Sfyria Language Σφυριά Γλώσσα
Sfyria is a unique, whistled language spoken in Greece. Technically it isn’t a language, but rather a whistled way of speaking Greek. Technically Sfyria is the same language as Modern Standard Greek, but due to it being whistled Greek speakers can’t understand without learning it. The orthography is also the same as Greek. People use Syfria on the island of Evia in the village of Antia. The villagers claim that this language has been spoken here since antiquity, but the language was only officially discovered in 1969 when a plane crashed near the village. The language is primarily used to communicate over long distances, as whistling can travel farther than shouting, but it could also be in vis-a-vis type situations. In recent years the language has been losing speakers. The villagers would like to preserve the language and to teach it to people to help it stay alive.
Articles:
BBC article
The outline article
The outline’s Syfria recordings on SoundCloud
PBS article
Terminology coordination article
Videos:
PBS
Scientific American
Alpha Omega Translations
Σφυριά Αντιά
