Glossolalia

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Glossolalia (Gk., glossa, ‘tongue’, + lalia, ‘speaking’). ‘Speaking in tongues’, the phenomenon, common in many religions, of a person speaking in words or word-like sounds which form a language unknown to the speaker. Related phenomena are xenoglossolalia, speaking in a foreign language unknown to the speaker but known to the hearer; and heteroglossolalia, speaking in a language known to the speaker which the hearer hears in his/her own language.

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