Keywords
intimate-textual discourse
forensic linguistics
speech act of solicitation
speech act of harassment
grooming
communicative strategy
communicative tactic
digital communication
pragmatics
manipulative technology
intention
linguistic marker
evidentiary speech
sexting
verbal aggression
How to Cite
Abstract
The article provides a comprehensive theoretical and methodological substantiation of the principles of forensic linguistic examination of intimate-textual discourse within the context of contemporary digital communication. It reveals the specifics of intimate discourse, qualifies its attributes as an object of forensic linguistics, and identifies primary and/or secondary non-institutional communicative practices, emphasising its high contextuality and ellipticity. The aim of the study is to substantiate the scientific and conceptual foundations of forensic linguistic examination of intimate-textual discourse and to develop an algorithm for identifying speech markers of solicitation and harassment in the digital environment, highlighting the linguistic nature of the categories of ‘consent’, ‘solicitation’, and ‘harassment’ across various discursive practices. The methodological framework of the work is based on semantic-textual, pragmatic, discursive, and content analysis of real-life cases, which enabled the adaptation of international forensic linguistic standards to the domestic linguistic-legal field. The scientific novelty lies in the linguistic qualification of speech acts of solicitation and harassment, the identification of mechanisms for the pragmatic transformation of intimate vocabulary into a tool of verbal aggression, and the substantiation of the proposed algorithm for diagnosing grooming in instant messengers, differentiating the latter according to situational-communicative intentions. The conclusions emphasise the necessity of unifying expert methodologies to minimise subjectivism in evaluating texts of an intimate-sexualised nature, which holds theoretical and applied significance for law enforcement and forensic practice. An argued conclusion that solicitation often correlates with the speech act of persuasion, where material benefit is initiated in exchange for loyalty and intimacy; the linguistic markers of such speech initiatives are represented by relevant lexical, semantic, morphological, syntactic, and other means.
References
Batsevych F. (2025). Osnovy linhvonaratolohii [Foundations of linguonarratology]. Lviv: Ivan Franko National University of Lviv [in Ukrainian].
Zahnitko A. (2023). Linhvistyka tekstu [Text linguistics]. Vinnytsia: TVORY [in Ukrainian].
Zahnitko A. (2019). Suchasnyi linhvistychnyi slovnyk [Modern linguistic dictionary]. Vinnytsia: TVORY [in Ukrainian].
Zahnitko A. (2025). Linhvosudova ekspertyza intymno-dyskursyvnoi komunikatsii: teoretyko metodolohichni zasady [Forensic linguistic examination of intimate-discursive communication: theoretical and methodological foundations]. Aktualni pytannia sudovoi ekspertolohii, kryminalistyky ta kryminalnoho protsesu: materialy VII Mizhnarodnoi naukovo-praktychnoi konferentsii, Kyiv, December 10, 2025 / za red. M.Ye. Kyselova. Kyiv: Lira-K, 121–125 [in Ukrainian].
Zahnitko A., Krylovska Yu. (2025). Linhvistychni indykatory spilkuvannia seksualnoho kharakteru v tsyfrovomu lystuvanni: kryterii ta mezhi tlumachennia v semantyko-tekstualnomu doslidzhenni [Linguistic indicators of sexual communication in digital correspondence: criteria and boundaries of interpretation in semantic-textual research]. Sudovo-linhvistychna ekspertyza v umovakh voiennoho stanu: materialy Vseukrainskoi naukovo-praktychnoi konferentsii, Kyiv, November 24–25, 2025. Kharkiv: NSC “ISE named after Hon. Prof. M.S. Bokarius”, 62–65 [in Ukrainian].
Zahnitko A.P., Troian A.V. (2024). Osoblyvosti suchasnoho elektronnoho spilkuvannia: verbalni ta neverbalni resursy [Features of modern electronic communication: verbal and non-verbal resources]. Slobozhanskyi naukovyi visnyk, 5, 23–28 [in Ukrainian].
Kondratenko N.V. (2022). Faktychne tverdzhennia ta otsinne sudzhennia [Factual assertion and evaluative judgment]. Applied Linguistics in Southern Ukraine. Vinnytsia: TVORY, 106–113 [in Ukrainian].
Marian V. (2025). Syla slova. Yak kody, yaki my vykorystovuiemo, shchob dumaty, rozmovliaty i zhyty, zminiuiut nash rozum [The power of language. How the codes we use to think, speak, and live transform our minds]. Kharkiv: Vivat [in Ukrainian].
Navarro J. (2025). Slovnyk movy tila. Sekrety neverbalnoi komunikatsii [The dictionary of body language. Secrets of non-verbal communication]. Kharkiv: Vivat [in Ukrainian].
Nesterenko S. (2025). Sotsialni merezhi yak instrument suchasnoi informatsiino-psykholohichnoi viiny [Social networks as an instrument of modern information-psychological warfare]. URL: https://cutt.ly/
wwIpgQcN (accessed: 16.03.2026) [in Ukrainian].
Radziievska T.V. (2010). Narysy z kontseptualnoho analizu ta linhvistyky tekstu [Essays on conceptual analysis and text linguistics]. Kyiv: IAA [in Ukrainian].
Slovnyk ukrainskoi movy [Dictionary of the Ukrainian language]. In 11 vols. Kyiv: Naukova dumka, 1970-1980 [in Ukrainian].
Slovnyk ukrainskoi movy [Dictionary of the Ukrainian language]. In 20 vols. Kyiv: Naukova dumka, 2012-2022. URL: https://sum20ua.com (accessed: 20.03.2026) [in Ukrainian].
Shevchenko L.I., Syzonov D.Yu. (2021). Linhvistychna ekspertyza [Linguistic expertise] / za red. L.I. Shevchenko. Kyiv: VPC “Kyivskyi universytet” [in Ukrainian].
Yusupov V.V., Atamanchuk V.M., Sakovskyi A.A., et al. (2025). Naukovo-metodychni osnovy sudovo-linhvistychnoi ekspertyzy pysemnoho movlennia [Scientific and methodological foundations of forensic linguistic expertise of written speech]. Kyiv: National Academy of Internal Affairs [in Ukrainian].
Benneworth K. (2010). Sexual offences. Negotiating paedophilia in the investigative interview: the construction of sexual offences against children. The Routledge Handbook of Forensic Linguistics / Malcolm Coulthard, Alison Johnson. London and New York: Routledge, 139–155 [in English].
Jewkes Y., Wykes M. (2012). Reconstructing the sexual abuse of children: “cyber-paeds”, panic and power. Sexualities, 15(8), 934–952. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460712459314. URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1363460712459314 (accessed: 20.03.2026) [in English].
Johnson A., Coulthard M. (2007). An Introduction to Forensic Linguistics: Language in Evidence. London: Routledge [in English].
Judge A. (2012). “Sexting” among U.S. adolescents: psychological and legal perspectives. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 20(2), 86–96. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/10673229.2012.677360. URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22512742/ (accessed: 20.03.2026) [in English].
Olsson J. (2009). More Wordcrime: Solving Crime with Linguistics. London and New York: Continuum [in English].
Reed E., Wong A., Raj A. (2019). Cyber sexual harassment: a summary of current measures and implications for future research. Violence Against Women, 26(12–13), 1727–1740 [in English].
Shuy R.W. (2005). Creating Language Crimes: How Law Enforcement Uses and Misuses Language. New York: Oxford University Press [in English].
Tiersma P. (2007). The language of consent. The Language of Consent in Rape Law. London: Routledge, 83–103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801219880959. URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1077801219880959?utm_source=researchgate.net&utm_medium=article (accessed: 20.03.2026) [in English].