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Asterisk

Notation
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 star-shaped symbol (*) used for footnotes, omissions, or emphasis in poetic texts.

Detailed Definition
The asterisk serves multiple roles in poetry: marking footnotes for annotation, indicating redacted or censored lines, or acting as a visual motif in concrete poetry; it may also denote a refrain or structural break in experimental verse, adding layers of meaning through typographical intervention.
Example
Example in poetry:
Asterisks mark omitted letters in censored or delicate contexts: “dmn” in Victorian poetry; In Dickinson’s fascicles, asterisks serve as unconventional punctuation between thoughts; Contemporary poets use * to indicate a stanza break or time lapse; In digital poetry, asterisks format emphasis like this*; Some poets place a single asterisk at line-end to suggest incompleteness; In erasure poetry, asterisks replace redacted words while preserving line shape.
Additional Notes
Asterisk: The asterisk (*) in poetry commonly signals a footnote, editorial comment, or omitted text; it may also serve as a visual or rhythmic placeholder in concrete or visual poetry—be mindful that multiple asterisks can indicate a stanza break or censored content, and their placement affects both meaning and metrical pause.
Also Known As
star
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