Ikembe is a type of musical instrument in the lamellaphone group. It is commonly used by people in Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo. The instrument has several thin, flat pieces of iron attached to a rectangular wooden box that produces sound.

In Swahili, the word imba means "song," and kuimba means "to sing," as in the phrase "nitakwenda kuimba" (I go to sing). Swahili, like many languages, creates new words by combining parts of existing words. For example, the word marimba is formed by combining ma (meaning "mother") with imba (meaning "song"), using r as a connector. This suggests marimba means "mother of song." Research by A.M. Jones, as noted by Osborne, also suggests that ka (meaning "small") combined with imba (song) could mean "little mother of song."

Osborne notes that many names for similar instruments across Africa include the Swahili word imba as their root. Swahili is not a single language but a mix of many languages, which makes it useful for trade. However, its foundation comes from Bantu languages spoken by people in Central and East Africa, which is why it is widely used in trade. Examining the roots of these names reveals common variations such as imba, imbe, and embe.

Other names for this instrument include likimbe and likembe (used by the Amba of Uganda and the Tabura of the Congo Basin), lulimba (used by the Yao of Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique), lukembe (used by the Alur and Acholi of Uganda), irimba and kajimba (used by the Makonde of Tanzania and Mozambique), itshilimba (used by the Bemba of Zambia), karimba (used in Zimbabwe), kalimba and ikembe (used by the Bahutu of Rwanda and Burundi). While many names exist, most share the same root word. The spelling of these names is less important than the sounds they make when spoken. [1] Archived 2024-03-19 at the Wayback Machine