ḱeh₁-n-tro-
“singing tool, instrument”cantata, cantor, chanter, enchant
Instrumental of *ḱeh₁-n- giving Latin cantor, English cantata, cantor, chanter, enchant.
Discussion
The PIE form *ḱeh₁-n-tro- (singing tool, instrument for making melodic sound) is an instrumental derivative from *ḱeh₁-n- (to sing, to produce musical sound), formed with the tool-suffix *-tro-. The meaning is "the thing by which singing is accomplished" — a musical instrument.
Latin cantāre (to sing — the frequentative of canere, from *ḱeh₁-n-) gave English chant, enchant, incantation, and canticle. The instrumental derivative *-tro- may underlie specific instrument names in the daughter languages, though the exact reflexes are debated.
The suffix *-tro- is the same instrument-forming suffix found in *h₂erh₃-tro- (plough — "the ploughing-tool"), *h₂eḱ-s-lo- (axle), and *skey-d-tro- (scissors — "the cutting-tool"). The productivity of this pattern — VERB + *-tro- = TOOL — is one of the most regular derivational processes in PIE.
The root connects to *sengʷʰ- (to sing — the song/enchant root) as part of the PIE vocabulary of musical and ritual vocal production. Where *sengʷʰ- named the act of singing, *ḱeh₁-n-tro- named the tool that accompanied or produced the singing — suggesting that PIE speakers used instruments alongside vocal performance.