DIXON2022-002 - lexical attestation
Mamu Gulngay wungumali bullroarer
Australia - Johnstone River - lower Tully-Murray rainforest - North Queensland - Oceania - Sahul
Sacred / spirit
wungumali English / Mamu term
Source term: bull-roarer
wungumali: Mamu and Gulngay name for the bullroarer and for a spirit who helped at initiation.
Mamu and Gulngay speakers called the bullroarer wungumali: a flat carved wooden blade with a string fixed at its sharpened end, swung through the air for a loud roar. Wungumali also named a spirit who helped at initiation, giving the word a second life in the unseen world.
the bull-roarer was swung around through the air, making a noise
Dixon 2022:160
- Object
- Flat carved wooden blade with one string attached at the sharp end, whirled through the air to produce a loud roaring noise.
- Function
- Sacred association: wungumali also names a Mamu spirit who helps at initiation; the instrument's precise ceremonial role is not recorded.
- Map confidence
- high - Midpoint of published Mamu and Gulngay group reference coordinates; regional linguistic anchor, not an object or performance site.
- Source location
Page references
printed p. 160; entry Jo6