This study of this is called analyzing word patterns, wordprinting or stylometry. I was pleased to find a copy of john hiltons article, on verifying wordprint studies. Wordprint studies of the book of mormon fairmormon. If joseph smith wrote the book of mormon, we should be able to see his literary style across the entire book. In a recent article appearing in byu studies, wayne larsen, alvin rencher, and. Book of mormon authorship on the web, as printed in. The first was whether the wordprints of authors within the book of mormon differ. If he copied from someone, we should see that authors writing style likewise.
Book of mormon wordprint or word pattern studies parent page. It is the science of identifying authorship by measuring the words and phrases a. Of course, wordprint analysis, while it can measure certain facts objectively, cannot prove the holiness of the book of mormon. They show that it is statistically indefensible to propose a single author of the manuscript of the book of mormon. Hilton, on verifying wordprint studies, in book of mormon authorship revisited, 241. This chapter is reprinted by permission, with slight alteration for clarification. Pdf reassessing authorship of the book of mormon using delta. Hilton describes the young science of wordprinting, which is used to prove or disprove authorship, presenting its history, purposes, and development. Hilton is adjunct professor of statistics at brigham young university.
Book of mormon wordprints reexamined a look at the byu study. Fortunately the book of mormon is a nearideal document for such objective wordprint studies, provided the measurement is made correctly. They compared twentyfour book of mormon authors each having at least 1,000 words to each other, and concluded on the basis of three separate statistical tests. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. See hilton, on verifying wordprint studies, in book of mormon authorship revisited, 236. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1997, chapter 9. According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a. The authors of this book of mormon authorship article are three. Does joseph smiths role as translator obfuscate patterns unique to ancient authors. This study used a generalized discriminant analysis which is an extension of the linear discriminant analysis used in the larsen study. Can wordprinting show that different sections of the book of mormon were written by different authors.
The evidence for ancient origins, edited by noel b. The hilton wordprint study of the book of mormon mormanity. If the book of mormon was written by ancient authors, we should be able to see distinct writing styles among each different author. Find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate.
157 1535 612 894 849 920 1535 539 1025 1316 813 1412 1420 1567 1228 790 1520 94 1044 795 1274 727 1023 594 434 384 570 620 621 1360 257 557 1292 557 1008 3 109 236 1244 615 1096 862 1054