“What’s Your Name?”

Appendix III
Glossary of Terms and Key to Pronunciation

• This guide uses a combination of phonetics and commonly known pronunciation codes.
• The phonetics are based on the English language.
• the high-set stress mark ( ‘ ) precedes a syllable with primary (strongest) stress.

Glossary of Terms

Alliteration - the repetition of the same sound in a series of words, typically the first consonant sounds of each word. The following phrase is an example of alliteration: “Sally sells seashells by the sea shore.”

Aúgíno Mótúlé - (pronounced Ow’ geeno Mo’ tulie, with a hard g like gate) the title of a Lithuanian folk song meaning “a mother was raising”.

Ayi Mwnwana - (pronounced I’ Mwana) a Zairean greeting meaning “what’s your name” and used as a way to welcome new people to a village by asking “tell me about who you are”.

Ballad - a traditional folk song which is a narrative; it tells a story.

Banjo - an American 4- or 5-string instrument which uses a skin or plastic head stretched over a hoop as a resonator. Its West African predecessor used a gourd resonator.

Batyi - (pronounced Bahchy) the last name of the Hungarian violin player in the Continental Gypsy Strings.

Buck dance - a traditional solo dance style that incorporates African-American and Anglo step dance influences. Also called flatfoot dancing today in the Appalachians, to distinguish it from precision clogging teams.

Censorship - prohibition or suppression of someone’s spoken or written thoughts.

Ciocirlio - (pronounced Sit’ sier lio) a Hungarian word meaning “lark”.

Context - the situation which surrounds and influences a tradition, event, performance, or expression of culture (physical, cultural, historical, emotional circumstances are all considered parts of an event’s context).

Corrido - ( pronounced kor’ee do) a ballad from the Mexican-U.S. border, typically depicting the story of a Mexican-American hero.

Creolization - interaction between members of different cultures in the same region resulting in new traditions.

Cuatro - (pronounced quatro) a ten-stringed lute instrument used in Puerto Rican plena music.

Culture - a whole way of life, and the human expressions of individuals in a particular society.

Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) - large country in central Africa.

Diaspora - the forced dispersion of people from their homeland. For example, Jewish Diaspora refers to the forced dispersion of Jews outside ancient Israel after the Roman and Babylonian conquests; African Diaspora refers to the forced dispersion of Africans, particularly to North and South America, through slavery.

Doina - an improvised solo in traditional Jewish music that evokes the image of a lone shepherd.

Down-beat - in Western music, the main underlying beat (in a 4/4 pattern, the down-beat is the first and third beat).

Earl Scruggs - North Carolina banjo player who pioneered and popularized the three-finger picking style that characterizes bluegrass.

Editorial - laudatory articles in magazines or newspapers, written from the opinion of the author.

Eulogy - typically an oration or speech given at a funeral praising the deceased.

Falsetto - a high “head voice” for men, often used in bluegrass harmony singing to achieve its characteristic “high lonesome sound”.

Folk group - any group of people who share at least one common factor and who interact face to face. We are all members of several different folk groups (i.e. family, ethnic, religious, occupational).

Folk song - songs which are created and perpetuated within folk groups to serve such purposes as celebration, entertainment, protest and belief.

Free speech - the opposite of censorship; the right to say and write one’s thoughts, whatever they may be. In America, free speech is an inalienable right, as defined in the Bill of Rights.

Frequency - the number of wave cycles within a certain unit of time.

Freylekhe - (pronounced ‘fray licka) an up-tempo traditional Jewish dance.

Guiro - (pronounced ‘gwir o) a gourd instrument in Caribbean culture which is scraped with a comb along small ridges on the outside to create an accompanying rhythm.

Hertz - (Hz.) the unit used to measure sound wave frequency; one hertz = one cycle per second

Hmong - (pronounced mung) an ethnic group originally from China who migrated to the highlands of Southeast Asia in the 18th century and to the United States in the 1970s as refugees from the Vietnam War.

Hora - a moderate tempo traditional Jewish dance.

Images- the mental pictures one associates with a place, person or thing.

Imagery- the term used to refer to the literary devices (such as metaphor, simile, or symbolism) used to create or allude to an image.

Imitation - a copy or reproduction.

Improvisation - a performance that is not prepared, but invented on the spot, within the boundaries of a musical style and formula.

Išdidi Mergina - (‘Ishdidi ‘mare geena, the g is hard like gate) the title of a Lithuanian song which means “a haughty girl”.

Jaw harp - a mouth instrument that uses a struck metal tine to create sound, the pitch is controlled by the mouth. Found throughout Europe and Asia. (in Hmong it is called “ncas”).

Juracan - (pronounced ‘who ra cahn) the Taino’s God of the wind, an evil god (the word hurricane comes from this name).

Kimbala - the language spoken by the Mbala (the song is in Kimbala).

Kwv Txhiaj Plees (pronounced ku ‘chia plang) a traditional Hmong song sung for the young unmarried people.

