Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. Knowledge of a language one has never learned.
- n. Glossolalia.
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek ξενογλωσσία (ksenoglōssia), from ξένος (ksenos, "foreign") and γλῶσσα (glōssa, "language"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“In other words, the subject very quickly learns to express itself by means of a true "xenoglossy," i.e. by means of a language that may be clear to other people although it probably is not understood by the animal or medium making use of it.”
“Of course, even after the development of this "xenoglossy," it is difficult either to admit or to refuse to admit some remainder of self-conscious co-operation by the animal in its "answers.”
“Well-documented reports of xenoglossy are rare, however, although Ian Stevenson has reviewed several cases.11”
“So if an entranced medium speaks responsively in a language she never learned—a phenomenon known as responsive xenoglossy—someone who did slowly acquire the skill must be speaking through her.”
“Responsive xenoglossy should count as evidence for survival.”
“religious fundamentalists responsive xenoglossy retrocognition”
“O, foolish bee! ") found in English textbooks for foreign learners; the drifting semantics of" refute ", which is increasingly used to mean" reject "or" deny "rather than" logically disprove "; gloof, spooce, gloof twain, spooce, gairk, the use of ShortTalk, unambiguous command phrases for voice-controlled dictation software; the linguistically dubious evidence for xenoglossy; and of course the perennial question of Inuit snow words.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘xenoglossy’.
-
Greek to me
Gordian knot, Proteus, sisyphean, eudemonia, glossolalia, hemorrhage, hamadryad, aphotic, tautogeneity, anthropomorphism, polygamy, polygyny and 37 more...
-
You Don't Say
Language disorders, disabilities, and unusual demonstrations.
aphasia, aphonia, dysarthria, glossolalia, paraphasia, alexia, polymicrogyria, logorrhea, stutter, spoonerism, agraphia, malapropism and 54 more...
-
Wordplayer's Wonderful Words
chaparral, grotesque, knork, newsmonger, thitherwards, fackeltanz, kakistocracy, sforzando, compendium, frump, inquere, phosphene and 100 more...
-
slackagogo's Words
agelast, aggiornamento, zaftig, wowserism, vox barbara, verbigeration, tchotchke, tautology, sycophant, spoonerism, solipsism, sobriquet and 288 more...
-
Verba Dilecta
delectable, notate, pauciloquy, paucity, pauciloquent, paucify, interscapilium, uropygium, inferna, nota, equipollent, prepollent and 677 more...
-
bintalshamsa's list
My Favorite Words
weltschmerz, perspicacity, idée fixe, invigilator, salubrious, tchotchke, ex nihilo, invidious, malapropism, naïve, sardonic, elide and 1402 more...
-
summer words 2009
how many words can I make mine this summer?
largess, hoyden, catholic, fornicatress, quean, slattern, bildungsroman, sybaritic, descresent, nodus, frittle, callipygian and 529 more...
-
curligirli0's Words
crapulous, swish, shiatsu, zen, xenoglossy, nincompoop, loquacious, pianissimo, onomatopoeia, imperturbable, silky, hosanas and 379 more...
-
misterspee's Words
prolepsis, cumin, nacreous, lucre, obstreperous, nibble, nubbin, kenosis, frangible, aposiopesis, synecdoche, persiflage and 144 more...
-
Ultrapow
A mighty myriad of Mister Mxyzptlk manifestation. This list leans towards one-word superpowers and occasionally the ridiculous.
Spin-off lists: Ultrafrow - absurd powers, Flossational...telepathy, psychometry, retrocognition, precognition, clairvoyance, mediumship, illusions, mind-control, mindblast, telekinesis, thermokinesis, quantokinesis and 142 more...
-
amberella's Words
facetious, behoove, akrasia, schadenfreude, halcyon, vapid, wanderlust, bluestocking, drazel, succinct, literati, geason and 116 more...
-
...:::bella:::...
originally started as an attempt to collect words I found visually and auditorially beautiful, as well as psychically evocative, this has become nothing more than a grab bag of word curiosities, a ...
bergamot, jambalaya, bee's knees, heliotrope, hosanna, gamboge, aureole, filial, madrigal, multilingual, sacrosanct, sojourn and 1072 more...
-
to be sorted
litter, palanquin, aver, catamite, phlox, pliant, modicum, poorthink, cow, decalogue, caveat, dais and 175 more...
-
wolfson's Words
cicisbeo, animadversion, drupe, callipygian, rhadamanthine, poetaster, philosophaster, grammaticaster, lacuna, infralapsarian, incunabula, logorrhea and 142 more...
-
rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3251 more...
-
jmjarmstrong's list
Words that I used to know.
geloscopy, hunker, willy nilly, harum scarum, whacko, meh, nork, misunderestimate, atrabiliousness, luftmensch, auxanometer, hyperhedonia and 1948 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for xenoglossy.
jmjarmstrong JM would be keen to hear of anyone with direct experience of xenoglossy. Feb 1, 2009
bilby Even drops cameos in the whiffy jacket pockets of Javanese mystics ;-) May 19, 2008
asativum John's everywhere, isn't he? May 19, 2008
bilby I've seen it done. I'm not quite sure what to believe. I know the person I witnessed cannot speak English well and yet he managed it under a trance, while supposedly possessed by an American called John.
Hmmm. May 19, 2008
whichbe The ability to speak a language without having learned it.
This sounds like a really neat trick if you can manage it.
However, a typical place to find this rare word is the Journal of Parapsychology. That’s because the ability is regarded as a psychic phenomenon. It might come about because a person has been regressed to a previous incarnation through hypnosis. Or a medium might be in communication with a spirit person who speaks another language. The OED dates its first appearance to 1914; it’s from Greek xenos, stranger or foreigner, plus glossa, language; another spelling is xenoglossia.
It sounds as if it’s related to speaking in tongues, which is regarded among Christian groups such as the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements as evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit (though the phenomenon is found in many religions and has been recorded from the earliest historical times); the formal term for that is glossolalia (the second half from Greek lalia, speech).
But from a language point of view the difference is profound: in xenoglossy the implication is that a real language is being spoken that is intelligible to native speakers and in which the person can converse, while glossolalia is a succession of meaningless syllables interpretable only through faith.
(from World Wide Words) May 18, 2008