![\"My](\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/photos\/mandolin.jpg\")
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When looking for the names of various instruments in Chinese, as you do, I came across \u6d0b\u7435\u7436 (y\u00e1ng\u200bp\u00ed\u200bp\u00e1) for mandolin. \u6d0b (y\u00e1ng) means ocean, sea, foreign or western, and the \u7435\u7436 (p\u00ed\u200bp\u00e1) is a traditional Chinese string instrument described by the MDBG Chinese dictionary as a ‘guitar-like instrument’. So it’s a ‘foreign pipa’ in Chinese [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the pipa (see above) it as a ‘short-necked Chinese lute’ that originated in Western Asia, and has been known in China since the 2nd Century AD. Apparently the Chinese name comes from the way it’s played: p\u00ed\u200b originally meant to pluck in a forward motion, and p\u00e1 meant to pluck in a backward motion. Different characters with the same sounds were later chosen for the instrument’s name [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n The word \u6d0b (y\u00e1ng) also appears in <\/p>\n Another Chinese word that appears in various instrument names is \u7434 (q\u00edn), which on its own refers to a type of long zither with seven strings, plucked with the fingers, also known as a \u53e4\u7434 (g\u01d4\u200bq\u00edn). The \u7434 (q\u00edn) is also translated as a Chinese lute or guitar [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n Other types of \u7434 (q\u00edn) include:<\/p>\n I think it’s interesting that in Chinese, non-Chinese instruments and other things are referred to as variants on traditional Chinese instruments, etc, while in English, Chinese instruments are referred to as versions of ‘Western’ instruments like guitars, lutes and zithers.<\/p>\n![\"Chinese](\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/photos\/pipa.jpg\")
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