The more you learn about this subject the more little traps you find.
On a five-string-banjo (long or short neck) the shorter fifth string is called the melody string.
On a sitar, there are two shorter playing strings, in a similar position and serving a very similar function to the melody string of a five string banjo. And the sitar has melody strings too, but these ain't them. Rather, the melody strings of a sitar are the first three strings, the ones on the other side of the neck to the two shorter playing strings.
Probably, the sitar naming is more logical. The sitar melody strings are always used for melody, the banjo melody string never. On the sitar, the shorter playing strings are two of the four or five drones. So some banjo players call string five the chanter instead.
And that's fine until you meet a Scottish bagpipe player and try to explain it all to them. The bagpipes also have a chanter, but it's used for the melody, and also drones, which have much the same function as the melody string on a banjo, or the drones on a sitar.
Hmmm....
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