xalam

Xalam (in Serer, khalam in Wolof, and Molo in Dagbani and Zarma) is a traditional lute from West Africa with 1 to 5 strings. The xalam is commonly played in Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Northern Nigeria, Northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Western Sahara. The xalam and its variants are known by various names in other languages, including bappe, diassare, hoddu (Pulaar), koliko (Gurunsi), kologo (Frafra), komsa, kontigi, gurmi, garaya (Hausa), koni, konting (Mandinka), molo (Songhay/Zarma), ndere, ngoni (Bambara), and tidinit (Hassaniyya and Berber).

In Wolof, a person who plays the xalam is called a xalamkat (a word composed of the verbal form of xalam, meaning "to play the xalam", and the agentive suffix -kat, thus meaning "one who xalams"). In Mande, this is ngonifola or konting fola. In Hausa, this is mai gurmi or mai kontigi.