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Gittern

Musical Instrument
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A medieval plucked string instrument, ancestor of the guitar, with a round back and gut strings

Detailed Definition
The gittern appears in poetry as a troubadour’s companion and emblem of early vernacular song; its intimate timbre suited courtly love lyrics, and modern poets reference it to evoke the origins of lyrical subjectivity or the fusion of poetry and music in pre-print culture.
Example
Example in poetry:
The gittern’s gut strings “pluck troubadour dreams in candlelight”; In a medieval pastiche, its round back “holds the first songs of vernacular love”; The instrument appears as “the guitar’s grandfather, shy and refined”; A sonnet uses gittern to explore the origins of lyrical subjectivity.
Additional Notes
The gittern, depicted in medieval manuscripts and carvings, was played with a quill plectrum and featured in courtly love songs; in poetry, it symbolizes the troubadour tradition, early vernacular lyricism, and the fusion of poetry and plucked harmony; students exploring the origins of the lyric “I” can use it to trace how instrument design influenced the rise of personal, musical verse in pre-print Europe.
Also Known As
Gittern lute Medieval guitar
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