A Whistling Language Revived

  • February 21, 2013
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  • Blog

On the Spanish island of La Gomera, an ancient whistling language that seemed to be dying out is undergoing a revival. The name of the language is silbo gomero (or Gomeran whistle) and it’s a method of communication in which the Spanish language is replaced by two whistled vowels and four consonants. Although there were only a few whistlers remaining on the island of La Gomera by the 1980’s, there has been a renewed interest in the language, largely due to an initiative to make it a compulsory subject in school. The Gomera whistle does co-exists with other whistling languages in the world, such as on the Greek island of Evia and in the town of Kuskoy in Eastern Turkey.

Please click here to read the complete article on BBC News Online.

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*Photo courtesy of BBC News Online