Mandolin
The mandolin in five languages — mandolin, mandolino, Mandoline
Related
Five languages
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 曼陀林 |
| English | mandolin |
| Italian | mandolino |
| German | Mandoline |
| French | mandoline |
The mandolin has a pear-shaped body and four paired string courses tuned like the violin: G–D–A–e. English mandolin came through French mandoline from Italian mandolino ("little mandola"); German Mandoline and French mandoline share the root, and Chinese 曼陀林 is a transliteration.
Watch out: mandolin and banjo are often mentioned together, but the mandolin has paired courses tuned G–D–A–e and uses a plectrum tremolo to sustain notes; the five-string banjo has single strings tuned g′–D–G–B–D, with the outside high string as a drone. One is paired-course tremolo, the other single-string picking.
Read deeper → Mandolin · Banjo
Sources
- 各语种乐器名与 mandolin 的词源，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Mandolin"；译名依通行音乐术语词典；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.