1887
image of “I have come to the conclusion that you must die”
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This paper explores the linguistic realisation of threats in a corpus of threatening letters discussed in Late Modern English (od) criminal trials at the Old Bailey. After investigating how trial participants ascribe the action of “threatening” to the utterance in question, I examine which aspects are repeatedly addressed in the letters and which linguistic patterns are employed to perform the threat. The results show that speakers routinely address the preparatory and sincerity conditions of commissives to negotiate whether a letter is threatening. Compared to present-day threats, od threats are considerably less speaker-focussed, and more threats explicitly specify threatener, target, and type of harm to be carried out. Linguistically, od threatening letters contain a greater amount of taboo language and more non-conditional and retaliative threats.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jhp.23016.neu
2024-10-17
2025-04-19
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Alonso-Almeida, Francisco and Mercedes Cabrera-Abreu
    2002 “The Formulation of Promise in Medieval English Medical Recipes: A Relevance-theoretic Approach”. Neophilologicus (): –. 10.1023/A:1012940619214
    https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012940619214 [Google Scholar]
  2. Anthony, Lawrence
    2022 AntConc (Version 4.2.0). See: https://www.laurenceanthony.net/software
  3. Archer, Dawn
    2010 “Speech Acts”. InAndreas H. Jucker and Irma Taavitsainen (eds), Historical Pragmatics, –. Berlin: De Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110214284.6.379
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110214284.6.379 [Google Scholar]
  4. Arnovick, Leslie K.
    1994 “The Expanding Discourse of Promises in Present-Day English: A Case Study in Historical Pragmatics”. Folia Linguistica Historica (): –. 10.1515/flih.1994.15.1‑2.175
    https://doi.org/10.1515/flih.1994.15.1-2.175 [Google Scholar]
  5. 1999Diachronic Pragmatics: Seven Case Studies in English Illocutionary Development. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Blanco Salgueiro, Antonio
    2010 “Promises, Threats, and the Foundations of Speech Act Theory”. Pragmatics (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Chapman, Don
    2008 “‘You Belly-guilty Bag’: Insulting Epithets in Old English”. Journal of Historical Pragmatics (): –. 10.1075/jhp.9.1.02cha
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.9.1.02cha [Google Scholar]
  8. Christensen, Tanya K.
    2019 “Indirect Threats as an Illegal Speech Act”. InKen Ramshøj Christensen, Johanna Wood and Henrik Jørgensen (eds), The Sign of the V: Papers in Honour of Sten Vikner, –. Aarhus: Aarhus University. 10.7146/aul.348.92
    https://doi.org/10.7146/aul.348.92 [Google Scholar]
  9. Cockanye, Emily
    2023Penning Poison: A History of Anonymous Letters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Culpeper, Jonathan
    2011Impoliteness: Using Language to Cause Offence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511975752
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511975752 [Google Scholar]
  11. Culpeper, Jonathan and Michael Haugh
    2014Pragmatics and the English Language. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1007/978‑1‑137‑39391‑3
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-39391-3 [Google Scholar]
  12. Culpeper, Jonathan and Elena Semino
    2000 “Constructing Witches and Spells: Speech Acts and Activity Types in Early Modern England”. Journal of Historical Pragmatics (): –. 10.1075/jhp.1.1.08cul
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.1.1.08cul [Google Scholar]
  13. Deppermann, Arnulf and Michael Haugh
    2022 “Action Ascription in Social Interaction”. InArnulf Deppermann and Michael Haugh (eds), Action Ascription in Interaction, –. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781108673419.001
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108673419.001 [Google Scholar]
  14. Fraser, Bruce
    1998 “Threatening Revisited”. Forensic Linguistics (): –. 10.1558/sll.1998.5.2.159
    https://doi.org/10.1558/sll.1998.5.2.159 [Google Scholar]
  15. Gales, Tammy
    2010 “Ideologies of Violence: A Corpus and Discourse Analytic Approach to Stance in Threatening Communications”. (PhD thesis.) California: University of California.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Geis, Michael L. and Arnold M. Zwicky
    1971 “On Invited Inferences”. Linguistics Inquiry (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Harris, Sandra
    1984 “The Form and Function of Threats in Court”. Language & Communication (): –. 10.1016/0271‑5309(84)90010‑7
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0271-5309(84)90010-7 [Google Scholar]
  18. van Hattum, Marije
    2017 “The Language of ‘Ribbonmen’: A CDA Approach to Identity Construction in Nineteenth-century Irish English Threatening Notices”. Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics (): –. 10.1515/jhsl‑2017‑1007
    https://doi.org/10.1515/jhsl-2017-1007 [Google Scholar]
  19. Hepburn, Alexa and Jonathan Potter
    2011 “Threats: Power, Family Mealtimes, and Social Influence”. British Journal of Social Psychology (): –. 10.1348/014466610X500791
    https://doi.org/10.1348/014466610X500791 [Google Scholar]
  20. Hitchcock, Tim, Robert Shoemaker, Clive Emsley, Sharon Howard and Jamie McLaughlin,
    2023 “The Old Bailey Proceedings Online, 1674–1913”. Accessed13 September 2024at: https://www.oldbaileyonline.org. (Version 9.0.)
