METAPHOR IN PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION OF THE FRENCH MILITARY PERSONNEL IN THE EARLY XX CENTURY

Social communication becomes a matter of considerable interest tocontemporary linguistics, and this research branch is interrelated with a speech act theory. Metaphor is one of the most expressive  language devices and it is often used in the communication process.  It allows one to realize the speaker’s pragmatic intention and to  achieve the desired impact on the recipient. Basing on the speech  acts theory, the author explores the communicative function of the  metaphors selected from the French military vocabulary which dates  from the early XX century. The author focuses on the metaphors  encoding the military realities and shows that the metaphorical  functioning is conditioned by the psychological and pragmatic needs  which are closely connected to the everyday professional activity.  Furthermore, the use of metaphors in the speech provides the way to manifest the military corporate identity.