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)
Read more about this topic: Whistled Language
Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, whistled and/or languages:
“Shea—they call him Scholar Jack—
Went down the list of the dead.
Officers, seamen, gunners, marines,
The crews of the gig and yawl,
The bearded man and the lad in his teens,
Carpenters, coal-passers—all.”
—Joseph I. C. Clarke (1846–1925)
“My list of things I never pictured myself saying when I pictured myself as a parent has grown over the years.”
—Polly Berrien Berends (20th century)
“Alone and alone nine nights I lay
Between two bushes under the rain;
I thought to have whistled her down that way,
I whistled and whistled and whistled in vain.
Oro, oro!
To-morrow night I will break down the door.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute.”
—J.G. (James Graham)