The Bullroarer Atlas

LAUGHLIN1975-001 - lexical attestation

Tzotzil himhim of Zinacantán

Mexico - Central Highlands of Chiapas - North America

Function not recorded

Representative—not this record's object: a highland Chiapas blade from Mesbilja, Oxchuc.
Representative — not this record’s object. · a highland Chiapas blade from Mesbilja, Oxchuc. · CC BY-SA Image source
Laughlin's dictionary page with himhim, the bullroarer, and the him- words for whirling.
Laughlin's dictionary page with himhim, the bullroarer, and the him- words for whirling. · Public domain Image source

himhim

Source term: bullroarer

himhim: Zinacantec Tzotzil, "bullroarer", built on the root him-, to whirl or swing.

In the Tzotzil of Zinacantán the bullroarer is himhim, a doubling of the root him-, to whirl. The same root names the woven sling once used to bring down birds, the slingshot, the whirr of the corn mill and the swirl of a dizzy head. To twirl a bullroarer is himulan, the verb a Zinacantec also uses for a lasso or the swinging pom-pom of a scarf. Its sound has a word of its own, humilan, from hum, a roar or a swoosh.

Object
Bullroarer known from the dictionary; no form, size or material is recorded.
Function
Not recorded.
Source
Robert M. Laughlin, The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán (Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology 19; Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975), pp. 153, 161
Source location
Page references

p. 153 (himhim; himulan), p. 161 (humilan)

Source confidence
medium
Location note
Zinacantán town (cabecera), the dictionary's dialect base of San Lorenzo Zinacantán; no hamlet is named for the word.

Regions: The Americas · North America

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