A MILITARY DISCOURSE AND STYLISTIC VARIATION: LANGUAGE USE IN ODOGBO ARMY BARRACKS IN OJOO-IBADAN NIGERIA

Th is study examines language use among soldiers in the Odogbo army barracks in Ojoo-Ibadan during training and parade activities. A good number of scholars have investigated language use in the armed forces, and many of them adopted diff erent approaches and arrived at diff erent conclusions. However, there is a paucity of scholarship on the shared knowledge that soldiers deploy in their language during training, parades, and other special activities. Th e study adopts a qualitative method since the data involved are descriptive. Th e data used in this study was harvested through participant observations of parade activities by soldiers, as were the audio recordings of army interactions during a parade. Odogbo Army Barracks in Ojoo, Ibadan, was purposefully selected since it was the fi rst barracks in Ibadan and was saddled with the responsibility of coordinating the military activities in southwestern Nigeria. Th e collected data were analysed from sociolinguistic perspective through identifi cation and interpretation in the military context vis-à-vis the interlocutor. Th e paper concluded that soldiers’ language in parade involves an authoritative style obeyed by the parade troop as a result of shared knowledge.


Introduction
ere is less controversy surrounding the idea that languages have di erent varieties, notwithstanding the debates that frequently follow theories and propositions among linguists. It is widely accepted that human language belongs to the human community and that it has great value in society. Every normal child acquires a mother tongue or rst language (MT or LI) soon a er birth, and there are thousands of languages all over the world. However, each of these languages also has its versions in addition to the main or core languages. Variety is nothing more than various forms of the same thing. Language variety is a blanket term for all overlapping subdivisions of a language, such as a dialect, register, jargon, and idiolect (Nordquist 2020). A distinct group of items or human speech patterns, such as sounds, words, or grammatical traits, that are created by factors such as variances in geographical location or social group associated with a particular group of speakers can be described as diversity in linguistics. We rarely ever take the time to describe speech because it is such a common aspect of daily life. Only breathing feels more natural to a guy than it does, the stylistic variation of language use in Odogbo Army Barracks in Ibadan.
ere is scarcity of research on the speci c and interactive use of language based on alphabetical representation, lexical words, and acronyms utilised in many contexts within Nigerian military discourse, most notably parade and training embedded with authoritative styles. As a result, an examination of the authoritative use of language on parade ground as well as training, is required. It is this scholarship gap that has necessitated this study.

Literature
Speech can be de ned as a system of arbitrary vocalisations used by humans for communication. Within a group of individuals, it is a method of meaning-conveying vocal sound communication. Language is conventionally meaning-laden and at the disposal of man; it is used by him to convey ideas, thoughts, and emotions, as well as help him understand his fellow man and the environment around him (Akinpelu, Okedara, and Omolewa, 2005, p. 18). us, the harmonious functioning of any society in terms of socialisation depends to a large extent on language. e term "speech community" refers to a language or what is intended by a linguistic community. It is regarded as a group of communitarian speakers, whose shared experiences and behavioural patterns are expressed in a single tongue. As a result, a speech community can be de ned as either a monolingual or multilingual social group in communication (Gumperz, 1968). A speech community is any group of people who regularly communicate with one another using a common set of verbal cues, setting them apart from similar groups. (Gumperz, 1972, p. 58). In a comparable vein, Lyons (1970), de nes speech community as "shared language use", Hymes (1972c) sees it as "shared rules of speaking and interpretation of speech performance, while Labov (1972) and Sherzer (1975) describe it as "shared attitudes and values regarding language forms and use" and "shared sociocultural understandings and presuppositions with regard to speech" respectively. Verbal behaviour is characterised by a clear, succinct, and standardised use of language, with an emphasis on e ectively and e ciently transferring information. is is based on nite sets of grammatical rules that underlie the production of well-formed sentences. A community denotes an aggregate of people with shared experiences expressed and recorded in a language (or dialect of a language) that belongs to them. All the people who use the language or dialect belong to a speech community. It is sometimes referred to by some scholars as a "speech fellowship" (Kachru, 1986, p. 10). In contrast, the Army barracks investigated in this study is a speech community where the daily conversation is conducted in many varieties of English. Although they speak di erent languages, the military as a whole, which includes the Army, Air Force, and Navy, has developed a unique type of English through which their daily tasks are carried out. is, perhaps, is in concomitance with Saville-Troike's (2003:62-64) classi cation of varieties of language into varieties associated with setting and varieties associated with activity domain. According to him, the former is "a form of register distinguished on the dimension of relative formality", and the latter is "a variety of language of groups that are organized along lines of shared beliefs, skills or training and interests, and which are used in the conduct of their a airs as in the case of the military" (italics ours). From the foregoing, it is obvious that scholars have investigated language use among the armed forces, especially the military, in a variety of ways. While some (Sherzer, 1975;Saville-Troike 2003;etc.) established the formal styles of issuing order among the military through language use, some others (Amafah, 1990) investigated the persuasive nature of language use among the military and some others (Bamigbola, 2022)  in their language use during parades in order to communicate clearly and assertively so as to give orders and decisions for maintaining discipline and ensuring that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities.

