Assignment # 1

DEP’T: ENGLISH LITERATURE

SUBJECT: Trends in Contemporary Linguistics

FORENSIC
LINGUISTICS
2020
Submitted by 0
: Mareena Fayyaz
2nd Semester M.Phil-B-97

Submitted To : Prof. Zahoor Hussain

Institute Of
Southern Punjab Multan
 FORENSIC LINGUISTICS
Definition:
Taking linguistic knowledge, methods and insights, and applying these to the forensic context
of law, investigation, trial, punishment and rehabilitation.
Scientific method in forensic linguistics requires hypothesis testing and a litigation-
independent testing of the method for its accuracy.

 Linguistics is the scientific study of the language- Olsson (2004, P.3)

 Individuals are linguistically unique. (Coulthard, 2008).
 The science is young and new, nothing is yet cast in stone- Olsson (2004, P.4)

Applications of forensic linguistics

Following are the applications of forensic linguistics:

 Voice identification/ forensic phonetics

Analyzes the acoustic qualities of the voice.
(Interpretation of expressed meaning in laws and legal writings.)
 Author identification/ forensic stylistic
Determining who wrote a particular text by comparing it to known writing samples of
a suspect.
 Discourse analysis
Structure of writing or spoken utterance.
(Interpretation of intended meaning in oral and written statements e.g,
confessions.)
 Dialectology
Determining which dialect of a language a person speaks.

History of Forensic linguistics

 The phrase forensic linguistics was coined by Jan Svartik in 1968.
 Law received the attention of psychologists, anthropologists and political
scientists, but starting from the 1980's, it has also received the attention of
linguists.
 It started mainly in UK, USA and Australia.
 Since 1990s; It has own academic organization:
International Association of Forensic Linguistics (IAFL)
Journal: Forensic Linguistics.
Growing number of books and articles.
 FL is so new that its history is still being written.

Types of Forensic Texts

 Emergency call:
In an emergency call, the recipient or emergency operator's ability to extract primarily
linguistic information in threatening situations and to come up with the required response
in a timely manner is crucial to the successful completion of the call.
 Ransom demands or other threat communication

Threat is a counterpart of a promise and is an important feature in a ransom demand.

Ransom demands are also examined to identify between genuine and false threats. An
example of a ransom note analysis can be seen in the case of the Lindbergh
kidnapping, where the first ransom note (sometimes referred to as the Nursery Note)
stated: "We warn you for making anyding public or for notify the Polise the child is in gut
care" From the sentence, the kidnapper makes the claim that the child is in good hands
but to make such a claim, the note would have to be written before the perpetrator enters
the premises. Therefore, the claim is false (at the time of writing) since the kidnapper had
not even encountered the child when he wrote the note.

 Suicide Letters
A suicide note is typically brief, concise and highly propositional with a degree of
evasiveness.A credible suicide letter must be making a definite unequivocal proposition
in a situational context. The proposition of genuine suicide is thematic, directed to the
addressee (or addressees) and relevant to the relationship between them.
The contents of a suicide note could be intended to make the addressee suffer or
feel guilt. Genuine suicide letters are short, typically less than 300 words in length.

 Death row statements

Death row statements either admit the crime, leaving the witness with an impression of
honesty and forthrightness; or deny the crime, leaving the witness with an impression of
innocence. They may also denounce witnesses as dishonest, critique law enforcement
as corrupt in an attempt to portray innocence or seek an element of revenge in their last
moments.
(Olsson 2004)

 Social media
Social media statements are often context specific, and their interpretation can be highly
subjective. Forensic application of a selection of stylistic and stylometric techniques in a
simulated authorship attribution case involving texts has been done in relation
to Facebook. Analysis of social media postings can reveal whether they are illegal
(e.g. sex trade) or unethical (e.g. intended to harm) or whether they are not (e.g. simply
provocative or free speech)

Ways to analyze the Linguistic

 Language is like a fingerprint.
 People reveal something about who they are through the use of their linguistic
choices.
 Analysis can help identify a writer's Nationality, native language, occupation, training,
education, age, experience, etc.
 The use of comparative methods ( case of Australian ransom where the kidnappers
pretended to be an Asian gang, and from their language,
 Forensic linguist knew that they are native sneakers of English)

Forensic Linguistic in the World:

1. The International Association of Forensic Linguists (IAFL)
The International Association of Forensic Linguists (IAFL) is a professional organization
consisting primarily of linguists working in fields related to the area of language and law,
or forensic linguistics. Areas of expertise include (but are not limited to) authorship
attribution, disputed confessions, trademark issues, legal language, etc. In addition to
linguists, the association has members from other professions related to language and the
law, particularly members of the legal profession. Currently, the president of the IAFL is Janet
Cottrell.

2. “Forensic Linguistics: Foundations and Future Avenues”

It is the first international conference on Forensic Linguistics/ language and law to be co-
sponsored by The International Association of Forensic Linguists (IAFL) in Africa and
in the Arab world. This conference was held on 12th-14th December 2014.