The Military Language as a Means of Verbalisation of the Concept WOMAN

Abstract.

THE MILITARY LANGUAGE AS A MEANS OF VERBALISATION OF THE CONCEPT WOMAN

Nataliya Karpenko

Department of Philology, Translation and Lingual Communication, Academy of the Interior Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukraine

Available 24 September 2013.

Abstract

Relevance

Despite the numerous researches in cognitive linguistics the study of concepts from the angle of gender linguistics is an urgent problem of modern linguistics. The military language serves as an efficient means of verbalization of the concept that enables the writer to express his intentions and achieve his purposes.

Purpose

The purpose of the analysis is to single out and analyse the pragmatic potential of these lexical units and to characterise their functions in writer’s novels with respect to the gender factor that determined their usage.

Tasks

The purpose raises the following tasks: 1) to single out the language units that have pragmatic potential and form the structure of the concept; 2) to study the structure of the language units that make up the military vocabulary and single out the structural elements that have pragmatic potential; 3) to characterise their functions from the angle of gender linguistics.

Novelty

The novelty of the study consist in the absence of researches that are focused on the military language and its functions to verbalise gender concepts

Theoretical value

The theoretical value of the study consists in the development of the methods of the studying of gender concepts with regard to psychological factors that provoke the usage of particular language units.

Practical value

Theoretical developments give reasons for practical importance of the proposed research, which may be used in sociolinguistic, gender linguistics, psycholinguistics and other studies.

Conclusion

The military language is one of the efficient means of the verbalization of the concept WOMAN in P. Zagrebelniy’sdiscourse because the pragmatic potential of these language units provides the achievement of speaker’s intentions. This isconditioned by the archetypical view of a woman by a man. The use of the military language is observed both in writer’sfictional discourse and in his “live” speech. This fact indicates the display of an everyday consciousness in P. Zagrebelniy’screative work.

Perspective is in the necessity of the compilation of the vocabulary of P. Zagrebelniy’s concepts in which the conceptWOMAN will be one of the most significant elements.

Research highlights

► The article deals with the pragmatic potential of the military language which serves as a means of verbalization of the concept WOMAN which was revealed within P. Zagrebelniy’s discourse. ► The lexemes the usage of which was predetermined by the archetypical perception of a woman in society were singled out. ► Their expressive capacity in respect of postulates of gender linguistics was analyzed.

Keywords: concept, discourse, gender linguistics, pragmatic potential, the military language.

References

Velykyy tlumachnyy slovnyk, (2007). Velykyy tlumachnyy slovnyk ukrayins'koyi movy. K.: Irpin': VTF "Perun".

Goroshko, E. I. (2003). Jazykovoe soznanie: gendernaja paradigma. M.-H.: INZhEK

Zahrebel'nyy, P. A. (2004). Yevpraksiya. Kh.: Folio

Zahrebel'nyy, P. A. (2006). Roksolana. Kh.: Folio

Zahrebel'nyy, P. A. (2002). Yuliya, abo zaproshennya do samovbyvstva. Kh.: Folio

Kirilina, A. V. (1999). Gender: lingvisticheskie aspekty. M.: Izd-vo instituta sociologii RAN.

Kolesov, V. V. (2004). Jazyk i mental'nost'. SPb.: Pererb. vostokovedenie

Tarnashyns'ka, L. B. (2000). Tayemnytsya Yevraziyi, abo zhinka i cholovik z pohlyadu vichnosti [interv"yu z P. Zahrebel'nym]. Berezil', 7-8, 165-173.

Correspondence: karpenkonataliya@mail.ru

Vitae

Nataliya A. Karpenko is PhD at Department of Philology, Translation and Lingual Communication in Academy of the Interior Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Her areas of research interests include functional linguistics,cognitive linguistics, and discourse linguistics.

Article.

