{"id":"DIXON2022-002","label":"Mamu Gulngay wungumali bullroarer","people_or_site":"Waribarra Mamu / Dulgubarra Mamu / Gulŋay","country_current":"Australia","historic_region":"Johnstone River / lower Tully-Murray rainforest / North Queensland","macroregion":"Australia","local_name":"wungumali","source_term":"bull-roarer","source_language":"English / Mamu term","object_description":"Flat carved wooden blade with one string attached at the sharp end, whirled through the air to produce a loud roaring noise.","function_summary":"Sacred association: wungumali also names a Mamu spirit who helps at initiation; the instrument's precise ceremonial role is not recorded.","attestation_type":"lexical_attestation","source_key":"dixon_2022_mamu_wungumali","source_type":"primary_ethnography","source_url":"https://www.degruyterbrill.com/publication/isbn/9783111464473/downloadAsset/9783111464473_Dyirbal%20Thesaurus_Nominals%20and%20Time%20Words.pdf","page_or_plate":"printed p. 160; entry Jo6","map_confidence":"high","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"Midpoint of published Mamu and Gulngay group reference coordinates; regional linguistic anchor, not an object or performance site.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"Mamu and Gulngay speakers called the bullroarer wungumali. Among the Mamu the word also named a spirit who helped at initiation, giving it a second life in the unseen world. In one Mamu story Wungumali is a sexual larrikin who frightens everyone and kidnaps a girl just come of age; when he makes his noise, everyone runs off, scattering in all directions.","pull_quote":"the bull-roarer was swung around through the air, making a noise [bi-bɔ bi-bɔ bi-bɔ]","pull_quote_translation":"","pull_quote_cite":"Dixon 2022:160","term_gloss":"wungumali: Mamu and Gulngay name for the bullroarer; among the Mamu, also a spirit who helped at initiation.","cls":"sacred","class_label":"Sacred / spirit","color":"#8A5A2B","is_candidate":false,"flags":["spirit_voice","initiation"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"R. M. W. Dixon, Dyirbal Thesaurus: Nominals and Time Words (2022), p. 160 (entry Jo6), p. 49 (entry Bh25), and pp. 42, 283 and 379","url":"https://www.degruyterbrill.com/publication/isbn/9783111464473/downloadAsset/9783111464473_Dyirbal%20Thesaurus_Nominals%20and%20Time%20Words.pdf","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20250808052709/https://www.degruyterbrill.com/publication/isbn/9783111464473/downloadAsset/9783111464473_Dyirbal%20Thesaurus_Nominals%20and%20Time%20Words.pdf"}],"source_citations":"R. M. W. Dixon, Dyirbal Thesaurus: Nominals and Time Words (2022), p. 160 (entry Jo6), p. 49 (entry Bh25), and pp. 42, 283 and 379","source_display":"R. M. W. Dixon, Dyirbal Thesaurus: Nominals and Time Words (2022), p. 160 (entry Jo6), p. 49 (entry Bh25), and pp. 42, 283 and 379","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"Flat carved wooden blade with one string attached at the sharp end, whirled through the air to produce a loud roaring noise.","function_display":"Sacred association: wungumali also names a Mamu spirit who helps at initiation; the instrument's precise ceremonial role is not recorded.","confidence_display":"high","attestation_label":"lexical attestation","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"waribarra mamu","display_name":"Mamu Gulngay wungumali bullroarer","image":{"full":"assets/objects/pd_plates/hambly1926_plate46.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/pd_plates/thumbs/hambly1926_plate46_thumb.jpg","alt":"Hambly’s 1926 plate of seven wooden bullroarers; no. 2 is the Mulgrave River Periperio, a narrow blade with a rounded end and an attached cord.","credit":"W. D. Hambly, Tribal Dancing and Social Development (London, 1926), plate facing p. 46","license":"Public domain in the US (published 1926)","source_page":"https://archive.org/details/tribaldancingsoc0000hamb/page/n58/mode/1up","rehosted":true,"representative":true,"caption":"Hambly’s Mulgrave River bullroarer plate.","pool_id":"auto-pd_plates--hambly1926_plate46"},"slug":"dixon2022-002-waribarra-mamu-dulgubarra-mamu-gul-ay"}