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antithetical phrase

Phrase
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 rhetorical figure that pairs opposing ideas in a balanced grammatical structure; in poetry, it sharpens conflict, highlights moral dilemmas, and creates memorable, aphoristic tension through parallel syntax.

Detailed Definition
Antithetical phrases crystallize tension through parallel opposites (“To err is human; to forgive, divine”); they highlight paradox, moral choice, or cosmic duality, using symmetry to sharpen conceptual conflict into memorable insight.
Example
Example in poetry:
You speak of glory, yet your hands are stained with dust; you claim to be free, yet you kneel to chains you forged; the poet sings of joy, but his ink is mixed with tears; the king wears gold, but his heart is a hollow drum.
Additional Notes
Antithetical phrases juxtapose opposing ideas in balanced syntax to highlight tension—“To be or not to be,” “I have loved, and lost, and still believe”—and are central to rhetorical poetry from Donne to Plath; they create intellectual and emotional friction; use parallel structure (“not X but Y”) for clarity; avoid forced contrasts; effective in sonnets, elegies, and philosophical verse; related to chiasmatic phrase and antithesis as a figure of speech; pair with enjambment to extend the tension across lines.
Also Known As
antithesis contrasting phrase
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