Talk:Half note
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[edit] Etymology of "Minim"?
Somebody recently added to the article that "given that it is written with a downward stroke, it [i.e. the term "minim"] possibly evolved in the same context as minim (palaeography)." -- I rather doubt this suggestion, since
- There is a perfectly plausible explanation of the term as being from Lat. "minima"="small", as the minim was indeed at one stage the smallest of all note values used (see Mensural notation for details);
- Minims were not usually written with a downward stroke, but with an upward stroke;
- And even if they were, they don't bear any particular resemblance to the paleographic minim style.
As no source is currently given for this suggestion, I am deleting it for the time being, but please feel free to re-introduce it if you have evidence. Lukas 23:23, 3 January 2006 (UTC)
- That was me, and no, I don't exactly have evidence. The word definitely comes from Latin minimus (-a, -um); the question is just whether the musical use evolved separately from or together with the paleographical use. The OED gives these as two meanings of the same word, rather than as two separate words, which suggests they evolved in parallel, and the co-incidence that we have two graphic signs, one for music and one for text, both involving vertical lines and both called minims makes me as a linguist with a lot of experience in etymology suspect a linked rather than a separate derivation. But without going back to the sources (which would be original research and anyway I don't have the time) that is not evidence. On that basis, perhaps it shouldn't be in the article - readers who are really interested will find this discussion on the talk page. --Doric Loon 16:57, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
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- Okay. In fact, I should have added right away that there's little sense in speculating how the musical concept "evolved": It was invented, and we know pretty well by whom and when and why, as it's all accounted for in the theoretical writings by the medieval creators themselves. As for the handwriting-minim, I'm not so sure; the current article on Minim (palaeography) is in deplorable shape. Lukas 17:36, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
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- Not anymore (I hope!). Adam Bishop 19:46, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] THANK YOU!
Thank you for posting this page. It has really helped me to write music.
[edit] What's wrong with classical terminology?
This has probably come up before but why does Wikipedia not use the standard classical terminology (minim, crotchet, etc) as standard? I have never heard of a "Half note" before. Surely the classical terminology is more common to all English speaking countries than the American or German? I'm well familiar with the Wikipedia policy on American vs British terms - when it's just a matter of taste, first past the post wins - but surely in this case there is a case for minim being a better title for this article as it is the actual classical term and not purely a localised styling. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.154.33.122 (talk) 12:39, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
