Editing Whistled language (section)

=== Tonal and non-tonal whistle languages ===

Whistled languages differ according to whether the spoken language is [[Tonal language|tonal]] or not, with the whistling being either tone or [[Manner of articulation|articulation]] based (or both). Most whistle languages, of which there are several hundred, are based on tonal languages.

A way in which true whistled languages differ from other types of whistled communication is that they encode auditory features of spoken languages by 'transposing' (i.e.carrying over into a whistled form) key components of speech sounds. There are two types of whistled languages: those based on non-tone languages, which transpose F² [[formants]] patterns, those based on tone languages which transpose tonal-melodies.<ref name=Rialland2005>{{cite journal |last1=Rialland |first1=Annie |title=Phonological and phonetic aspects of whistled languages |journal=[[Phonology (journal)|Phonology]] |date=August 2005 |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=237–271 |doi=10.1017/S0952675705000552 |citeseerx=10.1.1.484.4384 |s2cid=18615779}}</ref> However, both types of whistle tones have a phonological structure that is related to the spoken language that they are transposing.

Tonal languages are often stripped of articulation, leaving only [[suprasegmental feature]]s such as duration and tone, and when whistled retain the spoken melodic line. Thus whistled tonal languages convey [[phoneme|phonemic]] information solely through [[pitch (music)|tone]], length, and, to a lesser extent, [[vocal stress|stress]], and most [[segment (linguistics)|segmental]] phonemic distinctions of the spoken language are lost.

In non-tonal languages, more of the articulatory features of speech are retained, and the normally [[timbral]] variations imparted by the movements of the [[tongue]] and [[soft palate]] are transformed into [[pitch (music)|pitch]] variations.<ref name=Busnel1976>{{cite book |last1=Busnel |first1=R.-G. |last2=Classe |first2=A. |year=1976 |title=Whistled Languages |location=New York |publisher=Springer-Verlag |isbn=0-387-07713-8}}{{page needed|date=November 2020}}</ref> Certain consonants can be pronounced while whistling, so as to modify the whistled sound, much as consonants in spoken language modify the vowel sounds adjacent to them.

Different whistling styles may be used in a single language. [[Sochiapam Chinantec]] has three different words for whistle-speech: '''sie<sup>3</sup>''' for whistling with the tongue against the alveolar ridge, '''jui̵<sup>32</sup>''' for bilabial whistling, and '''juo<sup>2</sup>''' for finger-in-the-mouth whistling. These are used for communication over varying distances. There is also a kind of loud falsetto ('''hóh<sup>32</sup>''') which functions in some ways like whistled speech.<ref>{{cite web |title=A whistled conversation in Sochiapam Chinantec |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics in Mexico |url=http://www-01.sil.org/mexico/chinanteca/sochiapam/13i-Conversacion-cso.htm |access-date=2014-09-04 |archive-date=2013-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112062156/http://www-01.sil.org/mexico/chinanteca/sochiapam/13i-Conversacion-cso.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Tonal whistle languages and types of tones ====

Only the tone of the speech is saved in the whistle, while aspects as articulation and phonation are eliminated. These are replaced by other features such as stress and rhythmical variations. However, some languages, like that of the [[Zezuru]] who speak a [[Shona language|Shona]]-derived dialect, include articulation so that consonants interrupt the flow of the whistle. A similar language is the [[Tsonga language|Tsonga]] whistle language used in the highlands in the Southern parts of [[Mozambique]]. This should not be confused with the [[whistled sibilant]]s of Shona.

There are two different types of whistle tones - [[Physics of whistles#Hole|hole tones]] and [[Physics of whistles#Edge tone|edge tones]]. A hole (or 'orifice') tone is produced by a fast-moving cylinder (or 'vena contracta') of air that interacts with the slow-moving anulus of air surrounding it.<ref name=Shosted2006>{{cite journal |last1=Shosted |first1=Ryan K. |title=Just Put Your Lips Together and Blow? The Whistled Fricatives of Southern Bantu |journal=UC Berkeley PhonLab Annual Report |date=2006 |volume=2 |issue=2 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3p19w08r}}</ref> Instability in the boundary layer leads to perturbations that increase in size until a feedback path is established whereby specific frequencies of the resonance chamber are emphasized.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shadle |first1=Christine H. |title=Experiments on the acoustics of whistling |journal=The Physics Teacher |date=March 1983 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=148–154 |doi=10.1119/1.2341241 |bibcode=1983PhTea..21..148S}}</ref> An edge tone, on the other hand, is generated by a thin jet of air that strikes an obstacle. Vortices are shed near the point of disturbance in the flow, alternating on each side of the obstacle or 'wedge'.<ref name=Shosted2006/>

One of the best-studied whistled languages is a whistled language based on Spanish called [[Silbo Gomero language|Silbo]], whistled on the island of [[La Gomera]] in the [[Canary Islands]] ([[Annie Rialland|Rialland]] 2005). The number of distinctive sounds or phonemes in this language is a matter of disagreement, varying according to the researcher from two to five vowels and four to nine consonants. This variation may reflect differences in speakers' abilities as well as in the methods used to elicit contrasts. The work of Meyer<ref name=Meyer2005/><ref name=Meyer2008/> clarifies this debate by providing the first statistical analyses of production for various whistlers as well as psycholinguistic tests of vowel identification.

==== Non-tonal whistle languages ====

In a non-tonal language, segments may be differentiated as follows:

:Vowels are replaced by a set of relative pitch ranges generally tracking the f<sub>2</sub> [[formant]] of spoken language.

:Stress is expressed by higher pitch or increased length

:Consonants are produced by pitch transitions of different lengths and height, plus the presence or absence of [[Occlusive|occlusion]]. ("Labial [[stop consonant|stops]] are replaced by [[diaphragm (anatomy)|diaphragm]] or [[glottalization|glottal]] occlusions.")