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Whistled language |
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A whistled language is the use of whistling to emulate speech and facilitate communication. Generally whistled languages emulate the intonation, tones or vowel formants, and prosody of a natural language so that speakers of that language can recognize the speech melody of what is being said and thus understand the whistled speech. Whistled language is rare compared to spoken language, but it is found in cultures around the world. It is especially common in tonal languages where the whistled tones follow the tones of the syllables (tone melodies of the words), probably because it is easier for a "whistlized" form to develop in a tonal language than a non-tonal, especially if the non-tonal one with a large phonemic inventory. The genesis of a whistled language has never been recorded in either case and had not yet received much productive study.
TechniquesWhistled languages differ according to whether the spoken language is tonal or not, with the whistling being either tone or articulation based.Tonal languages are often stripped of articulation, leaving only suprasegmental features such as duration and tone, and when whistled retain the spoken melodic line. Thus whistled tonal languages convey phonemic information solely through tone, length, and, to a lesser extent, stress, and most segmental phonemic distinctions of the spoken language are lost. In non-tonal languages, more of the articulatory features of speech are retained, and the normally timbral variations imparted by the movements of the tongue and soft palate are transformed into pitch variations (Busnel and Classe 1976: v). Certain consonants can be pronounced while whistling, so as to modify the whistled sound, much as consonants in spoken language modify the vowel sounds adjacent to them. "All whistled languages share one basic characteristic: they function by varying the frequency of a simple wave-form as a function of time, generally with minimal dynamic variations (but see Cowan 1948 see Mazateco), which is readily understandable since in most cases their only purpose is long-distance communication." (Busnel and Classe 1976: 32) Different whistling styles may be used in a single language. Sochiapam Chinantec has three different words for whistle-speech: sie3 for whistling with the tongue against the alveolar ridge, jui̵32 for bilabial whistling, and juo2 for finger-in-the-mouth whistling. These are used for communication over varying distances. There is also a kind of loud falsetto (hóh32) which functions in some ways like whistled speech. The expressivity of whistled speech is likely to be somewhat limited compared to spoken speech (although not inherently so), but such a conclusion should not be taken as absolute, as it depends heavily on various factors including the phonology of the language. For example in some tonal languages with few tones, whistled messages typically consist of stereotyped or otherwise standardized expressions, are elaborately descriptive, and often have to be repeated. However, in languages which are heavily tonal, and therefore convey much of their information through pitch even when spoken, such as Mazatec and Yoruba, extensive conversations may be whistled. In any case, even for non-tonal languages, measurements indicate that high intelligibility can be achieved with whistled speech (90% of intelligibility of non-standardized sentences for Greek (Meyer 2005) and the equivalent for Turkish (Busnel 1970).) In continental Africa, speech may be conveyed by a whistle or other musical instrument, most famously the "talking drums". However, while drums may be used by griots singing praise songs or for inter-village communication, and other instruments may be used on the radio for station identification jingles, for regular conversation at a distance whistled speech is used. As two people approach each other, one may even switch from whistled to spoken speech in mid-sentence. ExamplesThe Silbo on the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, maintains the five vowels of Spanish, but reduces its consonants to four.Other whistled languages exist or existed in such parts of the world as Turkey (Kusköy, "Village of the Birds"), France (the village of Aas in the Pyrenees), Mexico (the Mazatecs and Chinantecs of Oaxaca), South America (Pirahã), Asia (the Chepang of Nepal), and New Guinea. They are especially common and robust today in parts of West Africa, used widely in such populous languages as Yoruba and Ewe. Even French is whistled in some areas of western Africa. Usage and cultural statusIn the Greek village of Antia, only few whistlers remain now (Meyer 2005) but in 1982 the entire population knew how to whistle their speech.Whistled speech may be very central and highly valued in a culture. Shouting is very rare in Sochiapam Chinantec. Men in that culture are subject to being fined if they do not handle whistle-speech well enough to perform certain town jobs. They may whistle for fun in situations where spoken speech could easily be heard. In Sochiapam and other places in Mexico, and reportedly in West Africa as well, whistled speech is men's language: although women may understand it they do not use it. Though whistled languages are not secret codes or secret languages (with the exception of a whistled language used by ñañigos terrorists in Cuba during Spanish occupation (Busnel and Classe 1976: 22)), they may be used for secretive communication among outsiders or others who do not know or understand the whistled language though they may understand its spoken origin. Stories are told of farmers in Aas during World War II, or in La Gomera, who were able to hide evidence of such nefarious activities as milk-watering because they were warned in whistle-speech that the police were approaching (Busnel and Classe 1976: 15). EcologyWhistled languages are normally found in locations with difficult mountainous terrain, slow or difficult communication, low population density and/or scattered settlements, and other isolating features such as shepherding and cultivation of hillsides (Busnel and Classe 1976: 27 – 28). The main advantage of whistling speech is that it allows the speaker to cover much larger distances (typically 1 – 2 km but up to 5 km) than ordinary speech, without the strain (and lesser range) of shouting. The long range of whistling is enhanced by the terrain found in areas where whistled languages are used. Many areas with such languages work hard to preserve their ancient traditions, in the face of rapidly advancing telecommunications systems in many areas.PhysicsA whistled tone is essentially a simple oscillation (or sine wave), and thus timbral variations are impossible. Normal articulation during an ordinary lip-whistle is relatively easy though the lips move little causing a constant of labialization and making labial and labiodental consonants (p, b, m, f, etc.) problematical(Busnel and Classe 1976: 3). "Apart from the five vowel-phonemes [of Silbo Gomero] — and even these do not invariably have a fixed or steady pitch — all whistled speech-sound realizations are glides which are interpreted in terms of range, contour, and steepness." (Busnel and Classe 1976: 8)In a non-tonal language, segments may be differentiated as follows:
List of whistled languages and speaking ethnic groupsThe following list is of languages that exist or existed in a whistled form, or of ethnic groups that speak such languages. In some cases (e.g. Chinantec) the whistled speech is an important and integral part of the language and culture; in others (e.g. Nahuatl) its role is much lesser.
