|
 January 3, 2011
 
Word of the Week--"xylophone"
Definition--a musical percussion instrument consisting of a series of wooden bars of different lengths to sound a chromatic scale, played by being struck with two small wooden mallets.
Discussion--Many children play the xylophone, often a metal version, as their first instrument. It's fun to hit and more pleasant sounding than hitting the furniture, a window, or a younger sibling. Sadly, few return to this pleasant-sounding instrument later in life. Some will play the glockenspiel in marching band. A glockenspiel is similar to a
xylophone, but has two small rows of metal bars and can be attached to the body and played while marching.
Etymology--Xylophone is from the Greek xylon meaning wood plus the English suffix -phone as in microphone or telephone. The English suffix is boorowed from the Greek phoné meaning a device that receives or emits sound. These same Greek roots are clearly present in the languages shown below.
Foreign Translations German:
Xylophon (nt)
Dutch:
xylofoon (de)
French:
xylophone (m)
Italian:
xilofono
Spanish:
xilófono
More To Explore
|
Contact & About
|
||||
