Base or Bass?

[CTValleyRR]

nssd70m

I used to be a car audio enthusiast and heard both pronunciations. Earl...  

 

...... Then he spent too much time in the car with the volume turned way up, and now he can feel the bass, but not hear it! 

FWIW, I have always pronounced the word for the furniture in a given room, or a group of rooms (suite) as rhyming with "sweet".  Some people, though, notably in central Pennsylvania, pronounce this word like the one for a set of matching clothes (suit, pronounced "soot").  The dictionary recognizes the alternate pronunciation.

[cv_acr]

tstage

And to add a new wrinkle to the discussion, the musical term basso (which has been mentioned a couple of times now) is actually pronounced "boss-oh", as in bosso profundo or deep bass; NOT to be confused with a fish found at the very bottom of the lake.

Why is that a wrinkle? That's not an English term; it's Italian.

[Geared Steam]

bass = base

[alco_fan]

Two pages of replies.  Dictionary, anyone?

[leighant]

And I remember an exchange of dialogue from the first act of Shakespeare King Lear: character complaining about names applied to him:  "Why base?  Wherefore ***?"

The professor explained that the character was confusing two words which sounded alike but were actually quite different.  "Base" could apply to social standing in the renaissance class system of royal- noble- commoner, or could refer to inner quality.  "***" referred only to legitimacy of parentage and inheritance rights.  In Elizabethen times.  Now usually used as a term of personal low character.

In renaissance society,a royal or noble's following and hangers-on were known as his train.  And THAT's what this has to do with trains, in case you were wondering.

[Dusty Solo]

They both sound the same to me in my neck of the woods anyway.

Bass( Fender Electric) and Base (as in 1st) = bayss.

Bass - the fish sounds, well,  different to those two.

So long.

Dusty.

[dknelson]

All your bass are belong to us. 

Someone set us up the bomb!

Dave Nelson

[tstage]

And to add a new wrinkle to the discussion, the musical term basso (which has been mentioned a couple of times now) is actually pronounced "boss-oh", as in bosso profundo or deep bass; NOT to be confused with a fish found at the very bottom of the lake.

Tom

[P&Slocal]

I have always heard bass pronounced like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGUP8oc9Bgs

Never as the fish. However you could be singing bass:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WC6EbRQmJ0

 

Spelled bass but pronounced "base" like the singer, or musical instrument...think bass guitar.

[betamax]

In musical terms, bass and base are pronounced the same but mean different things.

It is English, but influenced by the term "basso". Seems most terminology used on sheet music is Italian (or Latin), so that is where the influence comes from.

I do remember the principal in high school reading an announcement where the school band needed a bass player.  He pronounced it as if it were a fish.

 

[tstage]

As a musician AND bass trombonist, it's always been pronounced "bāss" (long "a")...i.e. unless you're fishing around for a compliment; then it would be pronounced "bass" (short "a").

Tom

[retsignalmtr]

On the controls for my computors speakers it is spelled Bass. I have always known the spelling as Bass. I have always pronounced it as Base.

[nssd70m]

I used to be a car audio enthusiast and heard both pronunciations. Earl...  

[galaxy]

Bass is a fish. {like  a B in front of a crude donkey}

Base {like in baseball}  is what music calls it...regardless how it's spelled in Europe, Bass.

We in America call it color, the CAnadians call it Colour, yet it means the same thing. No one ever said that English is a great easy language to learn!

[doctorwayne]

This is a lot like words such as "colour", "honour" and "neighbourhood", which my American friends always seem to spell incorrectly.  Fortunately, in face-to-face conversations, most seem able to pronounce these words properly, allowing us Can-knuckleheads to understand them easily.

 

Wayne

[blownout cylinder]

Spelled Bass..pronounced Base...

 

[twhite]

It's spelled like the singer, pronounced like that thingy you slide into playing baseball. 

Tom

[tomikawaTT]

Base is the English spelling, while bass is the euro-musical spelling:

I recall a little balance knob on my parents' ancient big-tube radio (the thing that looked like a Gothic cathedral.)  It was labeled Base  at one end and Treble at the other.

On the other hand, the male singing voice with the lowest range has always been described as Bass, or, if of operatic quality, Basso Profundo.

I believe most of us are Anglophones...

Chuck (Music lover modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[cacole]

I've always pronounced it as if it were 'base' but I'm far from being a linguistic expert in these matters --

Perhaps there are some audiophiles who will set us both in our place.

 

[hon30critter]

In every use of the word that I can remember the 'base' pronunciation has been used.

I think it just one of those quirks of the English language. Besides, I don't want any fish in my speakers - after a while they will start to smell!

Dave

[CB&Q Modeler]

Okay

when speaking of  speakers whats the correct pronuncation , Base as in baseball or Bass in the fish!

I've always pronounced it base even though it was spelled bass.............inquiring minds want to know!!.