Linguistic Aspects of Lying and Misleading: An Empirical Study of the Verbal Deception in the Hvem Lyver Corpus

Abstract

Lying as an essential feature of human social life. This thesis investigates the language of deception and argues that there is something linguistically interesting about lying. Little empirical research has previously been done on the linguistic characteristics of lying and misleading. This is surprising considering that lying is a linguistic act involving a speaker making a conscious effort to misrepresent truth via the use of language to the effect that the audience is deceived. In preparation for writing this thesis, I have constructed a deception corpus which serves as the source of data. All generalizations here made are based on the speech in this corpus. I found that deceptive speakers employ more items for common ground management. Deception detection may benefit from paying closer attention to how speakers manage and attribute beliefs and expectations of beliefs to their interlocutor. I also present some associations between verbal deception and linguistic strategies for commitment modulation. These include usage of vague and imprecise expressions in particular.