The Whistled Language of La Gomera
On a steep Canary island, people talk across valleys in a language made entirely of whistles.
What was reported
On La Gomera, deep ravines make travel slow, and for centuries shepherds and farmers have spoken across them in Silbo Gomero, a whistled form of Spanish. It can be understood several kilometres away, and early European visitors wrote about it with amazement.
By the late 20th century it was dying out, so in 1999 the island made it a compulsory school subject. UNESCO recognised it as part of the world's intangible cultural heritage in 2009.
Explanations offered
Silbo replaces the sounds of spoken Spanish with whistled pitches and changes in tone, often using a finger in the mouth. Listeners decode it with the same parts of the brain they use for speech. Similar whistled languages exist in Turkey, France, Mexico and elsewhere.
- When
- Used for centuries
- Where
- La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain
- Witnesses
- Islanders, and the schoolchildren who learn it
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.