Adamic language

The Adamic language is, according to

Jewish tradition (as recorded in the
midrashim) and some Christians, the
language spoken by Adam (and possibly
Eve) in the Garden of Eden. It is variously
interpreted as either the language used by
God to address Adam (the divine
language), or the language invented by
Adam with which he named all things
(including Eve), as in the second Genesis
creation myth (Genesis 2:19).

In the Middle Ages, various Jewish

commentators held that Adam spoke
Hebrew, a view also addressed in various
ways by the late medieval Italian poet
Dante Alighieri. In the early modern period,
some authors continued to discuss the
possibility of an Adamic language, some
continuing to hold to the idea that it was
Hebrew, while others such as John Locke
were more skeptical. More recently, a
variety of Mormon authors have expressed
various opinions about the nature of the
Adamic language.
Middle Ages
Traditional Jewish exegesis such as
Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 38) says that
Adam spoke the Hebrew language
because the names he gives Eve – Isha
(Book of Genesis 2:23) and Chava
(Genesis 3:20) – only make sense in
Hebrew. By contrast, Kabbalism assumed
an "eternal Torah" which was not identical
to the Torah written in Hebrew. Thus,
Abraham Abulafia in the 13th century
assumed that the language spoken in
Paradise had been different from Hebrew,
and rejected the claim then-current also
among Christian authors, that a child left
unexposed to linguistic stimulus would
automatically begin to speak in Hebrew.[1]

Umberto Eco (1993) notes that Genesis is

ambiguous on whether the language of
Adam was preserved by Adam's
descendants until the confusion of
tongues (Genesis 11:1–9), or if it began to
evolve naturally even before Babel
(Genesis 10:5).[2]

Dante Alighieri addresses the topic in his

De vulgari eloquentia (1302-1305). He
argues that the Adamic language is of
divine origin and therefore
unchangeable.[3] He also notes that
according to Genesis, the first speech act
is due to Eve, addressing the serpent, and
not to Adam.[4]

In his Divine Comedy (c. 1308-1320),

however, Dante changes his view to
another that treats the Adamic language
as the product of Adam.[5] This had the
consequence that it could no longer be
regarded as immutable, and hence Hebrew
could not be regarded as identical with the
language of Paradise. Dante concludes
(Paradiso XXVI) that Hebrew is a derivative
of the language of Adam. In particular, the
chief Hebrew name for God in scholastic
tradition, El, must be derived of a different
Adamic name for God, which Dante gives
as I.[6]

Early modern period

Proponents

This section needs additional citations for

verification.

Elizabethan scholar John Dee makes

references to an occult or angelic
language recorded in his private journals
and those of spirit medium Edward Kelley.
Dee's journals did not describe the
language as "Enochian", instead preferring
"Angelical", the "Celestial Speech", the
"Language of Angels", the "First Language
of God-Christ", the "Holy Language", or
"Adamical" because, according to Dee's
Angels, it was used by Adam in Paradise
to name all things. The language was later
dubbed Enochian, due to Dee's assertion
that the Biblical Patriarch Enoch had been
the last human (before Dee and Kelley) to
know the language.

Dutch physician, linguist, and humanist

Johannes Goropius Becanus (1519–1572)
theorized in Origines Antwerpianae (1569)
that Antwerpian Brabantic, spoken in the
region between the Scheldt and Meuse
Rivers, was the original language spoken
in Paradise. Goropius believed that the
most ancient language on Earth would be
the simplest language, and that the
simplest language would contain mostly
short words. Since Brabantic has a higher
number of short words than do Latin,
Greek, and Hebrew, Goropius reasoned
that it was the older language.[7] His work
influenced that of Simon Stevin (1548–
1620), who espoused similar ideas in
"Uytspraeck van de weerdicheyt der
Duytse tael", a chapter in De Beghinselen
Der Weeghconst (1586).

Opponents
By the 17th century, the existence and
nature of the alleged Adamic language
was commonly discussed amongst
European Jewish and Christian mystics
and primitive linguists.[8] Robert Boyle
(1627–1691) was skeptical that Hebrew
was the language best capable of
describing the nature of things, stating:

I could never find, that the

Hebrew names of animals,
mentioned in the beginning of
Genesis, argued a (much)
clearer insight into their
natures, than did the names of
 the same or some other animals
in Greek, or other languages
(1665:45).[8]

John Locke (1632–1704) expressed

similar skepticism in his An Essay
Concerning Human Understanding
(1690).[8]

Modern period

Latter Day Saint movement

Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day

Saint movement, in his revision of the
Bible, declared the Adamic language to
have been "pure and undefiled".[9] Some
Latter Day Saints believe it to be the
language of God.[10] Glossolalia, or
speaking in tongues, was commonplace in
the early years of the movement, and it
was commonly believed that the
incomprehensible language spoken during
these incidents was the language of
Adam. However, this belief seems to have
never been formally or officially
adopted.[11]

Some other early Latter Day Saint leaders,

including Brigham Young,[12] Orson
Pratt,[13] and Elizabeth Ann Whitney,[14]
claimed to have received several words in
the Adamic language by revelation. Some
Latter Day Saints believe that the Adamic
language is the "pure language" spoken of
by Zephaniah[15] and that it will be restored
as the universal language of humankind at
the end of the world.[16][17][18]