Methodology and Design
e study, which is based on sociolinguistic orientation, adopted a qualitative method since it deals with descriptive data involving people's written or spoken words and observable behaviour (Taylor et al., 2016, p. 7).
For this study, qualitative research is best suitable since it identi es with and empathises with the individuals being understudied to learn how they see things (Taylor, 2016, p. 8). To better understand the military use of language, this study looks at how they speak in a variety of settings, including parades,

Results and Discussion
e Army, Navy, and Air Force collectively make up the military, which has its own slang, dialect, terminology, and jargon that sets it apart from other groups and organisations. As a result, the government now acknowledges the terminologies used in military parades. According to Widdowson (1996), the jargon that encompasses the language used in military parades includes "words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group of people and are di cult for others to understand. " (p.86). Chambers (2002) observes that jargons are the terminology of a profession. is shows that only those who are in the profession are aware of and can understand them. Ikenna and Isaac (2015) add that jargons are: A derogatory word which denotes the technical, semitechnical or pseudo technical language used by a profession which those outside the group do not understand". It is the language or mode of communication known and understood by only members of that profession (26).
Jargon has also been de ned by Hartman and Stork (1972)  When communicating among group members, jargon is frequently employed to make it easier and more e ective. For people outside the group, it might, however, be challenging to understand. Jargon can take many forms, including legal terminology, medical terms, and computer phrases.
On the other hand, slang is exclusive to or has its roots in

Z -Zulu
Looking at the above military alphabetical analysis, one will observe that it is di erent from the generally known and acceptable English alphabet. e military, having formed a linguistic society with a di erent form of the English language, has concluded that the letter "A" for "Alpha, " "B" for "Bravo, " "C" for "Charlie, " "D" for "Delta, " and so on should be substituted.
So, they simply and easily form meaningful words from these alphabets. For instance, instead of saying, "D.O. (which means "director of operations") on the line sir, " when speaking on the phone, they simply say "Delta Oscar on the line sir. " "Kola" would be "Kilo Oscar Lima alpha" "Mathew" would be "Mike alpha tango hotel echol whiskey" "Sunday" would be "Sierra uniform November Delta alpha Yankee" "Uche" would be "Uniform Charlie hotel echo" "Musa" would be "Mike uniform Sierra alpha". e analysis of this study demonstrates that one primary style -the authoritative style -is shown by the contextual language use in the Nigerian Army parade encounter.

Interactional Professional Skills (IPS)
is type of interaction resulted in instrumental sound, human-focused sound, and paralanguage, all of which are peculiar to the Nigerian Army's competition as discussed below: Excerpt I

(i) Instrumental Sound
is is an instrumental sound that involves the use of musical instruments such as drums and trumpets. e sound is used to communicate information or directives between interlocutors, which is aided by the usual professional training provided by the Nigerian military academy. e band corps, therefore, communicates with the concerned soldiers through the use of instrumental sounds. is is synonymous with "speech signals" in the Nigerian military context. e band corps, for instance, executes this activity during the parade to dress in Nigerian Army. It has been noticed that the band corps serves as a signal code for the soldiers during parades and also functions as a command order for the soldiers to dress, facing their le and dressing as expected in the Nigerian Army. is is evident in the collected data and information in the study. Excerpt 5 Adjutant: Shouuldeeered arms! ey swi ly comply with this order by clapping their weapons across their shoulders with their right hands. e Review O cer also nods to allow the March Commander to continue leading the parade. Given that he and the review o cer share a comparable understanding of this, the parade leader behaves appropriately.

Nigerian Army Parade Interaction Analysis
e language used in the Nigerian Army parade interaction reveals primarily an authoritative style. Generally speaking, the authoritative style refers to all instances of power and control exerted by a person, given the recognised knowledge or expertise wielded over others to carry out speci c duties. Its use here refers to all forms of language manipulation through speech or signal command by senior soldiers over their subordinates to execute de nite duties for which total obedience is required. is style occurs in the formal asymmetrical power contexts of the discourse, especially during parade interactions in the Army, where the language re ects the strict exercise of authority, power, and control by the addressee or on the addressee(s), arising from the status distinction subsisting between them.
As revealed in the data, this style is o en enacted through the deployment of intonation cues, lexical repetition or repetition, collocation, sound signalling, and action-oriented body language, as discussed below:

Intonation Cues
In this work, intonation cues refer to all instances of tonal variation that are superimposed on the linguistic items used. is is one of the distinguishing characteristics of parade interaction in the formal asymmetrical power context of Army discourse, where the authoritative style is achieved by their use. ese linguistic items are used by a commander during a parade purposefully to arrest their attention so that they can be attentive to the instructions relayed and respond accordingly.
Two types of intonation cues have been observed: rising and falling tones, but with more occurrences of the former than the latter. e rising tune is prevalent when the addressee or relay relays information on a speci c order to be carried out as the activities are in progress, while the falling tune usually rides on the actual order. Where they are used in the discourse, they serve to direct the addressees to take particular activities. Let us examine the excerpts below: Except 6

