Editing Lamellophone (section)

{{Short description|Class of musical instruments}}
[[Image:TrebleKalimba.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Hugh Tracey]] treble [[kalimba]]]]
[[File:Jew's harp.jpg|thumb|A Jew's harp]]

A '''lamellophone''' (also '''lamellaphone''' or '''linguaphone''') is a member of the family of [[musical instrument]]s that makes its sound by a thin vibrating plate called a lamella or tongue, which is fixed at one end and has the other end free. When the musician depresses the free end of a plate with a finger or fingernail, and then allows the finger to slip off, the released plate vibrates. An instrument may have a single tongue (such as a [[Jew's harp]]) or a series of multiple tongues (such as a [[mbira]] thumb piano).

Linguaphone comes from the Latin root ''lingua'' meaning "tongue", (i.e., a long thin plate that is fixed only at one end). lamellophone comes from the [[Latin]] word ''{{lang|la|lamella}}'' for "small metal plate",<ref>{{L&S|lamella|ref}}</ref> and the [[Greek language|Greek]] word {{lang|el|φωνή}} ''phonē'' for "sound, voice".<ref>{{LSJ|fwnh/|φωνή|ref}}.</ref>

The lamellophones constitute category 12 in the [[Hornbostel–Sachs]] system for classifying musical instruments, '''plucked [[idiophone]]s'''. There are two main categories of plucked idiophones, those that are in the form of a frame (121) and those that are in the form of a comb (122).

According to [[Curt Sachs|Sachs]],<ref>Sachs, Curt (1940). ''The History of Musical Instruments'', p.455. W. W. Nortan & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|0-393-02068-1}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The most usual [of plucked idiophones] is a flexible lamella or tongue attached to a frame, plucked by a finger and resonated by a small box.}}