Ululation ( ( listen)), from Latin ululo, is a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound resembling a howl with a trilling quality. It is produced by emitting a high pitched loud voice accompanied with a rapid back and forth movement of the tongue and the uvula.
Video Ululation
Around the world
Ululation is practiced either alone or as part of certain styles of singing, on various occasions of communal ritual events (like for example weddings) used to express strong emotion.
Ululation is commonly practised in most of Africa, the Middle East and Central-to-South Asia. It occurs a few places in Europe, like Albania, Cyprus, and parts of Spain. It likewise takes place among the diaspora community originating from these areas. Ululation also occurs among Mizrahi Jews at all joyous occasions such as at a hachnasat sefer Torah (the dedication of a Torah scroll), circumcisions, communal celebrations, weddings, bar mitzvah celebrations, and most of all at henna celebrations. The cultural practice has spread to other Jews, particularly where members of different Jewish ethnic communities come together, and is also to be found among American Jews. The Hebrew word for ululation is "tsahalulim" (Hebrew: ???????). Recordings of various styles of ululations are commonly found in the music of artists performing Mizrahi styles of music. In Morocco it is known as barwalá or youyou.
Ululation is commonly used in Middle Eastern Weddings and funerals. In the Middle East, zagh?r?t (Arabic: ??????) is a ululation performed to honor someone. An example of the incorporation of ululations in traditional wedding songs can be found in Zaghareed, a collection of Palestinian traditional wedding songs reinterpreted and re-arranged by Mohsen Subhi and produced in 1997 by the Palestinian National Music and Dance Troupe (El Funoun).
In Ethiopia and Eritrea, ululation (called ililta) is part of a religious ritual performed by worshippers as a feature of Sunday or other services in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. And it is also randomly (spontaneously) uttered during secular celebrations such as parties or concerts. Elsewhere in Africa ululation is used as a cheer, mourn or attention seeking sound by women. In Hausa ululation is called guda, sigalagala and in Zulu lilizela in Tsonga nkulungwani and in Shona kupururudza. Ululation is incorporated into African musical styles such as Shona music, where it is a form of audience participation, along with clapping and call-and-response.
In Tanzania ululation is a celebratory cheer sound when good news has been shared or during weddings, welcoming of a newborn home, graduations and other festivals even in church when sermons are going on. In Swahili it is known as vigelele and in Luo dialect it is known as udhalili. Generally women exuberantly yell lililili in a high-pitched voices. Female children are usually proud of being able to ululate like their mothers and aunts.
Ululation is also widely practiced in the eastern parts of India, where it is also known as Ululudhvani. People, especially women roll their tongues and produce this sound during all Hindu temple rituals, festivals and celebrations. This is also an integral part of most weddings in these parts where, depending upon the local usages, women ululate to welcome the groom or bride or both. Bengalis call it ulu-uli and they use this during weddings and other festivals. Odias call it Hulahuli or Huluhuli. In Odisha ululation is used to cheer during weddings, cultural gatherings and celebrations. Assamese call it uruli. In Tamil it is known as kulavai (Tamil:?????). In Kerala, ululation is essential for all ceremonial occasions and the term used in Malayalam is kurava.
Ululation is used to some extent by south European women The Basque irrintzi is a signal of happiness originating from shepherds The Galician aturuxo is performed with accompanied vocalization from the throat.
Ululation is rooted in the culture of Eastern Africa as well as Southern Africa and is widely practiced in Tanzania, Kenya, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Ethiopia, Somalia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is used by women to give praises at weddings and all other celebrations. It is a general sound of good cheer and celebration, when good news has been delivered in a place of gathering, even in church. It is also an integral part of most African weddings where women gather around the bride and groom, dancing and ululating exuberantly. During graduation ceremonies ululation shows pride and joy in scholastic achievement. The women ululating usually stand and make their way to the front to dance and ululate around the graduate.
Among the Lakota, women yell lililili! in a high-pitched voice to praise warriors for acts of valor.
Maps Ululation
In ancient times
In Ancient Egypt, reference to ululation appears on the inscription of the pyramid texts of Unas, on the West Wall of the Corridor (section XIII), and of Pepi I, in the Spells for Entering the Akhet. In ancient Greece ululation or ololuge was normally used as a joyful expression to celebrate good news or when an animal's throat is cut during sacrifice. However, in Aeschylus' Agamemnon, along with being an expression of joy, it is also used for fury, and in Sophocles' Electra it is employed as an expression of grief. As in many cultures, use depended on context, as ululated exclamations could appear in different circumstances as a cry of lament or as a battle-cry.
Homer mentions ololuge (ululation) in his works, as does Herodotus, citing ululation in North Africa - where it is still practiced - saying:
I think for my part that the loud cries uttered in our sacred rites came also from thence; for the Libyan women are greatly given to such cries and utter them very sweetly.
Or in another translation:
I also think that the ololuge or cry of praise emitted during the worship of Athena started in Libya, because it is often employed by Libyan women, who do it extremely well.
In popular culture
Ululation appears in many films set in the Middle East, such as Lawrence of Arabia and The Battle of Algiers and Lion of the Desert. Sometimes it is depicted as a battle cry, for example in Xena: Warrior Princess. Even the animated feature G.I. Joe: The Movie featured the ululation "Cobra-la-la-la-la-la". It appears as comic relief in The Simpsons episodes "The Last Temptation of Homer" and "Midnight Rx"; as well as on Family Guy in the episode "E. Peterbus Unum" where Stewie is curious about the sound Achmed "makes when you're about to assassinate an infidel". Further, Peter learns how to do this in "Turban Cowboy". In the film Get Him to the Greek, during the threesome scene, Russell Brand "ululates" the girl. The word also appears in the book Lord of the Flies as a way in which Sam and Eric could warn the other members of Jack's tribe of the coming beast or other intruders. The word ululation is used in H. G. Wells's War of the Worlds to describe a sound that the Martians make during battle.
See also
- Keening
- Onomatopoeia
- Tarzan yell
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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