  21. Jackson, Leon
    2016 “The Spider and the Dumpling: Threatening Letters in 19th-Century America”. InCeleste-Marie Bernier, Judy Newman and Matthew Pethers (eds), The Edinburgh Companion to Nineteenth-Century American Letters and Letter-Writing, –. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 10.1515/9780748692934‑011
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748692934-011 [Google Scholar]
  22. Jucker, Andreas H.
    2000 “Slanders, Slurs and Insults on the Road to Canterbury: Forms of Verbal Aggression in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales”. InIrma Taavitsainen, Terttu Nevalainen, Päivi Pahta and Matti Rissanen (eds), Placing Middle English in Context, –. Berlin: De Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110869514.369
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110869514.369 [Google Scholar]
  23. 2019 “Speech Act Attenuation in the History of English: The Case of Apologies”. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics (): .–.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Jucker, Andreas H. and Irma Taavitsainen
    2000 “Diachronic Speech Act Analysis: Insults from Flyting to Flaming”. Journal of Historical Pragmatics (): –. 10.1075/jhp.1.1.07juc
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.1.1.07juc [Google Scholar]
  25. Kerrigan, John
    2012 “Oaths, Threats and Henry V”. The Review of English Studies (): –. 10.1093/res/hgr103
    https://doi.org/10.1093/res/hgr103 [Google Scholar]
  26. Kohnen, Thomas
    2015 “Speech Acts: A Diachronic Perspective”. InKarin Aijmer and Christoph Rühlemann (eds), Corpus Pragmatics: A Handbook, –. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Leitner, Magdalena
    2015 “Conflicts in Early Modern Scottish Letters and Law-Courts”. (PhD thesis.) Glasgow: University of Glasgow.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Levinson, Stephen C.
    2013 “Action Formation and Ascription”. InJack Sidnell and Tanya Stivers (eds), The Handbook of Conversation Analysis, –. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Limberg, Holger
    2008 “Threats in Conflict Talk: Impoliteness and Manipulation”. InDerek Bousfield and Miriam A. Locher (eds), Impoliteness in Language: Studies on Its Interplay with Power in Theory and Practice, –. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110208344.3.155
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110208344.3.155 [Google Scholar]
  30. McCracken, Donal P.
    2021You Will Dye at Midnight: Threatening Letters in Victorian Ireland. Dublin: Eastwood.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. McEnery, Anthony and Zhonghua Xiao
    2004 “Swearing in Modern British English: The Case of ‘Fuck’ in the BNC”. Language and Literature (): –. 10.1177/0963947004044873
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947004044873 [Google Scholar]
  32. Muschalik, Julia
    2018Threatening in English: A Mixed Method Approach. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.284
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.284 [Google Scholar]
  33. Nini, Andrea
    2017 “Register Variation in Malicious Forensic Texts”. International Journal of Speech, Language & the Law (): –. 10.1558/ijsll.30173
    https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.30173 [Google Scholar]
  34. oed online
    oed online. n.d. “threat, v.” Accessed3 March 2023at: https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/201153.
