Whistled language is a rare form of communication that can be mostly found in locations with isolating features such as scattered settlements or mountainous terrain. This documentary above shows how Dr. Mark Sicoli, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University, conducts field studies among speakers of a Chinantec language, who live in the mountainous region of northern Oaxaca in Mexico. The Summer Institute of Linguistics in Mexico has recorded and transcribed a whistled conversation in Sochiapam Chinantec between two men in different fields. The result can be seen and heard here.
The most thoroughly-researched whistled language however is Silbo Gomero, the language of the island of La Gomera (Canary Islands). In 2009, it was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The UNESCO website has a good description of this whistled language with photos and a video. Having almost died out, the language is now taught once more in schools.
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By profession, Matthias Rascher teaches English and History at a High School in northern Bavaria, Germany. In his free time he scours the web for good links and posts the best finds on Twitter.
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Interesting:) we have in Turkey the same language spoken in the north of country, in a city near black sea, Giresun!! you can see herehttp:
//www.vidivodo.com/video/giresun-isliklikoy-showhaber/444915
it’s called ‘bird language’ . in the video they say it is born when they see it’s difficult to comunicate and make your voice hear when someone is in the mountain or in the fields. very similar to this one!
MK shout-out to the SIL–but also it’s crazy how any sound that humans can make can be made into meaning. Also reminds me of “Spell of the Sensuous” with people inhabiting different animals in order to communicate to each other…
Very interesting! It’s amazing how flexible the human mind is.
Besides in Spain: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/00172
This is absolutely amazing. I hope something can be done to prevent this language from extinction and promote it within the regions’ people.
This is really cool. It’s worth watching the full 30 minutes.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the video! I too hope that the this language does not become extinct.
This is so interesting. I am sorry though that no time was taken to speaking with the women and finding out their point of view.
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Brilliant. This language confirms our social need to communicate by any means. Fantastic!
In the novel “Green Mansions” set in South American, the narrator talks about a young girl and her mother who speak the “bird” language of whistles.
Awesome post and awesome topic :-)
The whistle language from La Gomera (Canarias, Spain) is considered “the biggest one alive” but still in danger like the rest of alive whistle languages. It is intangible world heritage: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/whistled-language-of-the-island-of-la-gomera-canary-islands-the-silbo-gomero-00172
Currently I’m working about its lateralization for my master thesis: http://ruhrwhistles.edublogs.org/
One of my supervisors is Onur Güntürkün, who studied this in the Turkish one.
Sorry for repeating the info about the Silbo gomero, it did not appear the complete post at the beginning!
My husband is a Chipawa Cree from Montana and only English is spoken. Is there anybody who can help save this language. I studied Archaeology at UCLA and it is important to me to help save this language and their culture. PLEASE help me
I stayed overnight in a room in Mexico and in the next room from 8pm till 4am some of these whistling language people continually whistled. Maybe the reason the language is disappearing out is because the people are is because these people are vanishing.
I stayed overnight in a room in Mexico and in the next room from 8pm till 4am some of these whistling language people continually whistled. Maybe the reason the language is disappearing out is because the people are because these people are vanishing mysteriously
I stayed overnight in a room in Mexico and in the next room from 8pm till 4am some of these whistling language people continually whistled. Maybe the reason the language is disappearing out is because the people are vanishing mysteriously