The Whistling Language

La Gomera [wiki] is one of the Canary Islands [wiki]. There, people speaks Spanish but some of them, when speaking from a distance use whistles to communicate. And no, this is not a fake - there's a link to the complete conversation downloadable from wikipedia in mp3 format.

In the video from Youtube below, there the narrator speaks using Gomeran whistle [wiki] and tells us some of the charasteristics of La Gomera. I've transcribed the whole text and translated it into English for you. If you're a good Spanish speaker you can figure out some of the words from the whistles because they only replace the sounds with whistles to allow speaking from far away:

Spanish:
«Las Canarias estan situadas a 12-19ºW y 27-30ºN.

Las islas occidentales son: EL Hierro, La Palma, Tenerife y La Gomera.

Entre Tenerife y La Gomera hay 30 km.

370km^2 de superficie agreste.

Seis Municipios:
- San Sebastián: Capital y puerto de 4.445 habitantes
- Hermigua: Zona agricola de 2142 habitantes
- Agulo: reserva acuifera de 1207 habitantes
- Villaermoso: zona agricola de 3141 habitantes
- Valle gran rey: zona turística de 4857 habs
- Alajeró: zona turística de 1954 habs

La comunicación es por carretera y por mar.»

English:
«The Canary Islands are located at 12-19ºW and 27.30ºN

The western islands are: El Hierro, La Palma, Tenerife and La Gomera.

Between distance between Tenerife and La Gomera is 30 km.

(La Gomera) There is 370km^2 of land.

(La Gomera is composed of) Six counties:
- San Sebastián: The capital and sea port with 4,445 habitants.
- Hermigua: A farming area with 2,142 habitants.
- Agulo: Aquiferous reserve with 1,207 habitants
- Villaermoso: Farming area with 3,141 habitants
- Valle gran rey: Tourist region of 4857 habs.
- Alajeró: Tourist region 1,954 habs.

Transportations are by road and sea.



One more link from BBC news back in 2003.

Comments (4)

Newest 4
Newest 4 Comments

I remember seeing a documentary about this language in college years ago. Very interesting.

Funny thing... Our pet canary is usually pretty active this time of day, singing & flying around his cage, but while that video was playing, he sat on his perch listening intently. Now that it's done he's singing up a storm & flying back & forth like mad! He's got to be several generations removed from the islands, but the sound must mean something to him. When we whistle to him, he just ignores us.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Thanks for the interesting link...started playing this not realizing how loud my speakers were and both my dogs both woke up immedately and looked at the computer like it was possesed! Thanks.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
The stuff (clothing/food) in Canada is more expensive than in the States despite the strength of currency. For the last several years, I've been skipping the border every month or so to go shopping : )
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
The truth is, America has the buying power of a few hundred million people. The entire country of canada has the buying power of the state of California....

Things in canada will never be cheaper than the US

As a retail worker in canada i can say for sure its cheaper in the states. but if you get caught your paying taxes on your way back into the country.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
List of countries by highest GDP:

1.) USA - 13m
2.) Japan - 4m
3.) Germany - 3m
4.) China - 3m
5.) UK - 2m
6.) France - 2m
7.) Italy - 2m
8.) Canada - 1m

What does this mean you say?

It says that you might beat us at health care, or bad movies, or complaining - but you will never, in a THOUSAND years, beat our economy.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
That woman has the worst Chav fashion sense. It's like having a trailer park loser getting in someone's face. Please, HAVE your freaking currency if it means we don't get those "on the dole" sunglasses.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I know this is lacking in "national pride" but I prefer dollars to pounds. They seem more like money somehow. Probably because in all media the international currency is shown as being green and the sign for money as $. When I was in America last we did a tour of Washington D.C, Boston and New York and one of our tour guides was telling us about how the money is made. Apparently a small percent of every dollar is made of linen, which is why it's less paper like and not as stiff as most other countries.
Also, as far as I can tell, American dollars are the only currency which have a smell ^_^
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Jerse >> At least Europe has been around for a thousand years. ;-)

Anyways, the $-design is a 100 times better than the east-german looking Euro notes. I am so glad that we kept our danish kroners.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Always funny

Compare like for like, GDP PER CAPITA or by Currency.. USA is 9th or 10th in the world per capita and lower than EU by currency so this joke stands.

The strength of your economy compared to others is why America is the brunt of this and other jokes, not how many crap wobbly American planet killing cars you can pump out because your fat arse broke the last one within a year

Peace and love USA, as long as you're not bombing people you're a bit like the odd cousin who, despite being slightly retarded, somehow became really rich.

But still no-one can stand a conversation with for more than 5 minutes because you keep scratching your balls and picking your nose
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I don't really care how big the GDP is in the US. You've got a large population of poor people, no universal health care AND a looming health care crisis (thanks to the obesity rate), and people defaulting on their mortgages and losing their homes... all despite your big GDP.

It's like bragging you have a big penis... and yet not knowing how to use it properly.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I'm Brazilian and I have lived in America and in Europe before. I'm not surprised at all about most of the European comments here. During the time I lived in Europe there wasn't a day I didn't hear someone talk s*** about the US. You know, Europeans are all smart, thin, polite and peace loving, just like the "Dan" guy in this comment section.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.
Email This Post to a Friend
"The Whistling Language"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More