ENDANGERED TO BE DISAPPEARING/LEARN 40 ANALOGIES TO “PROSODY”

People speak the same language in different tones. The Northern has six including high rise, level, low fall, low rise and two mid-rises; the Central four excluding two mid-rises and the South five keeping one mid-rise. Cai Luong has combining text or libretto or stage direction words and musical score based on Vọng Cổ or Nostagia Folk Song but is performed in a theatrical setting.

This renovated folk opera relies on its fantastic cycle of lyrical patterns called Vọng Cổ or the Folk Song of Nostalgia. Its tune can be sung in different emotional tempos with the background of Đàn Tranh or 16-chord zither, Nguyệt or two-chord guitar and Nhị or two-chord violin. The Folk Songs of Nostagia can be classified as one of the oral poetries. In the North people has as Ca Trù or ceremonial songs as Vọng Cổ in the South and both of their lyrical and prosodic theme owes too much influence to Ca Dao or folk ballads.

Vọng Cổ can be individually sung by an artist but Cải Lương has to be performed on stage as a play enriched with varied versions of tunes alternated from dance, song or music. Particularly, Cải Lương allows actress or actor to use spoken dialogue for their expression of a character role. At a specific climactic moment of the drama leading actresses or actors can have opportunity to perform their spectacular Vọng Cổ.

Viễn Châu is the stage name of Huỳnh Trí Ba, born in 1920 at Trà Vinh province in the South of Vietnam. By the early 60’s decade from Vọng Cổ the famous scriptwriter and artist Viễn Châu has given birth to the first Tân Cổ Giao Duyên or the Modern Folk Song of Love. This latest form has lyricism and instrumentation based on Vọng Cổ but was composed with the mix of modern lyric music. He is the first composer who made research and invented its music notation for singers to sing the modern lyric in concordance with its folk music. With this great contribution and promotion he has been awarded as the father of Tân Cổ Giao Duyên or the Modern Folk Song of Love in Vietnam.

LEARN 40 ANALOGIES TO “PROSODY”

1. Prosody, versification, rime, rune, paean

1. The study of poetic meters. In broad definition eyebrow, hand gestures and face motions can be considered prosody.
2. Changing prose into metrical form. They attempted to versify his stories into one poem.
3. The part of a syllable with its vowel and consonant sounds. These two words have the same rime.
4. Any character of ancient alphabets. Cambodian letters have mystical runes.
5. An expression of joy or praise. That’s the one of ancient Greek paeans to idol worship.

2. Balladry, poesy, verse, doggerel, stanza

1. The art of writing or performing ballad. This work is quite characteristic of balladry.
2. The body of a poem. Poesy gives birth to exciting pleasure by elevated thoughts.
3. Writing arranged in metrical rhythm. They lament their failure in verse.
4. Badly versed expressions. They used some of his doggerel for a burlesque.
5. A group of metrical units in a poem. Each stanza has its own fixed length, meter or rhyming scheme.

3. Canto, strophe, couplet, triplet, rhyme

1. Any divided section of a long poem. The word”canto” is derived from the Latin cantus for a song.
2. A free verse poem construct. Strophe is a poetic term commonly used to say about any poem of varied length stanzas.
3. The two same verse-metered and rhyme-joined lines. Many couplets are used as mottos or slogans.
4. The set of three similar things. She is the mother of triplet.
5. The ending words of sound correspondents. A poem has an irregular rhyme.

4. Rhythm, ode, cadence, cadency, tempo

1. Repeated pattern of sound. No rhythm of music can be seen in teenager’s songs.
2. An irregularly-metered lyric poem. He died and didn’t hear any of  their odes to his heroic act.
3. The rhymth of event or voice. Deep feeling has to go with a falling cadence.
4. The improvised arrangement of words. His style of mingling words is a true cadency applied in synonym.
5. The speed of music play. The tempo of a song can affect our emotions.

5. Pulse, pulsation, pace, throb, thud, thump

1. A short burst of sound. Doctor can diagnose illness through the pulses felt at the wrist.
2. A periodical recurrence of a quantity. They hastened their heart pulsation in anger.
3. A single step taken in walking or running. The horse has gone at a pace along the hillside.
4. A steady and strong beat. You could see the throb of blood in the temple.
5. A dull heavy falling sound. Sitting inside, they heard a thud of a falling bag of sand outside.
6. A dull heavy fist sound. She felt a thump on her back in stepping into the door.

6. Velocity, rapidity, speed, haste, swiftness, alacrity

1. The speed on a direction. The car is running at constant velocity on the road a. through the forest.
2. Reaction with high speed. With such rapidity the fish was hard to be seen in sinking into the sand.
3. Reaction with rapid movement. Excessive speed has made them cause accident.
4. Urgency at excessive action. Haste makes waste.
5. Done without delay. You have to be swift in moving out of the slamming door.
6. Readiness with rapid act. He accepted the invitation with alacrity.

7. Tone, tune, tenor, theme, gist, timbre, ambience, vibes, setting

1. The general quality of a piece of writing. Her piano tone was lacking in warmth.
2. A certain consonance of music. She left office in humming a cheerful tune.
3. The general character. His voice is of a male singer tenor.
4. The subject of a piece of writing. His novel is full of themes of desperation.
5. The main point of a text. His gist of argument is saying yes before coming to refutation.
6. The distinct character of a musical sound. String instruments have different timbre from the wind.
7. The atmosphere of a place. Guests are familiar to the relaxing ambience of a spa lounge.
8. The atmosphere felt by others of a place. I felt relaxing here but some have given off bad vibes.
9. The ground positioning something. Looking at the picture, we can see a cozy waterfront cottage in a peaceful country setting.