Talk:Hymnwriter

What is this?
Even if there were a reliable source that used this term, vagueness in the definition of hymn makes the question of who these people are even more vague. I don't think this article is precise enough to serve any purpose on Wikipedia.

Definitions of hymnodist in online dictionaries include "one who studies hymns", "one who writes commentary to accompany hymns", and (rarely) "one v who sings hymns". Even if kept, and k there is something to be said, the name needs to be changed. — Arthur Rubin (talk) 15:30, 3 July 2018 (UTC)

Agreed. Not only does the term "hymnodist" have too much ambiguity, it is also unknown in the UK. I came across this article after it (or its "hymnist" redirect) was being applied inaccurately to articles about UK hymn-text writers.

We already have articles: The majority of practising hymnwriters (I'm one in real life) would not call themselves hymnologists (academics); similarly many brilliant hymnologists would never claim to be hymnwriters (practitioners).
 * Hymn
 * Hymn tune
 * Hymnology, for the study of texts, tunes and their use
 * Hymn writer, currently redirecting to "hymn" (which confuses the writer with the thing written)
 * Hymnwriter (no space) redirecting to this "hymnodist"

It could well be argued that we need the article hymnology (academic study) to be expanded. And that we need a complementary article "hymn writing" (compare screenwriting) and perhaps "hymnwriter" (compare screenwriter). But I'm not a fan of this unusual, poorly-defined and regionally-limited (USA only?) term "hymnist".

I propose, initially at least, that this article, whose current content is about writers, be renamed "hymnwriter" (likewise occurrences of the term within it).

Feline Hymnic (talk) 21:25, 31 July 2018 (UTC)


 * There being no response, I have redone Hymn writer (with a space) to match Hymnwriter (no space) so they are at least consistent.
 * Is everyone happy that we rename this "Hymnodist" article to "Hymnwriter"? If there is still no response during the next couple of weeks (early-mid September) then I'll assume that everyone is content for this to proceed. Feline Hymnic (talk) 21:01, 25 August 2018 (UTC)§
 * Fine with me. — Arthur Rubin  (talk) 21:33, 25 August 2018 (UTC)

OK. I submitted the rename request a few minutes ago and it has been done. Feline Hymnic (talk) 12:16, 23 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Be aware that the technical request has been reverted. To gain consensus for another move, please follow the instructions at WP:RM to open a formal move discussion. Thanks. &mdash; Frayæ (Talk/Spjall) 14:52, 23 September 2018 (UTC)

We had achieved consensus, over a period of nearly two months, to rename the article to "Hymnwriter". I put in the request this morning and User:‎Frayae kindly implemented it. I began to edit the article to change the principle term to be "hymnwriter" (rather than "hymnodist").

But I see that User:The Anome reverted the move. I would be grateful if you would explain this reversion-after-consensus. Can we please move it, as agreed, to "Hymnwriter" (or "Hymn writer). (Or give clear reasoning for not doing so.)  Feline Hymnic (talk) 16:16, 23 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Hi -- my reverting the move was a mistake: I should have seen the discussion here first. I will now revert my error. -- The Anome (talk) 21:40, 23 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Just realised I forgot to acknowledge and thank you for that revert. Thank you.  Feline Hymnic (talk) 00:11, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

Cite for the word "hymnodist"
I've found an actual cite for the use of the word "hymnodist" to mean "hymn writer": https://www.jstor.org/stable/25011311?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Comparing the use of this vs. "hymn writer", it's clear that "hymn writer" is overwhelmingly more popular: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=hymnodist%2C+hymn+writer&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Chymnodist%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Chymn%20writer%3B%2Cc0

Conclusions:
 * 1) "Hymnodist" is a real usage, and not a neologism
 * 2) "Hymn writer" means the same thing, and is by far the more common usage

-- The Anome (talk) 09:16, 1 October 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks for that research. &mdash; Frayæ (Talk/Spjall) 13:27, 1 October 2018 (UTC)