concertina
UK[ˌkɒnsəˈtiːnə]US[ˌkɑːnsərˈtiːnə]
n
A small musical instrument with bellows and buttons for keys, played by squeezing it between the hands.
v
To fold, collapse, or become compressed in a series of folds like the bellows of a concertina.
Morpheme Breakdown
concert
ina
concert
music performance
ina
diminutive/instrument suffix
Etymology
The word 'concertina' is a 19th-century English creation, directly modeled on the Italian word 'concertino', meaning a small concerto or a small ensemble. The instrument's inventor, Sir Charles Wheatstone, adapted this term, replacing the Italian diminutive suffix '-ino' with the more Latinate/Italianate '-ina' to name his new portable, bellows-driven instrument. Thus, the name literally means "a small concert," elegantly capturing its function as a compact, self-contained musical device capable of producing harmonic chords, unlike its relative the simple accordion. This naming reflects the Victorian era's fascination with Italian musical culture and the practice of forming instrument names with pseudo-Italian suffixes.
Analysis
Structure: concert (music performance) + ina (diminutive/instrument suffix)
- concert: From Italian 'concerto', meaning a musical performance or harmony. In this compound, it signifies the musical nature of the instrument.
- ina: A suffix of Italian origin, often used to form diminutives or names of instruments, indicating a smaller or specific version.
Examples
The sailor played a lively folk tune on his concertina.
In the severe crash, the car's front end concertinaed into the dashboard.
She packed the concertina easily into her backpack for the hiking trip.