| 释义 |
polyphone|ˈpɒlɪfəʊn|
Also 7 poli-, 7– -phon; β. 7–8 (corruptly, but usually in sense 1 a) poliphant, polyphant.
[mod. ad. Gr. πολύϕων-ος having many tones, manifold in expression, f. πολυ-, poly- + ϕωνή voice, sound; cf. F. polyphone adj. polyphonic. In sense 1 c, generally spelt polyphon, Ger. polyphon.]
1.
†a. A musical instrument formerly in use, somewhat resembling a lute, but having a large number of wire strings. Obs. except Hist.
1655F. Prujeane in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 5 The polyphon is an instrument of so different a stringing and tuning that its impossible to play what is sett to it on any other hand instrument.
β1674Playford Skill Mus. Pref. 8 Queen Elizabeth..did often recreate herself on an excellent Instrument called the Poliphant, not much unlike a Lute, but strung with Wire. 1789Burney Hist. Mus. (ed. 2) III. i. 15. 1954 Grove's Dict. Mus. (ed. 5) VI. 838/2 Queen Elizabeth was particularly partial to the poliphant. 1968New Oxf. Hist. Music IV. xiii. 727 The drawing of the polyphant in Randle Holmes's Academy of Armory suggests a flat bandora-body surmounted by a harp-like frame. 1977D. Gill Wire-Strung Plucked Instruments contemp. with Lute 19 Two other contemporary wire instruments have to be mentioned. One is the ‘polyphant’ or ‘polyphone’. Ibid. 20 The 1671 inventory of Belvoir Castle does not list a polyphant.
†b. Some instrument or apparatus for producing a variety of sounds or notes. Obs.
1683Phil. Trans. XIV. 483 By a Polyphone or Polyacoustick well ordered one sound may be heard as many.
c. A large kind of musical box, driven by clockwork or by hand, and capable of playing any tune when the corresponding perforated disk is inserted.
1902Daily Chron. 7 Apr. 8/5 Polyphon for Sale, including stand; cost {pstlg}14. 1954Grove's Dict. Mus. (ed. 5) VI. 848/1 In the 1880s the Polyphon was invented, in which projections punched up on a steel disc were used..to pluck the teeth of the comb. 1973A. W. J. G. Ord-Hume Clockwork Music 108 Probably the best known of the musical box dealers and wholesalers was Henry Klein... His main business was in Polyphons and amusement machines. 1975Country Life 11 Dec. 1715/2 (Advt.), Antique clocks, musical boxes, polyphones.
d. fig.
1875Lanier Symphony 106 Life's strident polyphone.
2. Philol. A written character having more than one phonetic value; a letter or other symbol which stands for different sounds.
1872Sayce Assyr. Gram. Pref. 7 Polyphones—that is, characters with more than one value..actually exist in Japanese for the same reason that they existed in Assyrian. 1880R. N. Cust Linguistic & Oriental Ess. 350 It was all very well to tolerate Ideographs and Polyphones in documents..relating to the future world. 1896Boscawen Bible & Mon. i. 18 Its elaborate syllabary, the use of polyphones..all tend to show clearly that this writing was not the invention of the Semites. 1937Antiquity XI. 273 Many of the Sumerian word⁓signs were polyphons. |