11/16/2003 6:33:41 PM PST · by AM2000 · 42 replies · 533+ views
Yahoo! News | Sun Nov 16 2003, 1:22 PM ET | SARAH ANDREWS, Associated Press Writer
This happens in every country
Posted on 08/26/2021 9:28:35 AM PDT by BenLurkin
In at least 80 cultures worldwide, people have developed whistled versions of the local language when the circumstances call for it. To linguists...hope to learn more about how our brains extract meaning from the complex sound patterns of speech. Whistling may even provide a glimpse of...the origin of language itself.
Whistled languages are almost always developed by traditional cultures that live in rugged, mountainous terrain or in dense forest. That’s because whistled speech carries much farther than ordinary speech or shouting, says Julien Meyer... a linguist and bioacoustician at CNRS, the French national research center, who explores the topic of whistled languages in the 2021 Annual Review of Linguistics. Skilled whistlers can reach 120 decibels — louder than a car horn — and their whistles pack most of this power into a frequency range of 1 to 4 kHz, which is above the pitch of most ambient noise.
As a result, whistled speech can be understood up to 10 times as far away as ordinary shouting can, Meyer and others have found. That lets people communicate even when they cannot easily approach close enough to shout. On La Gomera, for example, a few traditional shepherds still whistle to one another across mountain valleys that could take hours to cross.
Whistled languages work because many of the key elements of speech can be mimicked in a whistle, says Meyer. We distinguish one speech sound, or phoneme, from another by subtle differences in their sound frequency patterns. A vowel such as a long e, for example, is formed higher in the mouth than a long o, giving it a higher sound. “It’s not pitch, exactly,” says Meyer. Instead, it’s a more complex change in sound quality, or timbre, which is easily conveyed in a whistle.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
After listening to WH and Pentagon briefings on Afghanistan I have started to respond in whistles as well.
Generally things that would be a turnoff, clothes wouldn’t hide. Except maybe tattoos.
I hope this works, cat kept walking on the keyboard.
In my defense I only ever did it when I was working construction with my dad. I think it was required as part of the job.
LOL. I understand and I bet some of the women really liked it, even though they might not admit it. :)
Yes, it must have been a requirement. :)
That’s okay, FRiend. :)
Seriously, I majored in Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance history in college so I really should have thought about my post; I just looked at all the odd places on the map and didn’t see Greek and Spanish (I think Spanish is on the list too).
Have a great day! Julie
I agree that tattoos would be a turnoff, if that’s what your cat meant to say. ;)
Or maybe your cat likes tattoos!
Have a nice day!
Nancy Pelosi speaks in whistles too.
early humans probably thought that if birds can do it so can we
No big thing. Birds do it all the time.
Yes but Harris keeps showing up.
Thanks BenLurkin. And a good Digest ping topic for this week.
Hi.
I whistle while I work.
And hunt.
And wom...no, not going there.
5.56mm
Hmmm...
My barber calls me young man and I am older than my teeth.
I don’t appreciate the sarcasm.
:D
LOL. It’s all a question of perspective.
Take care, FRiend!
Glad you are here. I once asked my dad, when I was 15 or so, if getting older bothered him.
He said, “It’s better than the alternative.”
I miss him every day.
I sort of whistle, generally an hour or so after Taco Bell.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.