Home › Glossary › Letter A

Asemic verse

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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

Poetry that replaces conventional language with non-semantic glyphs, symbols, or marks, prioritizing visual or gestural expression over meaning.

Detailed Definition
Asemic verse is poetry that uses non-linguistic marks, invented scripts, or illegible glyphs to evoke writing without semantic content, emphasizing gesture, texture, and visual rhythm over denotative language.
Example
Example in poetry:
Asemic verse in Tim Gaze’s "The Secret Language of Birds" uses invented glyphs resembling script but bearing no semantic meaning; Mirtha Dermisache’s notebooks present flowing lines that mimic handwriting without legible words; Cy Twombly’s poetic scribbles blur drawing and asemic writing; Contemporary asemic verse often appears in artist’s books where visual rhythm replaces linguistic content; Asemic works by Derek Beaulieu use typewriter patterns that suggest text but resist decoding
Additional Notes
Poetry incorporating asemic (non-semantic, symbol-based) elements. Borderline between poetry and visual art. Related to concrete poetry and experimental forms. Challenges traditional notion of poetry as readable language.
Also Known As
Meaningless-mark verse Non-semantic poetry Illegible text verse Symbol-without-meaning poetry
Skip to main content