorphic features. We believe that the axiological core of conventional designations that create a reference to events in the history of army units constitutes one of the fundamental value dominants of representatives of the US military subculture and the entire American ethnic group. - respect for the historical past of the nation.

An example of appealing to national history in the designations of military units are nominations that reference statesmen and military figures who played a significant role not only in the life of the military unit or subunit but also in the development of American statehood. For example, the name of the 20th Infantry Regiment, SYKES REGULARS, pays tribute to George Sykes, a Confederate General during the American Civil War who led the regiment in the army's first battle at Bull Run. The United States Army Band's designation PERSHING'S OWN is a reference to the distinguished American military leader of World War I, John Joseph Pershing, one of only two men in history to hold the highest military rank of General of the United States Armies, who commissioned the creation of the first military band in the US armed forces in 1922.

Appealing to the image of one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, the soldiers of the 5th Field Artillery Regiment call themselves ALEXANDER HAMILTON BATTERY in honor of the first commander of one of the regiment's units, a statesman and political figure, lawyer, military leader and ideologist of the War of Independence, known in American culture.

Understanding of precedent phenomena, which represent the fund of national background knowledge, determines a person’s belonging to a certain era and its culture, while a lack of understanding, on the contrary, is a prerequisite for alienation from the corresponding culture [3, p. 216].

Accordingly, the inclusion of precedent phenomena in the composition of the conventional designations of army formations testifies not only to the dominant value system existing in the military environment pride in the country's historical past, but also about the axiological importance unity American people.

In conclusion, it should be noted that, in the process of studying the ethnic worldview, an analysis of the linguistic phenomena of the professional groups that shape the society of a given ethnic group is of primary importance. The study of military phraseology allows us to discern a unique interpretation of the ideas, attitudes, and values existing in American culture in the linguistic consciousness of military personnel, whose mentality is shaped by the specifics of their lives and the tasks they perform. Research into the linguistic reflection of the worldview and moral principles of representatives of the military subculture, using the symbols of US army units, is particularly valuable, as these names are chosen by the units and subunits themselves and, therefore, most clearly convey the servicemen's understanding of their place and role in the armed forces and the entire state.