Apostle Orson Pratt declared that "Ahman",

part of the name of the settlement "Adam-
ondi-Ahman" in Daviess County, Missouri,
was the name of God in the Adamic
language.[13] An 1832 handwritten page
from the Joseph Smith Papers, titled "A
Sample of the Pure Language", and
reportedly dictated by Smith to "Br.
Johnson", asserts that the name of God is
Awmen.[19]

The Latter Day Saint endowment prayer

circle once included use of the words "Pay
Lay Ale".[20] These untranslated words are
no longer used in temple ordinances and
have been replaced by an English version,
"O God, hear the words of my mouth".[21]
Some believe that the "Pay Lay Ale"
sentence is derived from the Hebrew
phrase "pe le-El" (‫)פה לאל‬, "mouth to
God".[21] "Pay Lay Ale" was identified in the
temple ceremony as words from the "pure
Adamic language".[22]
Other words thought by some Latter Day
Saints to derive from the Adamic language
include deseret ("honey bee"), see Ether
2:3 and Ahman ("God") see Doctrine and
Covenants 78:20

The Book of Moses refers to "a book of

remembrance" written in the language of
Adam.[23]

Goidelic languages

It has also been claimed by some that

Scottish Gaelic or Irish was the language
spoken in the Garden of Eden. One book
that promoted this theory was Adhamh
agus Eubh, no Craobh Sheanachais nan
Gàël (1837; "Adam and Eve; or, the Gaelic
Family Tree").[24][25]

See also
History of linguistics
Mythical origins of language
Origin of language
Proto-Human language
Universal language

References
1. Umberto Eco, The Search for the
Perfect Language (1993), p. 32 f.
2. Umberto Eco, The Search for the
Perfect Language (1993), 7–10.
3. Mazzocco, p. 159
4. mulierem invenitur ante omnes fuisse
locutam. Umberto Eco, The Search for
the Perfect Language (1993), p. 50.
5. Mazzocco, p. 170
. Paradiso 26.133f.; Mazzocco, p. 178f.
7. Gorporius Becanus, Johannes (2014).
Van Adam tot Antwerpen: Een
bloemlezing uit de Origines
Antwerpianae en de Opera van
Johannes Goropius Becanus .
Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren.
pp. 265–77. ISBN 9789087044312.
 . Noordegraaf, Jan (1983). "Nog eens
Hedendaagsch fetischisme" .
Voortgang. Stichting Neerlandistiek
VU. 4 (10): 193–230. Retrieved
16 January 2018.
9. Book of Moses 6:6 .
10. Robertson, John S. (1992), "Adamic
Language" , in Ludlow, Daniel H (ed.),
Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New
York: Macmillan Publishing, pp. 18–19,
ISBN 0-02-879602-0, OCLC 24502140
11. Copeland, Lee. "Speaking in Tongues
in the Restoration Churches", Dialogue:
A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol 24,
No. 1
12. Brigham Young, "History of Brigham
Young" Archived 12 June 2011 at the
Wayback Machine, Millennial Star, vol.
25, no. 28, p. 439 (1863-07-11), cited in
History of the Church 1:297, footnote
(Young prays in the Adamic tongue).
13. Journal of Discourses 2:342
Archived 25 October 2007 at the
Wayback Machine (God = "Ahman";
Son of God = "Son Ahman"; Men =
"Sons Ahman"; Angel = "Anglo-man").
14. Woman's Exponent 7:83 Archived 25
October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
(1 November 1878) (Whitney sings a
hymn in the Adamic tongue).
15. Zephaniah 3:9
1 . Oliver Cowdery, "The Prophecy of
Zephaniah" , Evening and Morning
Star, vol. 2, no. 18, p. 142 (March
1834).
17. Bruce R. McConkie (1966, 2d ed.).
Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City, Utah:
Bookcraft) p. 19.
1 . Ezra Taft Benson (1988). Teachings of
Ezra Taft Benson (Salt Lake City, Utah:
Bookcraft) p. 93.
19. "Sample of the Pure Language" ca.
March 1832
20. Steven Naifeh and Gregory White
Smith, The Mormon Murders (New
York: St. Martins's Press, 1988)
ISBN 0-312-93410-6, p. 69. "the sign of
the Second Token [is] raising both
hands and then lowering them while
repeating the incantation "Pay Lay Ale"
three times"
21. "Current Mormon Temple Ceremony
Now Available" , Salt Lake City
Messenger, no. 76, November 1990.
22. Scott, Latayne (2009). The Mormon
Mirage: A Former Member Looks at
the Mormon Church Today.
Zondervan. p. 332. ISBN 978-0-310-
29153-4.
23. Moses 6:5, 46 .
24. McEwan, Emily (27 February 2015).
"Gaelic design for the 21st century: A
laptop decal" . Gaelic.co. Retrieved
9 February 2019.
25. Wolf, Nicholas. "When Irish was still
the greatest little language in the
world" . The Irish Times. Retrieved
9 February 2019.

Bibliography
 Allison P. Coudert (ed.), The Language of
Adam = Die Sprache Adams, Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz, 1999.
Angelo Mazzocco, Linguistic Theories in
Dante and the Humanists, (chapter 9:
"Dante's Reappraisal of the Adamic
language", 159–181).
Umberto Eco, The Search for the Perfect
Language (1993).

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