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Acephalic foot

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A metrical foot in which the initial unstressed syllable is omitted, creating a truncated or headless rhythm.

Detailed Definition
An acephalic foot, literally meaning “headless foot,” is a metrical anomaly in which the initial unstressed syllable of an expected metrical foot—typically in iambic or anapestic verse—is omitted, creating a line that begins with a stressed syllable despite the prevailing meter; this deliberate truncation produces a jarring or emphatic effect, often used to signal urgency, disruption, or heightened emotion, as when a poet begins a line with a strong downbeat to arrest the reader’s attention or to mirror psychological or thematic rupture within the poem.
Example
Example in poetry:
An acephalic foot is a metrical foot missing its initial unstressed syllable, turning an iamb into a spondee; for example, in “Break, break, break” (Tennyson), the first foot “Break” stands alone as a stressed syllable.
Additional Notes
Acephalic foot: A metrical foot missing its initial syllable (e.g., a trochee reduced to a single stressed syllable); also called "headless"; used for rhythmic variation, especially in iambic lines.
Also Known As
Headless foot Truncated measure Beheaded foot Initial-cut foot
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