TL;DR

  • A working lexicon of attested names for the bullroarer, grouped by region, with primary or museum-grade sources.
  • Aboriginal Australian terms are often restricted; only public, published forms are listed (e.g., churinga irula, tundun). 1 2
  • Māori uses pūrorohū for the instrument; pūrerehua (moth) is widely used as its instrument-name in practice. 3 4
  • Papuan Gulf (Elema/Purari): imunu viki (“weeping imunu”) and upura imunu. 5 6
  • North America: Navajo tsin ndi’ni (“groaning stick”), Apache tzi-ditindi (“sounding wood”), Gros Ventre nakaantan (“making cold”). 7 8 9
  • European lexemes include Ancient Greek ῥόμβος and modern museum thesaurus labels (e.g., FR rhombe, ES bramadera, DE Schwirrholz). 10 11 12

“To study the bull-roarer is to take a lesson in folklore.”
— Andrew Lang, Custom and Myth (1884) 13

Scope, caveats, method#

This is a lexicon, not an essay on use. I prioritize (i) native terms and their glosses in reliable dictionaries, museum catalogues, or classic ethnographies; (ii) widely accepted cross-language labels from organological thesauri for European languages. Many Australian names are men’s-secret; even where published, communities may object to casual reproduction. I include only forms already in authoritative print or museum records and avoid unpublished “lists.” 1

Bullroarer terms by region & language#

Legend: plain = native/vernacular term; ‹…› = common exonym/loan; “…” = gloss.

RegionLanguage / PeopleNative word(s) for bullroarerBrief gloss / noteSource(s)
Oceania (Aotearoa NZ)Māoripūrorohū; also pūrerehua used for the instrumentpūrorohū is explicitly defined as “bullroarer”; pūrerehua literally “moth/butterfly,” commonly used for the swung instrumentTe Aka Māori Dictionary (pūrorohū); Te Aka (pūrerehua); practitioner usage note. 3 4
Oceania (Papua New Guinea, Papuan Gulf)Elema / Purari (Namau, etc.)imunu viki; upura imunu (also written irimunu-viki)“weeping imunu” (funerary/ritual bullroarer); “bullroarer” as subtype of imunuPairama ceremony description; The Met catalogue (Bullroarer (Imunu Viki?)); Horniman object note; regional summary. 5 6 14 15
Australia (Central: Aranda/Arrernte & neighbors)Aranda/Arrernte (and Ilpirra, etc.)churinga irula (wooden churinga; i.e., bullroarer); churinga unchima (small rounded “egg” form); namatuna / namatwinna (initiate bullroarer)“Churinga (or Tjurunga)” = sacred object; the irula (wooden) form is the bullroarer; namatuna/-winna are small bullroarers used by novicesSpencer & Gillen, Native Tribes of Central Australia (Ch. V); glossary of native terms; secondary summary of namatuna/-winna. 2 16
Australia (SE: Kurnai / Gunaikurnai)Kurnaitundun (also written turndun in early sources)Ritual bullroarer of the Jeraeil; widely cited in diffusion literatureSpencer & Gillen’s discussion of the Kurnai tundun. 2
Australia (Lake Eyre – Far North SA)UrabunnachimbaliriEquivalent of Aranda churinga (bullroarer class), per classic glossarySpencer & Gillen glossary entry. 17
West Africa (SW Nigeria)Yorubaoro (òró)In Yoruba usage oro refers both to the cult/deity and concretely to the bullroarer instrument used by the Òró societyUniversity of Ibadan paper explicitly glossing oro as “bull-roarer.” 18
Ancient MediterraneanAncient Greekῥόμβος (rhómbos)The canonical ancient term (“rhombos”) for bullroarer in mystery ritesBritannica entry “Rhombos.” 10
North America (SW US)Navajo (Diné)tsin ndi’ni (older orthography; “groaning stick”)Ceremonial instrument; classic lexicographic attestationAn Ethnologic Dictionary of the Navaho Language (Franciscan Fathers, 1910); explanation in Navajo ceremonial notes. 7 19
North America (SW US)Apachetzi-ditindi (“sounding wood”)Well-attested Apache name; appears in 19th-c. Smithsonian ethnology plates and modern museum cataloguesThe Met object page; Smithsonian plate (via Wikimedia source note). 8 20
North America (Plains)Gros Ventre (A’ani)nakaantan (“making cold”)Term and gloss recorded in early AMNH monographKroeber, Ethnology of the Gros Ventre (AMNH). 9
Pan-Europe (modern museum thesaurus labels)Basqueburruna; furrunfarra; furrufarra; burrunbagailuaStandardized labels used in the MIMO instrument thesaurusMIMO Thesaurus concept “Bullroarer.” 11
CatalanbrunzidorMIMO Thesaurus. 11
Chinese (zh)牛吼标MIMO Thesaurus. 11
DutchsnorrebotMIMO Thesaurus. 11
FrenchrhombeMIMO Thesaurus. 11
GermanSchwirrholzMIMO Thesaurus. 11
ItalianromboMIMO Thesaurus. 11
Korean불로러 (phonetic loan)MIMO Thesaurus. 11
Polishczurynga (loan via churinga)MIMO Thesaurus. 11
SpanishbramaderaAlso used generically for “hummer/roarer”MIMO Thesaurus; WordReference entry. 11 12
SwedishvinareMIMO Thesaurus. 11

