Secondary anthroponymic nomination of Russian servicemen: structural and semantic features of call signs

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in the military nomination, today call signs remain an absolutely unexplored onomastic category. According to the definition developed by the author, the call sign is an additional naming given in order to hide the official one; a word or phrase, a combination of words and numbers used by communicants through communication channels. The article attempts to establish a connection between the call sign used and the language personality of a serviceman. An analysis of the semantics and structure of identifiers will make it possible to identify their associative background, reveal possible motives for the nomination and features of functioning. The study was conducted on the material of the call signs used by Russian soldiers and officers during the special military operation in the Donbass: in 2014-2022. As a result of the collection of onyms from open sources, a card index was obtained, which made it possible to create the author's classification, identify the specific features of the most striking call signs from the isolated semantic groups, characterize the structure, and also determine the morphological affiliation of the correlates. The analysis showed that the call signs are represented by two semantic categories: those formed from proper names and from common nouns. They are one-word and correlate in the vast majority with substantives. Thus, Russian call signs are unique linguistic markers of servicemen, identifying soldiers, maintaining confidentiality, and at the same time reflecting the creative component of the serviceman's language personality. The research material can be used in the educational process both in military and civilian universities.