The Ancient Whistled Language Of La Gomera - Silbo Gomero

The Ancient Whistled Language Of La Gomera - Silbo Gomero | Europe To The Maxx

Рет қаралды 201,527

3 жыл бұрын

Long before telephones were invented, locals living on the Spanish island La Gomera in the Canaries were able to communicate across great distances. Their secret is a whistled language. Whistling travels much further and with less effort than shouting, so it is the perfect way of communicating on the volcanic island. There are around 40 whistled languages in the world. Most are facing extinction. But ‘Silbo Gomero’ is a compulsory subject in grade school in La Gomera. Euromaxx Reporter Hendrik Welling spent some time in class on the island in the Canaries.
#EuropeToTheMaxx #LaGomera #Whistling
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Пікірлер: 194

@eldarius237 2 жыл бұрын

As a linguist (just a graduate but still), I'm fascinated. If humans made whistling a language, it's easy to imagine that dolphin whistling could be a language too.

@joseanl Жыл бұрын

I wonder if you could teach them Silbo instead of learning their language that will be in a higher pitch and more complex

@NoBaconForYou Жыл бұрын

José that is actually a really good idea. I wonder if anyone else has had it too?

@jochem420 11 ай бұрын

@@joseanli wonder if that would work, it would be really cool

@joiesamaniego3056 8 ай бұрын

@@NoBaconForYouactually Mariah Carey did and the dolphin went nuts 😂😂😂 kidding aside that could be possible since they are really smart

@standard-carrier-wo-chan 7 ай бұрын

Considering they say dolphins are comparably smart as a human child, it very well might. Perhaps it's rudimentary, and only has like several tens or hundreds of total words, but if it's still a language, there might be an argument to be made that dolphins are borderline sapient.

@laura2089 2 жыл бұрын

It blows my mind that this is not only possible, but that it's a legitimate language

@meesegomoo1836 Жыл бұрын

In mexico they have one that doesn't require fingers.... Take that! Also same statement to the Turkish whistle language. The mexican one seems more day to day than specialized, hence the lack of fingers. Kind of like normal English vs morse code

@pedrosegundo8109 Жыл бұрын

Why it would blow your mind? A word is just articulated sound. A whistle is sound too.

@AlejandroPRGH 11 ай бұрын

Technically it's not a language but a code. It could be done with Morse code.

@AlexanderYamada 9 ай бұрын

I'm so glad this has been made a required part of their school curriculum. Languages are a human treasure that can only be truly and fully preserved by ensuring the next generation can speak them fluently. Too many have died or are in the process of dying out.

@bramblebush2707 2 жыл бұрын

My dad used to whistle to get our attention in loud place or from far away. It was super useful during the Christchurch earthquakes. Only downside it that some dog owners use the same whistles... I've gone looking for my dad and ended up at a dog park a few times

@AlejandroPRGH 2 жыл бұрын

My father was an officer in the Spanish Army and he had a whistled call for each of us 4 brothers, much like bugle calls.

@Michael-st9ky 10 ай бұрын

@@AlejandroPRGHmy father does the same. It is like my second name

@jorgehacevedo-mendez3533 2 ай бұрын

Mi padre ,Juan H. Acevedo Arce,nos llamaba con un tremendo silbido a casa de Don.Antonio Forte,a un kilómetro de distancia!Se escuchaba claro!JHACV2

@b.philly6926 Жыл бұрын

We have this way of communication in the atlas mountains of morocco. The original Amazigh (berber) shepherds has been using it for hundreds of years according to them . It is absolutely fascinating

@ImranChaudhry 2 ай бұрын

The original inhabitants of the Canaries were related to the Amazighs so there is a link there.

@bennemann 2 жыл бұрын

It would be interesting to see a study of whether people who speak Silbo since childhood have a higher-than-average incidence of perfect pitch.

@jeffreyboyd2758 2 жыл бұрын

The sounds as they appear to you are not only different from those that are really present, but they sometimes behave so strangely as to seem quite impossible. Sometimes behave so strangely. Sometimes behave so strangely.

@macster1457 2 жыл бұрын

I'm guessing people who suffer from Amusia won't be able to ever speak this language.

@ikhaatjullieallemaalpersoo5715 2 жыл бұрын

People who speak tonal languages like Mandarin tend to be closer to Perfect Pitch than stressed languages like English or Dutch

@josiahjray Жыл бұрын

@@macster1457 Speech processing is able to compensate amusia in tonal languages well enough to communicate (albeit with a potential, additional struggle), so I figure it’d be similar in this language.