Notes: • Orthographies follow the cited source (older spellings preserved where that’s the form attested). • In several traditions the same lexeme denotes both the instrument and a spirit/force (e.g., Yoruba Oro; Aranda churinga as sacred object class). 18 2

Short discussion (why these names cluster the way they do)#

Across unrelated families the naming strategies converge on three motifs: sound (“whirr/roar”: brunzidor, rhombe, Schwirrholz, tsin ndi’ni “groaning”), shape/rotation (ῥόμβος “whirling”), and sacred agency (Elema imunu complex; Yoruba Oro). Where secrecy norms are strong (SE & Central Australia), public labels are often generic categories (e.g., churinga irula “wooden churinga”) rather than a free lexical item for the bullroarer itself. 10 5 1

Gaps & to-dos#

This list is already long, but not exhaustive. Classic surveys (e.g., Zerries on South America) collate many Amazonian names; I’ll fold those in as I verify spellings and glosses against primary sources and museum catalogues. If you have a community-approved lexeme we should add, email me. 21

FAQ#

Q1. Is pūrerehua “correct” for the Māori bullroarer, or should I use pūrorohū?
A. Pūrorohū is explicitly defined as the bullroarer; pūrerehua (moth) is widely used as the instrument name in practice by taonga‑pūoro players—both appear in reputable sources. Use pūrorohū in technical contexts, pūrerehua is acceptable in performance notes. 3 4

Q2. Does churinga mean “bullroarer”?
A. Not exactly: churinga (Arrernte) is a class of sacred objects (stone/wood); the wooden form (churinga irula) functions as the bullroarer, and small namatuna/‑winna are initiate bullroarers. Context matters. 2 16

Q3. What’s the Papuan term everyone cites as “weeping imunu”?
A. Imunu viki (“weeping imunu”)—a funerary/ritual bullroarer in the Purari Delta; upura imunu is the generic bullroarer subtype in that system. 5

Q4. Is bramadera standard Spanish?
A. Yes, documented in instrument dictionaries and modern bilingual lexica; usage varies by country but it’s the go‑to general term. 12

Footnotes#

  1. On secrecy: many Australian names are restricted knowledge; I’ve only included forms long in the public record (Spencer & Gillen; museum entries; acoustics notes). When in doubt, default to exonyms (e.g., “bullroarer”) rather than unpublished vernacular. 1

Sources#

  • MIMO Thesaurus of Musical Instrument Names — concept “Bullroarer” (foreign labels in Basque, Catalan, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Korean, Polish, Spanish, Swedish). 11
  • Te Aka Māori Dictionary — entries for pūrorohū (bullroarer) and pūrerehua (moth; commonly used as instrument name). 3
  • Middle-C (concert notes): “Purerehua (swung bull-roarer)” — modern usage example from taonga-pūoro performance practice. 4
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art — “Bullroarer (Imunu Viki?)” (Papuan Gulf). 6
  • Horniman Museum — 14.62, “Whirling aerophones” (Papuan imunu contexts). 14
  • JSTOR — The Pairama Ceremony in the Purari Delta, Papua (taxonomy incl. upura imunu, imunu-viki). 5
  • Spencer & Gillen (1899) The Native Tribes of Central Australia — ch. V “The Churinga or Bull-Roarers…,” and Glossary. (Sacred-Texts mirror; Archive.org PDF; secondary discussion of namatuna/-winna). 2 16
  • University of Ibadan e-publication — “Music and Rituals of Oro among the Yoruba” (explicit gloss of oro as bull-roarer). 18
  • Britannica — “Rhombos | musical instrument” (ancient Greek term). 10
  • Franciscan Fathers (1910) An Ethnologic Dictionary of the Navaho Language (PDF; tsin ndi’ni “groaning stick”). 7
  • Met Museum — “Tzi-Ditindi (bull-roarer reproduction)” (Apache). 8
  • Wikimedia file note — plate credit to Smithsonian 9th BAE Report (“tzi-ditindi”). 20
  • Kroeber (1908) Ethnology of the Gros Ventre (AMNH; nakaantan “making cold”). 9

Pointers for further expansion: Zerries, Otto (1953) “The Bull-roarer among South American Indians” (Revista do Museu Paulista N.S. 7:275–309) — comprehensive South American survey to mine for additional lexemes. 21

  1. Phys ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. Sacred-texts ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. Maoridictionary ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. Middle-c ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. JSTOR ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. Met Museum ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. Archive ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  8. Met Museum ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  9. Ftbelknaplanguagepreservation ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  10. Britannica ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  11. Vocabulary ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  12. Wordreference ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  13. En ↩︎

  14. Horniman ↩︎ ↩︎

  15. Art-pacific ↩︎

  16. Ejournals ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  17. Sacred-texts ↩︎

  18. Repository ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  19. Twinrocks ↩︎

  20. Commons ↩︎ ↩︎

  21. Etnolinguistica ↩︎ ↩︎