Re: Harper/Harpist

arsalaan fay (harps@world.std.com)
Tue, 27 Aug 1996 09:29:00 -0400 (EDT)

On Mon, 26 Aug 1996, Rebecca Root wrote:

> EMARGERUM@mecn.mass.edu writes:
> > Harper is by far the
> >older term, traceable back to about 800 AD, while harpist doesn't
> >appear until the 17th century.
>
> Could you say a little more about this? What language(s) are you talking about?
> I had always just assumed that "harper" was Germanic and "harpist" was Romance,
> but I never actually looked into it.

While speaking of the origins of the words harper/harpist no one has
mentioned "harpiste"

In the turn of the century advertising I have seen "harpiste" seems to
refer to a woman that plays the harp while "harpist" refers to a man.

Can anyone supply more detail?

Arsalaan