On our recent transatlantic cruise on board the Maasdam, I was lecturing about the ecology, culture and geology of the Canary Islands. I presented a clip from the following excellent UNESCO video on the unique and amazing “Whistled Language of Gomera”
UNESCO: Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – 2009: Visit the UNESCO website to learn more: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/…
Description:
The whistled language of La Gomera Island in the Canaries, the Silbo
Gomero, replicates the islanders habitual language (Castilian Spanish)
with whistling. Handed down over centuries from master to pupil, it is
the only whistled language in the world that is fully developed and
practised by a large community (more than 22,000 inhabitants). The
whistled language replaces each vowel or consonant with a whistling
sound: two distinct whistles replace the five Spanish vowels, and there
are four whistles for consonants. The whistles can be distinguished
according to pitch and whether they are interrupted or continuous. With
practice, whistlers can convey any message. Some local variations even
point to their origin.
Taught in schools since 1999, the Silbo Gomero is
understood by almost all islanders and practised by the vast majority,
particularly the elderly and the young. It is also used during
festivities and ceremonies, including religious occasions. To prevent it
from disappearing like the other whistled languages of the Canary
Islands, it is important to do more for its transmission and promote the
Silbo Gomero as intangible cultural heritage cherished by the
inhabitants of La Gomera and the Canary Islands as a whole.