violin family
- noun
- /ˈvaɪəlɪn ˈfæmɪli/
:
familia del violín
- The instruments in the violin family are crafted from high-quality wood to produce beautiful tones.
Examples
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It, like all the members of the violin family, generates a note when a string is plucked or stroked by a bow, setting up a rapid vibration along the length of the string.
Academic text (1994) -
The cello, the bass member of the violin family, is pitched an octave and a fourth below the violin, with its lowest string usually tuned to the C two octaves below the piano's middle C.
Academic text (1994) -
The search for that secret has come to rest on the final stage in violin family construction.
Academic text (1994) -
Second, the pitches that sound have been analyzed to yield the basis of a theory of violin-family construction.
Academic text (1994) -
It is often said, to return to the imprecision of metaphor, that instruments of the violin family "sing."
Academic text (1994) -
It is thus possible to "tune" a violin-family body by altering the thickness or arching of the plates.
Academic text (1994) -
Find out the material properties of each piece of wood used, measure their vibrations under different stimuli, and then grind out the calculations (which is what Hutchins and her collaborators have done with their new violin family, more or less).
Academic text (1994) -
The violin family includes the violin, viola, cello, and double bass, each contributing to orchestral music.
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Many musicians enjoy playing members of the violin family due to their rich, expressive sound.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'violin' (a specific bowed string instrument) with 'family' (a group of related items), yielding 'the group of instruments related to the violin' (viola, cello, double bass). This noun+family composition is common cross-linguistically and follows a straightforward compositional pattern that a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer.
Etymology
The phrase violin family comes from thinking of the violin and its related instruments as a family: they are the same kind of instrument but in different sizes such as the viola, cello and double bass, and they are all played with a bow. So the name means 'the group of related instruments played with a bow'.
