MasarykovauniverzitavBrně Filosofickáfakulta Katedraanglistikyaamerikanistiky A SOCIOLINGUISTIC INTERPRETATION OF MILITARY SLANG AND VERNACULAR EXPRESSIONS Based on the Analysis from Field Research of Colloquial Usage in Lexicons and Military Communication Discourse Disertační práce Školitel: Doc. PhDr. Ludmila Urbanová, CSc. Brno2005 Mgr.LadislavChaloupský I herebydeclare that I workedonthis Ph.D.dissertationindependently,usingonly the primaryandsecondarysourceslistedinthe bibliography. LadislavChaloupský ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertationwould not have beenpossible without the services of those whobothorientatedme throughthe semantics of militarydiscourse andopenedmy eyestothe widerange ofspecialist language invoguetoday. I would like to express appreciation to my supervisor Doc.PhDr.LudmilaUrbanova, CSc. for her invaluable guidance, encouragement, and inspiration. I am especially grateful for the support and time that she has dedicatedto mywork,without whichthis paper wouldhave never been completed.I am also indebted to Prof. doc. PhDr. Josef Hladký, CSc. for his constructive commentsandrecommendations relatedtothis work. I owe a special debt to Ms Sally Fenstermacher (Senior EFL/ESL specialist – Chief Coordinator of US Program inthe Czech Republic),Christopher McKeating (exmilitaryofficer),and RichardCook(DLI) for their invaluable comments andfor proofreadingpartsofthiswork. Furthermore,I wish to thankto Col. (ret.) Clement Machacek(USAF officer) for enriching my military vocabulary and explaining the many nuances between words. I wish also to thank Lt Col Susan N. Moreland, PhD (DLI – Dean of Academics, USAF), and Lt Col John M. Bell (DLI - Commander, Operations Squadron)formakingthemilitaryinterviews possible. Last,but by nomeans least,I wouldlike tothanktoMs Angel Bishop Petty (DLI –Project Officer,SpecializedCurriculum Branch) whogave me ideas onhow toconduct theinterviews. Finally,I wouldlike tosaythankyoutomywife Blanka,myfather andmy friends MUDr.René Dryml,PhD. Col.Ing.Karol Janoušek, Col.Ing.RomanKučera fortheir ceaseless encouragement,supportandpatience. Thankyou. iii CONTENT LIST OF TABLES 2 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 4 INTRODUCTION 8 THEMOTIVATION FORTHIS DISSERTATION 10 SUBJECT ANDTHE RESEARCHOBJECTIVES 12 1. LEXICAL ANALYSIS OF MILITARY SLANG 14 1.1. DefinitionofSlang,Colloquialism,andJargon 15 1.2. OriginofMilitaryOfficialTerms 19 1.3. OriginofMilitaryColloquialandSlangExpressions 23 1.4. MilitaryRanksandInsignia 25 1.4.1. OriginofRanks 26 1.4.2. RankInsignia 29 1.5. U.S.SlangTerms forMilitaryRanks 31 1.5.1. U.S.SlangTerms forSoldiers,SergeantsandOfficers 32 1.5.2. U.S.SlangExpressions fortheAirForceandNavalPersonnel 36 1.5.3. GeneralSlangExpressionsforU.S.MilitaryPersonnel 37 1.5.4. Generals andtheir Nicknames 39 1.5.5. BritishMilitarySlang 40 1.5.6. MilitarySlangofOtherEnglishSpeakingCountries 43 1.6. MilitarySlangDenotingPeople 43 1.7. Productive MilitarySlangWordFormation 46 1.7.1. LexicalCompounds 46 1.7.2. Abbreviations,Acronyms,ClippingsandBlends 49 1.7.3. PhoneticAlphabet,Codes,andProwords 54 1.8. ColloquialandSlangLoansfrom OtherLanguages 60 1.8.1. BritishLoans 60 1.8.2. AmericanLoans 62 2. IMPACT OF MILITARY EXPRESSIONS ON ENGLISH 64 2.1. IdiomaticExpressionsandSayings 64 2.2. MilitaryEuphemismsandTabooExpressions 69 3. INFLUENCE OF MILITARY ENGLISH ON MILITARY CZECH 72 4. MILITARY INTERVIEWS 75 4.1. Approaches toAnalysis 77 4.2. Language,CultureandMilitaryEnvironment 78 4.2.1. SpecificMilitaryFeatures 79 4.2.2. MilitaryInterviews 84 4.2.3. TranscriptionsandComments 87 5. CONCLUSION 139 5.1. Lexical part 139 5.1.1. U.S.ArmedForcesSlang 142 5.1.2. BritishArmedForcesSlang 144 5.2. MilitaryInterviews 145 5.2.1. SlangExpressionsUsedinInterviews 148 5.2.2. ProsodicFeatures andOtherFeatures 148 5.2.3. MilitaryBranches 149 5.2.4. InherentDangersandLanguageBarriers 150 SUMMARY 153 RESUMÉ 157 BIBLIOGRAPHY 161 DICTIONARIES CONSULTED 164 1 LISTOFTABLES Table1:SemanticFields byDecadeandDatesofMilitaryEvents ........................... 21 Table2:MilitarySlangandColloquialExpressions ................................................. 23 Table3: NumberofSlangExpressionsEnteringEnglishinDifferentPeriods......... 24 Table4:EtymologyofTermsforEnglishMilitaryRanks ........................................ 26 Table5:EtymologyofRanks .................................................................................... 28 Table6:ExamplesofMilitarySlangExpressions forSoldiers ................................. 32 Table7:ExamplesofMilitarySlangExpressions for NCOs .................................... 32 Table8:ExamplesofMilitarySlangExpressions forOfficers ................................. 33 Table9:RatioofSlangExpressions forRanks ......................................................... 