Whistled speech, which is found in more than 80 languages around the world, is a way to communicate using whistling. It is heavily influenced by landscape and is typically found in areas such as dense forests, where using whistles to communicate makes it easier to be heard across a greater distance.
Whistled speech generally coexists alongside spoken language – it is more common alongside tonal languages – and it is just as complex. Whistled languages generally follow the sounds and intonations of spoken language, so that listeners who are familiar with both can understand what is being said.
Examples of whistled language include Sfyria, which was in use on the Greek island of Euboea until the 1980s; Sochiapam Chinantec in Mexico – where men can be fined if they are not sufficiently competent to carry out particular jobs in whistled speech – and the Tsonga whistle language in southern Mozambique.
While in some cultures whistled speech is used in certain contexts only and is therefore more limited in expression than spoken language, in others full, complex conversations can be held.
Most interesting of all, the presence of whistled speech in any given culture is generally much more closely related to the natural features of the landscape (dense forests and the like) than to contact with other cultures that practice this form of speech.
Photo Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/person-standing-beside-a-brown-tree-trunk-5T3kINGpWcA
