zygon

See also: Zygoń

English

WOTD – 22 November 2013

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ζυγόν (zugón, “yoke”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈzaɪ.ɡɒn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈzaɪ.ɡɑn/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

zygon (plural zyga or zygons)

1. (anatomy, plural "zyga") In the cerebrum, a short crossbar fissure that connects the two pairs of branches of a larger zygal (H-shaped) fissure.
   • 1896, Andrew J. Parker, “Morphology of the Cerebral Convolutions with special reference to the order of Primates”, in Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 2nd Series edition, volume 10, number 3, page 323:

     “The evidence is threefold: (1) as admitted by Ecker, the zygon always appears independently in the foetus;

   • 1938, Lawrence Durrell, The Black Book‎^[1], book 3, London: Faber and Faber, published 1977, page 223:

     I am falling apart, the delicate zygon of my brain is opened.

2. (music, plural "zygons") An affinity or connection in a piece of music between tones, chords, or phrases, such that one part appears to repeat, to imitate, or to derive from the other, especially when perceived as an organising principle in the music; a zygonic relationship.
   • 2005, Adam Ockelford, Repetition in music: theoretical and metatheoretical perspectives, page 121:

     Chopin's Prelude op. 28 no. 6 comprises 403 notes which give rise—in just one sub-domain (pitch class)—to around 13,000 potential primary zygons, 500 million potential secondary zygons, and 10¹⁸ potential tertiary zygons.

   • 2006, Neil Lerner, Joseph Straus, Sounding Off: Theorizing Disability in Music, page 142:

     Zygonic relationships, or zygons, are depicted using the letter Z.

   • 2012, Adam Ockelford, Applied Musicology: Using Zygonic Theory to Inform Music Education, Therapy, and Psychology Research, page 106:

     Observe that the second melodic interval is deemed to exist in imitation of the first through the repetition of magnitude but not polarity through an "inverse" secondary zygon of pitch.

Related terms

• zygal
• zygion
• zygonic

Translations

anatomy: in the cerebrum, the short crossbar or stem that connects the two pairs of branches of a zygal fissure

music: affinity or connection in music between tones, chords, or phrases, such that one part appears to repeat, to imitate, or to derive from the other