Nataliya Karpenko

УДК 811.161.2’371

THE MILITARY LANGUAGE AS A MEANS OF VERBALISATION OF THE CONCEPT WOMAN

The article deals with the pragmatic potential of the military language which serves as a means of verbalization of the concept WOMAN which was revealed within P. Zagrebelniy’s discourse. The lexemes the usage of which was predetermined by the archetypical perception of a woman in society were singled out. Their expressive capacity in respect of postulates of gender linguistics was analyzed.

Keywords: concept, discourse, gender linguistics, pragmatic potential, the military language.

Within contemporary polyfunctional linguistics the concept as a category that embodies cultural norms, conventions, attitudes of a particular nation remains among the terms that are still under careful study. The concept WOMAN is a gender concept and it embodies the view of a woman by a man and depicts stereotypes towards her. Therefore, the study of the concept needs to be carried on the principles of gender linguistics which is one of the leading directions of linguistics. This determines the topicality of this issue. Moreover the military language hasn’t been the subject of inquiry till now, and this fact confirms the topicality of this research.

The attention is focused on the military language that is one of the means of verbalization of the concept WOMAN within P. Zagrebelniy’s fictional discourse. Correspondingly, the purpose of the research is to single out and analyse the pragmatic potential of these lexical units and to characterise their functions in writer’s novels with respect to the gender factor that determined their usage. The purpose raises the following tasks: 1) to single out the language units that have pragmatic potential and form the structure of the concept; 2) to study the structure of the language units that make up the military vocabulary and single out the structural elements that have pragmatic potential; 3) to characterise their functions from the view point of gender linguistics.

Review of the latest researches and published works. Despite the availability of the range of extensive researches dealing with means of language representation of conceptual structures, the concept doesn’t lose its urgency and is still in the focus of attention of such adept linguists as G. Vorkachov, I. Golubovska, V. Karasyk, T. Kosmeda, L. Lysychenko, Y. Stepanov, etc. Gender linguistics is one of the linguistic directions which serves as a field of investigationfor such scientists as A. Arkhangelska, V. Vasyuk, N. Paskova, O. Chybysheva, O. Goroshko, A. Kyrylina, V. Maslova, O, Poberezhna, L. Synelnykova, G. Bohdanovych, T, Sukalenko, etc.

The germ and further formation of the concept WOMAN spring from the interaction with the concept MAN. Categorial opposition MAN – WOMAN realises itself both at the biological level and on social when it is a question of gender which is socially conditioned phenomenon as opposed to sex.

Hierarchial classification of society originates from ancient times as a result of sex differentiation. Aristotle indicated the deficiency of woman nature in his "Metaphysics" long ago. He stated that it didn’t give any rights of being equal to men whose complete nature compelled women to be subject to them. Giving biological argumentation to this gender theory Greek philosopher considered woman to be an "imperfect man" [Колесов 2004].

A man and a woman obtained different axiological marks in history of humanity, for example, West Europeans thought that man nature was more complete than one of a woman and they noted that women "are less spiritual, less simple-hearted but more vulnerable, spiteful and hot-tempered" [Колесов 2004: 163]. A woman was endowed withnegative axiological marks that were conditioned by Catholicism with its masculine characteristic traits that were the resultof Antiquity. East Slavs on the contrary identified a woman as a perfect embodiment that was connected with "heathen deities, birth, fertile Mother-soil and after all with the Virgin" [Колесов 2004: 163]. Such reverence of femininity imprintsitself in Ukrainian’s collective consciousness as one of the traits of the mentality of the nation.

Role differentiations of society, social patterns of behaviour formed by a human that are associated with one of thesexes are the outcomes of the theory of social constructivism by T. Parsons and I. Goffman. Social order, patterns of behaviour become apparent in communicative activity: "gender relations are embedded in a language as culturally conditioned stereotypes leaving its mark on personality’s behaviour, including the lingual one" [Кирилина 1999: 17]. Correspondingly the view of a woman is conveyed by language forms the usage of which is conditioned by existingstereotypes in respect of her, this enables us to observe the specificity of the view of a woman by one of the sexes by means of the analysis of language forms.

