Mido ame de du megawo gbo: Nonverbal languages

"We send a message to the elders," say the Ewe-speaking musicians of Ghana's Chains music festival, a reference to to the ancient drum language songs that play a central role in their performances. West African drum languages and El Silbo, the whistling language of the Canary Islands, are "speech surrogates," or nonverbal traditions. As such, they are rare phenomena, and like isolates, a fascinating and instructive topic.

West African Drum Languages

Who hasn't seen the old Tarzan movies where the Ape Man swings onto a branch, listens intently to distant drumming, and then translates: "White men come up river. Have many guns. Look for gold, kill any who stop." Such scenes so reek of Hollywood that it's hard to convince adults that they're largely factual. But they are.

More than half a dozen West African cultures boast a drum language. Called vu gbe ("drum voice") in Ewe, some scholars call these traditions "code" or "telegraphy" because they are based on verbal languages. However, analysis suggests that drum languages outgrew this status long ago, evolving independent vocabulary and syntax. In this, they more closely resemble a dialect than a code.

West Africans' ability to speak with drums is rooted in the tonal nature of their verbal languages. Because meaning is carried by two or three distinct tones in these tongues, speakers can approximate human speech with drums tuned to mimic them. Of course, true communication requires much more sophisticated structure, and the various drummed traditions have developed accordingly. Contemporary drum languages communicate complex messages over long distances, tell stories and recite history at public events, and sing songs that double as dance music. In fact, West African dancers even take precise directions (i.e., "dance to the front of the room, spin three times fast, jump back, and repeat") from the very rhythms they dance to.

Anyone who's had the honour of handling a top-quality West African drum knows that Stradivarius had nothing on Africa's master drum-makers. Clear-voiced, with a sensitivity comparable to the finest violins, many of their creations do indeed approximate the human voice in range. These "talking drums," which are made expressly for drum language, are the craft's highest expression. Drums intended for long-distance communication are often made of large logs with a slot cut in the middle. Meticulously crafted and tuned, beaten with two club-like sticks, these heavy instruments become a permanent fixture in village squares. Talking drums for dancing and storytelling are smaller and more sensitive, usually made of hide stretched over a wooden or ceramic resonator.

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