The Language Made Up Entirely of Whistles

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In Spanish, “Silbo Gomero” means “Gomeran whistling,” which is an apt name for the language “spoken” on La Gomera in the Canary Islands. You see, this language is made up entirely of whistling sounds.
The language was used by the Guanches—the aboriginal people of the Canary Islands—long before Spanish settlement. It is a whistled form of the original Guanche language, which died out around the 17th century. Not much is known about that spoken language of those people save for a few words recorded in the journals of travellers and a few others that were integrated into the Spanish spoken on the Canary Islands. It is believed that spoken Guanche had a simple phonetic pattern that made it easily adaptable to whistling. The language was whistled across the Canary Islands, popular on Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and El Hiero as well as La Gomera.

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[TodayIFoundOut]

Keep learning about languages by watching this video- In Russian Vodka is Water and 12 Other Language Facts:

[sQWERTYFALIEN]

Why is this Video missing the introduction by the Host telling us his Name "Hi I'm Simon Whistler" . . . . . . . . . .   LOL

[hegeliandialectriccompany]

I learned how to whistle Sylbo many years as a graduation gift to my then friend, Aramillo Wilson. I say, “then friend” with a certain degree of tentativity. That combined with an added measure of colloquialism, zen-induced creativity and awe-inspired levels of anomie, laid the foundations for what would become the new status quo, for us the shift the new focus parameters. Aramillo gave me the best advice. She said when i get confused, to just pretend I’m whistling dixie!

[KeemieKEZ]

I find it ironic that Simon Whistler has a video on a whistling language, where other whistlers, not Whistlers are featured. 😁

[lorifarrell]

I wish I could hear what it actually sounds like.

[illustrious]

I wonder if anyone from those island went to Mexico with the Spanish because I'm aware of a whistle language in the hills of Mexico.

[presser]

Jesus H

How about hearing the whistling language, eh?

[aletheaspeaks]

My family, like others in the southern United States, has a verbal history of one of my ancestors river calls. It was used s an identifier over long distances, and I have always assumed it would have included other information as well. So I put river calls and yodeling in the same category.

[OceanCrazie]

I would've loved to hear a bit of it... I guess I'll have to a bit of extra research to hear it.

[theears]

Well, I would never be able to speak it lol I can't whistle to save my life

[ricksanchez]

Is there a tutorial on how to speak it

[darris]

It's not a language. It's a way of speaking a language. You could speak multiple languages this way. The whistles are phonetic

[ahmedshaharyarejaz]

This language could probably be spoken even by those who cant talk due to voice box issues.

[viscache]

What other language would you expect to hear…in the…CANARY..Islands?

[colinp]

Is it the origins of wolf whistling? So if one day I'm walking down the street whistling I was Kaiser Bill's Batman and someone clouts me do you think that in Sylbo I was insulting him?

[samdrummond]

Well I would be dumb, I can’t whistle!

[biscoitor]

I heard that the Pirahã language can also be understood by whistling.

[pikeman]

I thought that language made entirely of whistles originated in Mayberry.

[chantelles]

I'm here after your polyglot video 😊

[BrianH]

sorry, there is not key for whistles.