Aluh

Conch signaling system used by the Abu' people of the Toricelli region of Papua New Guinea, described by Nekitel (1985, 1992). The instrument itself is a triton shell (aluh). The practitioner blows into an orifice in the narrow end; the opening at which the exhaled sound energy emerges is regulated with the right hand to enable the production of meaning-bearing signals of varied intentsity and amplitude, somewhat like the blowing of a trumpet." The encoding system and lexicon are reportedly close to Abu' whistling, though playing the aluh is considered a more "formal style" (176). Conch signaling is restricted to adult men, especially to a few specialists. Content includes long-distance communication and announcements of official and social topics.

Nekitel, O. M. (1985). Sociolinguistic aspects of Abu’, a Papuan lanquage of the Sepik area [PhD Thesis]. The Australian National University.,Nekitel, O. M. (1992). A perceptual analysis of Abu'-Wam whistled speech. In: Duton et al. (Eds), Language Game: papers in memory of Don C. Laycock. Canberra: Australian National University, p. 299-311.