ABSTRACT
We focus on vowel lengthening in language use by the Nigerian Armed Forces on parade ground. Existing studies on vowel lengthening show vowel lengthening not only as a phonological phenomenon whereby a single vowel is doubled subject to certain phonological conditions but also as a sociolinguistic process that expresses affirmative, directive, summon, emphasis, question, denial, disappointment and discontentment. We continue the discussion on vowel lengthening with reference to sociolinguistics and argue that preparedness, readiness, accuracy and precision that contribute to the beauty of military parades are enhanced or made possible through vowel lengthening in language use. The import of the paper is that the role of sociolinguistics in language use and language interpretation cannot be undermined in parades of any armed forces in any country of the world.
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