Jew's harp
The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp,[nb 1] is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in Siberia, specifically in or around the Altai Mountains, and is of Turkic origin and has no relation to the Jewish people.[1]
Other names
Jew's harp, jaw harp, mouth harp, Ozark harp, juice harp, murchunga, guimbarde, mungiga, vargan, trompe
121.22
(Heteroglot guimbarde (the lamella is attached to the frame))
Jew's harps may be categorized as idioglot or heteroglot (whether or not the frame and the tine are one piece); by the shape of the frame (rod or plaque); by the number of tines, and whether the tines are plucked, joint-tapped, or string-pulled.
Etymology[edit]
There are many theories for the origin of the name jew's harp. The apparent reference to Jewish people is especially misleading since it "has nothing to do with the Jewish people; neither does it look like a harp in its structure and appearance".[6] In Sicilian it is translated as marranzanu or mariolu; both of which are derogatory terms for Jewish people also found in Italian[7] and Spanish.[8] In German, it is known as Maultrommel, which roughly translates as 'mouth drum'.[6] The name "Jew's Harp" first appears in 1481 in a customs account book under the name "Jue harpes".[9] The "jaw" variant is attested at least as early as 1774[10] and 1809,[11] the "juice" variant appearing only in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
It has also been suggested that the name derives from the French jeu-trompe meaning 'toy trumpet'.[12] The current French word for the instrument is guimbarde. Wedgwood, an English etymologist, wrote in 1855 that the derivation from jeu harpe opposes the French idiom, where "if two substantives are joined together, the qualifying noun is invariably the last.[13] He refers to the jeu harpe derivation, but not to the jeu tromp derivation.
Both theories—that the name is a corruption of jaws or jeu—are described by the Oxford English Dictionary as "lacking any supporting evidence."[14] The OED says that, "more or less satisfactory reasons may be conjectured: e.g. that the instrument was actually made, sold, or imported to England by Jewish people, or purported to be so; or that it was attributed to Jewish people, suggesting the trumps and harps mentioned in the Bible, and hence considered a good commercial name."[15] Although the OED states that "the association of the instrument with Jewish people occurs, so far as is known, only in English",[14] the term jødeharpe is also used in Danish.[16]