Linguists have played an important role in the science of forensics for many years, using their knowledge of the structures and patterns of language use to identify the origins of 'mystery voices', construct pictures of the social background of suspects and even expose falsified written statements. Until recently the forensic linguist's evidence has been mainly in the form of tape recordings and written documents, but
this news report explains how linguists are now beginning to focus on the language of electronic media such as text messaging.
The article comments that people "choose their own text language "rules" - which they tend to use throughout all their messages", and explains that it is therefore possible to spot a 'fake' message sent by someone masquerading as someone else (as was proven to have happened in the murder case on which the article focuses). The article goes on to say that "forensic linguists can also build a "sociolinguistic" profile of the author: they can give an idea of a texter's gender or age... women tend to be inter-personal while men make arrangements".
So it would seem that the language of electronic communication varies in the same ways and according to the same factors as spoken language does.
Blog entries, eh? Nothing for nearly two weeks and then three come along all at once. Please forgive the dearth of postings of late - I've been a very busy chap.