  35. oed online
    oed online. n.d. “threaten, v.” Accessed3 March 2023at: https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/201154.
  36. Pakkala-Weckström, Mari
    2008 “‘No botmeles bihestes’: Various Ways of Making Binding Promises in Middle English”. InAndreas H. Jucker and Irma Taavitsainen (eds), Speech Acts in the History of English, –. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.176.08pak
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.176.08pak [Google Scholar]
  37. Peters, Arne and Marije van Hattum
    2021 “Pseudonyms as Carriers of Contextualised Threat in 19th-century Irish English Threatening Notices”. English World-Wide (): –. 10.1075/eww.00059.pet
    https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.00059.pet [Google Scholar]
  38. Pulham, Carol
    1996 “Promises, Promises: Dorigen’s Dilemma Revisited”. The Chaucer Review: –.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Rudanko, Juhani
    2004 “‘I wol sterve’: Negotiating the Issue of a Lady’s Consent in Chaucer’s Poetry”. Journal of Historical Pragmatics (): –. 10.1075/jhp.5.1.07rud
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.5.1.07rud [Google Scholar]
  40. Schneider, Klaus P.
    2017 “Is that a Threat? Forms and Functions of Metapragmatic Terms in English Discourse”. AAA — Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. 2022 “Referring to Speech Acts in Communication: Exploring Meta Illocutionary Expressions in ICE Ireland”. Corpus Pragmatics: –. 10.1007/s41701‑022‑00123‑w
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s41701-022-00123-w [Google Scholar]
  42. Searle, John R.
    1976 “A Classification of Illocutionary Acts”. Language in Society (): –. 10.1017/S0047404500006837
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500006837 [Google Scholar]
  43. 2008 (1965) “What is a Speech Act?” InIan Hutchby (ed.), Methods in Language and Social Interaction, –. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Shoemaker, Robert
    2023a “Prosecuting Crime”. Accessed13 September 2024at: https://www.oldbaileyonline.org. (Version 9.0.)
  45. 2023b “Crimes Tried at the Old Bailey”. Accessed13 September 2024at: https://www.oldbaileyonline.org. (Version 9.0.)
  46. Taavitsainen, Irma and Andreas H. Jucker
    2007 “Speech Act Verbs and Speech Acts in the History of English”. InSusan M. Fitzmaurice and Irma Taavitsainen (eds), Methods in Historical Pragmatics, –. Berlin and New York: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110197822.107
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110197822.107 [Google Scholar]
  47. 2008 “Speech Acts Now and Then: Towards a Pragmatic History of English”. InAndreas H. Jucker and Irma Taavitsainen (eds), Speech Acts in the History of English, –. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.176.02taa
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.176.02taa [Google Scholar]
  48. Thompson, Edward P.
    2011 “The Crime of Anonymity”. InDouglas Hay, Peter Linebaugh, John G. Rule, Edward P. Thompson and Cal Winslow (eds), Albion’s Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth-Century England, –. London: Verso.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Tiersma, Peter M. and Lawrence M. Solan
    2012 “The Language of Crime”. InPeter M. Tiersma and Lawrence M. Solan (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law, –. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199572120.013.0025
    https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199572120.013.0025 [Google Scholar]
  50. Timmis, Ivor
    2020The Discourse of Desparation: Late 18th and Early 19th Century Letters by Paupers, Prisoners, and Rogues. New York: Routledge. 10.4324/9780429444920
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429444920 [Google Scholar]
  51. Unuabonah, Foluke O.
    2017 “‘Are You Saying …?’ Metapragmatic Comments in Nigerian Quasi-judicial Public Hearings”. Pragmatics (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Yamanaka, Nobuhiko
    1995 “On Indirect Threats”. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law (): –. 10.1007/BF01677089
    https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01677089 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jhp.23016.neu
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/jhp.23016.neu
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: letter ; impoliteness ; speech act ; threat ; commissives ; Old Bailey
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error