El Silbo Gomero
Whistled language of La Gomera, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. It allows communication across ravines and great distances.
El Silbo Gomero is a whistled language developed on La Gomera to communicate across the island’s deep ravines. Recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, it phonetically articulates Spanish through whistles that reach great distances and survives today as a living practice in Gomera schools and society.[1]
Worldwide recognition
UNESCO inscribed El Silbo Gomero on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009, highlighting its value as a communication system adapted to the territory and as a vehicle of island identity.[1]
School transmission
Silbo no longer depends solely on pastoral use: since the mid-twentieth century it has been incorporated into the schools of La Gomera, guaranteeing its generational transmission and its presence in the island’s public life.[1][2]
Related reading
The Gomeran Whistle: A Language That Crosses Mountains
The silbo gomero is a unique whistled communication system that allowed the inhabitants of La Gomera to communicate across the island's deep ravines.
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The Gomeran Whistle: The Living Whistled Language of La Gomera
The Gomeran whistle is a unique whistled language still alive in La Gomera, enabling communication across mountains and ravines. Its recognition and teaching make it a linguistic treasure of the Canary Islands.
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The island that speaks without words – La Gomera
Silbo Gomero is one of the world's most singular linguistic phenomena: a whistled communication system that carries messages across the deep ravines and mountains of La Gomera.
Read moreSources used
- Arianna Ancarani — El silbo gomero. Medio de comunicación (2008)View reference
- José M. Esteban — Vocabulario canario guanche (2003)View reference