Soldier language of the NVA

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The soldier language of the NVA (also: soldier language of the GDR , ash language ) was the jargon that was spoken among the simple soldiers of the National People's Army (NVA).

Emergence

As in all armies, there was also a difference in the language of the various hierarchical levels in the NVA. The official military language consisted of “clear technical terms, commands, orders and standard sentences”. The command language tended towards reification and was mainly characterized by nouns and nominatives . The tone of the superiors was harsh, rude and loud. Landser jargon , as it was spoken in World War II , also had a significant influence . This continuity, although not desired, was created by functionaries, primarily NCOs and sergeants of the Wehrmacht , who were also in theGDR continued to serve as professional soldiers. The discrepancy between “technocratic technical language and arbitrary intimidation” gave rise to a specific soldier's language , which was mainly characterized by contempt. This new type of lexic was formed as a deliberate demarcation from the officers and was probably created in the 1960s when conscription was introduced.

The emergence of a specific language of the NVA is directly linked to the so-called “ EK movement ”. In the GDR, those doing military service had to spend three half-years. An unofficial hierarchical level was created in which the soldiers of the last six months of service were favored, that is, the closer the end of the military service approached, the higher the soldier rose. Many novel terms, allusions and word games were based on this unofficial hierarchy.

features

The NVA soldier's language was characterized by ridicule, scorn and contempt for the army and its officials. This differentiated the NVA jargon from that of other armies, because "the meaning of being a soldier in socialism" was topic No. 1 of the language. The language had many sexual innuendos and was based on the gutter language with a tendency towards anal expressions. The language was often very graphic; tanks were called "iron pig" or "swamp cow", and a female civilian employee was called "larvae mattress".

Some expressions also had racist and Nazi connotations. For example, a binge drinking, in which you simply threw the empty bottles out of the window, was also called " Kristallnacht ". In addition to the allusion to the November pogroms in 1938 , allusions were also made to the cheap brandy Kristall. The vocabulary was also partly anti-Semitic . There was evidence of open admiration for Adolf Hitler , the Schutzstaffel and National Socialism until the end of the 1980s.

In addition to individual names, proverbs and abbreviations (for example: EK = discharge candidate, KU = short vacation) found their way into the jargon.

The language was adopted automatically and spread among the soldiers of the NVA. In part, it hardly resembled normal colloquial language and was barely understandable for outsiders. The language was mainly rejected by the official leadership and superiors, but could not be prevented.

An illustrative, albeit over pointed example of this is found in the novel At the shorter end of the Sonnenallee of Thomas Brussig :

“'Effi is not a rope,' he began, 'The nuts! Whoever coups gets hut white. The E rocks its eggs, and when such a buffalo comes, such a day bag, who lugs a whole container around with him and lets himself be celebrated, like the Moschen Schnuffi am Mann, the E shows him his measure and lets him step away. '"

“The soldier does not abseil. It's hard work! If you oppose, your comrades scatter washing powder in the accommodation. The soldier of the last six months of service gives himself up to idleness and if a professional sergeant with a long period of duty comes to whom a report has to be made, for example when taking food and while carrying a protective mask, then the soldier of the last half year of service refers to those who are still to be served Days and lets the professional sergeant step away. "

- Thomas Brussig : At the shorter end of Sonnenallee

LQI

Occasionally, GDR soldiers' jargon is used under the catchphrase “Lingua Quarti Imperii”. The expression is not limited to the NVA, but is intended to show a continuity in the language of communism with the language of National Socialism. The name was based on Victor Klemperer's well-known work LTI - Notebook of a Philologist . There LTI called “Lingua Tertii Imperii”, the language of the “Third Reich”. In fact, Victor Klemperer collected material for a sequel until his death. LQI should cover the language of communism and socialism and show the links to the LTI. However, the work never appeared.

literature

  • Klaus-Peter Möller: The true E. A dictionary of the GDR soldiers' language. Lukas Verlag for Art and Spiritual History, Berlin 2000.
  • Matthias Rogg: The language gives it away - soldiers' language as a psychosocial indicator . In: Army of the People? Military and Society in the GDR . Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-86153-478-5 , p. 325-328 .
  • Werner Neumann: The language of the soldiers of the GDR: the soldiers' dictionary of the NVA and the GT . Engelsdorfer Verlag, Leipzig 2010, ISBN 978-3-86268-075-7

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matthias Rogg: The language betrays them - soldier language as a psychosocial indicator . In: Army of the People? Military and Society in the GDR . Christopher Links Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-86153-478-5 , p. 326 .
  2. ^ Matthias Rogg: The language betrays them - soldier language as a psychosocial indicator . In: Army of the People? Military and Society in the GDR . Christopher Links Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-86153-478-5 , p. 327 .
  3. ^ Klaus-Peter Möller: The true E. A dictionary of the GDR soldiers' language. Lukas Verlag for art and intellectual history, Berlin 2000, p. 14 f.
  4. ↑ quoted from: Reinhard Aulich: Barras remains Barras! In: Berlin monthly magazine ( Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein ) . Issue 6, 2001, ISSN  0944-5560 , p. 199 ( luise-berlin.de ).
  5. ↑ a b c Rüdiger Wenzke: Ulbricht's soldiers: The National People's Army 1956 to 1971 . Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86284-206-3 , p. 474-478 .
  6. ^ Klaus-Peter Möller: The true E. A dictionary of the GDR soldiers' language. Lukas Verlag for Art and Spiritual History, Berlin 2000. p. 134
  7. ^ Klaus-Peter Möller: The true E. A dictionary of the GDR soldiers' language. Lukas Verlag for Art and Spiritual History, Berlin 2000, p. 19
  8. ↑ Quoted from Matthias Rogg: The language betrays them - soldier language as a psychosocial indicator . In: Army of the People? Military and Society in the GDR . Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-86153-478-5 , p. 325 . Translation of Rogg
  9. ^ Hans Gotthard Ehlert, Matthias Rogg: Military, State and Society in the GDR: Fields of Research, Results, Perspectives . Ch.links publishing house, 2004
  10. ^ John Wesley Young: From LTI to LQI: Victor Klemperer on Totalitarian Language . In: German Studies Review . tape 28 , no. 1 , 2005, p. 60-61 .