Re: Silbo, a whistled language

grandsire wrote:

> Does anyone knows about Silbo or other whistled languages? Or about
> ther kinds of languages that are meant to be heard, but are not spoken
> (like Solresol, but here I'm talking about natural languages). Do you
> know other whistled languages that would not be related to spoken
> languages, unlike Silbo? And finally, did anyone of you make whistled
> conlangs or things like that?
Most whistled "languages", including Silbo, are quite general: anything
can be whistled that can be spoken, not just the local language
(Spanish).  The whistling is usually done with a finger or two
in the mouth, and can carry for several kilometers.

Mazateco whistling, though, is lip whistling and can carry only
200 meters or so.  It represents the tones of spoken Mazateco, and
needs a lot of circumlocution to disambiguate it.  Other languages
cannot be transmitted.  African drumtalk uses the same principles.

--
        John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan      cowan@ccil.org
Schlingt dreifach einen Kreis um dies! / Schliesst euer Aug vor heiliger Schau,
Denn er genoss vom Honig-Tau / Und trank die Milch vom Paradies.
                        -- Coleridge / Politzer