Wisdom Quarterly edit of Xenoglossy
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| Red hall Torii line at Fushimi Inari taisha sanctuary, Kyoto, Japan (Alex_Saurel/flickr.com) |
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| Reclining Buddha (traveladventures.org) |
Xenoglossy, also written xenoglossia, is the putative paranormal phenomenon in which a person is able to speak and/or write a language he or she could not have acquired by natural means.
For example, there may be a person who suddenly speaks German fluently -- but is not a native speaker, has never studied German, never been to a German-speaking country, and never associated with German speakers or had any other source of exposure to the German language. S/he would be said to be exhibiting xenoglossy.
The existence of this phenomenon, which may arise spontaneously or more likely during a hypnotic past life regression session, is not generally accepted by linguists and psychologists (Samarin 1976, Thomason 1984, 1987, 1996). It would be proof too robust for skeptics to overcome, so denial of its existence is an easier position to hold.
However, psychiatrist and paranormal researcher Ian Stevenson documented several cases considered authentic (Stevenson, 2001). The term derives from Greek (xenos), "foreigner" and (glōssa), "tongue" or "language." More
- xenoglossy (Wiktionary)
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