LINGUIST List 7.880

Wed Jun 12 1996

Disc: Language in dreams

Editor for this issue: T. Daniel Seely <dseelyemunix.emich.edu>

Directory

1. Marina Yaguello, disc. language in dreams

I've been following the discussion for a while and i am amazed that no one
has mentioned such well documented phenomena as glossolalia and
xenoglossia. These occur in "altered states of consciousness",frequently
under hypnosis, and also in dreams. There is a fabulous book by a Swiss
psychiatrist, Theodore Flournoy, who was a contemporary of Freud and
actually a great friend of Ferdinand de Saussure. He studied a
woman-medium, who spoke "martian" and sanscrit among other languages. The
book is called "From India to the planet Mars" and was originally published
in French in Geneva (1899) but I know for certain that there is an English
translation. It is well worth looking into.
Marina Yaguello
Professor of linguistics
University Paris 7-Denis Diderot

Marina Yaguello