dotplot: character size of labels

Dear R users,

using dotplot (R1.2.0, WinNT4.0), I am trying to change the character size
of the labels of the points:

# example
data(VADeaths)
dotplot(VADeaths, main = "Death Rates in Virginia - 1940")
# I'd like to have smaller character size of the labels (for age and

population groups)

?dotplot
# for argument "cex", this says: "Setting cex to a value smaller than one

can be a useful way of avoiding label overlap."

dotplot(VADeaths, main = "Death Rates in Virginia - 1940", cex = 0.5)
# the main title and the plotting characters are smaller now, but not the

labels

# trying to set other graphics parameters seems to have no effect:
dotplot(VADeaths, main = "Death Rates in Virginia - 1940", cex.axis = 0.5)
dotplot(VADeaths, main = "Death Rates in Virginia - 1940", cex.lab = 0.5)

I'd be grateful for any hint how to do this correctly;

Dear R users,

using dotplot (R1.2.0, WinNT4.0), I am trying to change the character size
of the labels of the points:

# example
data(VADeaths)
dotplot(VADeaths, main = "Death Rates in Virginia - 1940")
# I'd like to have smaller character size of the labels (for age and

population groups)

?dotplot
# for argument "cex", this says: "Setting cex to a value smaller than one

can be a useful way of avoiding label overlap."

dotplot(VADeaths, main = "Death Rates in Virginia - 1940", cex = 0.5)
# the main title and the plotting characters are smaller now, but not the

labels

# trying to set other graphics parameters seems to have no effect:
dotplot(VADeaths, main = "Death Rates in Virginia - 1940", cex.axis = 0.5)
dotplot(VADeaths, main = "Death Rates in Virginia - 1940", cex.lab = 0.5)

I'd be grateful for any hint how to do this correctly;