Harmonica
The harmonica in five languages — harmonica, Mundharmonika, harmonica
Related
Five languages
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 口琴 |
| English | harmonica |
| Italian | armonica a bocca |
| German | Mundharmonika |
| French | harmonica |
The harmonica is a small instrument held to the mouth, where blowing and drawing drive free reeds; the common types are the ten-hole diatonic and the twelve-hole chromatic. English harmonica is formed from harmonic with a diminutive suffix; Italian armonica a bocca literally means "mouth harmonica", German Mundharmonika the same, and French harmonica is borrowed from English.
Watch out: harmonica and melodica are both mouth-blown and both carry 口 in Chinese, but the harmonica's reeds sit in the body and respond directly to breath, while the melodica has a keyboard; the short Chinese 口琴 can loosely cover mouth-blown reed instruments, so context matters.
Read deeper → Harmonica · Accordion
Sources
- 各语种乐器名依通行音乐术语词典（参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Harmonica"）；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.