Sleeptalking

[shijing]

There's something I wanted to describe and ask about, that I had forgotten about until recently when I was reminded of this:

About five years ago, my daughter was sleeping with us in our room (we had just moved and she wasn't used to her own room yet), and one night my wife woke me up because she was talking in her sleep. It was notable because she hadn't really ever done that before, but what was really weird was that it was in what seemed to be a language that we didn't recognize. I was half-asleep, and it only lasted a couple minutes, but I remember noticing that it seemed to have structure -- stress patterns, word boundaries, and so forth. I unfortunately didn't write anything down in this instance.

Then, two years ago, we were on a trip and my daughter was sleeping in the same room with us again, and we both woke up when she started talking in her sleep again in what seemed to be the same language. I was more awake this time, and tried to take some notes (which I can't find right now) -- what I remember is that it had a pretty simple vowel inventory (maybe five vowels), and I think that it had lateral affricates, which don't exist in either of her native languages. Both times when she woke up, she didn't remember anything about this.

Anyway, I don't know what to think about this, but am wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience of any kind or has any thoughts. I'm not aware of anything similar happening since then, but my daughter sleeps in her own room, so if it did, I probably wouldn't know.

 

[Laurentien2]

I use to scare my brother at night when we were kids and sharing the same bedroom. Often I talked in a foreign language, it lasted trough teenager. My wife never commented on it, I suppose that it went away sometime in my past.

 

[Laura]

I've talked in different languages in my sleep. The last time was just a couple years ago. I was deep in Hittite studies and had a dream about being in Hittite land thousands of years ago. I was in a room with a number of women and there were Hittite soldiers coming. I was giving instructions to all the woman as to what to do, warnings, etc. I was rather excited, apparently, and was calling out to them in my sleep and woke Ark up. He then woke me up. For an instant, I was thinking in this language and could understand everything about it, but it passed as I came to full consciousness.

 

[brainwave]

Like you, I've once heard my daughter make "noises" in her sleep that to me sounded to me like she was having a conversation but not in any language I knew of. It was when she slept in my room. Even though I was curious I didn't want to wake her up while it was happening. As you can expect in the morning when I mentioned it she did not believe me. I told her I would record it next time it happens when I'm around. I just haven't had a chance to do so since like your daughter she normally sleeps in her own room. I've chalked it up to an odd occurrence I had a chance to witness. It's interesting to learn that others have observed something similar.

brainwave

 

[Mountain Crown]

My mother is Italian and my American father was also fluent in Italian. They decided not to raise their children as bilingual yet I was told that my brother and I conversed in Italian while we were soundly asleep!

 

[Ellipse]

When I was a child I was regularly told I was talking in a foreign and incomprehensible language during sleep so I have always assume it was only garbage and common for other children. Shijing, perhaps you can buy a Dictaphone with an automatic recording option.

My mother is Italian and my American father was also fluent in Italian. They decided not to raise their children as bilingual yet I was told that my brother and I conversed in Italian while we were soundly asleep!

Make me think of an article stating our brain is partially wired to handle our parent tongue at bird. So it can perhaps explain.

 

[shijing]

Thanks everyone for your feedback --

I use to scare my brother at night when we were kids and sharing the same bedroom. Often I talked in a foreign language, it lasted trough teenager. My wife never commented on it, I suppose that it went away sometime in my past.

Like you, I've once heard my daughter make "noises" in her sleep that to me sounded to me like she was having a conversation but not in any language I knew of. It was when she slept in my room. Even though I was curious I didn't want to wake her up while it was happening. As you can expect in the morning when I mentioned it she did not believe me. I told her I would record it next time it happens when I'm around. I just haven't had a chance to do so since like your daughter she normally sleeps in her own room. I've chalked it up to an odd occurrence I had a chance to witness. It's interesting to learn that others have observed something similar.

When I was a child I was regularly told I was talking in a foreign and incomprehensible language during sleep so I have always assume it was only garbage and common for other children.

So it's nice to know this isn't an isolated incident -- I have no idea what it means, but it's apparently more common than I'd thought...

My mother is Italian and my American father was also fluent in Italian. They decided not to raise their children as bilingual yet I was told that my brother and I conversed in Italian while we were soundly asleep!

This is a bit different since you were able to identify the language -- that's pretty interesting. Did this happen often, or go on for very long?

Shijing, perhaps you can buy a Dictaphone with an automatic recording option.

Maybe not a bad idea, and thanks for the suggestion! I'll look into it and see what I can come up with.

I've talked in different languages in my sleep. The last time was just a couple years ago. I was deep in Hittite studies and had a dream about being in Hittite land thousands of years ago. I was in a room with a number of women and there were Hittite soldiers coming. I was giving instructions to all the woman as to what to do, warnings, etc. I was rather excited, apparently, and was calling out to them in my sleep and woke Ark up. He then woke me up. For an instant, I was thinking in this language and could understand everything about it, but it passed as I came to full consciousness.

