The Symbolics of Military Ergonyms for Designating Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Ancient Roman Traditions and Modern Innovations

<jats:p>Background. Even in the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans, there was a complex visual verbal system of identification of combat units, which influenced the formation of insignia of the most modern armies of the world. The purpose of our investigation is to clarify the originating sources of symbolics of verbal means identifying military groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, namely military ergonyms with the elements of antique cultural heritage designating combat units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The relevance of a comprehensive study of this type of onyms is due to innovative processes in the field of military nomination, updating the composition of military ergonyms in the Ukrainian onomastic space due to the intensification of hostilities. Methods. The following linguistic and literary methods were used in the research process: descriptive, comparative, linguo-cultural, as well as the method of contextual analysis. The object of the study is military ergonyms for the designation of combat units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the subject is the elements of Greek and Latin origin in the Ukrainian names of military units presented in the publication "In hoc signo vinces", on the websites of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and of individual military units, as well as Latin military ergonyms from the collection “Notitia dignitatum” and the data from the website “List of Roman legions”. Results. It was clarified that the foundations of the modern system of military identification were laid in Ancient Rome, where during the Late Republic each legion had a serial number and an honorary name-cognomen (latin “cognomen ex virtute”), which contained information of a descriptive or symbolic-memorial nature and determined: the region of formation, divine patron, the name of the founding emperor, a sign of combat qualities, etc. From a grammatical point of view, military ergonyms for legions were word combinations with a digital identifier and a cognomen, expressed by an adjective formed from a proper name or occasionally by a noun, which became a model for imitation in the modern system of verbal identification. Conclusions. It was proven that Ukrainian military ergonyms, which include elements of Greek and Latin origin, in particular precedent names from ancient mythology, in addition to the basic nominative function, perform a symbolic, memorial and aesthetic function, indicate the courage and special fighting efficiency of Ukrainian soldiers, increase the prestige of military service, provide image support and recognition of military units, and testify, that Ukrainian military culture belongs to the European civilization space and its continuity.</jats:p>