speech in LDs

[Kromoh]

just something I wanted to bring up In most lucid dreams of mine I talk to my DCs to check their behaviour. Well, for some reason I realised that (at least with me) speech in the dream is not made of plain words, but mostly of thoughts, emotions, feelings, intuition and all that... Like whole thoughts were being soken, not only words that really made me wonder if this happens only to me so, how would you define speech (yours and DC's) in your dreams? Just a thing... that kind of speaking, with emotions and all is pretty much like telepathy as we think of it. Every mental figure is passed. I don't believe in telepathy, but it is possible in dreams no matter what meh EDIT: I can speak 3 languages fluently. However, I never know in which language I speak in dreams. When I think about possibilities, every example seems to fit. Does that happen to you? EDIT2: The idea of the mind's language came to my mind while writing this. Would there be any language somehow natural to the mind? (not completely similar, but alike - using concepts for the same purposes and all) Philologists in this forum, we need to discuss this

[Moonbeam]

That's fascinating that you don't know what language you speak in. I don't speak anything else well enough to communicate, so I never would have known that. For me, sometimes there is a lot of communicating without words, but then other times it's more just like real life.

[•Neko•]

Apart from English, I know 2 other languages fairly well, but not fluently. I always seem to speak English in my dreams. When there's no speech, body language usually plays a big part.

[thegnome54]

I haven't had enough LDs to tell you about my experiences with language, but your 'telepathy' thing makes sense. If you think about it, DCs are just the models we use everyday to predict how people will react in certain situations. It seems much more likely that the predictions our brain is capable of are more general - emotions and such - than actual specific sentences, unless we spend enough time talking to that particular person to have a more specific model of their speech patterns and behavior.

[Truffles]

In dreams, say if you said you could speak..."Gnomish" or something like that, could you just say random words and have people understand what you meant? What I'm trying to say is can you make up languages in dreams?

[Carôusoul]

Hhaha I can remember last night dreaming about casually chatting with two girls at a party. this was in very meanial boring english actually. No emotions there. just "Yalright?" "Yeah! what sare you doing here?" "dreaming, you?" "I'm actually you, turns out you made me up!" "cool, cool. Wanna go make out?"

[Torcher]

In LDs, where the language thing is more prominent than in regular dreams, I've used English only to my recollection. In normal dreaming anything goes, but mostly gibberish goes, or alienspeak - random articulated sounds, symbols in writing that are not a language anyone knows, and telepathy. Usually there is a strange absence of sound in my dreams, or at least that is how I remember them.

[Rainman]

I don't really know haha. I know much of the time I speak spanish in my dreams, and sometimes my DCs speak back in english. I guess it's just a matter of what I spoke more that day, as i live in a heavily hispanic area.

[KuRoSaKi]

In my dreams I speak English only. I noticed that thoughts also play a big part although they are not words to me as my thoughts seem to reflect the actions of DC for instance if a DC has a sharp object I usually end of getting stabbed because I am afraid the DC will stab me so it unconsciously is willed and therefore happens.

[Kromoh]

In dreams, say if you said you could speak..."Gnomish" or something like that, could you just say random words and have people understand what you meant? What I'm trying to say is can you make up languages in dreams? I'm pretty sure that if, for instance you say "f#ck you" in a dream, but actually mean "I love you", the later one is the one valid. I've had experience with sarcasm in dreams, and it works normally (which means that intention counts more than words, at least to me)

[Abra]

To me, language in dreams has always been clear and memorable, unless written/read. One thing I've noticed is that I usually don't speak in non-lucid dreams, rather the DCs just talk to me, and I don't have to respond for them to be satisfied. Does this mean I'm a good listener? xD As for other languages... I'm surprised at myself! I've had a handful of bilingual dreams, some in Spanish with some English words, others just in Spanish (though only a few sentences. :/ ). But only a few. Where telepathy is concerned, for me, this is the rarest of all. Only once do I remember speaking with someone through thought. I was lucid, and it was with an animal.

[Moonbeam]

I've had trouble getting the words out lately. They get stuck in my mouth, and when I'm finally able to talk, I feel like I'm really talking in my sleep.

[Kromoh]

I've had trouble getting the words out lately. They get stuck in my mouth, and when I'm finally able to talk, I feel like I'm really talking in my sleep. exactly what I feel I believe that happens because our brain expects to hear our own voice as we speak. When that doesn't happen, you feel like you haven't spoken at all. Backed by LaBerge's explanations, if you believe you haven't spoken at all, your DCs won't respond either.

[Loner]

That's interesting, because I am know by all around me for rarely speaking unless necessary, and when I communicate in my dreams, I just look at someone and think my words, I never use my voice. They get the point, though.

[Redrivertears]

Hey there, To the original poster: A very interesting question. I tend to agree with you. I studied the relationship between language, consciousness and dreams fairly in depth during my university years, and came to the same conclusion as you. For me too, communication in dreams (not language) happens in a very direct way, conveying meaning rather then words which symbolise meaning. (in fact I ended with the theory that language is exactly what makes us conscious, which is its primary function. Not communication). If we remember language in our dreams, very likely to me, it is our consciousness that later adds the language, during the process of remembering. Or its gibberish (and thereby not symbolic but rather having a meaning of its own). Now the really interesting question, to me, is this. Do we have miscommunications in our dreams? Freudian Lapsus'? Lack of clarity in what we explain? And if we do, are these a byproduct of the communication, or are they the meaning of it itself? -Redrivertears-

[Kromoh]

I like your point of consciousness adding words later on. I'm pretty sensitive to what I feel or experience, and usually I can instantly come up with a formal speech about what I said in a dream. However, I know I didn't speak clear words at all. I like your position about (complex) language being the key to consciousness. Our ability to deal with a language and our consciousness (by 'us' I mean humans) are definitely correlated.