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From: mark@uf-csv.UUCP (mark fishman [fac])
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Kulawiec on Sargent on speaking in tongues
Message-ID: <145@uf-csv.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 3-Dec-84 22:46:30 EST
Article-I.D.: uf-csv.145
Posted: Mon Dec  3 22:46:30 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 7-Dec-84 00:44:42 EST
References: <231@pyuxd.UUCP> <1469@pucc-h>, <184@stat-l> <1489@pucc-h>, <191@stat-l>
Organization: Univ of Fla, Computer and Information Science
Lines: 23



Just a few vagrant obiter dicta, from a former linguistics doctoral student
(I've since reformed :-) )

     The phenomenon of glossalalia has, indeed, been studied, phonologically
and psycholinguistically, on several occasions.  The result?

     The morphophonemics of glossalalic utterances are (surprise! surprise!)
exactly those of the native language of the speaker.  IIn short, an English
speaker will produce phonetically and morphologically English nonsense, a
French speaker nonsense assembled from French phonemes and morphemes, and so
forth...  Now, that's not to say that some deific agency doesn't inspire each
separate glossalalic with his/her own "holy tongue," that just coincidentally
resembles a nonsense brew of the language structures s/he already knows, but it
sure do beggar Occam's razor...

---------
"Why, so can I, or so can any man.  But will they come when you do call them?"
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        Mark Fishman/U.Fla./CIS Dept.