The Bullroarer Atlas

No. EXH2026-059

Bagbwa (egburuburu)

Democratic Republic of the Congo · NE Congo (Bira borderlands) · Central Africa

Function not recorded

Kereboro bullroarer rig: a decorated lens-shaped blade hangs from a cord beside a long straight handle.
Plate I. Representative — not this record’s object. A Kereboro egburuburu, its lens-shaped blade corded to a handle. CC BY 4.0 · Image source

egburuburu

Source term: bullroarer

egburuburu: the Bagbwa word for the bullroarer.

Etymology. egburuburu imitates the bullroarer's whirring, roaring sound.

Among the Bagbwa of the Bira borderlands in northeastern Congo, the bullroarer carries the name egburuburu, an echo of its own whirring drone; the neighbouring Mamvu call their version arumvu-rumvu. Up and down the region the names whir alike: kundrukundru for the Andowi and their neighbours, kunzukunzu for the Aimeri, mbirimbiri for the Bangba and Mayogo.

egburuburu / arumvu-rumvu

K. A. Gourlay, 'Bullroarer,' Grove Music Online (after F. J. de Hen, 1960).

Particulars

Object
Bullroarer, called egburuburu.
Function
Not recorded.

Source

F. J. de Hen, Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Musikinstrumente aus Belgisch Kongo und Ruanda-Urundi (doctoral dissertation, Köln; Tervuren, 1960); K. A. Gourlay, 'Bullroarer,' Grove Music Online

View the source

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