Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service or police
officer rank.
Lieutenant may also appear as part of a title used in various other organizations with a codified command structure. It often
designates someone who is "second-in-command," and as such, may precede the name of the rank directly above it. For example, a
"Lieutenant Master" is likely to be second-in-command to the "Master" in an organization utilizing both such ranks. Notable uses
include Lieutenant Governor in various governments, and Quebec lieutenant in Canadian politics.
Etymology
The word lieutenant derives from French; the lieu meaning "place" as in
a position; and tenant meaning "holding" as in "holding a position"; thus a "lieutenant" is somebody who holds a position
in the absence of his or her superior (compare the cognate Latin locum tenens). The
Arabic word for lieutenant, mulāzim (Arabic: ملازم), also means "holding a place".
The British monarch's representatives in the counties of the United Kingdom are called Lords Lieutenant. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland performed the function of viceroy
in Ireland. In French history, "lieutenant du roi"
was a title borne by the officer sent with military powers to represent the king in certain provinces. It is in the sense of a
deputy that it has entered into the titles of more senior officers, Lieutenant
General and Lieutenant Colonel.
In the nineteenth century those British writers who either considered this word an imposition on the English language or
difficult for common soldiers and sailors argued for it to be replaced by the calque
"steadholder" but failed and the French word is still used as well as its Lieutenant-Colonel variation in both the Old and the New
World.
Pronunciation
In contemporary English, the word is usually pronounced /lɛf'tɛnənt/(
Audio?) in
most dialects except American English, where it is pronounced /lu'tɛnənt/( Audio?).[1][2]. In 1791, English lexicographer John Walker lamented that the "regular
sound" – /lju'tɛnənt/ – was not in general employ, giving the pronunciation
current at the time as /lɛv'tɛnənt/ or /lɪv'tɛnənt/.[1] Walker's
prescriptive pronunciation – which represents the regular English naturalization
of the modern French word – took hold in the United States over the course of the
nineteenth century; while an American dictionary of
1813 gives /lɛv'tɛnənt/[3] and New
Yorker Richard Grant White, born in 1822, claimed never to have heard the
/lju-/ form in his youth,[4] the /lɛv-/ or
/lɛf-/ form was by 1893 considered old-fashioned.[1] The great influence exercised on American English by Noah Webster, who insisted (but inconsistently) on the congruence of orthography and pronunciation, may be
partly responsible for the eventual triumph of the "regular" pronunciation in the United States.[5] In the rest of the English-speaking world, however, the "irregular" form
remains.
The earlier history of the pronunciation is unclear; Middle English spellings included
both forms like lutenand and lyeutenaunt suggesting the /lju-/ pronunciation and those like leeftenant and luftenand suggesting /lɛf-/.[1]
The hypothesis that the labial-terminated initial syllable arose as a spelling pronunciation conflating vocalic and consonantal v (the letters u and v were
not distinguished before the eighteenth century) is rejected by the Oxford English Dictionary as "not [in] accord with the facts".[1] The rare Old French variant spelling
luef for Modern French lieu "place", on the other hand, supports the
suggestion that the final /w/ of the Old French word was in certain
environments apprehended as a /f/ /v/.[1] The development of the αυ and ευ
diphthongs in the Greek language, pronounced
/av/ and /ɛv/,
respectively, in Modern Greek, may lend plausibility to this explanation.
