Xenoglossy

Christianity

The phenomenon appears in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 2 at Pentecost, where the first disciples of Jesus Christ, numbering one hundred and twenty, experienced tongues of fire and were able to express themselves in languages other than Galilean. Similar miraculous accounts of reading, writing, speaking, or understanding foreign languages appear in medieval Christian narratives and were also claimed by some Pentecostal theologians in 1901.

Spiritualism

Spiritualists in the 19th century claimed that mediums could speak foreign languages. More recent claims have come from reincarnation researchers who alleged that individuals recalled a language from a past life. Reports have also surfaced in the popular press, such as Czech speedway rider Matěj Kůs, who supposedly awoke after a crash in September 2007 able to converse in perfect English, though this was based on anecdotal stories from teammates. Xenoglossy has also been claimed during exorcisms.

Notable claims

Canadian parapsychologist and psychiatrist Ian Stevenson claimed a handful of cases suggested evidence of xenoglossy, including two where a subject under hypnosis could allegedly converse with speakers of a foreign language rather than merely reciting words. In one case, Stevenson investigated an American housewife known as 'T. E' who exhibited the male personality of a Swedish farmer named 'Jensen Jacoby' under hypnosis; Stevenson reported she could converse in Swedish, though not fluently. Thomason found that 'Jensen' had a total vocabulary of about 100 words, gave no complex sentences, and mostly offered one- or two-word answers, concluding that the claim of Swedish-speaking ability was not convincing. Linguist William Samarin drew the same conclusion.

In another case, Stevenson investigated American woman Dolores Jay, who exhibited the personality of a German teenage girl named 'Gretchen' while hypnotized; he claimed she could converse in German. Thomason acknowledged the evidence against fraud was convincing but found that 'Gretchen' could not converse fluently, largely repeating German questions with different intonation or uttering one or two words, with minute vocabulary and spotty pronunciation. Dolores Jay had some prior exposure to German through TV programs and a German book. Samarin argued that Stevenson interacted with linguists selectively and unprofessionally, noting that Stevenson corresponded with one linguist for six years without raising necessary linguistic discussions and that most of his collaborators were fellow believers in the paranormal.

Did You Know?

• Most cases of recitative xenoglossy have been interpreted as instances of cryptomnesia, where memories of a language acquired earlier in life re-enter consciousness in exceptional circumstances.
• Two types of xenoglossy are distinguished: recitative xenoglossy and responsive xenoglossy.