The nares-jux (нарс-юх) or Siberian lyre is a musical instrument, a type of box-

lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...

, played by the peoples of the

Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra (Russian and Mansi: Ханты-Мансийский автономный округ — Югра, ''Khanty-Mansiysky avtonomny okrug — Yugra;'' Khanty: Хӑнты-Мансийской Aвтономной � ...

of Russian

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

Etymology

The Ostyak (

Khanty people The Khanty (Khanty: ханти, ''hanti''), also known in older literature as Ostyaks (russian: остяки) are a Ugric indigenous people, living in Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a region historically known as "Yugra" in Russia, together ...

) term the instrument ''nares-jux'', meaning "musical wood" or "singing tree" in the

Khanty language Khanty (also spelled Khanti or Hanti), previously known as Ostyak (), is a Uralic language spoken by the Khanty people, primarily in the Khanty–Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous okrugs and the Aleksandrovsky and Kargosoksky districts of Tom ...

. The same instrument is played by the

Mansi people The Mansi (Mansi: Мāньси / Мāньси мāхум, ''Māńsi / Māńsi māhum'', ) are a Ugric indigenous people living in Khanty–Mansia, an autonomous okrug within Tyumen Oblast in Russia. In Khanty–Mansia, the Khanty and Mansi lan ...

(formerly known as ''Vogul''), and is known as sangkultap (or ''sangvyltap'', санквылтап) in the

Vogul language The Mansi languages are spoken by the Mansi people in Russia along the Ob River and its tributaries, in the Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Sverdlovsk Oblast. Traditionally considered a single language, they constitute a branch of the Ural ...

. Various names and spellings include: ''naresyuk'', ''nars-yukh'', ''naras-yux'', ''nars-juh'', ''nares-yuk'', possibly ''nanus'' ''narsus'', ''panan-juh'', or ''shongoort''.

Construction and playing

In the traditional form, the hollow body of the instrument is carved from a single piece of wood (fir or cedar) around 100 cm long. One end is pointed and the other is forked into two arms which carry a crossbar to hold the tuning mechanism. The soundboard is around 0.5 cm in thickness and covers the whole of the body except the forked end. A bridge is fitted, towards the pointed end of the body. A soundpost is fitted inside the instrument, between the back of the body and the soundboard, to provide support at the position of the bridge. There are typically five strings of tendon or gut. Wood or bone tuning levers are used to tension the strings by pulling them around the crossbar. The strings are tuned diatonically, to a major or minor pentachord. These lyres are also distinguished by the placing of pebbles within the resonating body, causing a rattle. Modern examples may have metal strings, an increased number of strings, tuning pegs or pins, and a body which lacks the forked end. The nares-jux is played with a blocking technique: the player strums the strings with the right hand and uses the fingers of the left hand to damp those strings which are not intended to sound.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2017 Lyres Russian musical instruments Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug

Etymology

Construction and playing

See also

References