ONE OF THE LAST "WHISTLERS"
ONE OF THE LAST "WHISTLERS"
Description
Kyriakoula Yiannakari is one of the last living speakers of "Whistling," the whistled language of the village of Antia, in Euboea. She tells us about the language, and about her life in the village where people communicate by whistling.
Tags
Credits
Interviewee
- Kyriaki Giannakari
Interview by
- Stavros Vlachos
Podcast Producer
- Stavros Vlachos
Sound Designer
- Iasonas Theofanou
Sound Editor
- Spyros Lymperopoulos
Video Director
- Daphne Matziaraki
Voiceover
- Dafni Remoundou
It was in this village that I was born and grew up. We were poor, we didn’t have food on the table. I told grandpa: “If we had to eat, how much would we grow up grandpa?” We were at a point where we didn’t have bread, such poverty… Meat was on the menu only during Easter and Midsummer’s Eve. It wasn’t an option for the rest of the year.
Here, on the mountain, I used to herd sheep and return home by night. Since I was ten, grandpa used to say: “Whistle commands at the goats!” And bit by bit I tried until I learned to whistle.
In other villages they don’t speak nor whistle. Here, they whistle and understand each other. From birth, I had good command of the whistle language, as did the rest of us, as my father-in-law told me. They always had it.
“How do you do?”, I’ve just said. “What’s your name?”, “When are you leaving?”, “Where did you sleep last night?”, that sort of stuff.
I also had the phone. The central one, as we didn’t have phones at home. And whoever was asked for on the phone, I went out and called: “Georgia! They want you on the phone, come!” Understand? I could say it by whistling.
There were cafes full of people dancing, celebrating… Back then, young people did not dance as they do now, it was not like nowadays where everyone does everything. To dance with a girl back then, you would take the handkerchief and throw it at her, got it? You would go with your handkerchief where the girl sat, you gave it to her and asked her if she wished to dance with you. And if she did… you could not touch her hand or shoulder. You would both connect only by holding the handkerchief, not by touching hands! It didn’t used to be like now. And if a young man loved a girl, he went to the kafeneio, the café, gave her the handkerchief, danced with her, and treated everybody to sweet delights.
And if a man loved a girl that didn’t want him, he went and stole her plain and straight. The man I took… although they forced me to, I didn’t want. I was on my way from the fields on a mule, when he came and told me: “I will take you in marriage, I’m going to steal you.” “On my part, I will not, if you plan to do it by force”, I replied. “I will go to Athens and become a maid. I won’t take you!” My whole family jumped on me… “Take him!” I was poor, didn’t have an inheritance, nothing, you understand? We were six children of poor background. “Take him”, they said, he was an only child, he had an inheritance. Back then, we searched for someone who had an inheritance, fields, who could make a living… how else could we make money? I loved another man, but my siblings did not allow this. They told me: “You will take this man, not the one you want, because he is a devil for the drink!” I didn’t take the one I loved, the one I was in love since we were kids. It hurt my feelings, but later we had children together, I loved him. Well, we didn’t know about life back then, we didn’t know…
Swimming? I’ve never been for swimming! I’ve never gone to sea for swimming. How could we go there? Would we take our mules and go? We had mules to carry wood for the fire during winter and avoid freezing. We were not in the mood for walks. Besides, we didn’t have time for such things. We had work to do. We harvested oregano; we went on the mountain to harvest tea… that sort of thing. I also had goats, I took them for herding, I came back home, do all sorts of stuff, I searched for wood and thyme to light my bonfire. And if I had free time, I sat by the fire and knitted.
We knew all sorts of things at that time, how to put it in words… The other day, we had placed a cloth by the door, I still have it there. “Why do you keep the cloth?” I am told. “Here?” I say, “We keep it there, because on Holy Wednesday, souls come out and they can sit on it.” That is what we believe, that is what we found as tradition by our elders. Anything traditional and old that I have been taught and like, I do it.
Those times were better back then. We lived happily. We laughed; we were joyful. Nowadays, people are not… back then we laughed heartily, do you know what this means? We had good spirit, we craved life and daily tasks.
“Do you like it here?”, I’ve just said.