The term “chord zither” is a literal English translation of the German Akkordzither. Both are used in their respective languages as a general designation for zithers designed to permit the easy production of chords. Instruments doing this with a mechanical device or distinctive arrangement of the strings are often categorized thereby and named individually, typically as labeled in a patent.

The “autoharp” is a well-known example. It is also referred to as such in German-language discourse but was initially simply an Akkordzither. Such ambiguity led to the coinage of the generic term griffbrettslose zithern — literally “zithers without fingerboards” — of which the autoharp is one of many types. In German, a griffbrett can either be fretted, as on a guitar, or fretless as on a violin. In English, the former is a “fretboard.” After extensive discussion (detailed here) the generic heading in English settled on “fretless zithers” in analytical contexts.

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