Silbo Gomero — the Spanish whistled language ;)
I was surfing the net earlier today and I came across a site with a post regarding Silbo Gomero (or El Silbo), the whistled language spoken by inhabitants of a Spanish Island called La Gomera which is located in the Canary Islands. Yes, whistled language – as in whistling.
This language was invented by the original inhabitants of the island called the Guanches, and it was adapted by the Spanish settlers who came to the island at around the 16th century. The Silbo Gomero is a means of communication over long distances, which is just perfect for an island jagged with rough terrains. What makes El Silbo better than a phone? Your phone would lose coverage, El Silbo would not.
I was really so amazed when I heard how they communicate to each other just by whistling. Not applicable in New York of course, but you can’t help but be amazed how these people’s ancestors managed to create such language.
Since whistling can reach places that mere voices cannot, you can use Silbo Gomero to call to people from a far away location. The people of La Gomero use El Silbo to call call their children to come home, or sometimes to tell their mom “Hey, I forgot to ask you to buy some vegetables for dinner tonight” – even if their mom is eight kilometers away.
When the language faced the possibility of extinction in the early 20th century, their government acted fast to save this treasure. They required each student to have at least three years of studying El Sibo in school, which erased all fears of extinction in everybody’s mind. As one “silbador” puts is, “we will be lost if the culture dies.”
You can check the video at:
