Gemini 13: A great musician at his piano

T h e w o r d g r e a t i s a d e r i v a t i v e o f t he I n d o - E u r o p e a n ( I E ) r o o t g h r eu - a n d i t s p a r o n y m s a r e c hr o m a t i c , c hr o m e , g r a v e l , grit, groat, group, gr o u t , gr u e l , and g r u e so m e . 1 T h e w o r d m u s i c i a n d e s c e n d s f r o m t he I E r o o t m e n- 1 , t o t h i n k. I t s p a r on y m s include admonish, a mn e s ia , a mn e s t y , c o mm e n t , mo n s t e r , demonstrate, mental, m in d , a u t o ma t i c , monitor,

d e m e n t , m a n d a r i n , m a n i c , m a n ia , ma n t r a , m o n u m e n t , mu s e u m , mu s t e r , p r e m o n i t i o n , a n d r e m i n i s ce n t . 2 T h e w o r d p i a n o de s c e n d s f r o m t h e IE r o o t p el e - 2, f l a t , s p r e a d. 3 A m o n g i t s p a r o n y m s a r e e xp l a in , f i e l d , fl o o r , p a l m ( t he t r op i ca l e v e r g r e e n t r e e ) , p i a n o , p l a n e t , p l a n i s h ( t o ma k e s m o o t h o r p l a n e ), p l a s ma ( c o lo r l e s s w a t e r y f l u i d o f b l o o d a n d l y m p h c o n t a i n i n g n o c e ll s a n d i n w hi c h e r y t h r o c y t e s a n d l e u k o c y t e s a n d p l a t e l e t s a r e s u s p e n d e d ) , p l a st i c , p o l k a , a n d v e l dt ( a n y o f t h e o p e n g r a z i n g a r e a s o f s ou t h e r n A f r i c a ). T H E M E S : T h e f i r s t t h e m e c o n ce r n s C L A R I F I C A T I O N o r R E A S O N . R e c a l l t h a t t h e w o r d e x p l a n a t i o n i s a p a r o n y m o f p i a n o w h i l e c o m me n t i s a p a r o n y m o f m u s i c i a n . I n Ro g e t s 2 1 s t C e n t u r y T h e s a u r u s t h e w o r d c o m m e n t i s g i v e n a s a s y n o n y m o f e xp l a n a t i o n w h e r e t h e l a t t e r i s a n o un taken to mean clarification; reason. 4

1 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 32 2 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 54 3 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 64 4 http://thesaurus.com/browse/explanation Starling Hunter 2011 1

A s e c o n d t he m e c on c e r n s M U S I C . O b v i o u s l y t h e r e a r e t h e k e y w o r d s musician and the musical instrument piano. A l so t h e re i s t h e w o r d c h r o m a t i c w hi c h i s a p a r on y m o f g r ea t . In m u s i ca l t h e o ry t h e t e r m i s d e f i n e d a s r e la t i n g t o o r u s i n g n o t e s n o t b e l o n g i n g t o t he d i a t on i c sc a l e of the key in which a passage is written .5 The chromatic scale is a m u s i c a l s c a l e w i t h t w e l v e e q u a l l y sp a c e d p i t c he s, e a ch a semitone apart6 A f o u r t h t h e m e c o n c e r n s C O LO R . T h e w o r d c h r o m a t i c i s a p a r o n y m o f g r e a t a n d m e a n s p e r t a i n i n g t o c o l or . I t d e s ce n d s a lso f r o m t h e L a t i n c h r o m a t i cu s a n d t h e G r e e k k hr o m a t ik o s m e a n i n g r e la t e d t o c o l o r. 7 A w o r d p a l m i s a p a r o n y m o f p i a no a n d i s a n e v e r g r e e n t r o p i c a l t r e e . A n o t h e r p a r o n y m of p i a no i s p l a s ma wh i c h i s a co l o r l e s s b o d i l y f l u i d. Phrases which can be formed from these keywords and phrases i n c l u d e g r u e so me m o n st e r , p l a st i c c hr o me , a gr e a t p l a n e t a r y mu s e u m , a g r o u p m in d , a gr a ve l f ie l d , g r o u p a m n e s t y , a n d a p l a s m a m o n it o r .

5 http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/chromatic?view=uk 6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_scale 7 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=chromatic Starling Hunter 2011 2