@macster1457 Жыл бұрын

@@josiahjray I don't think you're understanding what Amusia is.

@faydulaksono 2 жыл бұрын

recently read on wikipedia ..whistle sound could be heard at 5kms! amazing 👍🏻

@minmax6868 2 жыл бұрын

What a fun, smart, unique, natural way to communicate among such beautiful place.

@marikaserasini2315 3 жыл бұрын

I lived in Tenerife Island for some months, years ago, and I heard about "El Silbo" but never visited La Gomera. I'll do❤ Love Spain 🇪🇸

@nitinkale560 Жыл бұрын

Human civilization is full of such wonders. Thanks for the great video.

@lopazio Жыл бұрын

Been searching youtube. So many places around the world where people comunicate through whistling it proves this was a big part of human evolution. people would comunicate like this in the past.

@dbal_3d Жыл бұрын

So that’s the language R2D2 speaks!

@ettenaejodeveca6707 Жыл бұрын

Amazing! Reminds me of the special whistle I had for when my son was in a crowded playground. I'd whistle and he'd pop up and wave. Lol, I love it!

@buboniccraig896 4 ай бұрын

The line cooks at my job speak this. I didn't know it was a language and started whistling back and they were really amused. I repeated some of their whistles back so I think they probably pranked me by saying stupid stuff

@BaSsGaZ 3 жыл бұрын

Everyone is like "Shutfeeew up! I'meeew tryiiiiing to spweeeeak heeeeeere"

@jimmy8377 2 жыл бұрын

En 4:17 es muy interesante escuchar el silbo, ver la traducción "Buenos días. Soy Kiko Correa y estamos en la gomera" y después volver a escuchar el silbo. Suena exactamente como el español pero en silbo. Muy interesante!

@flamah10n 2 жыл бұрын

hahaha prefiro ouvir a fala mesmo

@brina5064 2 жыл бұрын

En realidad creo que la primera vez cuando lo silba el dice "Buenos días. Yo soy- Kiko Correa - y estamos - en La Gomera". Sucede que cuando Kiko repite la traducción, omitió el "Yo" por olvido

@Tsmithleather 2 жыл бұрын

@@brina5064 We got a proper uni linguist in the chat here bois

@ShiruSama1 Жыл бұрын

Estoy flipando tienes razón

@ShiruSama1 Жыл бұрын

@@brina5064 opino que incluir el "yo" en el silbo ayuda a dar contexto

@mu3191 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing. Whenever I try to whistle it sounds like a dying miniature brass instrument

@KingLouie91 3 жыл бұрын

Too bad there is no explanation about the technique itself, or rather, when he started explaining the technique a voice-over starts chattering through it.

@Deenique16 3 жыл бұрын

You can easily do your own research. It’s said to mimic the sounds in the Spanish language. As far as the technique they literally said you have to practice whistling through your fingers. There is no magic trick

@sandrakisch3600 3 жыл бұрын

Fascinating! Thankyou from Canada.

@willfr8 3 жыл бұрын

Can't believe whistling is just as hard as learning a new language (but I guess this IS a new language 😂)

@holdingpattern245 Жыл бұрын

it's just regular Spanish language with all of the sounds changed into whistles.

@rishabhtyagi7369 3 жыл бұрын

Respect for your efforts to 'rediscover' and 'revive' your culture form India.

@Ladran_Sancho 10 ай бұрын

Human ingenuity at its best!

@lS-qp6zq 3 жыл бұрын

A whistling language that has been formed by their ancestors for generations, it's a shame for it to disappear from their culture. (But cellphone battery fail is always a possibility, so...)

@Alejandro-jk7md 2 жыл бұрын

Its actually not disapearing because its taught in schools all over La Gomera

@marodrey 3 жыл бұрын

Bravo!!! Excellent story and great tradition!

@rahelbekafa1136 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you 🙏 I never heard this before wow

@dweuromaxx 3 жыл бұрын

You're welcome!

@janethsantamaria737 3 жыл бұрын

It’s a different and interesting report. Congratulations from Ecuador

@MIDEVILKING26 Жыл бұрын

I am from Gran Canaria and was always curious about this

@manichairdo9265 2 ай бұрын

Keeping your unique and rich cultural history alive is essential. Beautiful area and beautiful people.

@StormyHotwolf88 6 ай бұрын

This is like finding out about using lighting if you are learning fire bending.

@The7thAdam 3 жыл бұрын

I'm going to learn this by all means

@Deenique16 3 жыл бұрын

Nice

@thephantomzoneboxing 2 жыл бұрын

haha good luck with that sh!t

@ellederberryblue8377 2 жыл бұрын

Well there are over 20 different whistling African languages. Interesting that ppl are perplexed at the origin of this form of communication 🤔🤔.

@Pssst.ByTheWay 3 жыл бұрын

i can whistle. not just the O lipped kind, but also that loud finger kind. i cant do the retroflexed tongue, but im sure i could learn. it would be fun to learn some words. and who knows what happens from there. wikipedia says:There are a few different techniques of how to produce whistle speech, the choice of which is dependent on practical concerns. Bilabial and labiodental techniques are common for short and medium distance discussions (in a market, in the noise of a room, or for hunting); whereas the tongue retroflexed, one or two fingers introduced in the mouth, a blow concentrated at the junction between two fingers or the lower lip pulled while breathing in air are techniques used to reach high levels of power for long distance speaking.[4]

@bobabier5394 3 жыл бұрын

so you basically learned that a quiet whistle without fingers involved are more useful for short distances and the loud ones with one or more fingers are for distance communication. wow. after you understood the technique you gotta learn the language^^ sorry, dude. to be able to whistle loud or quiet is just like to be able to talk or to scream. as a good whistler in our culture you still need years to learn that language.

@Pssst.ByTheWay 3 жыл бұрын

@@bobabier5394 whats with the smug, down looking, passive aggressive tone. i didnt even say anything apart from, i can whistle, which kinds and its be fun to learn the language. and you come up all in my comment smug for nothing. wtf. not everyone can whistle quiet or loud. so its hardl like talking and screaming. i didnt say it was a realisation that a loud whistle is better for long distances. i just wrote a chain of though. not like i was "AHA loud noise travel further!?!" where is this condesending smugness coming from. plus unlike your useless comment i looked stuff up on wikipedia. and hopefully contributed to the discussion. if you looking for a fire hydrant to pee on, look somewhere else

@georgeg6036 2 жыл бұрын

Very Cool!

@alfredobrown Жыл бұрын

This is very interesting! Did not know about it. I have a unique way of whistling to call my sons. Even the neighbors now know it !

@portapeye 3 ай бұрын

Fascinating. Reminds me of how birds communicate. Language is after all sounds produced in patterns. Awesome. 😊

@ilovemuseums 9 ай бұрын

Jesus, omgh I'm a grown-up adult and suddenly today I've learned about the Silbo language... didn't even know its existence, I had no idea that such a language exists in the world :-)

@F.G_7 3 жыл бұрын

Omg 😱 Same in Turkey (Kusköy)

@dweuromaxx 3 жыл бұрын

@lilo Thank you for the hint! We should send Hendrik to Kusköy - however it is questionable whether the people understand the "vocabulary" he has learned so far...😉

@the_original_Bilb_Ono 8 ай бұрын

I gotta learn this.

@burninglight 2 жыл бұрын

I am descendant of Guanches and we grow up whistling 😗 but we were not allowed to whistle in the house. It’s weird but whistling to us was like second nature.

@dweuromaxx 2 жыл бұрын

@burninglight light Interesting! In Germany there is a superstition only known to few - whistling in a theater brings bad luck to the actors.. 🎭

@burninglight 2 жыл бұрын

@@dweuromaxx Interesting

@burninglight 2 жыл бұрын

@@dweuromaxx there’s so much people don’t know about our heritage. I think 🤔 this whole thing about the Guanches have been exploded for money. They made it into a tourist spot and making money off my ancestors. Spain murdered my people and now they make statues of them to promote people touring the island. They did not create pottery, pyramid and among other things. Just not right to gain profit from souls that that murdered.

@hibya2066 Жыл бұрын

Do guanches still existe?! Are those that whiste all descendants of them?

@burninglight Жыл бұрын

@@hibya2066 not everyone that whistle are Guanches. Guanches tribe does not exist but they have descendants.

@lafilosofiadelcanido1055 Жыл бұрын

En mi barrio, los asaltantes y extorsionadores se comunican igual.

@mateocolegial5571 3 жыл бұрын

*COOL!!!*

@anandraneves2670 2 жыл бұрын

Incrível!!!

@Theoldindie 2 жыл бұрын

The real "windtalkers"...

@daMacadamBlob Жыл бұрын

this is so cool

@dweuromaxx Жыл бұрын

Thanks! We think so too

@rommix0 Жыл бұрын

Weird I got here. I only found out about this whistling language because there is a dataset for it on OpenSLR that could be used for deep learning.

@user-ni8ug7ex9o 3 жыл бұрын

its a very beautiful story .. >.

@Maskerade4040 3 жыл бұрын

It is

@miriamhernandez495 2 жыл бұрын

Nos podemos comunicar con los pajaritos... Guau. Ahora entiendo Alos pajaritos cuando nos cantan...🥰

@flowmingo7522 2 жыл бұрын

This sounds like a good medium for a human-dolphin language exchange

@yl3766 3 ай бұрын

Coming from San Mao’s novel about this whistling language on la gomera island

@AsperaAdAstra 5 ай бұрын

Damn, didnt know there is such cool info on German news channels!

@MARV0C 3 жыл бұрын

we be watching this for spanish class.

@Deenique16 3 жыл бұрын

Jayden, your grammar is horrible.

@spawnnato 7 ай бұрын

I don’t know what’s more interesting… the whistling, or this guys hair.

@ScottPalmer-mp1we 10 ай бұрын

With my luck, I would finally get a great whistle out and it would be an unknowing insult or bad word.

@serapaltnok9756 5 ай бұрын

In giresun city of turkey, in a village, we have a bird language (kuş dili) like that 🙂

@jeremymiller9582 3 жыл бұрын

The 2 vowels/4 consonants model is dated (though it still has supporters); the most recent proposal I’ve seen using modern statistical methods shows 4 vowels/8-10 consonants. Research is ongoing.

@Douken 2 жыл бұрын

So you say you've traveled there and that's what they do?

@jeremymiller9582 2 жыл бұрын

@@Douken I’ve been there, but I don’t know how to understand/speak it. However, it’s the subject of many research articles in phonology, where the “consensus” description has been revised over time.

@MdMASUDRANA-te5rb Жыл бұрын

💜💜💜

@talatpasa866 2 жыл бұрын

similarly, it is widely used in Turkey Giresun Kuşköy.

@KaneyoriHK Жыл бұрын

I tried it out, and I had oddly good success, but I'm a decent whistler

@malikaabizar8318 7 ай бұрын

Canary islands 🇮🇨 inhabited first by the guanches ( amazigh people of north africa ) you can also find their mommified bodies their, the silbo is their language of whistling made by guamches. Long live imazighen.

@lindo7213 3 жыл бұрын

Great, but to me is impossible too the whistle. 😆😅

@StudentsBunnyHome 3 жыл бұрын

Hey guys from DW! Put the elements at the end of the video... I was expecting a suggestion for another interesting clip!

@dweuromaxx 3 жыл бұрын

@Homeworks Thanks, we just did our homework, done!

@StudentsBunnyHome 3 жыл бұрын

@@dweuromaxx Hahaha... Thanks to all of you!

@Illjustwait Жыл бұрын

Sounds like my mom tryna round us up at the store 😂 she's cuban but raised in puerto rico (and my dad and me are puerto rican) so we get a lot of culture from the canary islands 🙏

@AstroFlipo 2 ай бұрын

Does anyone know where I can learn how to whistle like that? Like not talk the language but whistle like that?

@pillbobaggins2766 Жыл бұрын

it makes me think of the native birds in Australia

@Ethan-xy4ih 11 ай бұрын

I was doing an IELTS reading test and it led me here

@DrKingcake 2 жыл бұрын

It’s amazing, they don’t have a Spanish accent, it almost sounds Cuban.

@christownsend7552 2 жыл бұрын

“Trade route” Spanish.

@redl1ner170 2 жыл бұрын

It's very diferent from cuban.

@jorgeortiz4485 Жыл бұрын

@@redl1ner170 It is definitely different from the Cuban, and at the same it is, it's actually the parent accent/dialect of the Cuban accent. Spaniards from the Canary Islands, along with Andalusia, Galicia, the Basque Country, Extremadura and Castile-Leon, were the principal groups emigrating to the Americas during the Spanish Empire days and after. Canarians, shown here, primarily migrated to the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, which is why their accents are indeed similar to this day.

@karinec.2131 2 ай бұрын

Where do you think it comes from…

@Jinouga502 2 жыл бұрын

Human version of speaking bird.

