Anaa vivi, the dragonfly whirligig

vivi

Source term: whirligig, bull-roarer

vivi (Tuamotuan, Anaa): "a dragonfly"; "a whirligig, bull-roarer"; as a verb, "to make a buzzing, whirring, humming sound, as a dragonfly, top, whirligig".

On Anaa, an atoll in the Tuamotus, children bent a coconut rib into a bow, tied it to a string and swung it from the end of a stick. The toy was called vivi, which is also the word for the dragonfly. Vivi is a verb as well: to buzz, whirr or hum, the way a dragonfly does, or a spinning top. In the Tuamotus the bullroarer, the insect and the sound shared one word.

A whirligig, bull-roarer; the use of the whirligig as a child's amusement; this is made with a bent coconut-rib tied to a string attached to the end of a stick.

J. F. Stimson and D. S. Marshall, A Dictionary of Some Tuamotuan Dialects (1964), p. 611, s.v. vivi.

Particulars

Object

A bent coconut rib tied to a string fastened to the end of a stick.

Function

A child's amusement, swung to buzz.