----- Original Message -----
From: "Alexander Kobel" <n...@a-kobel.de>
To: "David Raleigh Arnold" <d...@openguitar.com>
Cc: <lilypond-user@gnu.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 11:45 AM
Subject: Re: letter vs. a4 (and leger lines)
On 2010-09-02 12:32, David Raleigh Arnold wrote:
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
[...]
/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.
Which might or might not influence the English spelling - more often than
not foreign words get crippled over time, and still it's correct according
to the dictionary and common sense.
Merriam-Webster says that both are possible, and counts "leger line" as
the minor variant to "ledger line":
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ledger%20line
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leger%20line
And just to add to the defs, here's Grove:
LEGER (Ledger) LINES (Fr. lignes postiches, supplémentaires; Ger.
Hilfslinien, Nebenlinien; Ital. ligne d' aiuto). The short lines drawn above
and below the stave for those notes which exceed its limits.
The origin of the term is not known. It is proposed to derive it from the
French léger, light, or from the Latin legere, to read, or as if it were
equivalent to layer — additional lines laid on above or below; but none of
these is quite satisfactory. The term came into use in the year 1700. (See
G. J. Evans, Mus.T., June 1879, and the Oxford Dictionary, s.v.}. The
analogous use of the word ledger, as "a horizontal timber in a scaffolding,
lying parallel to the face of the building ' is interesting. g.
--
Phil Holmes
_______________________________________________
lilypond-user mailing list
lilypond-user@gnu.org
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-user
