Gavoi burriburri (frusciu)

burriburri

burriburri — the Gavoi name; frusciu is the general Sardinian term ('rustle').

In Gavoi, up in the Barbagia, the frusciu of the rest of Sardinia answers to burriburri. It is a board with a hole at one short end, on a metre of cord that the player first winds tight and then hauls into circles — and the comparison Sardinians reach for is not thunder or bees but the roar of a motorcycle engine. By the time it was written down it had passed wholly to the boys, though the memory of an older, ritual use still clung to it.

L'effetto sonoro è simile al rombo del motore di una motocicletta (da cui il termine onomatopeico burriburri utilizzato a Gavoi).

Its sound resembles the roar of a motorcycle engine — whence the onomatopoeic name burriburri used at Gavoi.

Spanu 1994:110

Particulars

Object

Wooden board 15-35 cm with a hole at one short end, on about a metre of cord that is wound tight before whirling; the photographed specimen is 35 cm, made by M. Pira of Gavoi.

Function

Boys' toy; the Sonos survey records an older ritual use since lapsed. Its sound is compared to a motorcycle engine.