La jerarquía militar. Conceptos y terminología

Abstract

From the beginnings of their time on Earth, human beings have formed hierarchical groups that allowed them to perform effectively those tasks that were essential for their survival, such as hunting, war and, later, agricultural work and many others.

These hierarchical structures became increasingly complex over time, as human society and language developed, incorporating words and expressions that facilitated communication and were better suited for each of these tasks. Amongst all of them, war, due to its transcendence and importance, required a complex organization in order to perform effectively, and led to highly hierarchical institution permanently endowed with resources and individuals, which we call the army.

The military language, or language used in the army, has its own characteristics that contribute to effectiveness, one of the most important being linguistic precision. To achieve this, the military has a lexicon that is specific, abundant and precise and, in communication, they try to use a clear, concise and concrete style.

The purpose of this work is to show the Spanish lexicon related to the military hierarchy, explaining the meaning of each word and underlining, when appropriate, the nuanced differences between some of them which belong to the same semantic field, in order to appreciate the complexity and diversity of concepts in use within this area.