The Bullroarer Atlas

ALVARSSON2012-001 - museum specimen

Wéhnayey / Wichí

Bolivia - Río Pilcomayo, Provincia Gran Chaco, Tarija - South America

Play / practical

The Wéhnayey jwim-jwim itself, preserved as a complete rig: straight handle, long cord, and slim wooden blade.
The Wéhnayey jwim-jwim itself, preserved as a complete rig: straight handle, long cord, and slim wooden blade. Världskulturmuseet, Göteborg / SMVK (1979.10.0313) CC BY 4.0 Image source

jwim-jwim / juimjuim Spanish; Swedish metadata

Source term: gemidor / palo silbante / vinare

jwim-jwim: onomatopoeic Wéhnayey name for the sound of the whirled toy; SMVK writes juimjuim.

Set the little blade circling and it says its own name: jwim-jwim. Wéhnayey boys along the Pilcomayo made the toy from light wood and long caraguatá fibre, hanging the rotor from a straight stick. A 1979 example preserves the whole rig—71-centimetre handle, 45-centimetre cord, 17-centimetre blade. Alvarsson later wondered whether an older use had called rain, as among neighbouring Toba, but marked the idea as conjecture. The sure scene is children turning a named sound through the air.

Otro juguete popular entre los muchachos 'weenhayek es el gemidor o ‘palo silbante’ ... En la lengua 'weenhayek se utiliza una palabra onomatopéyica sumamente descriptiva: jwim-jwim.

Another popular toy among 'weenhayek boys is the whirrer or ‘whistling stick.’ In the 'weenhayek language a highly descriptive onomatopoeic word is used: jwim-jwim.

Alvarsson, Por la malla de una llica (2012), p. 73.
Object
A 17 cm light wooden blade on a 45 cm caraguatá cord attached to a 71 cm handle stick; SMVK 1979.10.0313.
Function
A boys' whirled toy named onomatopoeically for its jwim-jwim sound; an older rain use is conjectural, not established.
Map confidence
high - Villa Montes regional anchor for the Río Pilcomayo / Provincia Gran Chaco provenance; no village is recorded.
Source location
Alvarsson 2012:73; 2015:100 n. 208; SMVK 1979.10.0313

View source Open this point on the interactive map