---
title: "Gaita, bagpipe, cornemuse: what to call the Asturian gaita in each language"
slug: gaita-bagpipe-cornemuse-what-to-call-it
kind: essay
summary: "Why I call the Asturian gaita a gaita in English and French too, how it relates to «bagpipe» and «cornemuse», and why keeping the proper name is a cultural decision, not an oversight."
publishedAt: 2026-06-17
updatedAt: 2026-06-17
---
When I talk about my instrument outside Asturies, people always ask me the same thing: "is that a *bagpipe*?", "c'est une *cornemuse*?". The short answer is: yes and no. Yes, it belongs to that family; no, that isn't its name. Its name is **gaita**. And I call it gaita when I write in English or French too, on purpose.

This isn't a translation slip: it's a decision. Let me tell you why.

## «Gaita» is a proper name, not a translation still pending

Some words travel without being translated because they name something with an identity of its own. Nobody translates *fado*, *flamenco* or *sitar*: they're said the same everywhere, and that permanence is part of what they are. The same goes for the [Asturian gaita](/en/blog/what-is-the-asturian-gaita). "Gaita" isn't a generic word meaning "bag-and-reed wind instrument"; it's **the name of this particular instrument**, with its tuning, its repertoire and its way of sounding.

Translating it as "bagpipe" or "cornemuse" would dissolve it into a huge category where the first thing that comes to mind is something else —the Scottish one, almost always. Keeping "gaita" in any language is keeping the instrument as its own.

## What «bagpipe» and «cornemuse» actually mean

Both words exist and are useful, but they do a different job from the one people assume.

| Term | Language | Scope | Example it evokes |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Gaita** | Spanish/Asturian | Proper name of the Asturian instrument, not translatable | The Asturian gaita, mine |
| **Bagpipe** | English | Generic: any bag-and-reed pipe | Scottish *Great Highland Bagpipe*, in military uniform |
| **Cornemuse** | French | Generic: any European bag-and-reed pipe | French *Cornemuse du Centre* |

They're categories, not names. They serve to **place** the Asturian gaita for someone starting from scratch —"yes, it's in the bagpipe family"— but not to replace its name.

## How I handle it in practice

The rule I follow on this site, across the three non-Castilian languages, is simple:

1. **The instrument is always called «gaita».** In English, *the Asturian gaita*; in French, *la gaita asturienne*.
2. **The first time** it appears, I place it with the generic for anyone who doesn't know it: *the Asturian gaita, a bagpipe from northern Spain* / *la gaita asturienne, une cornemuse du nord de l'Espagne*.
3. From there on, **gaita** on its own. Just as you'd do with *fado* after explaining once that it's a Portuguese song genre.

That way anyone searching for "asturian bagpipe" or "cornemuse asturienne" finds the site —because those terms are where they should be— but what they take away is the real name: gaita.

## It isn't purism: it's precision

I don't keep "gaita" out of nostalgia or stubbornness. I keep it because it's **more precise**. The Asturian gaita isn't a regional variant of the Scottish one, just as the [Galician gaita](/en/blog/asturian-gaita-vs-galician-gaita) isn't a variant of the Asturian one. They're sibling instruments, each with its own personality, and calling them all "bagpipe" erases exactly what sets them apart.

Saying "gaita" in English or French is asking the listener for a small effort —learning a new word— in exchange for something honest: that the instrument arrives with its own name, not disguised as someone else's.