977 



BASSET-HORN. 



BASTARD. 



Besides terminations equivalent to all those existing in English, it has 

 frequentative, diminutive, and argumentative terminations, like the 

 Spanish and Italian. Verbal nouns are formed with the terminatioi 

 a.ri or an/a, to denote a physical actor, and lia, to denote a moral one 

 as ffudarija, a warrior, iracuslia, a teacher or doctor. For the abstrac. 

 substantives it has likewise two terminations, tassuna and querija ; the 

 former denotes a natural and the latter a moral quality, defect, or 

 perfection. Thus, zoratassuna denotes madness, as a physical derange 

 ment of the mind ; zoraqtterija, an inclination to madness from a strong 

 passion. The possessive terminations are three, cua, to denote some 

 thing contained in the thing expressed by the word ; arena, to denote 

 the possessor ; and c: or ezco, to express the matter of which it is 

 formed : as echecua, contained in or belonging to the house ; guizonarena 

 of the man; olezcua, made of wood. From the last the Castilians, 

 have formed their patronymic, and perhaps their abstract nouns ; as 

 Fernandez, Ferdinandson ; amarillez, paleness. The Basque sub 

 stantives have no sign to express the relation of gender. There is but 

 one article, which is a for the singular, and ac for the plural. This 

 sign forms the characteristic of nouns as to number, and is in all cases 

 affixed to the substantive : as, guizona, man-the ; guizmiac, men-the. 



According to Astarloa, there are but six cases in the declension of 

 the Basque words ; but Bidassouet marks eleven. As the preposition 

 is always affixed to the noun, there may be said to exist as many cases 

 as there are prepositions. The verbs are divided into simple, or those 

 expressing a single action, as icassi, to learn by one's self; double, as 

 i-ra-cassi, to learn by the assistance of another; simple active, as 

 iltendot, to kill ; and active transitive, as iltendeutzat, to kill another. 

 The moods are eleven, and the tenses, according to some Basque gram- 

 marians, amount to forty-six. Every verb can be conjugated in 

 twenty-six forms, showing the different relations of the agent to the 

 action and to the object which it affects. 



The relation of the speaker to the person spoken to is also expressed 

 by particular terminations. These relations are with regard to sex 

 and dignity. Thus there are five different terminations ; namely, mas- 

 culine and feminine, from an inferior to a superior, and i~ice vend, and 

 also between equals. 



The syntax is very simple, and subject to fixed rules. In every 

 sentence the substantive is placed first, next the article, then the 

 adjective, next the adverb, followed by the verb, and lastly the object, 

 with the preposition affixed to it. Example : Seme oquer bat-ec emon- 

 d-eiu-cuz ardura-one ec ; the literal meaning " aon-crooked-one, given- 

 us-has-to, cares-these ;" which means, a bad son has caused these 

 troubles to us. This order is that in which, generally speaking, an 

 illiterate Basque places the words when he attempts to speak Spanish, 

 for which reason the Spaniards call concordancia, Vizcaino, a bad 

 construction. 



The Basque is divided into three dialects, not much differing from 

 one another ; namely, the Guipuzcoan, the Vizcaino, and the Labortan. 

 The first is the purest, and is spoken in Guipuzcoa ; the second, in 

 Vizcaya and Alava; and the Labortan in the French and Spanish 

 Navarre. The only Basque books are grammars and dictionaries, the 

 Bible, books of devotion, proverbs, and songs. In 1824, a very inter- 

 esting work appeared at Donostian (San Sebastian), upon the ancient 

 usages, dances, games, and songs (of which many still exist, most of them 

 possessing a slow and monotonous character, but with considerable 

 power) of the Guipuzcoans, published by Iztueta, the title of which is 

 ' Guipuzcoaco dantza, gogoangarrien, condaira, edo istoria beren,' &c. 

 The same author published, in 1826, another work, entitled ' The very 

 Ancient Melodies of Viscaya,' &c. This work contains thirty-six airs 

 to as many dances, with their respective words. M. Duhalde, a learned 

 philologist of the Basque nation, has published a work in which he 

 has compared and contrasted the variations found in the different 

 literary productions of the Basque provinces. Le Compte Garat also 

 published, in 1835, ' Fragments iniSdit. de Literature Basque/ collected 

 by him. 



The best grammars are those of Ldcluse in French, and Larramendi 

 in Spanish. The latter author published also a dictionary in Spanish, 

 Latin, and Basque, which is considered the best. Whoever wishes to 

 investigate the very curious structure of the Basque language will 

 derive great assistance from the labours of Ldcluse, professor of Greek 

 and Hebrew literature at Toulouse, who published a short dissertation 

 upon the language in 1826, and also his grammar in the same year. 

 Le'cluge, in 1828, put forth a proposal for publishing a dictionary of 

 the Basque, Spanish, and French, which it is much to be regretted did 

 not meet with the encouragement which such a work merited. 