Mbala - (pronounced em’ bala) an ethnic group who live in central Africa

Metaphor - a comparison of two dissimilar things without using the terms “like” or “as.” For example: My love is a red rose.

Meter - the underlying pulse of a musical piece or poem.

Mien Fetta Elia - (pronounced mine feta ‘alia) Yiddish for “my Uncle Elia” - after the recording was released, we realized this was an incorrect spelling but decided to keep it consistent with the spelling on the recording.

Migration - to move from one region of the country or world to another.

Mood - a state of mind or feeling.

Ncas - (pronounced jå) the contemporary Hmong term for “jaw harp”.

Ngoma - (pronounced en’goma) drums used by the Mbala (similar to conga drums).

Nkauj Laug Ncas (pronounced nkow lao jå) this is the old way to say jaw harp in the Hmong language and is used to refer to the song played in the old style.

Oppressed - people or a group of people who are persecuted by those more powerful.

Oppressor - powerful people or group of people who persecute others by unjust use of force.

Panderas - (pronounced pahn ‘der us) a tambourine-like instrument which is the primary percussion instrument in Puerto Rican plena music.

Parts of a story - consists of introduction, rising action, conflict, climax, resolution.

Pitch - is determined by frequency or number of hertz; the higher the frequency of the sound waves, the higher the pitch sounds to our ears. The lower the frequency, the lower the pitch sounds. A standard musical pitch is middle “A” on the piano = 440 Hz. (cycles per second).

Planxty - (pronounced ‘planksty) a tune composed for the musician’s patron or in honor of a noble character.

Plena - a traditional form of Puerto Rican dance music with lyrics that reflect the experiences of the people. Plena songs tell of historical events, important people, and issues that impact on daily life. Some plena songs are old, but new ones are always being written to reflect contemporary issues.

Plot - the outline of action of a narrative or drama.

Poly-rhythm - several different interlocking rhythms or meters performed simultaneously.

Polytheism - belief in many, or more than one god or goddess.

Raj Nkauj Hmoob (pronounced tra nkow moong) the name of the Hmong flute piece on this recording. It is the ancient term for “Hmong flute”.

Revival - learning and performing a tradition which may have ceased (done with or without conscious resurrection of the tradition).

Rhyme - a literary device used most commonly in poetry where words, with the same or similar sound in the last stressed vowel or consonant, are presented in some sort of pattern. For example, in the Davys’ song, “Eastbound Freight Train,” the second and fourth lines of each verse end with rhyming words: away/day; back/track; roam/home.

Rhythm - the time patterns of the notes heard in a musical piece or poem.

Rhythmic pattern - a rhythmic grouping that usually repeats itself.

Sangu - musical wrist rattles.

Scruggs tuner - bluegrass banjo player Earl Scruggs designed this special tuning peg for the instrument, allowing the pitch of the string to slide down to an exact note and back when the peg is twisted back and forth.

Simile - a comparison of two dissimilar things using the terms “like” or “as.” For example: My love is beautiful like a red rose.

Sound wave - vibrations in the air by which sound travels.

Steel drums (or pans) - tuned metal drums made from oil drums by a process developed on the Caribbean island of Trinidad.

Step dance - any traditional solo dance style that emphasizes fancy footwork.

Style - in music, the distinctive features of a musical performance.

Symbol - an object or image which stands for something other than its standard meaning. An example of an image may be the color green which symbolizes wealth, money or desire.

Syncopation - music that emphasizes the up beat.

Tainos - (pronounced tah ‘ee nos) Native American people who lived on the island of Puerto Rico when the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. Tainos is the Spanish name for these people.

Tap dance - African-American solo performance dance style which became popular in the 1920s featuring complex rhythmic movements. Tap is usually danced to jazz music, with metal taps on the shoes.

Time-line - a rhythmic pattern that holds a steady beat throughout the piece.

Tone - a general quality of atmosphere

Tradition - cultural practices and traits which have continuity over time (generation to generation) and space (place to place), and which also involve change and innovation.

Trills - a fluttering or warbling between two notes.

Up-beat - in African music, the main underlying beat (in a 4/4 rhythmic pattern, the up-beat is the second and forth beat).

Vocal effects - the quality of a voice, including tone (i.e. nasal, deep) and delivery.

Wavelength - the distance from the crest of one wave to another.

Work songs - songs that accompany work, whether to set work pace, entertain, comment upon work environment, or to occupy thoughts (examples include sea chanteys, cowboy songs, and field songs).

Worldview - the intangible aspect of culture which provides order, value and meaning to the experiences of its members (For example, a group’s definitions of beauty, time, relationship between past, future, and present may differ greatly. Generally speaking, for instance, Western culture views time as linear and places great importance on the future and on time, itself.).

Yukiyu - a good god (Creator) to whom the Tainos prayed for protection.

© 2001 On Tour Productions