34 Table10:Examplesof MilitarySlangExpressionsforAirForcePersonnel ............ 36 Table11:Examplesof MilitarySlangExpressionsfor NavyPersonnel ................... 37 Table12:Examplesof MilitarySlangExpressionsforOfficers ............................... 37 Table13:Examplesof SlangExpressionsforRecruitsandYoungSoldiers ............ 38 Table14:Examplesof MilitarySlangExpressionsforOfficersandNCOs ............. 40 Table15:ArmySlangforSoldiers ............................................................................ 40 Table16:MarinalSlangExpressions ........................................................................ 41 Table17:AirForcePersonnelSlangExpressions ..................................................... 41 Table18:OtherSlangExpressionsforOfficersandNCO´s ..................................... 42 Table19:SlangExpressionsforPart-Timers ............................................................ 42 Table20:DifferentSlangExpressionsforMilitaryPersonnel .................................. 43 Table21:U.S.andUKExamplesof MilitarySlangExpressionsforOtherPeoples 43 Table22:Examplesof MilitarySlangExpressionsforHomosexuals ...................... 44 Table23:Examplesof MilitarySlangExpressionsforDeserters ............................. 45 Table24:CompoundsUsedinU.S.Military ............................................................. 47 Table25:CompoundsUsedinU.K.Military ............................................................ 47 Table26:CompoundsUsedinBothU.S.andU.K.Military .................................... 48 Table27: NumberofCompoundswith‘Head’UsedintheU.S.andU.K.Military . 48 Table28:U.S.NAVYExercisesAcronyms .............................................................. 51 Table29:U.S.andBritishAbbreviationsDescribingMiserableSituations .............. 52 Table30:BritishAbbreviationsDescribingMiserableSituations ............................ 53 Table31:PhoneticAlphabet ...................................................................................... 55 Table32:Examplesof SlangExpressionsBasedonPhoneticAlphabet ................... 56 Table33:Examplesof Prowords ............................................................................... 59 Table34:TheMostCommonBritishMilitaryLoans ............................................... 60 Table35:TheMostCommonU.S.MilitaryLoans ................................................... 63 Table36: IdiomaticExpressionsforPeace ................................................................ 64 Table37: IdiomaticExpressionsforWars,Battles,andFights ................................. 64 Table38:Expressions withShoot,Shot,Trigger,Powder,Barrel,andSight ........... 65 Table39: IdiomaticExpressionsforTacticalTerms ................................................. 66 Table40: IdiomaticExpressionsforWeapons,Bullets,andBombs ......................... 66 Table41:OtherMilitaryIdiomaticExpressions ........................................................ 68 Table42: NumberofIdiomaticExpressions relatedtoPeace andWar .................... 68 Table43:RatioofMilitaryIdiomaticExpressions .................................................... 68 Table44:MilitaryExpressionsforPenis ................................................................... 69 Table45:RatioofDifferentMilitaryExpressionsforPenis ..................................... 70 Table46:MilitaryExpressionsforBreasts. ............................................................... 70 Table47:MilitaryExpressionsforMasturbation ...................................................... 70 Table48:RatioofMilitaryExpressionsforMasturbation ........................................ 71 2 Table49: NumberofTabooExpressions ................................................................... 71 Table50:Examplesof MilitaryEnglishInfluenceonCzechLanguage ................... 72 Table51:Ratioof NounsandVerbs AdoptedintoCzech ......................................... 73 Table52:MilitarySub-categories .............................................................................. 80 Table53:LevelofEducationandCulturalAwareness ............................................. 81 Table54:TheHierarchyofMilitaryRanks ............................................................... 83 Table55:ListofSpeakers ......................................................................................... 86 Table56:DetailedList ofSpeakers ......................................................................... 146 3 GLOSSARYOFTERMS The glossary below was taken from the following books: A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics by D. Crystal, A Reader in English Stylistics by L. Urbanová andA.Bilingham, and Dictionary of Language andLinguistics byR.K. Hartman,andF.C.Stork.The expressionTypes andTokens is takenfrom a manual to Concordance -Copyright© R.J.C.Watt1999-2003 Coherence A