The System and Diagnostic Potential of Orthographic Data in Forensic Linguistic Authorship Attribution

Abstract

This chapter deals with the intrinsic structure and the diagnostic potential of orthographic data in the forensic linguistic analysis of anonymous authorship. The focus is on “feature configurations” of an encompassing nature between different levels and kinds of linguistic data. All generalizations discussed are based on authentic data of the analysis of real life forensic cases. It is argued that orthographic data can never be considered sufficient evidence alone, but may be of relevance indirectly and are a source of data that must not be neglected in forensic linguistic authorship attribution.