The military language functions as one of the means of verbalization of the concept WOMAN within P. Zagrebelniy’sdiscourse. The usage of the military language in the novel "Julia or an Invitation to Suicide" is conditioned by gender factorand (the usage of the military language, jargon is peculiar to men) [Кирилина 1999] by the theme of the novel as well andby writer’s experience because P. Zagrebelniy took part in military operations during the World War II.

Relationships between a man and a woman are formed on the principle of subordination in the focus of dichotomypower – subjugation. This provokes the usage of particular language units. Phraseological unit йти на штурм (брати штурмом) represents resolute and immediate actions for the purpose of winning woman’s favour since the meaning ofthe lexeme штурм represents such semantic components as "determination", "attack", "attainment". The phraseologicalunit approximates to the meaning of the verb завойовувати – "силою війська підкоряти, загарбувати країни, поневолювати народи і т. ін.", напр.: "…вперто йшов на штурм …" [Загребельний 2002, 30]; "... здійснюючи задуманий ними план ошукування Хомухіна і взяття штурмом неприступної фортеці під іменем Юлія…" [Загребельний 2002: 262]. In these examples we observe secondary metaphoric meaning of the verbcombinations which is based on the transference of characteristics on the base of similarity of the purpose of the activity.

The noun фортеця is used to name the woman whose favour a man is trying to win. The noun realises its meaning "укріплений пункт із міцними капітальними спорудами, постійним гарнізоном, озброєнням та різними запасами, для тривалої кругової оборони" [Бусел 2007: 1545]. The base of metaphoric transference жінка – фортеця is thepeculiarities of the building which is fortified, defended from the attacks of enemies, and features of the woman whosefavour is difficult to be won because of her haughtiness, self-respect, personal dignity.

Associative correlation between relationships man – woman and military operations is represented by the description of appearance, e.g., a woman who is referred to by the lexeme супротивник, strikes a man with her looks. That is verbalized by the lexeme резерв – "частина військ, залишена в розпорядженні командира і призначена для використання в разі гострої потреби в бою" [Бусел 2007: 1208]; e.g.: "… в грудях виникло тужливе відчуття тривоги, як на танкодромі перед учбовими стрільбами, коли ти не знаєш, чи сам перший стрельнеш по супротивнику, чи стрельне він по тобі; а ще щомиттєва загроза вступу до бою резерву головного командування: розложистих стегон, сумлінних очей, ледь розхилених соковитих губ…" [Загребельний 2002: 25]. Word-combination резерв головного командування is used to denote the appearance of the woman that has a powerover the man.

The meaning of the lexemes which verbalize concept WOMAN indicates not only subjugation of a woman by a man but also subjugation of a man by a woman, e. g: "… а поряд її безсоромні губи, і ти безпорадний, безпомічний перед нею, ти годен хіба що на капітуляцію, ти ладен сховатися за свій училищний танк номер тридцять дев’ять..." [Загребельний 2002: 21]; "...неземний вогонь, якого Шульга ще не знав, якому не вмів дати ради, від якого спалахнув, мов сухий листок, і вмить згорів, вибухнув, вистрілив мимо цілі, ганебно скапітулював перед жінкою…" [Загребельний 2002: 34]. Using the lexeme капітуляція in the meaning "відмова від боротьби, визнання свого безсилля перед ким-, чим-небудь" [Бусел 2007: 521], the writer represents the state of dependence, obedience ofa man, shows woman’s power.

To capture man’s heart a woman usually uses her looks. In order to verbalize this process the verbsвистрілювати, бити, are used, e.g: "… вистрілює з усіх батарей, б’є залпами, очима, грудьми, стегнами, сідницями, веде вогонь на знищення…" [Загребельний 2002: 63] as it seems to serve the purpose well.

