Bandura - Etymology

Etymology

The earliest mention of the term bandura dates back to a Polish chronicle of 1441, which states that the Polish King Sigismund III had a court bandurist known as Taraszko who was of Ukrainian ethnicity and was also the king's companion in chess. A number of other court bandurists of Ukrainian ethnicity have also been recorded in medieval Polish documents.

The term bandura is generally thought to have entered the Ukrainian language via Polish, either from Latin or from the Greek pandora or pandura, although some scholars feel that the term was introduced into Ukraine directly from the Greek language.

The term kobza was often used as a synonym for bandura and the terms were used interchangeably until mid 20th century. The use of the term kobza pre-dates the first known use of the term bandura. Kobza and was first mentioned in a Polish chronicle in 1313, having been introduced into the Ukrainian language sometime in the 12-13th century. It is thought to have Turkic pedigree.

Occasionally one comes across the combined term kobza-bandura which refers to the dual origins of the instrument, however this is rarely used in spoken language.

The term bandoura, a transliteration of the Ukrainian term via French is occasionally found.

The term bandore or bandora can also be found when referring to this instrument. The usage of this term stems from an inaccurate and discredited assumption made by Russian academic A. Famintsyn that the Ukrainian people borrowed the instrument from England. The term made its way into usage through early 20th century Soviet Ukrainian-English and Russian-English dictionaries.