Stylometry
Definition
The quantitative measurement of writing style, using features such as sentence length, word frequency, function-word distribution, and character n-grams. Stylometric methods now underpin much computational authorship attribution.
- Type
- Quantitative writing-style analysis
- Common features
- Sentence length, word frequency, function words, character n-grams
- Application
- Computational authorship attribution
- Landmark association
- Svartvik, Evans and Coulthard cases
Common questions
How is stylometry different from forensic linguistics generally?+
Forensic linguistics is the broader discipline applying language analysis to legal questions, including meaning, register, and discourse. Stylometry is one quantitative tool within it, focused on measurable, countable style features rather than interpretive reading of meaning.
Does stylometry alone prove authorship in court?+
Rarely on its own. Courts have historically treated early stylometric conclusions with caution because feature choice and statistical thresholds can be contested; it is usually presented alongside other linguistic or circumstantial evidence rather than as standalone proof.
Related terms
- Corpus Linguistics
- The study of language through large, principled collections of texts or transcripts. In forensic work, corpus methods are used to count how...
- Entrapment Analysis
- The examination of recorded conversations between undercover law-enforcement agents and suspects to assess whether the agent's language induced the suspect to commit...
- IAFL
- The International Association of Forensic Linguists, founded in 1992, is the main professional body for the field. It publishes the journal Language...
- Linguistic Profiling
- Broadly, any use of linguistic features to infer a speaker's identity or background. In its pejorative sense, the discriminatory use of accent...
- Verbatim Record
- A written document that purports to record speech word-for-word, such as a typed-up police interview or a court transcript. Linguistic analysis of...