Development of military terminology in Hungary

Abstract

The article deals with the main stages of the formation of military terminology in Hungary. The military vocabulary developed in three main directions: names of weapons; lexical units for the conduct of hostilities; names of units, their commanders and soldiers. The article attempts to identify historical periods of development of Hungarian military terminology. The first is the pre-Christian period, when the first terms for weapons, soldiers and their everyday life, military operations and strategies began to appear. The next period is the reign of the first Hungarian king, Saint Istvan, and the Christianisation of the Kingdom of Hungary, a period associated with the Latinisation of the language. The third period is associated with the Austro-Turkish war. At that time, the Hungarians joined forces with the Germans, which led to the introduction of many German terms into the Hungarian language. At the end of the Austro-Turkish War, Hungary had trade ties with the Republic of Venice, and during this period, Hungarian military terminology was enriched with vocabulary of Italian origin. Later, the Ottoman Empire seized Hungarian lands and Hungary came under occupation. At that time, the Hungarian language was enriched with vocabulary of Ottoman-Turkish origin related to military tactics, shooting, armour, etc. The next period was a rather long period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At this time, many German and French loanwords for military strategy and weapons appeared in the Hungarian language. In the nineteenth century, troops were recruited on a territorial basis, so each unit had its own military slang. During the two World Wars, new military technologies and strategies emerged, which also had a significant impact on Hungarian military vocabulary. In the post-war period, fundamental changes took place in the field of warfare, which inevitably led to the expansion of military terminology and the introduction of new terms. The last period of development of military terminology, which continues to this day, is the period of the country's accession to NATO and the introduction of NATO terminology standards into the language.