Re: Morse Code, Silbo and Whistled languages

On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 11:50:55 -0800, Arthaey Angosii <arthaey@...> wrote:

>In the interest of on-topic posts... :)
>
>Emaelivpeith Gary Shannon:
>> All this led me to wonder about a language (from some
>> alien civilization, obviously) devised by a
>> civilization that had no vocal chords, but carried
>> around little two-tone or three-tone penny whistles to
>> talk with.
>>
>> Just idle ruminations at this point. But it's an
>> interesting thought.
>
>Quite interesting. I like the idea of having a species that is
>cognitively capable of language but that lacks the physiology to
>produce it. Requiring some object to communicate *at all* (as opposed
>to needing special apparatus only for long-distance communication)
>could make for an unusual conculture.
>
>Does anyone know of Earth animals without vocal cords that still make
>a wide range of sounds? One website suggested whales and some
>dinosaurs.
Don't forget about their descendants: birds! I think there was a time when
certain linguist believed that dolphins would indeed have a proper language.
They really turned out to have proper names, but not complex languages.

It's known that whales have dialects: Their singing differs from region to
region.

g_0ry@s:
j. 'mach' wust