Names of Austro-Hungarian military units. A study in name policy in the field of military chrematonymy

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss selected formal and pragmatic aspects of the Austro-Hungarian military name policy in the last quarter of the 19th and in the early 20th century. In the introductory section the proprial status of the names of military units (which constitute a part of military chrematonymy) is discussed. An attempt is made to outline the location of these names on the classifi-catory map of chrematonomastics as well. A brief discussion of the historical and terminological background of the Austro-Hungarian military unit names follows. The most important concepts of the theory of name and naming policy are outlined. The presentation of the analysed onymic mate-rial covers unit names included in the officer lists (Schematismen) of the Austro-Hungarian forces as well as names present in the paper seals (Verschlussmarken). On the basis of the material, polymorphism of the discussed names is shown in the sense that obligatory and facultative elements of the names may appear in different ways and within various syntactic name models, depending on the context (including continuous text within which a name is used). Two main syntactic models of the discussed names are proposed. The orthographic and syntactic rules of unit numbering and the ways of embedding geographical names and names of patrons and honorary regiment owners (Inhaber) into unit names are outlined. The meaning and spelling of the expressions imperial-royal (k.k. = kaiserlich-königlich) and imperial and royal (k.u.k. = kaiserlich und königlich) are explained.