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Additive meter

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 system where rhythmic units accumulate rather than repeat in regular patterns

Detailed Definition
Additive meter describes a rhythmic structure in which poetic lines are built by accumulating phrases or clauses of variable length without strict adherence to a recurring metrical foot pattern, often found in free verse, biblical poetry, or Whitmanesque catalogs; rather than subtracting syllables to fit a template, additive meter expands organically through parallelism, repetition, and incremental development, creating a cumulative, incantatory effect that prioritizes semantic weight and breath-based phrasing over regularized stress patterns.
Example
Example in poetry:
Additive meter builds lines by stringing together similar rhythmic units without strict alternation, common in Anglo-Saxon verse like “Beowulf”: “Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum…” where stress groups accumulate rather than follow iambic patterns.
Additional Notes
Meter built by adding units (feet, measures) rather than dividing line. Opposite of divisive meter. Useful concept in analyzing compound meters and cross-rhythms.
Also Known As
Cumulative meter Building meter Progressive rhythm
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