Kannel (instrument)

Kannel (pronounced [ˈkɑnːel]) is an Estonian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Finnish kantele, Latvian kokles, Lithuanian kanklės, and Russian gusli.

In Estonia, studying the kannel has made a resurgence after some years of decline.

[1] According to Finnish linguist Eino Nieminen, the name of the instrument, along with the names of most of its neighbouring counterparts (Finnish kantele, Livonian kāndla, Latvian kokles and Lithuanian kanklės), possibly comes from the Proto-Baltic form *kantlīs/*kantlēs, which originally meant 'the singing tree',[2] ultimately deriving from the Proto-European root *kan- ('to sing, to sound').

However, Lithuanian ethnologist Romualdas Apanavičius believes kokles could be derived from the Proto-European root *gan(dh)-, meaning 'a vessel; a haft (of a sword)', suggesting that it may be related to the Russian word gusli.

[5] The kannel was legendarily played by the Estonian god of song Vanemuine, and the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg (published in the 1850s) begins with the line: Laena mulle kannelt, Vanemuine!