I think it likely that the “tongue of Angels”, aka the Adamic language, is what we all spoke in the pre-mortal existence. It seems a logical deduction. It would seem a great gift then, partially withdrawing the veil from the individual and allowing the person to do what he/she did in the pre-mortal existence, and what angels have been observed doing by prophets in their visions, “shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.”

In the paragraph above it (in the same footnote), it gives Brigham Young’s account of praying in tongues in the presence of Joseph Smith in Kirtland. The surprise of the other brethren present, and their inquiry of the Prophet implies that the gift was previously unknown in Kirtland.

Greater detail can probably be found in the reference used for Brigham’s account, Millennial Star, vol xxv, page 439.

The Book of Mormon gives a reference for the “tongue of angels” as used for worship in 2 Nephi 31:13:

“…then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel. ”

The gift of tongues as used in prayer and worship (as opposed to preaching to someone in their native language), both in private and in groups, was later de-emphasized because its purpose and use was so easily misunderstood, and it was sometimes mishandled and falsely imitated by well-meaning believers and by the adversary.

2 Nephi 31:13 does make pretty clear that the “tongue of angels” can be used for praise/worship, but also seems to tie it into being filled with the Holy Ghost, and not something that people can turn on entirely at their own will.

I have started collecting material for a book to work on after the death history that looks at the uses of charisma and reason within a drastic permutation of Common Sense in earliest Mormonism and intended to include a more thorough treatment of glossolalia there when I get to it.

and re: your ? in 6, remember that for most Christians the “tongue of angels” was the language spoken in Eden, so they are generally saying the same thing with different words. The main difference being the much broader valence of “Adamic” per se in earliest Mormonism.

I agree — I doubt Young (at least by himself) introduced Smith to speaking in tongues. In what the Church Archives suggests is an early 1840s autobiography, Heber C. Kimball writes that “the brethren” spoke in tongues before Joseph Smith (rather than Brigham Young alone introducing the practice). My sense is that Brigham sometimes magnifies his role in events in his published history.

What do you make of the emphasis on the pure Adamic language? This wasn’t always associated with Mormon glossolalia but seems to crop up from time to time. I’ve not heard of other Christians associating tongues with “Adamic” language.