The Bullroarer Atlas

No. DIXON1970-001Oceania

Dobu belubelulu

Papua New Guinea · Edugaura, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, Milne Bay Province · Oceania · Sahul

Function not recorded

Two Massim blades from the islands off eastern New Guinea, both still on their twisted cords
Plate I. Representative — not this record’s object. Two Massim blades from the islands off eastern New Guinea, both still on their twisted cords Image source

belubelulu

Source term: bullroarer

belubelulu: Dobu name for the bullroarer. lobelulu: to make the sound "pshaw", from the same root.

On Dobu Island the bullroarer was *belubelulu*. The same root gives *lobelulu*, to snort "pshaw!" at someone, so the instrument's roar and a scornful puff of breath share one word-sound. Dobuans sailed the kula ring, carrying shell valuables from island to island, and grew their yams by spells naming beings so secret that their names were never spoken except when there was work for them to do.

bullroarer n. Belubelulu.

Dixon, English–Dobu Dictionary (1970), s.v. bullroarer

Particulars

Object
A bullroarer, called belubelulu; its form is not recorded.
Function
Not recorded.

Sources

  1. J. W. Dixon, English–Dobu Dictionary (Salamo: United Church in Papua, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, 1970), s.v. bullroarer and s.v. pshaw View
  2. R. F. Fortune, Sorcerers of Dobu (London: Routledge, 1932), p. 113 and pp. 214–225 View

Part of The Bullroarer Atlas, companion to The Eve Theory of Consciousness.