Editing Whistled language (section)

=== Ecology ===
Whistled languages have naturally developed in response to the necessity for humans to communicate in conditions of relative isolation, with possible causes being distance, noise levels, and night, as well as specific activities, such as social information, shepherding, hunting, fishing, courtship, or shamanism.<ref name="Asher, R. E. 1994"/> Because of this usage, they are mostly related to places with mountains or dense forests. Southern China, Papua New Guinea, the Amazon forest, Subsaharan Africa, Mexico, and Europe encompass most of these locations.

They have been more recently found in dense forests like the Amazon where they may replace spoken dialogue in the villages while hunting or fishing to overcome the pressure of the acoustic environment.<ref name=Meyer2005/><ref name=Meyer2008>{{cite journal |last1=Meyer |first1=Julien |title=Typology and acoustic strategies of whistled languages: Phonetic comparison and perceptual cues of whistled vowels |journal=[[Journal of the International Phonetic Association]] |date=2008 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=69–94 |doi=10.1017/S0025100308003277 |id={{ProQuest|224991437}} |jstor=44526964 |s2cid=55852067}}</ref> The main advantage of whistling speech is that it allows the speaker to cover much larger distances (typically {{convert|1|-|2|km}} but up to {{convert|5|km|abbr=on}} in mountains and less in reverberating forests) than ordinary speech, without the strain (and lesser range) of shouting. More specifically, whistle speech can reach a loudness of 130&nbsp;dB, and the transmission range can reach up to 10&nbsp;km (as verified in La Gomera, Canary Island).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meyer |first1=Julien |title=Bioacoustics of human whistled languages: an alternative approach to the cognitive processes of language |journal=Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências |date=June 2004 |volume=76 |issue=2 |pages=406–412 |doi=10.1590/s0001-37652004000200033 |pmid=15258658 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The long range of whistling is enhanced by the mountainous [[terrain]] found in areas where whistled languages are used. Many areas with such languages work hard to preserve their ancient traditions, in the face of rapidly advancing telecommunications systems in many areas.