glossolalia (n.)

A term used by some LINGUISTS to refer to the phenomenon of ‘speaking in tongues’, as practised by members of various religious groups. From a SOCIOLINGUISTIC perspective, glossolalic speech has a unique function, acting as a sign of glossolalist belief or as evidence of conversion, but lacking conventional REFERENCE. Its formal linguistic STRUCTURE is quite unlike that of ordinary languages, being simpler and more repetitive (notwithstanding the claims made that the speaker is articulating a real but unknown language). The written equivalent is glossographia.