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byliny

(Encyclopedia)byliny bĭlēˈnē [key] [Rus.,=what has happened], Russian scholarly term first applied in the 1840s to a great body of narrative and heroic poems. They are called by the folk stariny [Rus.,=what is ...

Spratly Islands

(Encyclopedia)Spratly Islands, group of about 100 low islands and coral reefs in the central South China Sea, intersecting busy shipping lanes. The whole group is claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and parts ar...

Ssu-ma Ch'ien

(Encyclopedia)Ssu-ma Ch'ien so͝oˈmä chyĕn [key], 145?–90? b.c., Chinese historian; sometimes called the Father of Chinese History. He succeeded his father, Ssu-ma T'an, as grand historian (an office then deal...

Taymyr Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Taymyr Peninsula or Taimyr Peninsula both: tīmĭrˈ [key], northernmost projection of Siberia, N Krasnoyarsk Territory, N central Siberian Russia, between the estuaries of the Yenisei and Khatanga ri...

rhythm

(Encyclopedia)rhythm, the basic temporal element of music, concerned with duration and with stresses or accents whether irregular or organized into regular patternings. The formulation in the late 12th cent. of the...

azalea

(Encyclopedia)azalea əzālˈyə [key] [Gr.,=dry], any species of the genus Rhododendron, North American and Asian shrubs of the family Ericaceae (heath family) that are distinguished by the usually deciduous leave...

Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish

(Encyclopedia)Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish äˌnəndäˈ kĕnˈtĭsh ko͝omäˌrəswäˈmē [key], 1877–1947, art historian, b. Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Raised in London by an English mother, he returned to Ceylon...

Chihuahua, breed of dog

(Encyclopedia)Chihuahua chəwäˈwə [key], a breed of small toy dog probably of Asian origin and introduced into Mexico by Spanish settlers. It stands about 5 in. (12.7 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 1 t...

Anand, Viswanathan

(Encyclopedia)Anand, Viswanathan, 1969–, Indian chess player. India's youngest national champion at the age of 16, he won the world junior championship and earned the title of grandmaster in 1987. Anand achieved ...

Altaic

(Encyclopedia)Altaic ăltāˈĭk [key], subfamily of the Ural-Altaic family of languages (see Uralic and Altaic languages). Some scholars still consider Altaic an independent linguistic family. Spoken by over 130 m...