Tourists visiting La Gomera and EI Hierro in the Canary-Islands can often hear locals communicating over long distances by whistling — not a tune (曲调), but the Spanish language. The locals are communicating in Silbo, a whistled Spanish language.

Whistled languages are almost developed in rough, mountainous regions or in thick forest. That’s because whistled speech carries much farther than ordinary speech or shouting. As a result, whistled speech can be understood up to 10 times as far away as ordinary shouting. That lets people communicate even when they cannot easily approach close enough to shout. On La Gomera, for example, a few traditional shepherds (牧羊人) still whistle to one another across mountain valleys that could take hours to cross.

Whistled languages work because many of the key elements of speech can be produced in a whistle, says Meyer. We distinguish one speech sound from another by small differences in their sound frequency patterns. A long “e”, for example, is formed higher in the mouth than along “o”, giving it a higher sound.

To language scientists, such languages are more than just a curiosity. By studying whistled languages, they hope to learn about how our brains get meaning from the complex sound patterns of speech. Whisting may even provide a chance to know one of the most dramatic jump forward in human evolution (进化); the origin of language itself.

Despite their interest to both language experts and casual observers, whistled languages are disappearing rapidly all over the world, and some, such as the whistled form of the Tepehua language in Mexico, have disappeared. “Now you still find whistled speech only in places that are very, very remote, that have had less contact with modernity and less access to roads,” Meyer says.

Fortunately, there is still hope. UNESCO, the UN cultural organization, has listed two whistled languages, Silbo, and a whistled Turkish, as the world’s cultural heritage. Such attention can lead to conservation efforts.

Although the English language has been in a constant state of change, Shakespeare’s works have continued to influence the language we use daily. Shakespeare created many commonly used expressions, new words, and the way of using punctuation (标点符号). 【小题1】

Shakespeare’s talent for making the English language into the powerful written word has ensured his lasting influence on our everyday language. Hundreds of expressions were invented by Shakespeare. 【小题2】

They only know some well-known expressions, such as, “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” can be attributed (认为是……所作) to Shakespeare.

【小题3】 Many of his original words, for example, “uncomfortable” and “fashionable”, are still used today. Shakespeare’s effect on vocabulary is rather amazing when considering how much language has changed since his lifetime.

Shakespeare’s use of punctuation is also distinctive (有特色的). His punctuation is a clue to the way a piece should be performed. Punctuation is required to signal how each line should be delivered. 【小题4】 Consequently, lines without punctuation naturally seem to gather speed and emotional purpose. When analyzing a Shakespearean text, stop and consider how punctuation is used.

In conclusion, Shakespeare is truly a great author. 【小题5】 We will always have the benefit of his remarkable works for many years to come.

There are 7,000 documented languages currently spoken across the world, but half of them could be endangered. It is predicted that 1,500 known languages may no longer be spoken by the end of this century.

Researchers analyzed thousands of languages to identify factors that put endangered ones at risk. The findings highlight a link between higher levels of schooling and language loss, as regionally dominant languages taught in class often overshadow indigenous (土著的) tongues. Additionally, the density of roads in an area is also to blame. “We found that the more roads there are, connecting countries to cities, and villages to towns, the higher the risk of languages being endangered. It’s as if roads are helping dominant languages ‘steam roll’ over other smaller languages,” said Professor Lindell Bromham, co–author of the study.

The study, published in Nature, Ecology and Evolution, estimates one language is currently lost within every three–month period. But levels of language loss could actually triple in the next 40 years, with at least one language per month disappearing unless measures are taken.

“When a language is lost, we lose so much of our human cultural diversity,” said Professor Bromham.“Luckily, many of the languages predicted to be lost this century still have fluent speakers, so there is still the chance to invest in supporting communities to restore indigenous languages.”

There are many Internet sites and apps to help new speakers learn languages like Spanish, English and Chinese, but these now extend to specialist apps designed to teach endangered languages or help preserve them. Ma! Iwaidja, for example, is an app that enables those working with speakers of the Iwaidja indigenous Australian language to record words, phrases and translations. Another initiative is the Rosetta Project, a global cooperation of language specialists and native speakers working to build an open–access digital library of human languages.

The UNESCO International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL 2022–2032), which begins this year, also aims to engage the global community with the critical issue of language loss.