I’m talking about the Harmonica. I say harps. What do the Germans say and everyone else.
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Mundharmonika in German, Gaita in Brazilian… Then in American Countryside Slang I assume they address it as Harp… In Britain they say Mouth Organ or Mouth harmonica… I wonder why nobody answered your query as yet… But I tried…
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One of the oldest German names for the harmonica is mundharfe: Mouth harp. So it’s not wrong to call the harmonica a harp, that’s been done since the beginning, and it’s a very common name for the instrument.
I talk a bit about the history of the name in my book Harmonica For Dummies, which is available in English, German, French, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese.
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Yea, sadly the forum is not very “lively”, I hope this will change cos Hohner is the best harp maker and this forums UI is great ;) I dont know anyone that plays actual Harp, but I know a lot of us that play The Harp!
I love the name and use it, it`s short, sweet and to the point…we overtook it and I hope it will go international!
Mouth Organ sounds…kinky!
Harmonica name is used (in my country) for accordion, so harp I like!!!
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i have always refered to my harmonica as harp. mikie:smile:2020-02-15T19:12:00Z
Hey Michael-5, yes, in a proper german the name is Mundharmonika, but we use a short “Muha” in common slang. In old german slang and also austrian language, which the germans don’t use anymore, it’s also called Gosch’nhobel. That means something like mouth slicer.
Regards, Kerstin
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Hi, Michael
In China, we called ‘Blues’ or ‘mouth piano’, it sounds kind of funny, isn’t it?
Thank you.
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That’s better then mouth organ! The German harmonica translates to accordion? What music do you play Liu?
Hi Michael,
Yeah, that’s quite funny. I sometimes play blue music, but not very well, I am a new player, ha ha.
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There are many different colloquial terms for the harmonica in different languages: harmo in French, gaita in Portuguese, gob-iron in English, moothie in Scots, not to mention Mississippi saxophone and even licking stick. As Winslow says, the Swabians (Trossingen is in Swabia, S. Germany) traditionally referred to it as Mundharfle. Mund means mouth and Harfle is the diminutive form of harp, so this translates as mouth harp and was used by the makers of the instrument. I think that puts paid to the theory I’ve read in US American publications that the name “harp” came from “French harp”, a term I’ve never heard used to describe a harmonica. There are also a number of less complimentary terms, but then, the harmonica is an instrument that has always polarized listeners 
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Some people call it a harp. You’ll also hear it called a harpoon (Jimmy Buffett - Livingston Saturday Night. Janis Joplin - Bobby McGee) Where I’m at in Ohio, I don’t hear other terms besides harp or harpoon. And I only hear harpoon in song lyrics.
Hi Michael,
In Sweden vi call it Munspel.
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I’ve heard/seen it called a “tin sandwich” once or twice in various videos or readings. I’ve used harp myself. I like harpoon, but have never spoken it (yet).
Hi there !
I am from India and a large number of folks call it as “mouth organ”. What really interested me was when you said that Harmonica is used in your country for accordion. Which country do you belong to ( if you don’t mind telling me )?
I met a European gentleman few years back who was playing the saxophone in a nearby public park. I got to talk to him and during my conversation, I mentioned that I play the harmonica and I always carry it in my pocket. To this he gave a surprised reaction and said he thought how could I carry a big accordion in my pocket !! I could not get a chance to ask him why he thought so. But later in my Google search, I came across an article which said that harmonica is the term used for an accordion in some East European countries. So I was curious about the country where you belong to. And yes, I too like the word harp 
I don’t know about other languages, but in the German speaking countries, accordion is mostly referred to as Akkordeon and sometimes as Harmonika. The German Accordion Association for example is called the Deutsche Harmonika Verband. The correct term for harmonica in German is Mundharmonika (mouth harmonica), but Harp is frequently used when referring to 10-hole diatonics, just like in the English speaking world. See my post from Sep. 20 above in this thread for an explanation of where the word “harp” in reference to harmonica originated.
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