‘Unintelligibles’ in vocal performances at Middle Eastern marriage celebrations

Abstract

Modernity's characterization of language has isolated certain vocal practices from scientific inquiry by labeling them as either ‘nonsense’ or wholly musical, when in fact they can serve important functions in performance and within local discourses of tradition. This study first examines how socalled nonsense vocalizations, or what I call unintelligibles, function in ritual language use. By closely examining linguistic form in various performative modes, two unintelligibles, /aa-wii-haa/ and zaġārīt (ululation) are shown to serve as characteristic features of m-ha-ha, a type of tribute performed at marriage celebrations in the Levant. I argue that because they are salient and phonologically segmentable, these unintelligibles are highly effective in nonsemantic expressivity during ritual performance: first, they quickly arouse interest, excitement, and affective response in listeners; and second, they rapidly link the context, performance, and performer to specific norms (propriety and affinity) and stereotypes of personhood. An analysis of the circulation and metacultural treatment of these unintelligibles outside ritual contexts reveals a shift in meaning, to one of primarily ‘tradition’, or in the global sphere, an exoticism. Modernist projects disarticulate unintelligibles from their original cultural contexts or recirculate them in new media, opening up the possibility for new meanings to be attributed.