A Semiotic Approach to Russian Military Map Symbology and Terms

Abstract

Modern Russian military maps may comprise any combination of over 1,000 map symbols and 3,000 Russian terms. These symbols and terms identify tangible aspects such as locations, unit/equipment type, numbers, etc., but some symbols, and groupings of symbols, can also denote more subjective aspects such as movement over time, types of maneuvers, relationship to the surrounding environment and other activities or conditions. Due to very different military organizational systems, doctrinal semantic stylization, and broader cultural tendencies, those unfamiliar with Russian maps can misinterpret the intended meaning of these symbols and terms.

Attempting to accurately interpret and organize Russian map symbology and terms raise questions about cognition and the basic processes of how humans interpret information. A potential pathway to answering these questions is through the application of semiotics—the study of signs and the process through which they produce meaning. This study has leveraged the works of the pioneering theorists of semiotics, Charles Sanders Peirce and Ferdinand de Saussure, and their successors in the relatively new field of cartosemiotics—the use of semiotic methodologies to create, understand and apply cartographic representations. Specifically, cartosemiotics facilitates the understanding of map symbolism; the type of sign systems that are found in maps; the processes through which humans understand cartographic signs; and the context in which cartographic sign systems and sign processes are embedded.

This study demonstrates a semiotic-based system for describing Russian military map symbols, associated terms, which are often expressed in the form of an acronym, and how they depict activities in time and space, which can be easily understood and queried by a person unfamiliar with the Russian language and military symbology through the application of appropriate categorization and a relational database. In particular, this system proffers a cartosemiotic approach that captures the meaning of these symbols, as was intended by the Russian map makers who created them. This study finds that a semiotic approach is not only effective for organizing Russian military map symbology and terms but that the process of categorization and organization of these symbols and terms can reveal otherwise hidden knowledge about the phenomena that they represent.