Silbo: The Whistled Speech of the Canary Islands
The island of La Gomera, part of the Canary Islands, is home to one of Europe's handful of whistled languages.
Silbo Gomero, which means 'Gomeran whistle' in the local Spanish dialect, is used like other whistled languages the world over to facilitate communication over long distances (far greater than speech), and in regions where normal conversation is impeded by treacherous terrain, be it high peaks or impenetrable rainforest.
In the case of Silbo, messages can be exchanged up to 5km away, rendering communication across the deep ravines and narrow valleys easy.
The only other whistled languages in Europe are found in Antia, on the island of Euboea, Greece and Kuşköy, Turkey— sometimes referred to as the "village of the birds".
Another whistled language, based on the local Occitan language, was once spoken in the Pyrenees in France until relatively recently, but has since become extinct.
Whistled languages are based on the phonology and syntax of the speakers' natural spoken language, emulating its tones or vowel formants as well as aspects of its intonation and prosody.
Whistled languages are very rare in comparison to spoken languages, and are distinct from attention signals ('wolf-whistling'), and other unstructured whistling patterns, like tune whistling. They are found in Central and South American tribes (e.g. Mexican Mazateco), as well as in parts of South East Asia (Akha, Hmong) and Africa (Banen, Cameroon).
Exchanges between whistlers, or 'silbadores', are typically brief and pragmatic. As such, public announcements on La Gomera are often broadcast by silbadores, allowing news to quickly spread throughout the entire community.
Silbo has between 2 – 4 vowels and 4 – 10 consonants, depending on how you draw the line. The most in-depth study thus far on the language's sound system, conducted by Ramón Trujillo of the University of La Laguna, concluded that the language had in fact only 2 vowels and just 4 consonants in total.
The Mysterious Guanche and their Language
Before Silbo, another whistled language, based on the native Guanche language, was used by the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands.
The Guanche language is an extinct Berber language (Afro-Asiatic language family) that was spoken by the Guanches on the Canary Islands until the 17th century or later.
The Guanche were the original residents of the Canary Islands before the Spanish invaded and conquered the islands between 1402 and 1496. The Guanche language became extinct when the native ethnic group were assimilated into the dominant Spanish culture.
The word 'Guanche' originally meant 'man from Tenerife', but became a catch-all for the inhabitants of all the islands.
Traces of the language survive in place names and in a few words and sentences recorded by early explorers. The first definitive evidence of the language comes from Nicoloso da Recco, a Genovese explorer, in 1341, who recorded the numbers 1-16, which bear a strong resemblance to the Berber language.
Revitalisation
Recent government efforts beginning in the late 20th century have helped ensure the vitality of the language which was once threatened with extinction.
The language fell into sharp decline in the 1950s because of economic decline, which saw the local people moving off the island in search of jobs. The language was also stigmatised, causing middle-class families to shift away from transmitting the language to the next generation. Technological advances— especially the telephone— were also responsible for the language's steady decline.
However, since 1999, it is now compulsory to teach Silbo in primary school. This has raised the number of Silbadores, while ensuring that the language remains a vital part of island life. While most adults born before 1950 and younger generations attending school since 1999 speak the language, adults born between 1950 and 1980 are generally unable to speak the language— although they can understand it.
UNESCO Status
In 2009, Silbo Gomero was granted official UNESCO status when it was declared Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. As a result, the language has received increased attention and grown in prestige.
Because of this special status, the language is protected by measures to guarantee its future vitality.
This is because it represents, according to its status, a part of:
"The totality of tradition-based creations of a cultural community expressed by a group or individuals and recognized as reflecting the expectations of a community in so far as they reflect its cultural and social identity."
With this recognition, the future of the Gomeran whistled language seems brighter than ever.
What do you think? Please share your comments below!
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Further reading:
The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language (p.400) — David Crystal
