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[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Rhythm.jpg|right|frame]] ==Etymology== Middle French & [[Latin]]; Middle French rhythme, from Latin rhythmus, from [[Greek]] rhythmos, probably from rhein to [[flow]] *Date: [https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Century 1560] ==Definitions== *1 a : an ordered recurrent alternation of strong and weak elements in the [[flow]] of [[sound]] and [[silence]] in [[speech]] :b : a particular example or form of rhythm <iambic rhythm> *2 a : the aspect of [[music]] comprising all the elements (as accent, meter, and tempo) that relate to forward movement :b : a characteristic rhythmic [[pattern]] <rumba rhythm> :c : the [[group]] of instruments in a band supplying the rhythm —called also rhythm section *3 a : [[movement]], fluctuation, or variation marked by the regular recurrence or [[natural]] [[flow]] of related elements <the rhythms of country life> :b : the repetition in a literary [[work]] of phrase, incident, character type, or [[symbol]] *4 : a regularly recurrent [[quantitative]] [[change]] in a variable biological [[process]] <a circadian rhythm> *5 : the effect created by the elements in a [[play]], movie, or [[novel]] that relate to the temporal [[development]] of the [[action]] ==Description== The [[study]] of '''rhythm''', stress, and pitch in [[speech]] is called [[prosody]]; it is a [[topic]] in [[linguistics]]. Narmour (1980, p. 147–53) describes three categories of prosodic rules which create rhythmic successions which are additive (same duration repeated), cumulative (short-long), or countercumulative (long-short). Cumulation is [[associated]] with closure or [[relaxation]], countercumulation with openness or [[tension]], while additive rhythms are open-ended and repetitive. Richard Middleton points out this [[method]] cannot account for [[syncopation]] and suggests the [[concept]] of [[transformation]]. A rhythmic [[unit]] is a durational [[pattern]] which occupies a period of time equivalent to a pulse or pulses on an underlying metric level, as [[opposed]] to a rhythmic [[gesture]] which does not (DeLone et al. (Eds.), 1975 ==Origins of human appreciation of rhythm== In his series How Music Works, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Goodall Howard Goodall] presents [[theories]] that rhythm recalls how we walk and the heartbeat we heard in the [[womb]]. More likely is that a simple pulse or di-dah beat recalls the footsteps of another [[person]]. Our sympathetic urge to [[dance]] is designed to boost our [[energy]] levels in order to cope with someone, or some animal chasing us – a fight or flight response. From a less darwinist [[perspective]], perceiving rhythm is the ability to [[master]] the otherwise [[invisible]] [[dimension]], time. Rhythm is possibly also rooted in courtship [[ritual]]. Neurologist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Sacks Oliver Sacks] posits that [[human]] affinity for rhythm is fundamental, so much that a [[person]]'s sense of rhythm cannot be lost in the way that [[music]] and [[language]] can (e.g. by stroke). In addition, he states that chimpanzees and other animals show no similar [[appreciation]] for rhythm.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm] [[Category: Linguistics]] [[Category: Music]]

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