@catalinpastiu6740 8 ай бұрын

The island where Columbus used to launch his voyages from.

@invatalimbaturcacudelia9171 Жыл бұрын

A whistling language exist even in Northern Turkey.

@tonyhakston536 2 жыл бұрын

3:50 did he just

@vivian9803 6 ай бұрын

Well... now I've heard everything... 😆

@dharmapunk777 2 жыл бұрын

anybody else wish they spent more time on the actual instructions and less time on the background info?

@dweuromaxx 2 жыл бұрын

@dharmapunk777 So you want to see a whistling tutorial? 🚂

@dharmapunk777 2 жыл бұрын

@@dweuromaxx a Silbo tutorial

@aurtisanminer2827 2 жыл бұрын

It’s like an extra primitive version of morse code in ham radio.

@Douken 2 жыл бұрын

3:49 What! 9,000!?

@ahsanashrafani 2 жыл бұрын

Who is like me there? Those who have completed IELTS passage15 test 4.

@wretched17 Жыл бұрын

What's even more amazing is that man had a coconut grafted to his head in lieu of a toupee...

@dweuromaxx Жыл бұрын

🤔

@behrouzshiri3742 9 ай бұрын

If it wasn't for IELTS reading 15, probably I wouldn't know these guys exists XD

@flymetotheup9904 3 жыл бұрын

I can whistle.

@redtrojan7758 2 жыл бұрын

VIVA CANARIAS

@marcusjava9999 4 ай бұрын

When I try to learn a new language. My brain tries to tie the English words first into the translation for me to understand what’s said. I feel like I’m doing this wrong. How can I understand other languages without forcing myself to translate every word into English first? Or is that the only way?

@mokodo_ Жыл бұрын

Imagine arguing with your wife in this language

@dweuromaxx Жыл бұрын

@Greg _ • Better try "Love chirping" first 😁

@tylerleemyles9592 3 жыл бұрын

R2d2

@larsthorwald3338 6 ай бұрын

Let's hear him whistle the Gettysburg Address. hahaha

@delacaravanio 17 күн бұрын

Presenter looks like a German Brian Cox

@suevialania Жыл бұрын

Canaries/ Guanches Islands are in North África!

@safardysantana 5 ай бұрын

🇧🇷👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏💓

@moisessamudio3252 8 ай бұрын

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

@ayoub.boughaba Жыл бұрын

dude imagine if this is all cap and some group just invented that language like 20 years ago or something 💀💀

@teresaherrerapadilla1836 11 ай бұрын

Noo es muy verídico y se ha pasado de generación a generación Sobre todo en las personas campesinas q vivían más aisladas entre las montañas y laderas Te lo afirma una Gomera 😊😂❤

@catyhell724 3 жыл бұрын

Thats so cool spain shojdl start to bring in laws s to protect the language teach it in school as it is tradition that should not get lost

@lofdan 2 жыл бұрын

It's studied in La Gomera's schools since 1999.

@r.j.rakhalraj584 5 ай бұрын

বাংলাদেশ থেকে

@erhangenc2381 Ай бұрын

Turkish city çanakçı kuşköy use bird language

@massinissaziriamazigh8122 2 жыл бұрын

Guanche ⵉⴳⵡⴰⵏⵛⵉⵢⵏ

@hibya2066 Жыл бұрын

Guanches are wiped out by the spanish colonisation for your information :D

@massinissaziriamazigh8122 Жыл бұрын

@@hibya2066 They still exist, and their traditions and way of living prove that, of course genetics proves that many Guanches survived, and their descendants exist today.

@hibya2066 Жыл бұрын

@@massinissaziriamazigh8122 genetically they are just arround 40% guanche because of inbreeding, and history says most of them killed just like Indians of America, after all carrying guanches genes means nothing when they lost their identity, especially their language as they represent themselves just a part of the Spanish population.

@user-fg8ux8zo6w 2 күн бұрын

cubans really do sound Canarians

@q-_-p.d-_-b Жыл бұрын

This proves Yondu is half Earthing.

@abdiahaji5653 Жыл бұрын

As a muslim....I believe the world is diver's. It's mentioned in the quran the prophet David used to read the quran and the bird's would recite with him...his son prophet solomon did speak with the bird's and animals. It's amazing to witness this video 📸📷

@abdiahaji5653 Жыл бұрын

@Arne Nilsen And when the unbelievers are read to what is in this quran they say story's of old....Quran chapters 2