The Morbid Linguist

The Nursery Note One of the most famous kidnapping cases in American history is that of Charles Lindbergh, Jr. The child’s father and namesake was Charles Lindbergh, the famous aviator. Lindbergh, Sr. had completed his record-breaking transatlantic flight in 1927, and he was still a prominent celebrity when his 20-month-old son was kidnapped from his nursery on the night of March 1, 1932. The infant was not recovered until May 12, 1932, when his body was discovered near the Lindbergh home. Investigators determined that he likely died shortly after he was taken.  Between the night of March 1 and when ransom is delivered on April 2, 1932, the abductors delivered a total of 15 notes . In September 1934, a German immigrant was seen spending one of the gold certificates used to pay the ransom and was soon arrested. He was convicted and executed in 1936.  Mark Falzini , the archivist of the New Jersey State Police Museum in possession of the notes and other evidence, i...

In my thesis, I hypothesize that forensic linguistic techniques of linguistic demographic profiling can be honed into a method of native language analysis that is supported by quantified language transference data. My previous post explains how I set out to develop Native Language Analysis (NLA) as just such a method, and I strongly suggest you read it first. To summarize, I am essentially expanding on the established techniques of author profiling by incorporating quantified language data to connect interlanguage transference features to the native languages that likely inspired them. As promised, this post is based on the sections of my thesis where I test my hypothetical method by using it to analyze the language evidence from real forensic linguistic cases. One of the languages I catalogued data for was Arabic. The evidence I analyzed comes from the case of Daniel Pearl's abduction. Text of Email 1 Daniel Pearl was a journalist for The Wall Street Journal on assignment...

As I've mentioned before , I am writing my master's thesis on a method of linguistic demographic profiling through analysis of native language transference... a specific method that I am in the process of inventing. Not from whole cloth, of course. The potential method I have developed is an amalgamation of established forensic linguistic techniques and contemporary research in machine-based language processing and computational linguistic analysis. I am calling this method "Native Language Analysis," as my advisor suggested. (I wanted to call it native language  deduction  for the Holmesian connotations, but she said no.) I am designing this proposed method of linguistic demographic profiling specifically for native language diagnosis and supporting it with quantified statistical data. Without getting too deep into sociolinguistic philosophy, the concept central to my research is that - like spoken accents - native speakers of a particular language frequently produ...

One of the first things I learned in studying Forensic Linguistics is that I should never say I have "identified" the author or speaker of my language evidence. That advice comes from  a scientist who has investigated several murders . As Dr. Leonard explains it: Even if you have enough evidence to implicate a single suspect, there's still a chance that among the seven billion humans in the world, one of them might happen to use language in the exact same way as your suspect. There's no room for that "scientific certainty" bullshit in his department. The goal of Forensic Linguistic investigation, rather, is to determine the probable creator(s) of language evidence. As an investigator, I would only say, based on the language examined, which suspect(s) I might interpret to be its most likely creator. Maybe even least likely creator, if it's an Authorship Attribution case. All of this hedging - avoidance of certainty or commitment - is intentional. I...

I realize it's only fair if I explain forensic linguistics, as it is the theme of my blog (and my life, to be honest). My professor, Dr. Rob Leonard, is fond of explaining it like this: "Forensic linguistics is the intersection of language and the law." Instead of describing the entire science, this post is my attempt at explaining where forensic linguistic analysis fits within the legal system. In attempting so, I am writing from my own experience and education. I am an American, and I attend only one of the world's few graduate programs for forensic linguistics. The fact is, criminal cases are only half of forensic linguistics. The other half is civil cases; such as those that concern plagiarism or copyright infringement. Legal documents such as laws, legislation, contracts, and testimony can also require forensic linguistic analysis. The word "forensic" comes from the Latin "forum" and related "forensis"; the latter meaning "o...

If you have watched a crime procedural program, you have likely heard fictional detectives discussing "profiles" about their fictional suspects. Like many aspects of entertainment based on real life, suspect profiles have a real-life counterpart. A suspect profile is, to use a metaphor, a running list of features that investigators believe an anonymous suspect likely possesses. Suspect profiles consist of features ascertained from evidence like witness statements and physical clues. Even psychological analysis can be used to build a profile. Likewise, when the evidence is available, suspect profiles may also be informed by linguistic data. In the same way that a profile picture in not a complete picture of a person, a suspect profile is not a complete description. Even a well-informed suspect profile may still lack a name, but, like that profile picture, it may contain just enough information about a person that you could recognize them from someone else. The crook of the...