Forensic Linguistics
"Linguistic Clues, Criminal Cues"
What is Forensic Linguistics?
Forensic linguistics is the application of linguistic knowledge, methods, and insights to the legal system. It involves analyzing language-related aspects of legal cases and investigations. Here are some key areas and applications of forensic linguistics:
Authorship Attribution: Determining the author of a particular piece of writing by analyzing stylistic features.
Voice Identification: Analyzing speech patterns to identify or eliminate suspects.
Text Analysis: Examining written documents, such as ransom notes, suicide letters, or threatening messages, to uncover clues about the author.
Trademark Disputes: Analyzing linguistic similarities and differences in trademark infringement cases.
Legal Language: Evaluating the comprehensibility and clarity of legal documents and witness statements.
Discourse Analysis: Analyzing conversational exchanges, such as police interviews or court testimonies, to detect inconsistencies or signs of coercion.
Language Crimes: Investigating cases involving linguistic offenses, such as plagiarism, perjury, or defamation.
Forensic linguists work with law enforcement agencies, legal professionals, and sometimes private clients to provide expert analysis and testimony in both criminal and civil cases. The work often requires a deep understanding of language structure, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and computational linguistics.
About
My name is Irene J. Orellana
I’m a forensic linguist with a background in analyzing language used in legal, investigative, and high-stakes communication settings. I hold a master’s degree in Forensic Linguistics and have trained extensively in discourse analysis, authorship analysis, speaker comparison, and threat assessment.
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I’ve worked on capital murder and post-conviction cases through the Forensic Linguistics Capital Case Innocence Project, applying linguistic analysis to disputed documents, interviews, interrogations, and anonymous communications. My experience also includes transcription and analysis of live wire recordings for federal and local law enforcement, as well as authorship analysis in civil and defamatory matters. I regularly use specialized linguistic tools such as PRAAT and AntConc to support data-driven analysis. Through my work, I aim to provide clear, defensible linguistic insight that helps attorneys, investigators, and courts better understand language evidence.
INVESTIGATIVE WORK
Studies & Cases
Pro Bono
Speaker Analyst
January 2026
This review looked at two audio recordings to see whether the way the speakers used language could reasonably be compared. The analysis focused on how each person spoke rather than what they said, including things like hesitation words (such as “um”), how people were referred to, and signs of stress during speech.
Immigration Case
September 2025
Forensic linguistics analysis was used to correct misunderstanding between direct English translation than context translation during an immigration case. Research on Spanish double meaning showed some of the translation used was incorrect.
911 Call
April 2025
Linguistics analysis on a 911 call audio. One audio recording was obtained to determine if there was any indication of pre-mediated murder. The second call was used as a comparison between 911 frantic calls. Analysis showed non civilian and rehearsed language among the first call. Written report was created to help local pd.
Title IX Case
May 2024
Authorship analysis on a title IX case from a university student seeking help. The student needed validation on the suspected person. An authorship analysis was then conducted on the anonymous text messages and the known text messages.
Defamation Case
August 2022
Insurance CEO was seeking help in identifying the person sending defamation emails to their stock holders. There was a total of five ex-employees and two years worth of emails as data. There was three emails in total to compare to the employees emails. All five had features that were similar to the Q (questionable) documents. However, in one the Q documents is was made noticeable the use of British-english grammar. Which in turn was only used by one of the ex-employees. Case was then determined in mediation.
Study: The Language of Persuasion Used by the Mexican Cartel
May 2021
The study focused on the analysis of the language of persuasion used by the Mexican drug cartel and discusses how they use persuasion as an influence tool. The study compared the language of the drug cartel with the language of persuasion and power used specifically by cults, Nazi propaganda, ISIS’ recruitment, the Italian mafia, and the language used to incite the insurgence of the Capitol on January 6th.
"Her work was precise, well-supported, and clearly explained, making complex linguistic issues understandable in a legal context. She was professional, responsive, and extremely thorough throughout the process. I would highly recommend her to anyone needing expert forensic linguistic analysis in immigration or legal matters."
Jose, FL