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Whistled language of Aas
Siular d'Aas
Plaque on the church in Aas illustrating a person whistling
Native to	France
Region	Aas, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Coordinates: 42°59′N 0°24′W / 42.983°N 0.400°W / 42.983; -0.400

The whistled language of Aas (in French: langage sifflé d'Aas, occitan sifflé d'Aas; in Occitan: siular d'Aas) is a whistled language used in the town of Aas, located in the Béarn area of southern France. It is based on the local Béarnese dialect of Gascon, itself often regarded as a dialect of Occitan. According to Philippe Biu, it is "a practice known as the whistled language of Aas, but above all it is a technique speech to be transposed as whistling".

History

The use of the language was first documented in the 15th century.

The local topography, notably including deep valleys, allows for quality sound transmission, with a usable range of over 2 kilometres (1.2 miles). The inhabitants of the area therefore began using a whistled transposition of the Gascon dialect of the Occitan language as a means of communicating between the pastures and the village, or from one part of a valley to another.

After being informed of the practice, René-Guy Busnel [fr], acoustician and directeur d'études (university educator) at the École pratique des hautes études, documented the whistled language in 1950. The natural use of the language in the Ossau Valley ceased toward the end of the 20th century as the agricultural lifestyle disappeared along with the passing of the final remaining goatherds who used the language. Anne Pallas, the last historical user of the language, died in 1999.

Phonetics and transmission

The language is articulated around four vowels (i, e, à, o) and four consonants (ke, ye, che, ge). The language was transmitted from generation to generation, however, rural flight and the adoption of new communication techniques caused this transmission to cease.

Revitalisation

The cultural heritage status of the language and regrets over its disappearance brought several local Béarnese language activists to contribute to revitalisation efforts. Participants travelled to La Gomera in the Canary Islands to learn from 'master whistlers' of Silbo Gomero. An association titled Lo siular d'Aas, led by Philippe Biu and containing over ten members, is working to revive the language. The University of Pau and the Adour Region (UPPA) offers a class taught by Philippe Biu. The Lo siular d'Aas association, the regional council, the UPPA and the middle school (collège) in Laruns support the preservation of the language with bilingual classes taught in French and Occitan.

Documentation

Research projects and a digital content repository have been discussed.

In 2024, audio recordings of the language were released for the first time in open access and under a free license through a collaboration between the University of Toulouse and Wikimedia projects, notably the Lingua Libre project run by Wikimédia France. In the same year, a temporary exhibition titled Siffler le gascon, histoire d'une renaissance (Whistling Gascon, history of a renaissance) took place at Anglet. An interactive map created for the exhibition allowed guests to explore the Occitan area and hear the names of villages in the whistled language.

References

1. ^ Biu, Philippe; Latorre, Amélie (2016). "Le langage sifflé de la Vallée d'Ossau". 28 minutes (in French). Arte. Archived from the original on 16 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
2. ^ "Les siffleurs du village d'Aas - La chronique d'Aliette de Laleu" (in French). Archived from the original on 14 October 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
3. ^ "1987 : La langue sifflée de la Vallée d'Aas" (in French). Archive INA. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
4. "René-Guy Busnel". prosopo.ephe.psl.eu (in French). Archived from the original on 18 May 2024.
5. ^ Faure, Jean-Marc (8 October 2015). "Le langage sifflé d'Aas désormais enseigné à l'université de Pau". La République des Pyrénées (in French). Archived from the original on 5 November 2017.
6. Biu 2018, p. 199.
7. "L'occitan sifflé enregistré pour la première fois en Open Access". urfist.univ-toulouse.fr (in French). Unité Régionale de Formation à l'information Scientifique et Technique Occitanie. Archived from the original on 16 September 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
8. "Siffler le gascon, histoire d'une renaissance". Anglet.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
9. Lopez, Hugo Pierre; Montagne, Delphine (28 June 2024). Adiu ! Quand l'union des communs fait la force du patrimoine immatériel. State of the Map France 2024 (in French). Archived from the original on 27 December 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
10. Lopez, Hugo; Montagne, Delphine; Biu, Philippe (28 April 2024). "Mapa interactiva amb los noms dels vilatges occitans e lor prononciacion en occitan siflat". Github (in Occitan). Archived from the original on 27 December 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.

Bibliography

• René Arripe [fr], Les siffleurs d'Aas, 1984, Imprimerie de la Monnaie, Pau.
• Biu, Philippe (2018). "L'enseignement de l'occitan sifflé : bilan et perspectives". Hizkuntzak, Ondarea eta Identitateak. Hezkuntza ikuspegia / Lengas, patrimòni e identitats. Perspectiva educativa / Lenguas, patrimonio e identidades. Perspectiva educativa / Langues, patrimoine et identités. Perspective éducative / Languages, Heritage and Identities. An Educational Perspective (in French). Delta Publicaciones ADDI (Universidad del Pais Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea). pp. 199–209. ISBN 978-84-17526-15-3. Archived from the original on 27 December 2024.
• Les bergers siffleurs d’Aas, in Pyrénées Magazine, 84, November-December 2002.

• Whistled languages
• Gascon dialect
• Occitan language