Home › Glossary › Letter C

chained overflow

Device
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

A flowing continuation where enjambed lines connect in a chainlike sequence

Detailed Definition
Chained overflow is a poetic technique where enjambment links multiple lines or stanzas in a continuous syntactic cascade, with each unit spilling into the next without pause; this creates a breathless, urgent rhythm that mirrors thought or speech in flux, as in Ginsberg’s long lines where semantic chains resist closure to embody ecstatic or political propulsion.
Example
Example in poetry:
“An overflow of meaning or rhyme linking lines in a chained manner.”; “Words or themes overflowing from one stanza to the next creating chain effect.”
Additional Notes
An extreme form of enjambment where the syntax spills aggressively from one line to the next, often continuing for several lines, creating a "chained" series of run-on lines; A technique to speed up the pace and create momentum.
Also Known As
overflow chaining cascading overflow linked enjambment Chained enjambment
Skip to main content