Yodel-ay-hee ... what?! Those famed yodeling calls that for centuries have echoed through the Alps, and more recently have morphed into popular song and folk music, could soon reap a response—from faraway Paris.

Switzerland's government is looking for a shout-out from the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, based in the French capital, to include the tradition of yodeling on its list of intangible cultural heritage. A decision is expected by year-end.

Modern-day promoters emphasize that the yodel is far more than the mountain cries of yesteryear by falsetto-bellowing male herders in suspenders who intone alongside giant alphorn instruments atop verdant hillsides. It's now a popular form of singing.

Over the last century, yodeling clubs sprouted up in Switzerland, building upon the tradition and broadening its appeal—with its tones, techniques, and tremolos finding their way deeper into the musical lexicon internationally in classical, jazz, and folk. U.S. country crooners prominently blended yodels into their songs in the late 1920s and 30s.

About seven years ago, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts became the first Swiss university to teach yodeling.

For me, actually, in Switzerland we have four languages but I think really we have five languages. We have a fifth: The yodel, said Nadja Räss, a professor at the university, alluding to the official German, French, Italian, and Romansh languages in Switzerland. Yodeling exists in neighboring Austria, Germany, and Italy, but Swiss yodeling is distinctive because of its vocal technique, she said.

In its early days, yodeling involved chants of wordless vowel sounds, or natural yodeling, with melodies but no lyrics. More recently, yodeling song has included verses and a refrain.

The Swiss government says at least 12,000 yodelers take part through about 780 groups of the Swiss Yodeling Association.

In Switzerland, Räss said, yodeling is built on the sound colors of the voice and features two types: one centering on the head—with a u sound—and one emanating from deeper down in the chest—with an o sound.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.