Xenoglossy: a paranormal or supernatural phenomena where a person or a group of people speak or write in a language entirely unknown to them.
Many people have never heard of this term. But you have seen or read it in popular culture. In the Bible in the Book of Acts on the day of Pentacost “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
This is an example of Xenoglossy.
There are accounts of people waking up from a coma and speaking a foreign language. Skeptics are quick to debunk such claims because the person speaking is not fluent in that particular language. The speak in fragmented sentences, but it is still a known language, just not to the speaker.
Honorable Mention: Are you kidding. This is the letter X. Slim pickings here.
Tomorrow: Yaweh.
Question: Do you think it’s possible to speak in a a completely unknown language?
Excellent post, never heard of the word before, but it's good to learn something.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
You're right, I've never heard of the word, but have seen examples of the phenomenon in much media :) Thanks for giving me something to call it.
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
Hi Stephen - I've never heard of Xenoglossy .. but I do know of people waking up after an accident and being able to speak another language - maybe even part of one ... it's be a good character to create ... though mirror language is bad enough, and encryption even worse .. so I don't think it'd be possible for a stranger to speak in a foreign language. I certainly couldn't - bad enough in my own language!! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteSpeaking in Tongues - it's real.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be cool to suddenly speak in a language unknown to me.
ReplyDeleteHello there.
ReplyDeleteLike the others, I've never heard of the word, but I'm very familiar with the speaking in tongues you mention in the Bible. It was at Pentecost 33 C.E. Roughly 120 disciples were gathered in an upper room and were granted the gift of holy spirit so they could speak about "the magnificent things of God" in the native languages of not only the Jews but also proselytes who had come from Jerusalem and other far away places for the festival. As a result, about 3,000 people got baptized on that day (Acts 1:8, 13-15; 2:1-47). This was in fulfillment of Joel's prophecy proving that God was using the new Christian congregation established by his son Jesus and no longer the former Jewish congregation that rejected Him and His son. Modern-day speaking in tongues is quite different than the gift of holy spirit given to Jesus' apostles. This ability to speak in tongues ended with the death of the apostles (1 Corinthians 13:8). It is very fair to say then that anyone who has the ability to speak in tongues today must have some demonic influence!
Speaking backward in latin? Could it be The Exorcist? I remember in the book, the little girl speaks English backwards and Latin as well. Great X-word.
ReplyDeleteLove the word! I'll have to note it for next year so I can steal it....I mean recycle it.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in a Southern Baptist Church, I saw a lot of "speaking in tongues", especially during revival time, but it was only a show to frighten little kids into believing. But, I do believe it is possible in other circumstances and maybe sometimes in religious circumstances (just none that I ever saw).
ReplyDeleteI just learned a new word! This is very cool.
ReplyDeleteif you believe in rebirth then you will hear of cases where people start talking in a languages never taught to them
ReplyDeleteAh yeah, I do believe it's possible. I think my parents were aliens because I rarely understood anything they said. Great word.
ReplyDeleteI dream of having that happen to me. I'd love to open my mouth and have a language I don't know pour out!
ReplyDeleteThat is a fabulous word! I wonder if the movie you mentioned might be Stigmata with Patricia Arquette as the lead? I remember she wrote on the wall in Latin, but I can't remember if she spoke it. I think the phenomena is fascinating, and totally possible. I might even use it in future stories myself...
ReplyDeleteI really had to bend my spelling to get to X today.
ReplyDelete--
Tim Brannan, The Other Side Blog
2015 A to Z of Vampires
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/
I've actually experienced xenoglossy! It happened when my past life dreams returned shortly after I turned fifteen, and I was able to relate them back to the nightly nightmares I'd had at age three. In the dreams, I spoke and understood fluent German. Other dreams were in Dutch and Polish. In that dreaming state, I instinctively understood those languages I'm not fluent in when I'm in the waking state. Over time, I became less and less aware of the xenoglossy, and was just dreaming, not aware the dreams were in a language not my own in this lifetime.
ReplyDeleteI think it is real. There have been documented cases that i have read about and seen it on TV. In fact, in my dreams, I have spoken French and German fluently. I can't speak a lick of French even though I took it in school and I speak broken German. I almost think that we may not speak it fluent but our minds have taken in the language and stored it. We may then tap into that part of the brain when it is activated
ReplyDeleteI have certainly heard about it but have no idea if it really happens. The brain is a mysterious thing though.
ReplyDeleteI just watched the movie, The Rite, and they used the example of speaking in an unknown language as proof of demonic possession.
ReplyDeleteLearned a new word today,Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI believe in the movie Exorcist, Linda Blair's character speaks in Latin backwards.
Yes, I do believe that a person can speak in an unknown language and I do believe in the act of "speaking in tongues" - I have witnessed it and felt the power that accompanies it.
ReplyDeleteI have experienced it also didn't know it had a name though.
ReplyDeleteHope you have enjoyed the A to Z Challenge
Moondustwriter
I had never heard the word, but I had heard of the phenomenon. Interesting stuff.
ReplyDeleteLiz A. from Laws of Gravity
I don't know. I know when I worked for doctors years ago and a patient had a stroke; when he got his language back he used cuss words a lot which he hadn't done before the stroke. The doctor said that tends to happen with stroke patients (but of course I can't remember why now). Anything is possible I guess!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your Y tomorrow.
betty
Interesting! I hadn't heard of this word. Love your Honorable Mention, BTW.
ReplyDeleteYvonne
This is a great word. Sometimes I thing I must be speaking a different language when I talk to my kids. LOL.
ReplyDeleteThat's a new word to me! Interesting phenomenon. I never really "bought" the speaking in tongues gibberish you hear in charismatic churches. I'd believe waking up from a coma speaking a different language more believable. Past life, sort of thing. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSure, why not. Anything is possible. But, if the Husband or the Mama suddenly talked in a language they never heard before, I would most definitely be freaked out.
ReplyDeleteThe View from the Top of the Ladder
Take 25 to Hollister
Wow - where did you find this word? Very interesting. I'm not sure about someone speaking in an unfamiliar language unless perhaps they heard it as a young.
ReplyDeleteWow - where did you find this word? Very interesting. I'm not sure about someone speaking in an unfamiliar language unless perhaps they heard it as a young.
ReplyDeleteNever heard "speaking in tongues" called by this term but it makes sense that there would be a name for it.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
I've heard os speaking tongues. It figures there's a fancy word for it. I like the fancy term better. We need more x words in use.
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