The means of verbal representation that depict the separation of a man and his beloved woman as an integral part of their relationships are singled out, e.g.: Танкіст не може залишатися в своєму танку вічно… Так і з жінкою. Вона для тебе як танк для короткого бою…" [Загребельний 2002: 50]. The noun танк that originally represents thecontent of the concept WOMAN requires a corresponding context for the realization of its meaning. The lexeme танк ("бойова броньована всюдихідна машина на гусеницях, озброєна гарматою та кулеметами" [Бусел 2007: 1430] contains negative components of the meaning – "aggression", "attack", that is not emphasised in the writer’s discoursebecause the components of the meaning that indicate short-term relationship between a woman and a man arise as aresult of combination of the noun with the adjective короткий and the noun бій.

A tendency to use the military language reflects the specific character of the psychology of men – eternal desire forvictory, self-assertion, dominance. An archetypical image of a real man is an image of a warrior, conqueror. A general tendency to represent the relationship between a woman and a man as such that consists in mutual subjugation of the both parties was revealed. This provokes the associations of relationships with struggle and rivalry which are formed on the principle of power and subjugation. This motivates the usage of the corresponding lexemes, especially the military language which is characteristic to the writer’s idiostyle.

The usage of the military language indicates the presence of the dichotomy woman – power that often occurs inP. Zagrebelniy’s discourse. The comparisons жінка – держава, жінка – військо, жінка – супротивник etc. are also frequent. Considering the ontology of the concept woman, the specific character of its perception, representation in writer’sconsciousness as in man’s consciousness and the peculiarities of its verbalization were singled out. In particular, thegroup of lexemes that are characteristic to the military language and function for the representation of the relationships of a man and a woman in the discourse was singled out. In general the structure of the concept WOMAN is typical inconsideration of gender factors that determined the usage of the lexemes that verbalizes the structure of the concept. Such conclusion was made because of the segment with the semantic components that represent the relationshipsbetween a man and a woman as such that were built according to the principle of subordination in the focus of the dichotomy power – subjugation. Some of the semantic components are conditioned by such characteristic of man’spsychology as The Self that becomes apparent in the process of winning woman’s favour and subjugation of her. Theconcept WOMAN is also represented by means which are conditioned by the associations with the process of the gainingof power on the level of a country that is the result of the display of the dichotomy power – woman that frequents in writer’s discourse, e.g.: "…взаємини між завойовниками і їхніми жертвами жахливі і що найпершими жертвами завжди є жінки, принижені, збезчещені, зґвалтовані" [Тарнашинська 2000: 87].

For the representation of the relationships between a man and a woman P. Zagrebelniy uses the military language, e.g.: "Шульга вважав, що ця німецька жінка капітулювала перед ним, насправді ж він капітулював перед нею. Бо коли зламав печаті й проник крізь заборонені брами, не холодні поля ненависті відкрилися йому, а райські сади, небеса блаженства, безодні безуму, і ніяка сила не могла вже нічого змінити, він забув про крики ненависті і незгоди, його молоде тіло сміялося і співало, а йому на відповідь сміх і спів жіночого тіла …" [Загребельний 2002: 87]. The verb капітулювати in its meaning "припинивши збройний опір, здаватися переможцеві на певних умовах, запропонованих ним; віддаватися на ласку переможця" [Бусел 2007: 521] reflects the view of the relationships of a man and a woman which are based on the principle of subordination, power and subjugation, struggle.

