The most well-known method of human communication is through the use of spoken language. However this form of communication is not the most effective in all circumstances. There are currently efforts underway to revitalize forgotten forms of non-tonal language, such as the ancient art of whistled speech.
Whistled languages naturally developed in response to the necessity for humans to communicate in conditions of relative isolation over long distances in mountainous terrain. Silbo Gomero, was used for centuries as the principal form of communication among farmers and shepherds on the Canary Islands. The language can be heard and understood up to a distance of 8km(5 miles) as opposed to voices which only travel up to 200 meters(1/10 of a mile).
Silbo is believed to have originated from Berber peoples of North Africa and was adopted by the Castilian settlers in the 16th century. The language evolved from a whistled form of a now extinct Berber language called Guanche.
Silbo Gomera, taken from the Spanish word 'Silbar', meaning "to whistle", is basically a whistled form of a dialect of Spanish. The language has over 2000 common words. The whistled sound is formed by putting the fingers of one hand in the mouth and using the other hand as a megaphone. The Gomera whistle compresses spoken sounds to two vowels and four consonants using whistles of varying tones and lengths.
A news report on Spanish Televion of Silbo Gomera:
A demonstration from the Canary Islands of how every language can be whistled:
There are other pockets of people in the world who have a history of whistled forms of common languages, like French, as well as local languages that have still survived in limited capacity. Some whistling peoples include the Mura-Piraha of Brazil, the Sayula Popoluca of Mexico, the Wobe and Yakouba of Cote d'Ivoire, the Yoruba of Nigeria, the Telefol of Papua New Guinea, and in Kusköy, Turkey near the Black Sea("Village of the Birds").
The gradual disappearance of articulated whistling can be attributed to the decline in activities like shepherding and an aging rural population. The Gomeran peoples have added the language to the curriculum of the public schools in an effort to protect this extraordinary element of their culture from extinction.
July 2, 2009
