List of Whistled Languages
The 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.
- Americas
- Alaska: Yupik
- United States: Taos
- Mexico: Amuzgo, Chinantec, Ch'ol, Kickapoo, Mazatec, Nahuatl, Otomi, Sayula Popoluca, Tepehua, Totonac, Zapotec, whistled Spanish in Tlaxcala
- Bolivia: Siriono
- Colombia: Desano
- Brazil: Pirahã
- Asia
- China: Bai
- Vietnam: Hmong
- Burma: Chin
- Nepal: Chepang
- Turkey: Turkish (village of Kuşköy)
- for Siberian Yupik inhabitants of St. Lawrence Island, see Yupik, Alaska, America mentioned above
- Europe and Canary Islands
- France (village of Aas, Pyrenees): Occitan language
- Greece (village of Antia on the island of Euboea)
- Spain (La Gomera and El Hierro, Canary Islands): "Silbo Gomero"
- Africa
- Ethiopia: Bench
- West Africa: Bafia, Bape, Birifor, Bobo, Burunsi, Daguri, Diola, Ewe, Fongbe, Marka, Ngwe, Twi, Tshi, Ule (among others)
- Ghana: Nchumburu
- Nigeria: Yoruba
- Cameroun: Gbaya, Doohwaayo, Mofu
- Oceania
- New Guinea: Gadsup, Binumarien, Abau, Polopa, Telefol, Bauzi, (possibly Tairora and Narak, in the latter reportedly linked with the spirits talking)
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—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)
“Alone and alone nine nights I lay
Between two bushes under the rain;
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I whistled and whistled and whistled in vain.
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To-morrow night I will break down the door.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The less sophisticated of my forbears avoided foreigners at all costs, for the very good reason that, in their circles, speaking in tongues was commonly a prelude to snake handling. The more tolerant among us regarded foreign languages as a kind of speech impediment that could be overcome by willpower.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)