Linguistic conundrum

[Mornac]

Found this at Le Forum Catholique (you francophones really should make it a point to stop by and check it out. There’s always fresh info concerning the SSPX among other things).

 

It’s some Belgian charismatics at what seems to be a Mass (The caterwauling in the background is a modernistic Novus Ordo Gloria in the vernacular). Most of the yammering is just the typical charismatic platitudes (“Nothing is impossible with God brothers and sisters...You can ask anything of Him…He is there…He awaits you…Go to Him”). What I found peculiar is when they start yakkin’ in “tongues” they do it with a distinctive French accent (compared to what I’ve heard out of the mouths of native English speakers who have been struck with the same malady).

 

I’m no expert on glossolalia, but I’ve always been under the impression that it is some sort of “language of the soul” (someone please correct me here). If this is a language that people acquire spontaneously and only for the brief moment that they are “inspired” to speak it, shouldn’t they all be using it as native speakers? That is to say, if it is a language which is common to all who are “moved” to speak it, shouldn’t those people all speak it with a common dialect? In other words, why should anyone speak in tongues with an accent resulting from his own native language as though he learned to speak in tongues the same way a student learns to speak a foreign (human) language.

 

[Philomena]

My husband and I are linguists and that is the first thing that struck us about charismatics claiming to speak in tongues: They do not use any sounds foreign to their own native languages. Also they tend simply to repeat syllables (Shamala-shamala-shamala). No known human language functions that way. Speaking in tongues is described in Scripture, so it must genuinely be possible, but this is not what happens at the average charismatic prayer service. 

[Philomena]

Also disturbing is the fact that the spontaneous ability to speak in a foreign language is one sign of demonic possession. I wonder if these people fully realize what they are exposing themselves to. And if it is not the Holy Spirit that is inspiring them, then what are they calling down into themselves and into Catholic churches?

[jovan66102]

My husband and I are linguists and that is the first thing that struck us about charismatics claiming to speak in tongues: They do not use any sounds foreign to their own native languages. Also they tend simply to repeat syllables (Shamala-shamala-shamala). No known human language functions that way. Speaking in tongues is described in Scripture, so it must genuinely be possible, but this is not what happens at the average charismatic prayer service. 

 

My understanding, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that the speaking in tongues referenced in Scripture is a miraculous continuation of Pentecost. That is, that certain persons were given a gift by the Holy Ghost to speak in a foreign tongue not known to them naturally, as the Apostles did on Whitsunday.

[Philomena]

My husband and I are linguists and that is the first thing that struck us about charismatics claiming to speak in tongues: They do not use any sounds foreign to their own native languages. Also they tend simply to repeat syllables (Shamala-shamala-shamala). No known human language functions that way. Speaking in tongues is described in Scripture, so it must genuinely be possible, but this is not what happens at the average charismatic prayer service. 

 

My understanding, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that the speaking in tongues referenced in Scripture is a miraculous continuation of Pentecost. That is, that certain persons were given a gift by the Holy Ghost to speak in a foreign tongue not known to them naturally, as the Apostles did on Whitsunday.

That is my understanding too. Charismatic Catholics seem to think that speaking in tongues is a gift of the Spirit that can be given to anyone at any time. I know that the Church has given some sort of approval to the charismatic movement, but does anyone know if this particular belief is supported by the Church?

[GrumpyTroll]

I remember watching that documentary, simultaneously embarrassed and worried that the French who see the footage think that the charismatic movement is Catholicism. Those people look like they need straitjackets and a traditional Latin Mass (for November, perhaps?).

[Viator]

The gift of speaking in tongues mentioned in Scripture was given to diciples to teach the Gospel to people in languages that they had never learned before. It was given to break a language barrier and make the truth known. They were not speaking in some mysterious language from outer space that nobody understood. And this gift was not/is not given just as some mere form of entertainment.

[Vincentius]

Stripped down to its very essence, the glossolalia is a supernatural gift.  It is given "gratiae gratis datae, designed to aid in the outer development of the primitive Church."  Nobody nowadays possesses or is entitled to possess a supernatural gift which can come only from God.  

Speaking in tongues must be intelligible and articulate.  The so-called speaking tongues by "charistmatics" are gibberish.  I can't imagine that something like that can come from God.  Then from whence?  I haven't been to a formal charistmatic meeting but have been invited to attend many times.  At one informal gathering among some friends I blurted out a few short sentences from an obscure polynesian language (I speak three of them fluently) and wow (!) I was speaking in tongues.  There was kind of awe over me when I looked at their faces and felt "superior" to them -- gosh, I didn't have to roll on the floor, moan or have gassy eyes.  I appeared "sane" when I spoke.

[AMDG]

My understanding is that the gift of tongues is a grace given through which the words spoken in a specific language are understood by people  who do not speak that  particular language.

Apart from the Apostles, and closer to us, St Vincent Ferrer also spoke in tongues.

This gift is divine, full of dignity, and has no relation to charismatic foolishness.
 

[AMDG]

Found this at Le Forum Catholique (you francophones really should make it a point to stop by and check it out. There’s always fresh info concerning the SSPX among other things).

The people at Le Forum Catholique just love to rip into the SSPX.  Ungrateful lot.