Where does tenor collide?

In the study of metaphor, the tenor is the underlying subject a metaphor is actually about, as distinct from the vehicle (the image used to describe it); in "the mind is a garden," the mind is the tenor and the garden the vehicle. I. A. Richards introduced this tenor/vehicle distinction in The Philosophy of Rhetoric (originally 1936) to analyse how the two interact to produce meaning. The referent is a role within a figure of speech, and it has nothing to do with a singing voice or the remaining life of a loan beyond the shared word.[1]

Unit

The subject term carried by a metaphor, versus its vehicle

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Identified by analysing which term is the topic and which supplies the borrowed imagery

In music and voice science the tenor is the highest standard male singing voice, prized for its upper range, and a defining feature is the passaggio, the transition zone where the singer must shift vocal register to carry the voice higher without strain. Echternach and Richter's 2012 study Passaggio in the professional tenor voice examined this register transition instrumentally in trained tenors. The referent is a voice type and its physiological range, measured by pitch and register behaviour, and it is a different construct from a metaphor's subject or a bond's maturity.[2]

Unit

The pitch range and register transitions of the voice type

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Characterised by vocal range, the passaggio pitch, and acoustic measures of the sung tone

In finance the tenor of an instrument is the length of time until it expires or matures: the remaining life of a loan, bond, swap, or option over which payments are made or the contract stays in force. Hull's Options, futures, and other derivatives uses tenor with this meaning when pricing and comparing contracts of different lifespans. The referent is a duration attached to a financial contract, measured in days, months, or years to maturity, and it is unrelated to a singing voice or a metaphor's subject beyond the shared word. (In finance "tenor" usually denotes the time left, while "maturity" names the end date; that distinction is not drawn from the cited source.)[3]

Unit

The remaining time until the contract expires or matures

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Expressed as the time to maturity in days, months, or years