#so far there's no definite connection btwn sitar and kithara and it might just be coincidence

[molkolsdal]

sitar

long-necked stringed Indian musical instrument, 1845, from Hindi sitar, from Persian sitar "three-stringed," from si "three" + tar "string"

zither

stringed musical instrument, 1850, from German Zither, from Old High German zitara, from Latin cithara, from Greek kithara

kithara

an ancient Greek stringed instrument, which could be considered a forerunner of the guitar, according to Beekes, acquired from Pre-Greek. Probably ultimately derived from or at least related to Proto-Hurro-Urartian *kinnar (“lyre, harp”)

guitar

from Spanish guitarra, from Arabic قِيثَارَة‎ (qīṯāra), from Latin cithara, from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára)

#I've been thinking about these words lately and marveling at the beauty of humanity #so far there's no definite connection btwn sitar and kithara and it might just be coincidence #but considering that they're both indo European and there's no breakdown of the individual parts of the word kithara / kinnor... like maybe #can you imagine 10 000 years ago people made this instrument and called it by a certain name and millenia later its descendants and its nam #is still around #proto indo europeans ilysm ❤ even though i will never know everything about you #I've been thinking about instruments and music a lot lately in this way #language #etymology