The following are among the recent works on the Basque language 

 which may be serviceable to the student : the new editions of Larra- 

 mendi's Dictionary (2 vols. fol., San Sebastian, 1853-4), and Grammar 

 (8vo, San Seb., 1853); S. H. Blanc's ' Grammaire de la Langue Basque, 

 d'apres celle du P. M. de Larramendi,' 8vo, Lyon, 1854 ; J. B. Archer's 

 'Grammaire Basque-Francaise, a 1'usage du Pays-Basques,' 12mo, 

 Bayonne, 1854; A. Oihenart's 'Proverbes Basques, suivies des Poe"sies 

 Basques,' 2nd ed., Bord., 1847 ; and the ' Histories of the Early 

 Usages, Language, &c., of the Basque People ' (founded on the work of 

 Iztueta), by Chaho (Bayonne, 1850) and Baudrimont, 8vo, Paris, 1854. 



BASSET-HORN, a musical instrument, which, notwithstanding its 

 name, is a clarinet [CLARINET] of enlarged dimensions and extended 

 ncale, said to have been invented in Germany in 1770, but known to 



ARTS AND SCI. PIT. VOL. I. 



have been produced in an improved state twelve years later by M. Lotz 

 of Presburg ; and subsequently, in its present perfect condition, by 

 the brothers, Anthony and John Stadler, of the imperial Austrian 

 chapel. The basset-horn is longer than the clarinet, and the bell 

 end is wider. On account of its length, the tube, which consists of 

 five pieces, is bent inwards, forming a very obtuse angle. The scale 

 of this instrument embraces nearly four octaves, from c the second 

 space in the base, to G in altissimo, including every semitone ; but its 

 real notes, in relation to its use in the orchestra, are from y below the 



base staff, 



to c, the second leger line 

 J above the treble, 



The basset-horn takes an intermediate place between the clarinet 

 and bassoon, and, on account of its vast compass, may perform the 

 functions of both. Its capabilities and beauty are strikingly displayed 

 in Mozart's 'Requiem'; and in the aria, 'Non piu di fiore,' in his 

 ' Clemenza di Tito ' ; as well as in other works of the same great com- 

 poser, who well understood its value. 



The Italian name for this instrument, and that by which it is 

 generally designated in scores, is corno liassetto, or rather low horn, the 

 termination ctto being a diminutive. The unfitness of this term must 

 at once be obvious : but, unhappily, musical nomenclature abounds in 

 obscurities and contradictions. 



BASSIC ACID. [STEARIC ACID.] 



BASSO DI CA'MERA, a double-base, or contrabasso, reduced in 

 size and power, but not in compass, and thus adapted to small or 

 private rooms. 



The dimensions of the body of this instrument are as follows : 



Length 3 feet. 



Width above 16 inches. 



Width below 21 



Depth under the bridge . . . . 74 

 Length of strings from bridge to nut . .31 



It has four strings ; two of gut and two covered with silver wire, all 

 proportionably thicker than those of the violoncello, and tuned in 5ths, 

 to the same literal notes as the violin, but two octaves lower than the 

 latter. Example : 



1st. 2nd. 3rd. 4th. 



=f= 



Hence, and by referring to the article DoCBLE-BASE, it will be seen 

 that this new instrument has a great advantage, in respect to compass, 

 over the other ; and in quality of tone it is far superior in chamber 

 music, though neither powerful enough nor designed to supersede, or 

 even to be used as a substitute for, the double-base in the full 

 orchestra. 



BASSO-RILIEVO. [ALTO-RILIEVO.] 



BASSOON, a musical instrument of the pneumatic kind, blown 

 through a reed. It consists of four pieces, or tubes of wood, bound 

 together, and pierced for ventages, of a brass craned neck, in which the 

 reed is inserted, and of several keys. The whole length of the tubes 



6J feet, but by doubling up, this is reduced to four. It may be 

 considered as a bass oboe [OBOE] ; and its compass is from B flat below 



the base staff,' 



to B flat in the treble staff. 



This instrument is used in every kind of music, the richness of its 

 ;one and the extent of its scale rendering it invaluable to the com- 

 poser. Handel seems to have been the first who gave importance to 

 t, and in the air ' Thou didst blow,' in the oratorio of ' Israel in Egypt,' 

 exhibited its qualities in so advantageous a manner, that it imme- 

 diately afterwards began to assume a rank in the orchestra which it 

 las ever since retained. 



The bassoon was invented as early as the year 1539, three years 

 after Luscinius had published his ' Musurgia,' who consequently does 

 not mention the instrument. Mersenue describes it and all its 

 varieties ; but a long time elapsed before it came into use. The word 

 s derived from the Italian bassone, which is now rarely used. The 

 common Italian term is fagotto, a fagot, or bundle of sticks, because 

 rhe tubes of which the instrument is composed are bound together. 

 The Italian word fagotto is always employed in musical scores. 



The brass bassoon, with a new system of holes and keys, which 

 excited some attention at the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851, as 

 lie invention of M. Sax, was claimed by Mr. Cornelius Ward of 

 "jondon, who had previously taken out a patent for it in France. 



BASSOON, DOUBLE, a bassoon of increased dimensions, the scale 

 f which is an octave below that of the ordinary bassoon. The double- 

 lassoon was introduced at the eommemoration of Handel in 1784, but 

 lot having been found to answer the intended purpose, it fell into 

 iisuse, the serpent [SERPENT] well supplying its place. 

 BASSORIN. [GuM.] 

 BASTARD. The conjectures of etymologists on the origin of this 



3R 



