Speaking in tongues

People speaking in tongues and in Portuguese during a Christian event in Brazil

Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehensible meaning. In some cases, as part of religious practice, some believe it to be a divine language unknown to the speaker.^[1] Glossolalia is practiced in Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity,^[2]^[3] as well as in other religions.^[4]

Sometimes a distinction is made between "glossolalia" and "xenolalia", or "xenoglossy", which specifically relates to the belief that the language being spoken is a natural language previously unknown to the speaker.^[5]^{[failed verification]}^[6]

^ Colman, Andrew M., ed. (2009). "Glossolalia". A Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford University Press. p. 319. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
^ Lum, Kathryn Gin; Harvey, Paul (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Race in American History. Oxford University Press. p. 801. ISBN 978-0190856892. ... would prove influential on the development of black Pentecostalism in the early twentieth century, as glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, would be understood as a third work of grace following Holiness and receipt of the Holy Spirit.
^ The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 1999. p. 415. ISBN 978-9004116955. While in Houston, Texas, where he had moved his headquarters, Parham came into contact with William Seymour (1870–1922), an African-American Baptist-Holiness preacher. Seymour took from Parham the teaching that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the blessing of sanctification but rather a third work of grace that was accompanied by the experience of tongues
^ Whelan, Christal (2007). "Shifting Paradigms and Mediating Media: Redefining a New Religion as "Rational" in Contemporary Society". Nova Religio. 10 (3): 54–72. doi:10.1525/nr.2007.10.3.54. Archived from the original on 19 March 2025.
^ Cheryl Bridges Johns and Frank Macchia, "Glossolalia", The Encyclopedia of Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI; Leiden, Netherlands: Wm. B. Eerdmans; Brill, 1999–2003), 413.
^ Esler, Philip Francis (2002). The First Christians in Their Social Worlds: Social-scientific Approaches to New Testament Interpretation. Routledge. p. 49. ISBN 9781134833818.

[DictPsych-1] Colman, Andrew M., ed. (2009). "Glossolalia". A Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford University Press. p. 319. Retrieved 5 August 2011.

[LumHarvey2018-2] Lum, Kathryn Gin; Harvey, Paul (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Race in American History. Oxford University Press. p. 801. ISBN 978-0190856892. ... would prove influential on the development of black Pentecostalism in the early twentieth century, as glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, would be understood as a third work of grace following Holiness and receipt of the Holy Spirit.

[FahlbuschBromiley1999-3] The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 1999. p. 415. ISBN 978-9004116955. While in Houston, Texas, where he had moved his headquarters, Parham came into contact with William Seymour (1870–1922), an African-American Baptist-Holiness preacher. Seymour took from Parham the teaching that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the blessing of sanctification but rather a third work of grace that was accompanied by the experience of tongues

[Shifting_Paradigms_and_Mediating_Me-4] Whelan, Christal (2007). "Shifting Paradigms and Mediating Media: Redefining a New Religion as "Rational" in Contemporary Society". Nova Religio. 10 (3): 54–72. doi:10.1525/nr.2007.10.3.54. Archived from the original on 19 March 2025.

[5] Cheryl Bridges Johns and Frank Macchia, "Glossolalia", The Encyclopedia of Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI; Leiden, Netherlands: Wm. B. Eerdmans; Brill, 1999–2003), 413.

[6] Esler, Philip Francis (2002). The First Christians in Their Social Worlds: Social-scientific Approaches to New Testament Interpretation. Routledge. p. 49. ISBN 9781134833818.

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