| Volume
5, Number 2 (December 1998)
Lawrence
M. Solan
Linguistic
experts as semantic tour guides
This
article examines the phenomenon of linguists testifying as experts
on meaning in legal disputes over the interpretation of statutes,
contracts, transcripts of tape-recorded conversations, and other
important legal texts before courts in the USA. It concludes that
there is an important role for linguists in such cases – the
role of the tour guide. It suggests that judges need not be
concerned about linguists usurping the traditional roles of the
judge and the jury as ultimate interpreters provided that the
linguist’s testimony is appropriately circumscribed.
Full Text
Jeffrey
P. Kaplan
Pragmatic
contributions to the interpretation of a will
The
ultimate meaning of a holographic will lacking all conventional
indicia of sentence boundaries (capitalization, punctuation) was
the subject of litigation. At the sentence level, the will was
ambiguous, but syntactic and (especially) pragmatic analysis led
to a clear construal of the text. The main evidence derived from
an application of Grice’s maxim of quantity, with support from
the maxim of relevance. The linguistic analysis was echoed by the
court’s decision.
Full Text
Bethany
K. Dumas and Ann C. Short, Esq.
Linguistic
ambiguity in non-statutory language: problems in ‘The search
warrant in the matter of 7505 Derris Drive’
When
a motion to suppress was filed in a federal prosecution, this
question arose: Did the search warrant authorize the FBI to seize
the evidence sought to be suppressed? The warrant described
certain items that could be seized, including both accounting
documents and items such as notes and memoranda. A linguist
testified about the current meanings of the non-accounting terms
and the scope of the modifying clauses, ‘which will disclose the
sale and receipt of automobiles, both rebuilt and salvage’ and
‘which will reveal the identities and location of
co-conspirators’. This article summarizes the implications and
context of those questions, presents the linguist’s answers, and
reports the judicial response.
Full Text
Janet
Cotterill
‘If
it doesn’t fit, you must acquit’: metaphor and the O.J.
Simpson criminal trial
This
paper analyses the use of metaphor in the prosecution and defence
closing arguments of the O.J. Simpson criminal trial as a
conceptualizing device for both the trial and its participants. It
studies the relative distribution of these representations, which
include military, sporting and theatrical metaphors. Moreover it
shows that these metaphorical constructs serve very different
functions; in the prosecution closing argument as a structuring
device, and in the defence equivalent as a dramatic highlighter of
particular individuals and events. The paper continues with a
detailed analysis of two specific metaphorical references: the
criminal trial as the completion of a jigsaw puzzle and Simpson,
the defendant, as an unpredictable time-bomb.
Full Text
Bruce
Fraser
Threatening
revisited
This
paper considers the act of verbal threatening. I first examine
what constitutes a verbal threat, concluding that it involves
conveying both the intention to perform an act that the addressee
will view unfavourably and the intention to intimidate the
addressee. I then compare threatening to promising and warning,
and I examine the ways in which a speaker may issue a threat,
given that one can never guarantee success in threatening.
Finally, I look at the multitude of factors that must be
considered if one is to conclude that a serious threat was made.
Full Text
Mark
Newbrook and Jane M. Curtain
Oates’
theory of Reverse Speech: a critical examination
David
Oates claims to have discovered a language phenomenon which he has
labelled Reverse Speech (RS). According to Oates, during speech
two messages are communicated simultaneously: one forwards and
heard and responded to consciously, and the other (RS) in reverse
and heard and responded to unconsciously. RS can allegedly be
heard as clear, grammatical statements mixed in amongst gibberish.
The content of reversals is said to relate to the forward
dialogue, and often accentuates the forward speech. It is also
said to reveal unspoken thoughts which may be in contradiction to
forward speech; therefore, it can be an effective tool to discover
unspoken truths. Oates conducted an experiment which produced
results suggesting that untrained listeners are able to hear RS.
This experiment was replicated by the authors and the results –
as well as Oates’ many naïve claims regarding language –
suggest that RS is illusory.
Full Text
Krzysztof
Kredens and Grazyna Góralewska-Lach
Language
as sole incriminating evidence: the Augustynek case
This
paper addresses the issue of evidence based upon speech analysis
as used in criminal courts. By way of illustration, a case heard
in a Polish court is described, in which the accused was found
guilty of extortion effectively on the basis of linguistic
evidence. References are made in the report to forensic phonetic
casework and points raised regarding the methodology of forensic
speaker identification.
Full Text
Henry
Rogers
Foreign
accent in voice discrimination: a case study
This
article describes the phonetic analysis of a case of speaker
identification involving a foreign accent. A taped telephone
message in English with a Cantonese accent resulted in the arrest
of Lo, a Cantonese speaker. The investigation compared the voice
on the tape with that of Lo, particularly noting the accent in
English. In several places, close auditory examination showed that
Lo had a stronger accent in English than that of the voice on the
tape. Acoustic analysis corroborated this view. The theoretical
point underlying the conclusion is that non-native speakers can
imitate a stronger accent than they normally use, but not a weaker
accent.
Full Text
Book
Reviews
J. M. Conley and W. M. O’Barr
Just Words: Law, Language and Power (reviewed by Diana Eades)
Full Text
Roger
W. Shuy
The Language of Confession, Interrogation and Deception (reviewed
by Janet Cotterill)
Full Text
User: WEIMING LIU
Session: 18888
Forensic Linguistics is published by the University of Birmingham
Press.
| 