P.C: Baaai the left quick march
In the excerpt above, the P.C. has just started the parade, with the stress and falling tune placed on "by" and "le , " respectively. e tune starts to rise again from "quick" and continues rising on "march, " but with none of the constituent words attracting stress. is scenario usually obtains at the commencement of the parade, as observed in the data. e soldiers understand this because they have a comparable understanding of the cues, and they react appropriately by starting the march past. In the above excerpt, the P.C. is seeking authority from the Review O cer to continue with the parade, which the latter ultimately gives through nodding, signalling the authority to carry on with the parade. In seeking this authority, there is a rising tone in all the word groups except "the competition, " which has a falling tone; however, none of the words is stressed. is indicates a mark of politeness and an asymmetrical relationship between the parade commander and the review o cer; this understanding is also shared by the participants during the parade interaction. e excerpts below demonstrate a di erent situation: Except 9 Adjutant: Paraaade will advaaance; Baaai the leeeft quick march In the above excerpt, the adjutant, who acted in the position of a parade commander, deploys his authority through the stress placed on "parade, " "advance, " "by, " and "le . " However, the tune starts to rise on the last syllable of "advance" and starts falling from "baaai, " with the nal fall on "le , " a er which there is a long pause; the tune starts rising again when the actual order "quick march!" is relayed. is attracts the rising tune without any stress placed on any of the constituent words. is is obtained in a situation when a parade wants to resume a er it has been halted by the PC, and the soldiers understand this and act accordingly.

Excerpt 10
Adjutant: Turn to the leeeft hand; siiideleeft turn In the text above, the italicised item is an instruction regarding the order to be carried out; as such, the tune continuously rises from "turn" and does not fall; again, "le " and "side" attract stress toward each other. e adjutant pauses for a while a er he instructs the soldiers to maintain the status quo.
At the time of the actual order, 'Leee turn!' the tune starts to fall from "le " to "turn. " is scenario describes a situation when a parade is already in progress and the soldiers share an understanding and act accordingly. e following example also describes the status of the cues when a parade is in progress.

Excerpt 11
Adjutant: Salute to the riight. Salute In the above excerpt, the adjutant commands the soldier to greet the audience at the right ank of the parade ground. Here, the tune starts rising from "salute" and does not fall on "right, " a er which there is a pause; the stress placed on the "right" emphasises the direction to keep when saluting.
At the relay of the order "salute, " the tune starts to rise again, and the soldiers understand this and respond by saluting, facing the right ank of the parade where the audience, which consists of soldiers and civilians, is on standby.

Lexical repetition/Reiteration
With regard to this study, this refers to the recurrence, replication, or duplication of lexical items during discourse interaction, where they are employed to achieve the authoritative style. Lexical repetition can be partial or total (Odebunmi, 2006, p. 50). In the former, only a portion of the clause is repeated, while the entire clause is replicated in the latter type.
Our ndings of the lexical repetition in the parade interaction reveal both types, but with more occurrences of partial repetition, which indicates the economic use of words to save time. ey are used to command soldiers to carry out speci c actions that are strictly restricted to the military. e excerpts below illustrate this: Excerpt 14 RSM: Parade will form 2 rounds. Form 2 rounds.
e excerpt above depicts parade activity and portrays an instance of partial repetition. e clause, "Parade will form two rounds, " is a declarative statement preparing soldiers for the next line of action to be carried out.
However, in "Form 2 rounds, " the repeated items indicate imperative sentences without a subject. e item is repeated to indicate the focal point of the RSM that he wants the addressees to recognise. e soldiers recognise this and act promptly.

Excerpt 15
Adjutant: Changiiingsteeep! Change step (low tone) In the above, "changiiingsteeep", a present continuous verb form, does not depict a continuous action as used here but a simple present declarative statement preparing soldiers for the real action to be carried out, which is the items repeated in a low tone; hence, "Change step".

Lexical Collocation
Collocation is a meaning relationship in which words co-occur to form a speci c meaning. e collocation "is the type of cohesion that is achieved through the association of lexical items that regularly co-occur, especially in a similar environment" (Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p. 287 and human-based sound, and action-oriented body language. Instrumentbased sounds identi ed are band and trumpet; while human-based sound bifurcates into Up and Hiz signal sound; gesture such as nodding constitutes action-oriented body language. All these mark the authoritative style deployed by soldiers in parade interaction which must be unquestionably obeyed by the parade troop. us, there is a close link between the styles deployed by soldiers of the Nigerian Army during the parade. It can also be concluded, in concomitance with Ayeomoni's (2005a) submissions, that military cra s di erent linguistic items, as observed in the current study, to cater for the purpose of her parades and other routine drills in the barrack.
We close with Nordquist (2020): e language varieties, or lects, that people speak o en serve as the basis for judgment, and even exclusion, from certain social groups, professions, and business organizations. As you study language varieties, keep in mind that they are o en based on judgments one group is making in regard to another.