A Response to Younkin's "Sing We and Chant It: Revisiting Some Musical Terminology"

A Response to Younkin's "Sing We and Chant It: Revisiting Some Musical Terminology": "Younkin describes the numerous definitions of chant as falling into two general categories: a) chant as a style and b) chant as an act-in other words, 'chant' as a noun and 'chant' as a verb. An important point here is her clarification of the two. According to Younkin, chant, as a style, is an abstract concept that focuses on musical sound rather than contextual significance. She turns to several uses of 'chant' and 'song' in the literature, namely articles by George List, Andrew Strathern, and Helen Roberts, for illustration.2"