British naval tradition preserved an intermediate pronunciation: /lə'tɛnənt/. This is not recognized as current by the OED, however, and by 1954 the Royal Canadian Navy, at least, regarded it as "obsolescent" even while regarding "the army's
'LEF-tenant'" to be "a corruption of the worst sort".[6]
Folk-etymological interpretations: "left-tenant"
In the past, folk etymology has associated the /lɛv/-/lɛf/ syllable with the verb 'to
leave', drolly emphasizing that a lieutenant only took up his duties once his superior officer had 'left'.[citation needed]
Another folk etymology attributed the syllable to the fact that in typical propriety the person or persons standing to the
rear-left of a gentleman held power and were typically those directly second to him. The person or persons standing to the
rear-right were considered to have no or less standing than those to the rear-left, such as aides, bodyguards, wives, etc., often
holding this position for simple facility rather than societal importance. This tradition remains in military parades, with lieutenants standing to the rear-left of the commanding officer (when facing the
advance).[citation needed]
Army, marines and air forces
Conventionally, armies and other services or branches which use army-style rank titles (e.g.
air forces, marine corps etc.) have two grades of
Lieutenant. Some countries, however, use three. The Royal Air Force and some other
Commonwealth air forces use a different rank system. Some Marine Corps use naval
ranks.
Lieutenant/First Lieutenant
-
The senior grade of Lieutenant is known as First Lieutenant in the United States, and
as Lieutenant in the United Kingdom and the rest of the English-speaking world. In countries which do not speak English, the rank title usually translates as
"Lieutenant", but may also translate as "First Lieutenant" or "Senior Lieutenant".
The Lieutenant was once the second officer in an infantry company or cavalry troop. The
Captain was the company or troop commander and the third officer had a variety of titles, hence
the difference in modern day rank titles. Some countries used First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant for the two junior officers;
some used Lieutenant and Senior Lieutenant; some used Lieutenant and Sub-Lieutenant; some (such as Britain) used Lieutenant and
Ensign (infantry) or Cornet (cavalry).
When the latter ranks were changed to Second Lieutenant, the senior rank remained as Lieutenant.
Some parts of the British Army, including the Royal
Artillery, Royal Engineers, and fusilier
regiments, used First Lieutenant as well as Second Lieutenant until the end of the 19th
century.
A Lieutenant usually commands a platoon or similar unit.
In the Royal Air Force and some other Commonwealth air forces, the equivalent rank is Flying
Officer. From 1 April 1918 to 31
July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the rank of lieutenant. It was superseded
by the rank of flying officer on the following day.
In the East-European countries the equivalent is Senior
Lieutenant.
Second Lieutenant
-
Second Lieutenant is usually the most junior grade of commissioned officer. In most cases, newly commissioned officers do not
remain at the rank for long before being promoted. Officers commissioned from the ranks may miss out the rank altogether. The
rank is used throughout the English-speaking world. In non-English-speaking countries, the equivalent rank title may translate as
"Second Lieutenant", "Lieutenant", "Sub-Lieutenant", "Junior Lieutenant", "Alférez" (Spanish Army and AirForce), "Alférez de
Fragata" (Spanish Armada), "Fenrik" (Norwegian Army), or "Ensign".
A Second Lieutenant usually also commands a platoon.
In the Royal Air Force and some other Commonwealth air forces, the equivalent rank is Pilot
Officer.
Third Lieutenant
Most countries do not maintain a third rank of Lieutenant. Those that do are all non-English-speaking, so the term "Third
Lieutenant" is not actually used. The rank title may actually translate as "Second Lieutenant", "Junior Lieutenant",
"Sub-Lieutenant" or "Ensign".
The Soviet Union used three ranks of Lieutenant, and so all Warsaw Pact countries also standardised their ranking system with three ranks. Some of the former Soviet and
Warsaw Pact nations have now discarded the third rank, however.
Countries with Third Lieutenant equivalent ranks include:
Throughout the 19th Century, the United States
Army sometimes referred to Brevet Second
Lieutenants as "Third Lieutenants." These were typically newly commissioned officers for which no authorized Second
Lieutenant position existed. Additionally, the Confederate States Army also used
Third Lieutenants, typically as the lowest ranking commissioned officer in an infantry company.
Circa 1981, United States Army ROTC cadets (officers in training) were, and may still be, considered as "Third Lieutenants"
when visiting or training at a regular Army post. This rank being signified by a circle on the uniform and the cadets are treated
as officers when on the post.
