Xalam
Xalam (in Serer, or khalam in Wolof) is a traditional lute from West Africa with 1-5 strings.
Molo, African lute, in the collection of the Smithsonian | |
| String instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | bappe, diassare, gúlúm, gurmi, hoddu / kologu, Khalam/Xalam, komsa, koni, kontigi, konting, molo, ndere, 'ngonifola, ngoni, tidinit |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.311 (Spike bowl lute: Chordophone, the plane of strings runs parallel with the sound table, the string bearer is a plain handle and passes "diametrically" through the resonator, the resonator consists of a natural or carved out bowl) |
| Related instruments | |
The xalam is commonly played in Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Northern Nigeria, Northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; it, and its variants, are also known in other languages as bappe, diassare, hoddu (Pulaar), koliko (Gurunsi), kologo (Frafra), komsa, kontigi, gurmi, garaya (Hausa), koni, konting (Mandinka), molo (Songhay/Zarma), ndere, ngoni (Bambara), and tidinit (Hassaniyya and Berber).
In Wolof, who plays the xalam is called a xalamkat (a word composed of the verbal form of xalam, meaning "to play the xalam", and the agentive suffix -kat, thus meaning "one who xalams"). In Mande, this is ngonifola or konting fola. In Hausa, this is mai gurmi or mai kontigi.