" We Europeans often whistle
as a sign of surprise; thus, in a recent novel[10] it is said,
"here the man expressed his astonishment and disapprobation
by a prolonged whistle." A Kafir girl, as Mr. J. Mansel Weale
informs me, "on hearing of the high price of an article,
raised her eyebrows and whistled just as a European would."
Mr. Wedgwood remarks that such sounds are written down as _whew_,
and they serve as interjections for surprise.
[9] Lieber, `On the Vocal Sounds of Laura Bridgman,'
Smithsonian Contributions, 1851, vol. ii. p. 7.
[10] `Wenderholme,' vol. ii. p. 91.
According to three other observers, the Australians often evince
astonishment by a clucking noise. Europeans also sometimes express
gentle surprise by a little clicking noise of nearly the same kind.
We have seen that when we are startled, the mouth is suddenly opened;
and if the tongue happens to be then pressed closely against the palate,
its sudden withdrawal will produce a sound of this kind, which might
thus come to express surprise.
Turning to gestures of the body. A surprised person often raises
his opened hands high above his head, or by bending his arms
only to the level of his face.
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