Ululation

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] Ululation is practiced either alone or as part of certain styles of singing, on various occasions of communal ritual events (like weddings) used to express strong emotion.

Another example of the incorporation of ululations into traditional wedding songs can be found in Zaghareed (also spelled zaghareet), a collection of traditional Palestinian wedding songs reinterpreted and rearranged by Mohsen Subhi and produced in 1997 by the Palestinian National Music and Dance Troupe El-Funoun.

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.

People, especially women roll their tongues and produce this sound during all Hindu temple rituals, festivals and celebrations.

It is also an integral part of most African weddings where women gather around the bride and groom, dancing and ululating exuberantly.

In the Lakota tribe, women yell "lililili" in a high-pitched voice to praise warriors for acts of valor.

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),[19] and of Pepi I, in the Spells for Entering the Akhet.

[20] In ancient Greece ululation or (Greek: ὀλολυγή, romanized: ololuge) was normally used as a joyful expression[21] to celebrate good news[22] or when an animal's throat is cut during sacrifice.

[27] 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.

[30] At the 2020 Super Bowl LIV halftime show, Colombian singer Shakira, whose father is Lebanese, ululated at the camera during her performance.