Guanche Legacy: The Whistling Language of Canary Islands

There are many rare, unique and often endangered languages on our planet. Unfortunately, there are many more than the widely spoken languages spoken by the vast majority of the world's population. One of such unique languages, which was even included by UNESCO in the list of intangible cultural heritage, is the whistling language spoken by the inhabitants of one of the Canary Islands.

A specific language called Silbo Homero is found among the population of the Canary Islands and is a unique variety of the local dialect of the Spanish language. But before the Canary Islands were colonized by the Spaniards, the local population (Guanches) widely used a special whistling language to communicate people who are at a considerable distance from each other. According to the researchers, such a unique language arose among the shepherds, who found it convenient to communicate using whistles. The fact is that in the mountains, and all the Canary Islands are of volcanic origin and mountainous terrain, ordinary words are echoed and negotiating from a distance, this way is extremely inconvenient. And so came the whistling language spoken by the locals.

Later, when the Spaniards finally conquered the Canary Islands, the languages of the Guanches gradually began to go out of use, dissolving in the Spanish dialect, and by the 18th century the Guanches were completely assimilated by the colonialists. But the unique whistling language was appreciated by the newcomer population, and therefore has survived to this day. The Spaniards adapted it to their language, and so came the silbo homero - a kind of mixture of the languages of the Guanches and Spaniards, which has survived to this day.

In this language, the vowels and consonants of the Spanish language are whistled. The whistle can be long or intermittent, and also varies in tone, so certain skills are needed to communicate in this language.

Today, thanks to the efforts of local authorities, the whistling language, which almost disappeared in the 20th century, is studied in schools on the island of Homer, one of the Canary Islands, and special attention is paid to its conservation. It may be in the Spanish version, but the whistling language is alive today, and in the 21st century, it is spoken by the population of the Canary Islands - the descendants of the Guanches and Spaniards.