sum : speaking in tongues this is a summary of my query on speaking in tongues of a month back . i posted three queries on various matters about simultaneously , and this was by far the one which generated most correspondence ! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - the original query : dear all , has anyone studied or systematically recorded what people actually produce when they " speak in tongues " - - at revival meetings and such occasions ? a friend of mine noted that the sounds produced tend to sound remarkably alike each other . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - short answer : in addition to various studies and papers there seems to be or to have been two major researchers in the area : felicitas goodman , and william samarin ; goodman using an anthropological method and samarin a linguistic one . they both published in the seventies . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - thanks to all who responded with comments , notes , references : rich alderson , keith allan , jeffrey howard allen , jose r . alvarez , susan burt , steve chandler , linda coleman , ellen contini - morava , alan davies , patricia donegan , brian drayton , sheila embleton , anthea f gupta , jacques guy , stephen helmreich , wayne leman , wenchao li , mark mitton , david l . moore , tim pulju , j . a . rea , malcolm ross , dale russell , deborah sweeney , shana walton , and some who preferred not to be named . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - list of references : i received the following references , most of which i have not yet dug out . goodman , felicitas ( 1969 ) . phonetic analysis of glossolalia in four cultural settings . journal for the scientific study of religion ( : 227-239 . goodman , felicitas ( 1972 ) . speaking in tongues . a cross - cultural study of glossolalia . the university of chicago press . samarin , william ( 1972a ) . tongues of men and angels . the religious language of pentecostalism . the macmillan company . samarin , william ( 1972b ) . variation and variables in religious glossolalia . language in society 1 : 121-130 . samarin , william ( 1973 ) . glossolalia as regressive speech . language and speech 16 : 77-89 . samarin , william ( 1974 ) . review of goodman ( 1972 ) . language 5 : 207-213 . malony h . n . & lovekin a . a . 1985 . glossolalia , new york , oxford university press . dilia flores . analisis y comparacian de hablas sagradas en tres formas de trance - posesian : un estudio en etnografia de la comunicacion . universidad del zulia , 1987 . a study of glossolalia and related phenomena in maracaibo , venezuela . _ tongue speaking _ , morton kelsey ( new york : crossroad , 1981 ) . _ they speak with other tongues _ , by john l . sherrill ( westwood , new jersey : fleming h . revell , 1964 ) , a popular treatment . _ the pentecostal movement in the catholic church _ by edward d . o'connor ( notre dame , indiana : ave maria press , 1971 ) claims cases of xenolalia ( speaking in an unlearned , existing language ) . and a recommendation to perform a library search for donald clarence laycock which might uncover a few things on glossolalia . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - fuller information , from the replies sent to me : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - basically , the finding was that the native language of the speaker was a pretty good predictor of the kinds of sounds that would occur in glossolalia ; one general pattern was that sounds perceived as generally marking " foreign " speech ( whatever that may mean ) would occur , while sounds perceived as typical of the native language would not . thus , for american english speakers , / r / would be rendered as the alveolar trill , never as the american retroflex ; on the other hand , these speakers would not include the low front vowel in their glossolalia , / ae / - as-digraph , because that 's perceived as a typically " american " sound for some reason . on the other hand , truly exotic sounds - - those not typical of the native language , but that do n't happen to be familiar to speakers of the language - - would tend not to occur : american english speakers do n't produce clicks in their glossolalia . and yes , the inventory of sounds is very simple and the sequence is repetitive . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - as a former church-goer myself who believed i had the ability to speak in tongues , i used to wonder a lot about the repetitive ( and ' primitive ' ? ) nature of the sounds that i produced and heard from others around , and also at the way people within a particular church tended to sound like one another ( but slightly different from people attending a different church ) . . . a case of unconscious ' copying ' ? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - i was told by one observer that i keep my british accent when i sing in tongues ; other people tell me this is not so . to my own ears , the sounds i produce are not like any language i know but they do occur in recurring patterns . i think they have predominantly l 's , s 's and vowels . the most articulate ( as distinct from hagiographic ) evaluation i received was that there are two continental charismatic traditions - a french one concentrating on melodious spontaneous song and a german / english one concentrating on speech . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - i wanted to share my own experience : an old quaker minister ( from a very old-fashioned meeting which had come under the influence of pentecostalism ) came on a religious visit to our area and spent the night at our house . during a period of prayer in my living room , he spoke in tongues . i had never heard such a thing before , except in imitation , and i was impressed by the monotony of it . i can't make this machine do a phonetic transcription , but it was ( in a very quiet sing-song ) something like / ' a : ' tikari ' ka : ' tika ti ' ka : ti ' ka : / and then repeated ( the ' = primary stress ) . the shakers , a dying sect here known for their ecstatic group dancing and singing , incorporated " tongues " into many of their songs , in stylized form , and there were relatively few syllables used there as well - - ba , lo , ta , ti , ka , la and a few others . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - for a short answer , dredged out of my memory ( i wrote my undergraduate honors paper on this topic in 1973 ! ) : glossolalia is not a language , of course - - its users seem to latch onto and them repeat sounds that sound foreign to them , and intersperse the name jesus in between the sounds - - at least this was the case with glosslalia produced by american english speakers that i heard . jesus was pronounced , as i recall , as in english . many glossolalia users , however , think that they are speaking another human language , and will eagerly press this point to the visiting linguist , anthropologist or undergraduate . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - some years ago as an undergraduate , i memorized the first eleven lines to beowulf . occasionally i recited them to people ( i still do ) . once i recited them to a friend from alabama , and she told me that if i did that back where she came from , folks would say i was speaking in tongues . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - anecdotally , when i was an undergrad , one of my professors mentioned having seen a study or two on glossolalia . the studies indicated that the phoneme inventory was always quite small , smaller than that found in practically any natural language . maybe even smaller than the hawaiian inventory of thirteen phonemes , although my professor did n't go into details . my professor was a fundamentalist christian herself as well as an excellent linguist . she did believe that glossolalia was , at least in some cases , an inspired state and that people in that state were often speaking genuine languages . however , they were n't natural human languages . my professor pointed out that there was no reason to assume that they would be natural human languages , that people could speak in heavenly tongues which are meaningless to those on earth but which do have meaning , even if earthly people can't understand them . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - regards , and thanks j jussi karlgren jussi . karlgren @ sics . se sw inst of comp sc ( sics ) spr } kteknologi / natural language processing box 1263 , 164 28 kista ph + 46 8 752 15 00 , fax + 46 8 751 72 30 stockholm , sweden http : / / sics . se / ~ jussi / jussi-karlgren . html