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Re: Musical terms (Was: Playing the banjo (Was: Latin help))

From:Geoff Horswood <geoffhorswood@...>
Date:Saturday, September 15, 2007, 14:51
And so I created a whole load of music- and musical
instrument-related vocab.

Here it is:

Pronunciation note:
Most letters are pretty self-evident; however: |x| =
/S/, |w| = /gw/, |c| = /ts/, |ll| = /j/ between
vowels, /L/ otherwise, |gn| (|ng| word-terminally) =
/J/, |à| = /&/, |ù| = /y/ or /Y/, |e| = /@/
terminally.  |g| is always /g/, never /dZ/, and |h| is
silent except between vowels.

* denotes pre-existing words.

Name:		Description:

Brass family:
+ bùzene (f)	like an elongated trumpet
+ bazandaron (m)	like one of those Roman war-horns
that encircle the shoulder, with a trombone slider
+ dàgenet (m)	brass instrument shaped a bit like an
oboe.  Probably sounds a bit weird
+ cignàn (f)	"swan horn"; swan-necked trumpet looking
a bit like a saxophone

Wind family:
+ sirinàxe (f)	double-piped flute shaped like an
inverted V
+ surna (m)	traverse flute (usu. with a flared bell)
+ raskarre (f)	recorder; piccolo.  Comes in various
pitch ranges
+ halbus (m)	treble oboe
+ yuvur		to play a wind or brass instrument*

String family:
+ xàkàm (f)	like a zither.  Has 21 strings grouped in
threes
+ orfai (m)		the bastard offspring of a lyre and a
harp! :-)
+ xertere (f)	10-stringed handheld zither
+ luta (m)		lute
+ asluta (m)	archlute; tenor lute
+ tuorba (m)	theorbo; bass lute
+ mandolon (m)	mandolin
+ sestrem (f)	miniature lute
+ dimireh (f)	2-stringed flat-bodied guitar-like
instrument
+ qitàre (f)		globe-bodied lute-like instrument with 4
strings and a long neck
+ xerrùr		to strum; to pluck strings; to play a
stringed instrument

Bow family:
+ viell (f)		6-stringed dwarf violin with an oblong
body
+ rabah (f)		3-stringed fretted violin with a squarish
or boat-shaped body
+ rabakora (f)	rabah-of-the-body; rabah enlarged to
the size of a small cello
+ rabakora abase (f)  low rabakora; in the bass range
+ gamang (m)	5-stringed large violin or viola
+ gamang abas (m)	low gamang; in the baritone range
+ atur		to play a bowed instrument (usually means "to
shoot" [editorial: I like the idea of "shooting the
violin"!])

Percussion family:
+ dawum (m)	fairly generic cylindrical drum
+ dambul (m)	large tambourine-like drum with jingles,
played by men
+ temerill (f)	like a dambul but smaller & played by
women
+ sataq (m)	in our world, goes by the name of
"mendoza", "zob stick" or "monkey stick"
+ degelen (m)	Middle Eastern-type goblet drum
+ xang (m)	cymbal; gong
+ kàrill (f)		bell*
+ kàrillàtes (f.pl)	small bells or jingles (eg on a
tambourine)
+ barbaur		to drum; to play a percussion instrument
+ sonnur		to ring*

Other musical words:
+ billùr		to dance*
+ billàr[e] (m[f])	dancer	
+ karolur		to dance around in a circle*
+ xansur		to sing*
+ xansar[e] (m[f])	singer*
+ xant (m)		song*
+ jir (m)		chant*
+ orxatre (f)	orchestra*
+ semilàs (m)	band; ensemble (esp. folk or popular
music)
+ sonkulanc (m)	rhythm; beat
+ baillands (m.pl)	belled ribbons worn by certain folk
dancers at wrists and ankles
+ deitesse		harmony*

Enjoy!

Geoff

=====

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Replies

Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
Benct Philip Jonsson <conlang@...>