Descant is another name for the soprano recorder. Likewise, treble and alto recorder refer to the same instrument. Sopranino is a lot like alto (fingering positions are the same), but it's an octave higher.

This business of having transposing instruments. I can't really see any reason why this continues to the present day. I play alto sax(E flat), and tenor sax (B flat). I cant' think of any sensible reason why the Tenor sax can't be made in Concert C. I used to have a C Melody sax, also called a C Tenor. It's a completely differently-sounding instrument to the standard B Flat Tenor sax and is an entirely different size and bore width, and the tone is entirely different, but there's no reason that I can see why they can't make a tenor sax that sounds like a tenor sax, but is in C..... After all, it's only a whole tone different. Likewise the E flat alto sax. There actually have been Alto saxes in C in the past. I can't see why recorders, saxes and all woodwind and brass instruments couldn't be produced that are all in concert C.
I guess we are too firmly entrenched in the present situation to entirely rejig the manufacturing set-up to do this, but it would completely get rid of this transposing situation. The problem doesn't exist for stringed instruments.... only wind.

my recorder is a soprano tenor and i think it is in c, i think

It's hard to change history, but I think that all recorders should just read in the range of the soprano/tenor and then you can let the instrument do the transposing for you!

I hope you mean should have rather than should. I don't relish the prospect of tons of recorder music becoming obsolete.

Likewise the E flat alto sax. There actually have been Alto saxes in C in the past. I can't see why recorders, saxes and all woodwind and brass instruments couldn't be produced that are all in concert C.

A C saxophone would of course have a different range than an Eb saxophone, which an example of one reason it's useful to have transposing instruments. An Eb saxophone could of course read concert pitch, but that would make it much more difficult to play in the key of C than the key of Eb, and most saxophonists would find this circumstance perverse. Although C clarinets and C trumpets are only a whole step above their more popular counterparts, they do sound a bit different, and most instrumentalists prefer the sound of the Bb instruments.

I guess we are too firmly entrenched in the present situation to entirely rejig the manufacturing set-up to do this, but it would completely get rid of this transposing situation. The problem doesn't exist for stringed instruments.... only wind.

This is not quite true. Double basses, bass guitars, and guitars don't read concert pitch; they transpose from it at the octave.

rtadas sorry took long to repile i have been busy but i have the foot long 1.

So, back to this transposing instruments business (sorry to beat it to death)-

if I were to play an F on an alto and say that it was a C, my music would have to be written in another key than for the C instruments, and to play an actual (or concert?) C, I would have to play a G. Is that right? And then, if I were to play music written in the key of C, would I be playing in the key of F? Or in a different key?

WELL WAT KIND OF RECORDER DO U HAVE?

if I were to play an F on an alto and say that it was a C, my music would have to be written in another key than for the C instruments, and to play an actual (or concert?) C, I would have to play a G. Is that right? And then, if I were to play music written in the key of C, would I be playing in the key of F?

You are correct.

But you will enjoy recorders much more if you learn to shift your brain from F to C fingerings while reading concert pitch. It doesn't take long to learn. Throughout the day, stop for a minute, imagine a note, then pretend to do the fingering. Do this many times during the day. For instrument practice, take a book with many simple music parts, like a church hymn book, open it to a random page, and play the soprano or alto part. Then open it to another random page, and do it again. You only need 15 minutes per day if you do it every day.

If it helps to muddy the water:
You'll note that my avatar is a the rotor section of a Miraphone 191. It is a B-Flat tuba. There are also C tubas, E-flat tubas, and F tubas. But all of them are played reading music at concert pitch because that is what tuba players do. So a C two ledger lines below the bass clef can be played with valves 1-3 down on a B-flat tuba, all valves up on a C tuba, and valves 1-2 down on an E-flat tuba. Tuba players who play more than one key of tuba read concert pitch music and learn to shift their brain to use the right fingering for the key of tuba ... just like recorder players.

So now you know why tubas and recorders have so much in common!!