Written by gabriella

Elementary, My Dear Linguist

Picture a detective. Combing the crime scene. Checking surveillance footage. Analyzing word choice?

Linguistics can be an invaluable tool for solving crimes. Examining a writer’s style may help narrow down suspects. Phonetic clues in phone calls can be used to identify a caller or analyze their true emotions. Even the famous (and fictional) Sherlock Holmes used linguistic techniques in his cases, running the gamut from sociolinguistic profiling and handwriting analysis to semiotics. These practices are called Forensic Linguistics.

There are numerous things that a forensic linguist looks at. Each quietly contains a multitude of clues:

  • Spelling
  • Vocabulary
  • Average word length
  • Article frequency
  • Slang use

Some linguists even believe that every person has their own unique linguistic fingerprint. Our life and personality directly inform the words we use and the way we string them together – telling the world exactly who we are.

Case in point: the Unabomber (link to Roger Kreuz ‘s and Roger Shuy’s awesome articles below).

When the FBI received the Unabomber’s 35,000-word manifesto, there was a mountain of clues. Or should I say clews, which was a misspelling he used that hinted at his past residency in Chicago around the time of certain spelling reforms. His use of high-level vocabulary, such as chimerical, led them to believe he came from an educated background. And some aspects of the vocabulary revealed him as someone who had lived in northern California, though likely not for his whole life. But in the end, it was a single expression that gave away his identity. When The Washington Times published the manifesto, a man noticed the unique turn of phrase that his brother often used: cool-headed logicians. He promptly went to the authorities.

Linguistics: solving mysteries one word at a time. Elementary, my dear Watson.

Read More:

Kreuz, Roger J. “How the Unabomber’s Unique Linguistic Fingerprints Led to His Capture.” The Conversation, 15 June 2023. Available at: https://theconversation.com/how-the-unabombers-unique-linguistic-fingerprints-led-to-his-capture-207681.

Shuy, Roger W. “DARE’s Role in Linguistic Profiling,” DARE NEWSLETTER (Dictionary of Am. Reg’l English, Madison, Wis.), Summer 2001, at 1, 4. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/6556.