The designation 'third lieutenant' was used in the fictional armed forces in the novel Starship Troopers. This designation was given to officers in training at a certain stage. Third
officers were officers, but they were the very bottom of the chain of command and did
not carry any real authority. This status allows the officers-in-training to follow and study 'real' officers while maintaining
the military staff structure.[7]
Sub-Lieutenant
-
Police Lieutenant
Used in some police forces in the United States. It is normally roughly equivalent to the British Police Inspector.
Rank insignia
A
Royal Navy Lieutenant's sleeve/shoulder insignia
A
US Navy Lieutenant's sleeve/shoulder insignia
The insignia of a Lieutenant in many navies, including the Royal Navy, consists of two medium gold
braid stripes (top stripe with loop) on a 'navy blue'/black background. This pattern was copied by the United States Navy
and various Air Forces for their equivalent ranks grades (see Flight Lieutenant).
Unlike the United States Navy, which uses different insignia to distinguish specialists, the Royal Navy and other Commonwealth
navies differentiated between line and specialist officers by placing coloured bands (known as 'lights') between the braids.
These were abolished in the RN in 1955 (with other navies following suit), except for scarlet for
medical officers (introduced in 1863) and orange for dental officers (introduced in
1924), which are still used. The former colours were: light blue for navigating officers
(1863–1867 only), and in the 20th century for instructor
officers; white for paymaster officers (from 1863); purple for engineer officers (from 1863); silver grey for shipwright officers
(from 1918); dark green for electrical officers (from 1918); maroon, later replaced by salmon pink,
for wardmaster officers (commissioned medical assistants) (from 1918); and dark blue for ordnance officers (from 1918).
Rarely seen these days is the rank insignia worn on formal tail-coats, which comprises a silver anchor and a star on a
shoulder-board covered with gold lace.
In armies, marines and other services, there is much greater variation. In most English-speaking and Arabic-speaking
countries, as well as a number of European and South American nations, full lieutenants (and equivalents) usually wear two stars
and second lieutenants (and equivalents) one. The United States Army, Air Force and Marine Corps are notable exceptions. These
services distinguish their lieutenant ranks with one silver bar for First Lieutenant and one gold (brass) bar for Second
Lieutenant. Naval lieutenants also wear bars in the same configuration as their equivalents in the other services. In the United
States services stars are used for flag- and general-rank insignia. In the British Army and
Royal Marines a Lieutenant is distinguished by two diamond-shaped "pips" on the rank
slide.
Prior to the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces, the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Navy
followed the British pattern for second lieutenants and lieutenants. After unification, a second lieutenant wore a single gold
ring around the cuff of the "CF Green" uniform and on shirt-sleeve epaulettes. A Lieutenant wore a single gold ring with a
thinner one above it. On paper, these ranks applied to "army", "navy" and "air force" personnel, but in practise, aboard ship
"naval" personnel (the former RCN was a very strong opponent of unification) continued to use the "acting sublieutenant",
"sublieutenant" and "lieutenant" titles, until these were recognised by the Canadian Department of National Defence for
Canadian Forces Maritime Command personnel. In the mid-1980s, the
"naval" and "air" components reverted to uniforms similar to the former RCN and RCAF. Maritime Command kept their naval ranks but
Air Command continued to use "second lieutenant" and "lieutenant" rather than reverting to pre-1968 RCAF ranks.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f Oxford English
Dictionary.
- ^ American Heritage Dictionary, s.v. "Lieutenant".
- ^ J. R. Clemens, American Speech 7 (1932), 438.
- ^ H. L. Mencken,
The American Language, 1921; 4th
edition (1936), p. 345.
- ^ The Maven's Word of the Day, 7 January 2000.
- ^ A. D. Taylor, Customs of the
Navy, 1954.
- ^ Starship Troopers, Robert Anson Heinlein.
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