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Amphibrach

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 consisting of one stressed syllable flanked by two unstressed syllables (◡ – ◡), common in light or comic verse.

Detailed Definition
An amphibrach is a metrical foot consisting of three syllables with the stress pattern unstressed-stressed-unstressed (da-DUM-da), commonly found in lyrical and narrative poetry; it creates a lilting, musical rhythm and appears in forms like the limerick or in Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (“Half a league, half a league”).
Example
Example in poetry:
Amphibrach: "The cur|few tolls| the knell| of part|ing day" — a metrical foot with unstressed-stressed-unstressed pattern (˘ ′ ˘), as in Thomas Gray’s "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."
Additional Notes
Three-syllable foot: unstressed-STRESSED-unstressed (da-DUM-da). Less common than iamb or trochee. See Browning's "How They Brought the Good News." Creates rolling, gentle rhythm. Related to anapest but shorter.
Also Known As
Short-long-short Rocking foot Cretic inverse
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