Transcribed Rhymes

This Anthology is the first in a series which contain “Transcribed Rhymes”. The poems in this collection are “Heard Words”, not unlike the song writer who simply writes down the tune he or she hears, in his or her mind, and the artist who applies paint to the canvas of the picture he or she envisions. These poems were given and received as a window, through which to view and clarify thoughts and moments, regarding experiences of life. The subjects are universal in nature, in that, they are applicable to the vagaries of the lives of the many readers, who are then able to apply the poem's teachings to their own situation. If applied, this teaching window could become a door.

This Anthology is the first in a series which contain "Transcribed Rhymes". The poems in this collection are "Heard Words", not unlike the song writer who simply writes down the tune he or she hears, in his or her mind, and the artist who applies paint to the canvas of the picture he or she envisions. These poems were given and received as a window, through which to view and clarify thoughts and moments, regarding experiences of life. The subjects are universal in nature, in that, they are applicable to the vagaries of the lives of the many readers, who are then able to apply the poem's teachings to their own situation. If applied, this teaching window could become a door.

This volume is a tribute to Professor Vovin’s research and a summary of the latest developments in his fields of expertise.

From its dynamic start at dance parties in the South Bronx in the late 1970s, hip hop and rap music have exploded into a dominant style of popular music in the United States and a force for activism and expression all over the world. So, too, has scholarship on hip hop and rap music grown. Yet much of this scholarship, employing methods drawn from sociology and literature, leaves unaddressed the expressive musical choices made by hip hop artists. Fundamental among these choices is the rhythm of the rapping voice, termed "flow." Flow presents unique theoretical and analytical challenges. It is rhythmic in the same way other music is rhythmic, but also in the way speech and poetry are rhythmic. For the first time, Mitchell Ohriner's Flow: The Rhythmic Voice in Rap Music reconciles approaches to key concepts of rhythm, such as meter, periodicity, patterning, and accent, treated independently across other branches of scholarship. Ohriner theorizes flow by weaving between the methods of computational music analysis and humanistic close reading. Through the analysis of large collections of verses and individual tracks, the book addresses theories of rhythm, meter, and groove in the unique ecology of rap music. In a series of case studies in the second half, the work of Eminem clarifies how flow can relate to text, the work of Black Thought of The Roots clarifies how flow can relate to other instrumental streams, and the work of Talib Kweli clarifies how flow can relate to rap's persistent meter. While Ohriner focuses on rap music throughout the book, the methods he introduces will be useful for other musical genres that feature the voice freely interacting with a more rigid metric framework.

This book looks at the range of possible syllables in human languages. The syllable is a central notion in phonology but phonologists are divided on even the most elementary issues. San Duanmu explores and clarifies these and many other related issues through an in-depth analysis of entire lexicons of several languages

Yongning Na, also known as Mosuo, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Southwest China. This book provides a description and analysis of its tone system, progressing from lexical tones towards morphotonology. Tonal changes permeate numerous aspects of the morphosyntax of Yongning Na; they are not the product of a small set of phonological rules, but of a host of rules that are restricted to specific morphosyntactic contexts. Rich morphotonological systems have been reported in this area of Sino-Tibetan, but book-length descriptions remain few. This study of an endangered language contributes to a better understanding of the diversity of prosodic systems in East Asia. The analysis is based on original fieldwork data (made available online), collected over the course of ten years, commencing in 2006.

If asked to list the greatest innovators of modern American poetry, few of us would think to include Jay-Z or Eminem in their number. And yet hip hop is the source of some of the most exciting developments in verse today. The media uproar in response to its controversial lyrical content has obscured hip hop's revolution of poetic craft and experience: Only in rap music can the beat of a song render poetic meter audible, allowing an MC's wordplay to move a club-full of eager listeners.Examining rap history's most memorable lyricists and their inimitable techniques, literary scholar Adam Bradley argues that we must understand rap as poetry or miss the vanguard of poetry today. Book of Rhymes explores America's least understood poets, unpacking their surprisingly complex craft, and according rap poetry the respect it deserves.