Hmmm... I stand corrected. Although I lived in the Amazon region for a few years (1993 to 2002 in Rondônia), never formally studied any native language and mostly blindly believed the wikipedia article on Pirahã people[0] and probably mixed things from the Hopi language time controversy.
Thanks for such info.
Ironically, my English was mostly learnt from people from Europe who came there to conduct researches. This is amazing and sad at the same time. But the fact that some tribes can whistle names, words and entire phrases and use such skill to communicate while hunting in the jungle is something I was told from an native speaker, can't remember what tribe or language it was; probably Caripuna or Suruí.
I'm not claiming that what Everett et al. are saying is wrong, just that the claims are so spectacular that I'd like to see more evidence before I believe them.
Thanks for such info.
Ironically, my English was mostly learnt from people from Europe who came there to conduct researches. This is amazing and sad at the same time. But the fact that some tribes can whistle names, words and entire phrases and use such skill to communicate while hunting in the jungle is something I was told from an native speaker, can't remember what tribe or language it was; probably Caripuna or Suruí.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirah%C3%A3_language#Verbs
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopi_time_controversy