The first recognizable guitars began to appear at the point where the form of the instrument took on the shape of a woman's body: softly rounded at the shoulders, curving inward at the waist, and concluding with another gently rounded curve at the bottom.A rather funny Spanish proverb I came across was "La mujuer y la guitarra, para usarlas hay que templarlas." What this means is: to use a woman or a guitar one must know how to tune them!
Lute type instruments came from the 12th century crusaders, who returned with a great many gifts of all sorts. As time passed, these instruments transformed into the lute.
Plucked instruments came in a variety of sizes, usually very small, for ease of transportation. Many of the early guitars look more like ukuleles than guitars. Over time, a number of definite features began to emerge that led to the "modern" guitar.