"Der Ton"

Translation: The clay

[Objectivist]

That's interesting. I'm German and I've never seen 'Ton' referred to as clay. I've looked it up though, and it's indeed correct.

[pont]

I've never seen clay considered to be an abstract object, either :-).

[Objectivist]

You're right, should've been the other way around.

[narion_k]

Evidently, however, they have different plural forms:

• der Ton | die Töne (sounds / shades of color (from Farbton))
• der Ton | die Tone (types of clay)

[jsiehler]

Rather important to know! "Oh, friends, not these types of clay!" would have been a terrible anthem.

[MariosKitr]

Of course it is not Oh friends but Oh Joy (Freude, not Freunde)

[narion_k]

The words Beethoven wrote:

O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen,
und freudenvollere.
Freude!
Freude!

Source

[stig949337]

Great reference.

[jaspercat]

I thought Ton meant sound.

[mikka86]

It does: sound/tone/note. But it also means clay (in geological contexts, I guess).

http://dict.leo.org/#/search=Ton

[IndaImmega]

Ceramics, too?

[caselthor]

Ja, was wuerdest du denn sagen? Der Klei, nicht wahr?

[Objectivist]

Klei, Knete oder Lehm. Haengt davon ab, was gemeint wird.

[Salomee_e]

Ist wahrscheinlich regional; ich bin aus Wien und hier ist Ton (und auch Lehm) ganz normal, Klei kenne ich dafür wieder nicht.

[esgerman12]

Ich auch nicht. Scheint etwas Norddeutsches zu sein. https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Klei

[jordi643]

Would "the tone" be a possible translation?

[mainad]

Yes, as in

• Tone of voice: He said it in a tone that made her angry. = Er sagte es in einem Ton der sie verärgerte.
• shade of color: I like the tone of blue in this carpet = Mir gefaellt der Blauton in diesem Teppich.

...whereas

• At the tone of the bell - Beim Klang der Glocke.

[jon-dan]

I would say: "At the sound of the bell".
On the other hand: "The bell has a very deep tone".
I believe "tone" implies a type of sound, not the sound itself.

[Bob20020]

What is an abstract object?

[orbwizard]

Something that's a thing (i.e. a noun), but not a concrete thing that occupies physical space. House = concrete object; idea = abstract object.

[Myrrha01]

You forgot to add the function of an object in a sentence as being the entity that is acted upon by a subject.

[Prazetyke]

Does "Ton" have anything to do with "Beton" as in concrete?

[narion_k]

No, I think they are unrelated. You can nonetheless associate them if it helps you remember them, though!

"Ton", as in clay, comes from the Early Modern High German "tahen" or "than". [Source]

"Beton" comes from the French "béton" and maintains the meaning (concrete) of the French word. [Source]

[auntmargie]

Is Duo correct translating der Ton as the word? I'm not finding that in a dictionary...

[narion_k]

Do you mean "the word" is given as a translation for "der Ton"? If that's the case, then maybe only some users can see it, because I don't:

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[auntmargie]

Yes. Duo shows the definition of Ton is word. But I can't confirm that any where else.

[LeeGOgletree]

auntmargie, you and I seem to be the only ones who notice this.

[auntmargie]

This weird, right? Where is this translation coming from?

[Sam-Isaac]

Is this where we get the word "Tone"?

[Marian150342]

Presume so. English stems from German originally. Or so I am told. Not sure if the ‘clay’ meaning translates well to English though. Earth tones....

[-Copernicus-]

Wiktionary says the two senses are unrelated. The "sound" version of "Ton" is from Latin, and the "clay" version is Germanic (so I suppose it's a coincidence that they became the same word). The "sound" version was borrowed into English as well, and the "clay" version wasn't.

[Marian150342]

Thanks Copernicus

[Laura.USA]

I thought he was saying Der Torn. :/

[farzaneh423501]

Hi what's the meaning of,,Clay,,in dictionary I see /clay=bole/ But ,,Clef,,indicating the pitch of the notes//Thanks

[gab_gar]

could this word mean also tune?