Ululation

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Ululation (pronunciation: i/ˌjuːljᵿˈleɪʃən, ˌʌl-/[1][2]), 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.[3]


Around the world

Ululation is practiced in certain styles of singing, as well as in communal ritual events, used to express strong emotion.

In Arab countries and Iran ululation is commonly used to express celebration, especially at weddings. 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).[4]

Ululation is commonly practised in the Middle East, as well as in most of Africa, the Persian Gulf, and Central and South Asia. It is used among Mizrahi Jews at all joyous occasions such as at a hachnasat sefer Torah (the dedication of a Torah scroll), circumcisions,[5] communal celebrations, weddings,[6][7] bar mitzvah[8] celebrations, and most of all at henna celebrations.[9] 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: צהלולים).

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.[6][10]

Ululation is also commonly used in Middle Eastern funerals. In the Middle East, zaghārīt (Arabic: زغاريت) is a ululation performed to honor someone. In East Africa, ululation (or ililta) performed by worshippers is a feature of services in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church [11] and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and is also commonly used in secular celebrations such as parties or concerts. In Africa ululation is used as a cheer, mourn or attention seeking sound by women. In Hausa ululation is called guda, in Swahili it is known as udhalili, sigalagala in Luo dialect 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.

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. It is more used in West Bengal than other places in India. Odias call it Hulahuli.[12] [13]Assamese call it uruli. In Tamil it is known as kulavai (Tamil:குளவை). In Kerala, ululation is essential for all ceremonial occasions and the term used in Malayalam is kurava.

Ululation is also used in Afghanistan, Iran, parts of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Serbia, parts of Cyprus, and parts of Spain and Malta.

Ululation is used to some extent by south European women[3] The Basque irrintzi is a signal of happiness originating from shepherds[14][15] The Galician aturuxo is performed with accompanied vocalization from the throat.

Ululation is rooted in the culture of Southern Africa and is widely practiced in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, 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.

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),[16] and of Pepi I, in the Spells for Entering the Akhet.[17] In ancient Greece ululation or ololuge was normally used as a joyful expression[18] to celebrate good news[19] or when an animal's throat is cut during sacrifice.[20] However, in Aeschylus' Agamemnon, along with being an expression of joy, it is also used for fury,[19] and in Sophocles' Electra it is employed as an expression of grief.[18]

Homer mentions ololuge (ululation) in his works,[21][22] 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.[23]

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.[24][25]

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[26] 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

References

  1. ↑ "Ululation". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  2. ↑ "Ululation". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  3. 1 2 Pendle, Karin (2001). Women & music: a history. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-21422-X.
  4. ↑ "'Zaghareed' (Ululations), 1997" on the El Funoun website
  5. ↑ Heber, Levi Y. "Additional Sephardic Circumcision Customs: The customs of Sephardim and Oriental Jews at a Brit Milah", The Handbook to Circumcision - Brit Milah
  6. 1 2 Stillman,Yedida Kalfon and Zucker, George K. New horizons in Sephardic Studies p. 298
  7. ↑ See Sephardic Music section on History
  8. ↑ Everson, Eva Marie and Vamosh, Mirian Feinberg. Reflections of God's Holy Land: A Personal Journey Through Israel p. 242
  9. ↑ Samin, Lisa. "JWeekly.com: Moroccan nuptials combine ancient rituals, festivities" World Zionist Press Service, ¶ 12
  10. ↑ Exploration Morocco: Sephardic Music in Morocco: Section on Sephardic Singing
  11. ↑ "Review: Ethiopian Christian Liturgical Chant". Journal of Religion in Africa.
  12. ↑ "The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Orissa | Lost customs return to Bhubaneswar". telegraphindia.com. 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012. hulahuli — the typical sound made in chorus by women during religious ceremonies
  13. ↑ ":: Orissa-Tourism.com :: FAIRS & FESTIVALS :: RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS". orissa-tourism.com. 2006. Retrieved 16 June 2012. Hulahuli' (a shrill sound made by wagging the tongue inside the mouth
  14. ↑ Trask, Larry. "Some Important Basque Words (And a Bit of Culture)" on the Larry Trask Archive website
  15. ↑ Irrintzi in the Spanish-language Auñamendi Encyclopedia.
  16. ↑ van den Dungen, Wim. "The Pyramid Texts of UNAS"
  17. ↑ Allen, James P. and Manuelian, Peter Der. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts
  18. 1 2 McClure, Laura (1999). Spoken like a woman: speech and gender in Athenian drama. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01730-1.
  19. 1 2 Allan, William; Altena, Hermann; Michael, Jr Perna; Gregory, Justina. A Companion to Greek Tragedy (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World). Blackwell Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-4051-0770-7.
  20. ↑ Goff, Barbara E. (2004). Citizen Bacchae: women's ritual practice in ancient Greece. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23998-9.
  21. ↑ Stein, Charles (2008). The Odyssey. North Atlantic Books. ISBN 1-55643-728-5.
  22. ↑ Camps, W. A. (1980). An introduction to Homer. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-872101-3.
  23. ↑ On Libya, from The Histories, c. 430 BCE, Book IV.42-43
  24. ↑ Waterfield, Robin; Dewald, Carolyn (1998). The histories. Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-282425-2.
  25. ↑ For the ancient Greeks, Libya denoted a much larger expanse than present-day Libya.
  26. ↑ Golding, William; Gibson, Ben (2003). Lord of the Flies. New York: Berkley. ISBN 0-399-52920-9.
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