Pipa
The pipa in five languages: European languages use the Chinese name; a pear-shaped lute, not a European lute
Related
Five languages
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 琵琶 |
| English | pipa |
| Italian | — |
| German | — |
| French | — |
The pipa is China's four-string plucked instrument: a pear-shaped body, frets on the neck and soundboard, and a wide range that lets it carry melody and chords at once. It is now held vertically and played with false nails; earlier it was held horizontally and struck with a wooden plectrum. Its name comes from the playing action pi (pluck outward) and pa (pluck inward) — the usual account.
Watch out: the common English rendering "Chinese lute" is loose: four strings, a pear-shaped body and nail playing do not match the European lute. In Tang texts pipa also covered five-string and bent-neck types, so the word named a family. Italian, German and French have no established native name and use pipa.
Read deeper → Pipa
Sources
- 名称与形制，参《中国音乐词典》与 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Pipa"；译名参通行音乐术语词典；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.