horn, trumpet, mɛsɛp

Horn system (mɛsɛp in Tunen) of the Banen people of Cameroon, mentioned by Dugast (1955). Dugast notes that the most recently made instrument she saw in the 1950s was carved at least fifty year prior, from an elephant’s tusk (736). It was used by “les chefs et les riches … pour raconter les faits d’armes et les victoires [chiefs and the rich to recount the feats and victories of the armies]” (711). Dugast reports only two enphrasing sequences extant on the trumpet at the time of her study (variations of which were also found in the drum tradition); one announces the victory of a soldier, and the other is an announcement about European visitors (736).

Dugast, I. (1976). 36. LE LANGAGE TAMBOURINÉ OU SIFFLÉ CHEZ LES BANEN. In T. A. Sebeok & J. Umiker-Sebeok, Speech Surrogates: Drum and Whistle Systems (pp. 708–741). De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110804423-007