The Whistling Language of La Gomera
On the small mountainous island of La Gomera, one of the Canaries, the children speak to each other from miles apart using one of the most unusual languages in the world. Known as Silbo, the whistling language of Gomero Island has a vocabulary of over 4,000 words, and is used by “Silbadors” to send messages across the island’s deep valleys. Though Silbo was on the verge of extinction in the 1990s, the Gomerans have made a concerted effort to revive their language by adding it to the public school curriculum. Today 3,000 schoolchildren are in the process of learning it.
A video describing the island of Gomera entirely in Silbo.
* More: Learn Silbo, CNN Article
* Previously in the Proceedings: Languge Week at the Kircher Society
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