How did you know it was Hittite (outside of what the dream was about)? Did you just intuit it, or was there anything about what you remembered or that Ark heard that provided any confirmation? That would have been pretty cool to record, seeing how Hittite is a dead language!

 

[Laura]

I've talked in different languages in my sleep. The last time was just a couple years ago. I was deep in Hittite studies and had a dream about being in Hittite land thousands of years ago. I was in a room with a number of women and there were Hittite soldiers coming. I was giving instructions to all the woman as to what to do, warnings, etc. I was rather excited, apparently, and was calling out to them in my sleep and woke Ark up. He then woke me up. For an instant, I was thinking in this language and could understand everything about it, but it passed as I came to full consciousness.

How did you know it was Hittite (outside of what the dream was about)? Did you just intuit it, or was there anything about what you remembered or that Ark heard that provided any confirmation? That would have been pretty cool to record, seeing how Hittite is a dead language!

Well, Ark definitely heard me calling out in an unfamiliar language - and he speaks five and has been exposed to many others and recognizes them. What I "knew" was that it was the language of the Hittites because I also knew that I was NOT a Hittite though I was there, sort of a captive, and that I spoke their language. You know, it's like you know all kinds of stuff about yourself that is just there in your head and I had access to that for a few, brief moments. When it passed, it left me feeling extremely disoriented.

 

[Omega]

That is pretty interesting. And anyone would suggest an idea as to how we can know another language without having been exposed to it in this life. As for Hittite, its very puzzling since you might have studied it but hearing it and speaking it like it was back in the days its a different story. Memories of past lives engraved in the soul which makes that sort of flash back possible while dreaming ? And if I refer to Laura's work and possibility that many civilisations existed before us, could someone speak Antlantean in a dream and it be the actual and accurate language used back then. Fascinating.

I'm not too saavy in terms of subconscious mind or the deeper mechanic of the mind but would just like your imput or your two cent as to where such a hidden knowledge can come from. I know I'm going in many directions here, let me know if already covered in other sections of the forum.

Cheers,

 

[Jacques]

I know I'm going in many directions here, let me know if already covered in other sections of the forum.

Cheers,

Best way to know it is to use the search function of the forum. ;)

 

[agni]

Hi Shijing,

I do that.

http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=4886.0

It still happens sometime. I catch myself continuing talking while becoming awake from time to time, with quickly fading away fragments of memory of some kind of alternative world. It's a weird feeling of being on a crust of waking up here, while still being "out there" at the same time.

 

[Buddy]

[...]
Memories of past lives engraved in the soul which makes that sort of flash back possible while dreaming ? And if I refer to Laura's work and possibility that many civilisations existed before us, could someone speak Antlantean in a dream and it be the actual and accurate language used back then. Fascinating.

I'm not too saavy in terms of subconscious mind or the deeper mechanic of the mind but would just like your imput or your two cent as to where such a hidden knowledge can come from. I know I'm going in many directions here, let me know if already covered in other sections of the forum.

Cheers,

Without knowing a better answer, I tend to point to Rupert Sheldrakes' work on morphogenesis fields to offer a possible answer to these kinds of questions. Essentially, it would be like how the act of learning to ride a bicycle for the first time is made easier because many, many people have previously learned how to do it. IOW, if some process existed before, it may still exist somewhere, perhaps in the 'fields' mentioned, and maybe a person can consciously or unconsciously 'tune' into it temporarily or longer to ease one's on struggle to learn or to 'own' the knowledge?

"Easier" might not be the most correct term, though. If this is a possibility, then it seems to me that the point would Not be an 'easier' learning, but a 'quicker' learning, as one might have an intuitive sense or feel for what would be a mistake and what would be correct action.

I experienced a similar sleeptalking phenomena back when I was studying the Spanish and German languages. Spanish due to my extended family being Latino-Americano and German as it relates to my ancestry. As I lightly slept one night, I merged into actually thinking in the language I was studying and talking a bit of it in my sleep. The reason I'm aware I did it is because it woke me up (I was sleeping lightly). Before the memory of the dream faded, the act of sleeptalking made sense because I recalled how deeply I was interested in the consciousness frameworks, or thinking process, of the languages as well as how the language 'sounds' .

Just my 2 cents. :)

 

[Bregalad]

I also have seen this happen. One night when I was a teenager I stayed the night at a friends house. I woke up once and heard him speaking in a very strange language, not mumbling but pronouncing words very distinctly. Much as you describe with stress patterns and the like. I was fully awake and listened for several minutes to what appeared to be a full conversation. Sometimes there would be a pause for a few seconds then he would say a few more words then pause again and so on.

My friend had had a French course in school previously but what he was speaking that night was definitely not French. I told him about it the next day and I asked if he had any strange dreams or anything, he said he did not remember any. He was rather amazed that I heard him speak some strange language while he slept.

 

[Mountain Crown]

[quote author=Shijing]This is a bit different since you were able to identify the language -- that's pretty interesting. Did this happen often, or go on for very long?[/quote]

All I remember is that my mother mentioned it when I was young. She had asked us what was wrong and we replied that we were searching for our shoes under the bridge. All in Italian while asleep.