On La Gomera in the Canary Islands, people can say anything with a whistle. The ancient whistling communication was invented centuries ago - and it works in any language. Correspondent Tracy Smith takes a whistle stop tour.
there is a movie called "the whistlers" several characters in the movie speak silbo and one learns how to "speak" it to use it in the city from rooftops to relay information about some convict or something like that they are trying to break out of custody at a hospital holding.. or something like that.. it's been a while since I watched the movie, but it does sort of show how to make the tones while the guy is learning the language. and it is a unique plot line for sure =) EDIT: link to the trailer. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nfB-Lih2qvE.html
I came here because someone said Prime Bumblebee's beeps are to Cybertronian language like the Sylbo language is to Spanish. I can hear the resemblance. x) Very interesting and curious language though! :) I can hand whistle and make a decent tongue whistle but that's pretty much it. Can't imagine how hard it must be to learn this one. Would be pretty cool to learn sometime though.
Man i wish i could communicate with friends like this. We used morse, but that got boring. People would think we were crazy if we whistled to eachother.
I've squeaked and chirped at birds and I've had them respond by coming to me, opening their mouths for food, and going away when I create a polyphonic screech like a pterodactyl. I would love to actually learn a whole language of it. I could squeak at close range instead of blowing your ears off with a whistle that loud.
Strictly speaking it's not a language but a code. The sounds of Spanish (in older times it would be the native language, Guanche) are translated into whistles. It could be done with another code, such as Morse code. Of course, the Silbo is a brilliant code that could be used even by illiterate people.
I would be highly interested in learning that. How long does this take to master? Years probably? Its great for people who ard into bushcraft & survival.
Well in Philippines we have silbo as well. Calling a tricycle for transport all you have to do is just wistle. When your in trouble by your parents just listen to that whistle from a distant and better run fast.
the whistle has the exact same melody that the spanish words , if you have a good ear and know spanish is not difficult to understand , its like singing the melody of a word, for example the word "mountain" you usually would use a low tone to say "mount" and then a higher tone to say the "tain" , then you just imitate that same tone variation ,the most important thing is not the precise notes you use because everyone has a different voice range , then important part is the number of notes that are between the tones you use
also in spanish we cut a lot of our words , for example if you want to say "come here" , in perfect spanish it would be "ven para aca" but normally no one talk like that, we just say "ven pa ca" so when you talk silbo you normally use the sort version because it have less letters and because of that less tones variations
Originally the Canary Islands were inhabited by the Guanches, one of the last white tribal people. I don't know if that pertains to this but I find it interesting.
This is beautiful, but it's not a "language" comparable to usual spoken or sign language. It doesn't have it's own grammar or vocabulary - It's simply representing certain syllables with other syllables - Encoding the normally spoken language. If we do call it a language, we're completely ignoring the linguistics of the world, I suppose.
He's not saying Silbo isn't a language, of course it is, it follows the direct definition. However, Silbo isn't following its own unique set of linguistic rules (i.e. words, sentence structure etc.), it simply transfers another language (Spanish) into a different format of communication, just a reading/writing isn't its own language, just another form of a language. Furthermore, since this whistling can be applied to most all languages meaning it cannot be a language within itself. Even with all of this I still think Silbo is a beautiful form of communication and should definitely be preserved. Cheers!
It's an odd thin because there isn't another means of communication that works similarly. Maybe writing? Besides inventing a new name, calling it a code, an encoing (which may not translate to Spanish so..), or a "speech subsitution," there really isn't a proper way to refer to it.
YPzaete Yes true but I wish it were one. Honestly we can call it a language sure it doesn't really have a written vocabulary nor grammer but it certainly is beautiful. Either way they have their language Spanish Sylbo just goes along with it and it's part of their language.
Sylbo is a heritage from the native inhabitants of the islands, the guanches , they are the natives of north africa, the berbers .Good job from Spain to keep this heritage alive !!!
I know, the Spanish Conquistadors left quite a bit of carnage in their wake. The thing about it though is the Spanish were nothing more than foot-soldiers for the Pope. They never would have done anything outside their own country had it not been for the finances provided by kings and ultimately having the Pope blessing to do so. It truly is a long drawn out story but it really is worth knowing. Anyhow, I would love to learn this Whistle Language someday.
