Ravi Shankar

4 6.2

An Indian sitar player and composer who helped bring Indian classical music to the West

proper noun

: Ravi Shankar

The legendary Ravi Shankar introduced the sitar to many Western audiences.

Examples

A performance by Ravi Shankar is often credited with introducing the sitar to the mainstream West.
Ravi Shankar collaborated with George Harrison to bring Indian music to a global audience.
A performance by Ravi Shankar is often credited with introducing the sitar to the mainstream West.
Many Western musicians cite Ravi Shankar as an inspiration for their own work.
Did you know that Ravi Shankar collaborated with George Harrison?
Ravi Shankar collaborated with George Harrison to bring Indian music to a global audience.
Many Western musicians cite Ravi Shankar as an inspiration for their own work.

Surface Forms

Ravi Shankar main

Morphology

Ravi + Shankar

This is a proper name composed of two personal name elements with no lexical meaning provided; knowing the constituents 'Ravi' and 'Shankar' does not allow a learner to infer that the phrase refers to an Indian sitar virtuoso and composer. Personal names are arbitrary labels rather than compositional phrases, so the referential meaning is not derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Ravi Shankar was a master of the 'sitar' who worked with artists like George Harrison and played at big concerts in Europe and America. Because he showed the sitar and 'classical Indian music' to new audiences, his name now stands for bringing Indian music to the West.