Integrative Level Model of Modality in Military Legal Discourse: Interaction Mechanisms of Linguistic and Institutional Factors (Case Study of Russian and US Normative Legal Acts)

This article develops and empirically tests an integrative-level model for analyzing modality in military legal discourse. Linguistic precision in this domain is not merely a theoretical desideratum but a critical factor, as interpretative ambiguity in normative legal acts (NLAs) can lead to severe operational and legal consequences. The study's relevance stems from the lack of comprehensive models explaining the systemic interaction of multilevel factors (lexico-grammatical, genre, discursive, evidential) in shaping modal meanings within military NLAs. The paper proposes a four-level model to overcome the fragmentary nature of existing approaches. Special attention is given to operationalizing implicit evidentiality – understood here as a pragmatic mechanism of norm legitimation via reference to authority – as a factor modulating illocutionary force. The methodology incorporates corpus analysis (125,000 tokens, Russian and US NLAs), discourse analysis methods with reliability assessment. Empirical results confirm that modality interpretation is an emergent property of discourse. Statistically significant differences in modal strength and frequency across NLA genres and jurisdictions, a strong positive correlation between implicit evidentiality and perceived illocutionary force, and systemic contrasts in Russian vs. US modal coding strategies, linked to legal traditions, are established. The findings contribute to modality theory, legal linguistics, and discourse analysis, offering a t h e o r e t i c a l l y g r o u n d e d t o o l k i t for analyzing institutional discourses and comparative study of their modal coloring.