"Wippen" (was "Whippen" cords)

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 9/25/00 10:42:10 PM Central Daylight Time, 
piano.tech@ns.sympatico.ca (John Ross) writes:

<< t is right for them.
 Didn't you notice the :-), I was not being serious.
 And there are numerous dialects over there, and  "British" is not
 one of them. >>

And, did you notice, John, that for once I was not being serious.  Somehow, I 
just can't get used to using those little "smiley" symbols.  If you knew me 
in person, the things you see me write would sound entirely different from 
the way you seem to perceive them now.

I got a book about 12-13 years ago called "Nomenclature."  It has piano parts 
and their functions in six different languages.  While it is fascinating to 
look at but when you start picking it apart and asking native speakers which 
terms *they* use, you see a lot of head shaking and smiles indicating that 
what is in there is more of a joke than anything else.  I have also been 
amazed at how the British express nearly 90% of Piano Nomenclature 
differently from the way Americans do.

There are serious problems with nomenclature and it is one of the reasons why 
many of your fellow Canadians, the ones who can only speak French (or whose 
knowledge of English is not sufficient to read and understand PTG English 
language literature and forms) cannot pass the PTG RPT Exams, nor read its 
literature or the Journal, only because of the language barrier.  Those 
people live within PTG's territory.  So do all Mexicans and Puerto Ricans.

It has been my hope for many years that PTG materials be made available in 
Spanish and French so that all people eligible to belong to the organization 
have equal access to it.  Such efforts begin with Nomenclature lists.  As 
with a dictionary, such a list should indicate the preferred spelling and/or 
definition, followed by all of the other words known to be used and if 
possible, where they are used.

Thanks also to Paul LaRudee for his response.  I agree that I prefer the 
spelling, "Wippen" because it has a direct precedent.  Putting the "h" in 
there is, in fact, an error, even if it has been repeated much more often 
than the original and correct spelling.  It's not unlike some other things I 
have discovered.

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin