Balafon
/ˈbæləˌfɒn/noun
A West African wooden xylophone with gourd resonators.
Did you know?The balafon is deeply associated with griot traditions in Mande cultures, where music, memory, and social authority were historically intertwined.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Mande
PMande
*balafon
“Reconstructed ancestral form related to the instrument name”
Manding languages
Manding
balafon
“A wooden percussion instrument with resonators”
19th–20th Century
French
balafon
“Borrowed term for the West African instrument”
Modern English
English
balafon
“A West African xylophone-like instrument”