Idioglossia (play)
Encyclopedia
Idioglossia is a play by Mark Handley
about a girl who grows up without modern culture learning how to speak. It was first performed in 1992 at the George Street Playhouse
in New Brunswick, New Jersey
. The title comes from the medical term Idioglossia
meaning an idiosyncratic language that few speak, and associated with Cryptophasia
.
has died. Local police and a doctor are taken to her primitive cabin, and discover a seemingly half crazed woman who speaks what appears to be unintelligible babbling. At first, the woman is declared a wild child
, and protective services needs to know if she is capable enough to live on her own. A linguist is called in to observe the woman to see if they can learn to speak her language. After intense interaction, the researchers learn that the woman's name is Nell, and that her distinctive speech is a combination of her mother's impairment—she'd had a stroke which paralyzed one side on her face—and a twin speech language she'd developed with her now dead sister.
starring Jodie Foster
, and Liam Neeson
.
Mark Handley
Mark Handley is a playwright and screenwriter. He was born in Hollywood, California on March 5, 1956. He graduated from New Trier High School East in 1974. In 1977, he and his wife moved to the Pacific Northwest where they lived in isolation in a log cabin that they built themselves. He is best...
about a girl who grows up without modern culture learning how to speak. It was first performed in 1992 at the George Street Playhouse
George Street Playhouse
George Street Playhouse is a theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, one of the state's preeminent professional theatres committed to the production of new and established plays....
in New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
. The title comes from the medical term Idioglossia
Idioglossia
An idioglossia is an idiosyncratic language invented and spoken by only one person or very few people. Most often, idioglossia refers to the "private languages" of young children, especially twins, the latter being more specifically known as cryptophasia, and commonly referred to as twin talk or...
meaning an idiosyncratic language that few speak, and associated with Cryptophasia
Cryptophasia
Cryptophasia is a peculiar phenomenon of a language developed by twins that only the two children could understand. The word has its roots from crypto meaning secret and phasia meaning speech disorder...
.
Summary
In the deep back country, a local boy discovers that a hemiplegic hermitHermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
has died. Local police and a doctor are taken to her primitive cabin, and discover a seemingly half crazed woman who speaks what appears to be unintelligible babbling. At first, the woman is declared a wild child
Feral child
A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, and has no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language...
, and protective services needs to know if she is capable enough to live on her own. A linguist is called in to observe the woman to see if they can learn to speak her language. After intense interaction, the researchers learn that the woman's name is Nell, and that her distinctive speech is a combination of her mother's impairment—she'd had a stroke which paralyzed one side on her face—and a twin speech language she'd developed with her now dead sister.
Film
In 1994 the play was later adapted into the film NellNell (film)
Nell is a 1994 drama film starring Jodie Foster as a young woman who has to face other people for the first time after being raised by her mother in an isolated cabin. The film was directed by Michael Apted, and was based on Mark Handley's play Idioglossia. The original music score is composed by...
starring Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
, and Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
.