Using Language to Solve Crimes

A new nonfiction spy thriller featured on NPR, The Spy Who Couldn't Spell, caught my attention. Two of my favorite topics — spies and language— are part of the title.  The complete title, The Spy Who Couldn't Spell:  A Dyslexic Traitor, an Unbreakable Code, and the FBI's Hunt for America's Stolen Secrets, by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, reveals the main themes of the book. 

Brian Regan, the spy in the new book, worked for the National Reconnaissance Office in the early years of this century, managing information on the US spy satellite system.  For various personal and professional reasons, he decided to sell US military secrets to a foreign country.  He was arrested two weeks before the events of 9/11, which probably accounts for the fact that his story did not reach the general public at the time of his arrest.

The narrative of how Brian Regan attempted to carry out espionage will probably be enough to encourage me to read the book.  But the clues that the FBI put together to identify him will be especially intriguing.  Beginning with my early reading of Agatha Christie mystery novels, with their carefully crafted clues and intricate plots, I have always loved a good puzzle.

It was a well-know fact that Brian Regan was dyslexic, a general term for a problem processing language in the brain.  (Dyslexia is not related to general intelligence.) 

Dyslexia shows itself in different forms in different individuals and in varying degrees of severity, but in Regan's case, the dyslexia caused him to be a very poor speller. The spelling errors were one of the clues leading to his capture. An article in The Guardian, October 26, 2016, lists some of the misspellings:  anonmus, alligations, reveil, precausion, and negotianalable.

This connection between criminal investigations and language issues reminds me of the usefulness of Forensic Linguistics, a field of applied linguistics. Forensic linguists apply linguistic knowledge to, among other areas of law, crime investigation. The premise used is that language varies at the level of the individual, causing each of us to have our own "idolect," or particular pattern of use. These patterns may include the vocabulary we choose, which words we use together, how we pronounce words, our spelling, and our grammar usage.

An online guest post by John Olsson of the Forensic Linguistics Institute (click here for more information) sheds further light on the field of Forensic Linguistics. Mr. Olsson notes that the field of Forensic Linguistics is relative new, making a serious appearance in courts in the 1990s.  He lists various type of language analysis he has done in crime investigations:  plagiarism analysis, suicide notes, hate mail, product contamination, insurance fraud, forgery, and mobile phone texts. 

Using language to solve crimes is yet another indication of how language, often taken for granted, plays a vital role in our lives.  In these days of concerns about privacy, have you ever thought about what your language may reveal about you?  Scary, huh?