Investigating the Language of Suicide Letters and Notes in Northern Namibia: A Forensic Linguistic Study

Abstract

Purpose: Since there is no decline in the suicide rate in Namibia today, this paper aimed to establish the authenticity and genuineness of suicide letters and notes by exploring the language used by the authors from a forensic linguistics perspective. It is assumed that, if suicide letters and notes are only treated as such in Namibia, suicide could be faked to conceal serious crime acts in order to obstruct the course of justice.

Methodology: The investigation adopted the exploratory research design, the quantitative research approach and the principles of the interpretivist research paradigm. As a forensic linguistics study of written suicide messages, it drew from the Codal Variation Theory.

Findings: The study established that the language used in the suicide letters and notes was characterised by positive lexical items and negative emotions. There were ineptitudes in the rules of well-formedness in grammar. In the content, the authors revealed the motives for taking their own lives. Some references regarding family members and other relatives were made by the authors. The authors also gave directives to the addressees.  

Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: This investigation makes a significant contribution to the forensic linguistics field by sensitising the public that language could be manipulated to commit crime by faking suicide letters and notes. The findings also bring to light a different perspective into what the suicides experience before the suicide act.