There is an association woman – army in the structure of the concept WOMAN that is represented in the novel"Yevpraksiya". The associations are provoked by the similarities of the feelings that are caused by the victory over the rivalin military operations and the feelings that are evoked by winning woman’s favour, e.g.: "Особливо болісне безсилля перед жінкою. Вона стає страшнішою за найчисленніше військо. Військо можна розбити – жінку ніколи" [Загребельний 2004: 145]; "… бо світ безжальний і не простить тобі одної невзятої жінки навіть тоді, коли ти завоював усі його кріпості, замки й святощі" [Загребельний 2004: 146]. The attention is paid to the use of theparticiple невзята that is used in reference to the woman who has no mutual feelings towards the man and her heartwasn’t conquered. The use of the verb володіти in its meaning "мати можливість підкоряти когось своєму впливові, своїй волі" is very expressive [Великий тлумачний словник, 200] is used with the purpose to display the relationships inthe focus of the dichotomy power – subjugation, e. g.: "Тепер володів імперією, жінкою ж заволодіти не міг…"[Загребельний 2004: 155]; "… і відтоді ця земля стала для нього мовби приваблива жінка, якою хочеш заволодіти, а вона ніяк не піддається" [Загребельний 2002: 94]. It should be noted that that the presence of theassociations of a pretty woman with the land – землею provokes man’s interest, attracts by her looks and provokes his desire to possess, dominate, subjugate.

Besides the representation of the internal qualities of women the writer resorts to the description of theirappearance, for example, the beauty of a woman is compared to sultan’s army (військо). The simile is also observed inwriter’s "live" speech, e. g.: Шліть його синові найкращу з своїх дівчат, так само неперевершену вродою і гідностями, як неперевершена сила султанського війська!" [Загребельний 2006: 76].

Conclusion. Thus the military language is one of the efficient means of the verbalization of the concept WOMAN inP. Zagrebelniy’s discourse because the pragmatic potential of these language units provides the achievement of speaker’sintentions. This is conditioned by the archetypical view of a woman by a man. The usage of the military language isobserved both in writer’s fictional discourse and in his "live speech. This fact indicates the display of the everydayconsciousness in P. Zagrebelniy’s creative work. The usage of the military language in speech is a trait of writer’s personal style and characteristic to his language picture of the world.

A perspective is in the necessity of the compilation of the vocabulary of P. Zagrebelniy’s concepts in which theconcept WOMAN will be one of the most significant elements.

References.

Бусел 2007: Бусел, В.Т. Великий тлумачний словник української мови / В. Т. Бусел (уклад. і гол. ред.). – К. : Ірпінь : ВТФ "Перун", 2007. – 1736 с.

Горошко 2003: Горошко, Е.И. Языковое сознание : гендерная парадигма / Е. И. Горошко : [Текст] / Е. И. Горошко. – М.-Х. : ИНЖЭК, 2003. – 440 с.

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Загребельний 2002: Загребельний, П.А. Юлія, або запрошення до самовбивства / П. А. Загребельний [Текст]. – Х. : Фоліо, 2002. – 351 с.

Кирилина 1999: Кирилина, А.В. Гендер : лингвистические аспекты / А. В. Кирилина : [моногр.] / А. В. Кирилина. – М. : Изд-во института социологии РАН, 1999. – 180 с.

Колесов 2004: Колесов, В.В. Язык и ментальность / В. В. Колесов [Текст]. – СПб. : Петерб. востоковедение, 2004. – 237 с.

Тарнашинська 2000: Тарнашинська, Л.Б. Таємниця Євразії, або жінка і чоловік з погляду вічності / Л. Б. Тарнашинська [інтерв’ю з П. Загребельним]. – Березіль. – 2000. – № 7–8. – С. 165-173.

Стаття присвячена розгляду прагматичного потенціалу військової лексики, який є одним із засобів вербалізації концепту жінка в дискурсі П. Загребельного. Виокремлено лексеми-складові концепту, що їх уживання мотивоване архетипним сприйняттям жінки в суспільстві; проаналізовано їх експресивне навантаження з огляду на постулати гендерної лінгвістики.

Ключові слова: воєнна лексика, гендерна лінгвістика, дискурс, концепт, прагматичний потенціал.

Available 24 September 2013.