A PRAGMA-STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF COMMAND TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS USED FOR THE NIGERIAN ARMY ARMS, SILENT AND SENTRY DRILL
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46827/ejlll.v9i3.641Keywords:
command terms and expressions, drill, implicatures, Nigerian army, pragma-stylistic, speech actsAbstract
The command terms and expressions in the Nigerian Army reflect discursive practices that indicate language used professionally for operational efficiency. This study investigates the command terms and expressions used by the Nigerian Army for Arms, Silent and Sentry Drill, as a distinct use of language by the Nigerian Army, with identifiable communicative patterns and stylistic essence. The study examines these terms and expressions with a specific interest in the peculiar linguistic and functional attributes which set them apart from other forms of drills or parades in the Nigerian Army. It explains how the command terms and expressions used for this parade are a part of the Nigerian Army’s formal use of language, for drills or parades, that reveal the use of power in military functions and activities. It also explains how the Army achieves orderliness and attains meaning using the command terms and expressions for the Nigerian Army Arms, Silent and Sentry Drill. The spoken data are elicited through the fieldwork and are analysed qualitatively with the Speech Acts theory by J.L. Austin and Conversational Implicatures by H.P. Grice. This study interrogates the discourse on command terms and expressions for Arms, Silent and Sentry Drill linguistically focusing on the communicative essence, pragmatic peculiarities, and stylistic features. It clarifies how the terms and expressions constitute formal communicative resources with specific meaning implications. The study reveals that the command terms and expressions in this context reflect performatives used to exercise power over the troops to achieve immediate actions, a perfect drill and other military objectives. The study also reveals that the style of these command terms and expressions reflects the use of sound symbolism, and they rely on their sequential nature to achieve meaning and orderliness. The study concludes that the terms and expressions are contextual and meaningful, though they are implied. The implication is that the use of sequential command terms and expressions in commanding the Nigerian Army Arms, Silent and Sentry Drill buttresses meaning, aids orderliness and reveals the regimental nature of the military.References
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do Things with Words. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved from https://silverbronzo.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/austin-how-to-do-things-with-words-1962.pdf
Akande, A. T. (2017). Morning Sir!: Identity Negotiation in Nigerian Army Barracks. Matatu, 49(1), 201-224. Retrieved January 5, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.1163/18757421-04901011 1/5/2024
Alvarez, E. L. (2005). Performative Speech Act Verbs in Present Day English. Interlinguistica, 16 (2), pp. 685-702. Retrieved December 10, 2024, from https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/3697086.pdf
Amrullah, L. (2015). Implicature in the Study of Pragmatics. Jurnal Bahasa Lingua Scientia, 7(1), 57-63. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339004324_IMPLICATURE_IN_THE_STUDY_OF_PRAGMATICS
Black, E. (2006). Pragmatic Stylistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctv2f4v656
Barrero, S. A. (2023). J.L. Austin and John Searle on Speech Act Theory. Retrieved December 2, 2024, from https://www.thecollector.com/speech-act-theory-austin-and-searle/
Grice, H.P. (1975). Logic and Conversation. In Cole, P., and Morgan, J. (eds). Syntax and Semantics, Vol 3. New York: Academic Press. 45-47.
Harsa, W. P. (2024). Conversational implicatures of short story in the newspaper. English Education Journal, 15(2), 118-126. https://doi.org/10.24815/eej.v15i2.37887
Huang, Y. (2014). Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Pragmatics.html?id=wk1VBQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
Kepa, K. and P. John. (2024). Pragmatics. The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. (Fall 2024 Edition), In Zalta, E.N. & U. Nodelman (eds). Retrieved December 13 from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2024/entries/pragmatics/.
Kirsten, M. (ed). (2010). The Linguistics Encyclopaedia. (3rd edition). Abingdon: Routledge. Retrieved December 7, 2023, from https://www.academia.edu/12110642/The_linguistic_encyclopedia
Mane, S. S. (2024). Properties Of Conversational Implicature. Think India, 22.4 (2019): 1180- 1187. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/382397916_Properties_Of_Conversational_Implicature
Musa, R.E. and Mohammed, B.K. (2022). ‘The Role of Conversational Implicature in Daily Conversations – What Matters, Content or Context?’ Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 886-893. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1205.08
Nordquist, R. (2019). The Cooperative Principle in Conversation. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://www.thoughtco.com/cooperative-principle-conversation-1689928
Oishi, E. (2013). Austin’s Speech Act Theory and the Speech Situation. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from http://www.univ.trieste.it/%7Eeserfilo/art106/ois hi106.pdf
Oishi, E. (2022). Illocutionary-act-type sensitivity and discursive sequence: An examination of quotation. Intercultural Pragmatics, 19(3):381-406. Retrieved December 3 2024, from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/ip-2022-3005/html
Patrick, C. A., Adetunji, C. A., Adegboye, J. A., and Abiodun-Daniel, A. A. (2022). A Military Discourse and Stylistic Variation: Language Use in Odogbo Army Barracks in Ojoo-Ibadan Nigeria. Retrieved May 1, 2024, from http://dx.doi.org/10.21533/epiphany.v15i2.415
Reiland, I. (2024). Austin vs. Searle on locutionary and illocutionary acts. Inquiry, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2024.2380322
Mambrol, N. (2020). Speech Act Theory. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://literariness.org/2020/10/11/speech-act-theory/
Waheeb, K. (2022). A Pragmatic Stylistic Approach to the Study of Dramatic Texts. Retrieved December 4, 2024, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364811605_A_pragmatic-Stylistic_Approach_to_the_Study_of_Dramatic_Texts
Yule, G. (1996). The Study of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://sharifling.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/the-study-of-language-george-yule.pdf
