Dùndún
/dùndún/noun
A Yoruba double-headed pressure drum whose pitch can be altered by squeezing its cords, often used to imitate speech.
Did you know?Yoruba dùndún ensembles can reproduce speech-like tonal patterns, allowing skilled performers to praise, narrate, and communicate through drumming.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Yoruba
dùndún
“A pressure drum used in Yoruba musical and communicative traditions.”
19th Century
Yoruba
dùndún
“A named member of the Yoruba drum family, including instruments capable of changing pitch.”
20th Century
English
dundun
“An English-language borrowing for the Yoruba talking drum and related ensemble.”
Modern English
English
dùndún
“A Yoruba pitch-changing drum, especially one used to imitate speech or accompany music.”
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