Hello Robert, 'figured bass signature’ is also a temptating choice, analog to ’time signature’…
BTW, another question came to me: in the LP notation manual, ‘dynamic’ is sometimes a noun as in ‘dynamics’ and sometimes an adjective as in ’dynamic mark’. So, is \ff a dynamic or a dynamics? These questions of mine are to stick to strict naming in my code, where both figured bass and dynamics occur in the singular and plural forms. JM > Le 17 juin 2021 à 18:26, Robert Gaebler <bob.gaeb...@outlook.com> a écrit : > > Jacques Menu <imj-muz...@bluewin.ch <mailto:imj-muz...@bluewin.ch>> writes: > > > Hello folks, > > > > What would be the plural of ‘figured bass’, if that applies, to denote > > several > > occurrences of the figures in a score, the same way has there can be several > > harmonies? Maybe ‘figured bass figures’? > > > > In the example below, there 5 such occurrences: > > > > > > Thanks for. your help! > > > As many others have pointed out, there is no standard term, for what you have > in mind, in English. I think the phrase "bass figure" works, and would be > reasonably well understood from context. > > Nevertheless, ad hoc neologisms abound in English usage, and you would not be > out of place introducing your own term. Just try to make it intuitive or > recognizable from similar usage. > > Borrowing from the German, as mentioned by Lukas, let me mention that the > word "signature" has fairly common English usage within technology, to refer > to a collection of properties or characteristics that identify a particular > instance of an object or event. So in a discussion of some specific figured > bass examples, you might mention "these five figured bass signatures from > measures 10, 12, 14, 22, and 23...". I think most people would figure it out > from the context. Maybe it would even catch on and become our English term > for an instance of a figured bass symbol. > ----- > Bob Gaebler
