喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can picture bass as the very bottom shelf of sound — the deepest, thickest tones, like a large man's voice so low you feel it in your chest rather than just hear it.

可以想成聲音世界裡最底下那一層：低沉、厚實的那些音，像一個嗓音極低的男人開口，聲音低到你幾乎是用胸口去感覺，而不只是…更多收起可以想成聲音世界裡最底下那一層：低沉、厚實的那些音，像一個嗓音極低的男人開口，聲音低到你幾乎是用胸口去感覺，而不只是用耳朵去聽。這個「低」就是 bass 大部分意思的起點。

From the word’s history

From Late Latin 'bassus' meaning 'low', its musical use shaped by Italian 'basso'; so bass literally names the low end of pitch.

音樂上的 bass 來自晚期拉丁文 bassus（低），再受義大利文 basso 影響——所以這個字從一開始講的就是「音高裡低的那一端」，跟後來衍生的低音聲部、低音樂器都連得起來。（注意：這個 bass 和意思是「基礎」的 base 其實沒有關係。）

etymonline.com/word/bass (Late Latin bassus 'low', via Italian basso)

Three branches

低沉的聲音本身

這一組直接就是核心畫面：都在講聲音裡最低的那一段，只是分別指人聲、樂曲的聲部、或整段音域的下半截。

bass voice · noun · B2

A very low male singing voice, or a man who sings in this low range.

男低音

發出低音的樂器

樂器被叫做 bass，是因為它在樂團裡專門負責最低的那段聲音——名字直接借自它發出的音高。

bass guitar · noun · B1

A guitar that plays low notes, used to hold the beat in a band.

貝斯

鱸魚（同形但不同來源）

這個意思跟「低音」毫無關係，只是拼法剛好一樣、讀音也不同（魚讀 /bæs/，音樂的 bass 讀 /beɪs/）。它是另一條歷史線，不用硬把它接回低音的畫面。

bass (fish) · noun · B1

A fish that people catch and eat, living in both rivers and the sea.

鱸魚

原始詞典資料18 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

Bassname/bæs/

  • 1

    A surname.

  • 2

    A place name:

  • 3

    A place name:

  • 4

    A place name:

  • 5

    A place name:

  • 6

    A place name:

  • 7

    A place name:

bassadj詞源 1/beɪs/

  • 1

    Of sound, a voice or an instrument, low in pitch or frequency.

    • The giant spoke in a deep, bass, rumbling voice that shook me to my boots.

bassnoun詞源 1/beɪs/

  • 1

    A low spectrum of sound tones.

    • Peter adjusted the equalizer on his audio equipment to emphasize the bass.
  • 2

    entertainmentlifestylemusicA section of a musical group that produces low-pitched sound, lower than the baritone and tenor.

    • The conductor preferred to situate the bass in the middle rear, rather than to one side of the orchestra.
  • 3

    entertainmentlifestylemusicOne who sings in the bass range.

    • Halfway through middle school, Edgar morphed from a soprano to a bass, much to the amazement and amusement of his fellow choristers.
  • 4

    entertainmentlifestylemusicAn instrument that plays in the bass range, in particular a bass guitar, double bass, electric bass, or bass synthesiser.

    • The musician swung the bass over his head like an axe and smashed it into the amplifier, creating a discordant howl of noise.
  • 5

    The clef sign that indicates that the pitch of the notes is below middle C.

    • The score had been written without the treble and bass, but it was easy to pick out which was which based on the location of the notes on the staff.

bassverb詞源 1/beɪs/

  • 1

    To sound in a deep tone.

    • […] and the Thunder / (That deepe and dreadfull Organ-Pipe) pronounc'd / The name of Proſper : it did baſe my Treſpaſſe

bassnoun詞源 2/bæs/

  • 1

    The perch; any of various marine and freshwater fish resembling the perch, all within the order of Perciformes.

bassnoun詞源 3/bæs/

  • 1

    The fibrous inner bark of the linden or lime tree, used for making mats.

  • 2

    Fibers from other plants, especially palm trees

  • 3

    Anything made from such fibers, such as a hassock, basket or thick mat.

    • BASS, 1, a door mat
    • I set off half-heartedly, as best I could sheltering my spare clothes (which were in the straw fish-bass) under my coat. […] The rain made a channel from my trilby down my neck and one handle of the fish-bass gave way.

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。