Talk:tenor

RFV discussion: September 2015–January 2016

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tenor

Rfv-sense: adjective: Of or pertaining to the tenor part or range.

The example sentence he has a tenor voice strikes me as nominal, not adjectival. Renard Migrant (talk) 14:24, 1 September 2015 (UTC)

This is an RfD issue, not an RfV one. How do you explain phraseology like "tenor horn", "tenor trombone", "tenor saxophone", "tenor clef" or "tenor drum"? Tenor as a word works the opposite way from the way you're alleging. Purplebackpack89 04:23, 2 September 2015 (UTC)

I, as a native speaker who has spent a fair amount of time in musical situations, as well as the lemmings, strongly disagree that such a use is nominal. I would say that "tenor voice" and all the examples PBP used are evidence of widespread use of the adjectival sense. —Μετάknowledge^{discuss/deeds} 05:06, 2 September 2015 (UTC)

A few citations of tenor behaving like an adjective:

• 1962, Frank Howard Richardson, For Parents Only: The Doctor Discusses Discipline

  Many a star athlete has very little hair anywhere except what he wears on top of his head, and a voice that is absolutely tenor.

• 2009, Richard Smith, Can't You Hear Me Calling: The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass, Da Capo Press →ISBN

  Sometimes Charlie would sing notes that were more tenor than original melody, forcing Bill to sing a high baritone-style line.

• 2012, Lily George, Captain of Her Heart, Harlequin →ISBN, page 173

  The door swung open, and a masculine voice—a little more tenor than Brookes's bass tones—called, “Brookes, come in. Do you have your colleague with you?”

• 2015, Michael J. Senger Sr., The Connection, Lulu Press, Inc →ISBN

  Kahn was not a big man and he had a voice that was a little more tenor than most preferred.

Smurrayinchester (talk) 12:56, 2 September 2015 (UTC)

Since nobody has objected to the last four citations, I am placing them in the entry. If this RfV passes, I will likely create adjective senses for soprano, alto, bass and maybe baritone, as if this is verifiable, those likely are as well. Purplebackpack89 13:15, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

To answer the original question, "[h]ow do you explain phraseology like "tenor horn", "tenor trombone", "tenor saxophone", "tenor clef" or "tenor drum"?" using the noun, 'tenor' (like car door does not justify car#Adjective). However I don't dispute Smurrayinchester's citations. Renard Migrant (talk) 13:18, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

RFV-passed. - -sche (discuss) 02:04, 31 January 2016 (UTC)