| 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 |
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