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Not to be confused with inflection. In linguistics, intonation is the variation of pitch when speaking. Intonation and stress are two main elements of linguistic prosody. ..... Click the link for more information. A Tonal language is a language that uses tone to distinguish words. Tone is a phonological trait common to many languages around the world (though rare in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and the Pacific). Chinese is perhaps the most well-known of such languages. ..... Click the link for more information. formant is a peak in an acoustic frequency spectrum which results from the resonant frequencies of any acoustic system. It is most commonly invoked in phonetics or acoustics involving the resonant frequencies of vocal tracts or musical instruments. ..... Click the link for more information. In linguistics, prosody (from Greek προσωδία) is the study of rhythm, intonation, and related attributes in speech. ..... Click the link for more information. A Tonal language is a language that uses tone to distinguish words. Tone is a phonological trait common to many languages around the world (though rare in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and the Pacific). Chinese is perhaps the most well-known of such languages. ..... Click the link for more information. Articulation may refer to:
..... Click the link for more information. In linguistics, prosody (from Greek προσωδία) is the study of rhythm, intonation, and related attributes in speech. ..... Click the link for more information. phoneme is the smallest unit of speech that distinguishes meaning. Phonemes are not the physical segments themselves, but abstractions of them. An example of a phoneme would be the /t/ found in words like tip, ..... Click the link for more information. Pitch is the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. While the actual fundamental frequency can be precisely determined through physical measurement, it may differ from the perceived pitch because of overtones, or partials, in the sound. ..... Click the link for more information. stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables. The word accent is sometimes also used with this sense. ..... Click the link for more information. In linguistics (and phonetics), segment is used primarily “to refer to any discrete unit that can be identified, either physically or auditorily, in the stream of speech” (after A Dictionary of Linguistics & Phonetics, David Crystal, 2003, pp. ..... Click the link for more information. In music, timbre, or sometimes timber, (from Fr. timbre; IPA /'tæmbəɹ/ as in the first two syllables of tambourine, or /'tɪmbəɹ/, like timber)[1] ..... Click the link for more information. The tongue is the large bundle of skeletal muscles on the floor of the mouth that manipulates food for chewing and swallowing (deglutition). It is the primary organ of taste. Much of the surface of the tongue is covered in taste buds. ..... Click the link for more information. The soft palate (or velum, or muscular palate) is the soft tissue constituting the back of the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is distinguished from the hard palate at the front of the mouth in that it does not contain bone. ..... Click the link for more information. Pitch is the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. While the actual fundamental frequency can be precisely determined through physical measurement, it may differ from the perceived pitch because of overtones, or partials, in the sound. ..... Click the link for more information. FreQuency is a music video game developed by Harmonix and published by SCEI. It was released in November 2001. A sequel, titled Amplitude was released in 2003. ..... Click the link for more information. Waveform means the shape and form of a signal such as a wave moving in a solid, liquid or gaseous medium. In many cases the medium in which the wave is being propagated does not permit a direct visual image of the form. ..... Click the link for more information. The Mazatecan languages are a closely related group of indigenous Mesoamerican languages spoken in the northern part of the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, and in some communities in the states of Puebla and Veracruz. ..... Click the link for more information. For the journal, see . Phonology (Greek φωνή (phōnē), voice, sound + λόγος (lógos), word, speech, subject of discussion), is a subfield of linguistics which studies the sound system of a..... Click the link for more information. The Mazatecan languages are a closely related group of indigenous Mesoamerican languages spoken in the northern part of the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, and in some communities in the states of Puebla and Veracruz. ..... Click the link for more information. Yoruba}}} Official status Official language of: Nigeria Regulated by: no official regulation Language codes ISO 639-1: yo ISO 639-2: yor ISO 639-3: yor Yoruba (native name èdè Yorùbá ..... Click the link for more information. talking drum is a West African drum whose pitch can be regulated to the extent that it is said the drum "talks". The player puts the drum under one shoulder and beats the instrument with a stick. ..... Click the link for more information. griot (pronounced [gɹi.ɒ] in English or French, with a silent t) or jali (djeli in French spelling) is a West African poet, praise singer, and wandering musician, considered a repository of oral ..... Click the link for more information. Radio is the wireless transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space. ..... Click the link for more information. worldwide view. Station identification (sometimes called a sounder or stinger) is the practice of any type of radio or television station or network identifying itself, typically with a call sign or brand name...... Click the link for more information. A jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an engaging melody, mainly broadcast on radio and sometimes on television commercials. An effective jingle is constructed to stay in one's memory (colloquially, "ringing a bell"). ..... Click the link for more information. The Silbo Gomero ("El Silbo" or "Gomeran whistle") is a whistled language spoken by inhabitants of La Gomera in the Canary Islands to communicate across the deep valleys (barrancos) that radiate through the island (Busnel and Classe 1976: 1). ..... Click the link for more information. La Gomera<nowiki /> Flag of La Gomera Geography <nowiki/> Location Atlantic Ocean Coordinates _ 2806′N, 1708′W| ..... Click the link for more information. Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands Flag Coat of arms Anthem: Arrorró Capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife Official language(s) Spanish Area ..... Click the link for more information. vowel is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by an open configuration of the vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, which are characterized by a constriction or closure at one or more points along the ..... Click the link for more information. This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. 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61) reports that left brain areas normally associated with language comprehension are activated in shepherds who communicate in a whistled language. |
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Whistled language
