The application of linguistic analysis, such as word choice and phrasing patterns, to legal and investigative questions including authorship identification. FBI profiler James Fitzgerald used stylometric analysis to match the Unabomber manifesto to Ted Kaczynskis other writings, closing an eighteen year investigation.
Facts
What It ExaminesSourced to the subject's own accountWord choice, phrasing and other stylistic patterns in written or spoken language, compared to establish or exclude authorship. 1 Formalized YearSourced to the subject's own accountDated to Jan Svartvik's 1968 paper The Evans Statements: A Case for Forensic Linguistics, which first used the term. Known LimitationSourced to the subject's own accountMost criminal cases yield only a small quantity of disputed text, such as a ransom note or threatening letter, and that scarcity often leaves too little material for a reliable authorship identification. 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Cases Where Used
Linguistic analysis matched the published manifesto to Ted Kaczynski's writing.
Sources
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