Antispastic dimeter

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 two-foot line composed of two antispasts, creating a syncopated rhythm

Detailed Definition
Antispastic dimeter is a two-foot line using the antispastic metrical foot (–uu–), a rare composite unit combining trochee and iamb; it appears in highly technical classical prosody and modernist attempts to revive obscure Greek rhythms for expressive dissonance.
Example
Example in poetry:
Antispastic dimeter: Two antispastic feet per line (each foot: long, short, short, long: – u u –); extremely rare, but a constructed line: “Time flies, yet hope remains,” scanned as – u u – | – u u –.
Additional Notes
Four-metron line in Alcaic meter. Second line of Alcaic stanza. Variable syllable realization. Classical prosody—requires understanding of quantitative meter and metrical analysis.
Also Known As
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