Re: letter vs. a4 (and leger lines)

[David Raleigh Arnold]

On Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:47:39 +1000, Nick Payne wrote:

> On 02/09/10 12:51, David Raleigh Arnold wrote:

>> Ledger and leger are different words, with different meanings and
>> different derivations from different languages. The confusion of leger
>> with ledger is not merely a spelling error. Regards, daveA
>>    
> According to my copy of the Oxford English Dictionary, the correct 
usage
> is "ledger line". Under "ledger", it gives one of the definitions as:
> 
> 3. Mus. Ledger line, a short line added temporarily above or below the
> stave to extend its compass.
> 
> There is no corresponding definition for music under "leger".

Shameful for an institution supposedly making a specialty of
researching and supplying derivations. Everyone has copied them.
It's not the first time.

I don't think there is a general dictionary in print that does
a good job on music. The Random House Dictionary was the best IMO.
We are stuck with the HDM.

/leggiero/ as a musical direction means "lightly", but "leger" in
the sense of leger line clearly comes from the French "l�ger", meaning
light or slight. 

l�ger
, -�re 
  adj 
  [poids] light
  [bruit, retard, am�lioration, hausse] slight 
un l�ger retard  a slight delay 
bless� l�ger  slightly injured person 
  [vin] light 
[parfum] delicate
  [couche, �toffe] thin
  (peu s�rieux)  lightweight

Just trying to staff off chaos. ;-) Regards, daveA

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