harpa

Forms

harpa f (genitive harpae); first declension^[1] Manuscripts often spell it arpa,^[2][3] and arfa also occurs.^[4]

Etymology

It is a Germanic word:^[2][5] Wiktionary takes it borrowed from Frankish *harpā (“harp”),^[1] and Köbler traces it to Proto-Germanic *harpō.^[6] Cognate with German Harfe and Old English hearpe.^[2][7] Lewis & Short and Gaffiot instead equated it with Ancient Greek ἅρπη (hárpē, “sickle”).^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first example is in Martianus Capella, where a figure takes fright at harps and booming sounds and flees.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The TLL describes it as a kind of lyre, curved like a sickle, used among the barbarians.^[2] Venantius Fortunatus sets the two instruments side by side: “Romanusque lyra, plaudat tibi barbarus harpa” (let the Roman applaud you with the lyre, the barbarian with the harp).^[2][1]

It became the usual Medieval Latin word for the harp.^[5][3] Theodulf has the harp and the lyre sound together,^[3] and Remigius of Auxerre, commenting on Martianus, says it was named after the people of the Arpi, who invented it.^[4] An English life of Dunstan says that his cithara is what “in our ancestral tongue” is called hearpa.^[7] Italian arpa comes from it.^[10]

Timeline

• 5th century AD – Martianus Capella mentions harps.^[2][4][6]
• 536–c. 610 AD – Venantius Fortunatus contrasts the barbarian harp with the Roman lyre.^[2][11][6]
• before 821 – Theodulf names the harp beside the lyre.^[3][6]
• second half of the 9th century – Remigius of Auxerre derives the name from the Arpi.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A harp, a stringed instrument played without a plectrum.^{[2][11][5][3][4]}

Related words

• English harp

Usage notes

Du Cange records a second harpa meaning a sickle or curved sword, from Greek harpē, in a life of Otto of Bamberg.^[12] Conte warns against confusing harpa with harpe “sickle, scimitar”.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
12. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre